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She was dressed in the familiar plum silk shirt and gray pants he’d admired before. After lunch he had plans to do something about her bare-bones wardrobe, but at the moment the only thing Lucca was feeling was irrationally territorial.
He moved inside.
The other man saw him before Alexandra did. He slid off the corner of the desk and stood up. The fact that he was lean and almost as tall as Lucca irritated him further.
“Your Highness.”
Alexandra turned in her chair. “Lucca—”
He couldn’t tell if she was pleased to see him or not, but she was wearing his pin. That was something at least and should have appeased him. It didn’t.
She got to her feet, very much in command of the situation. “Lucca? This is Professor Morelli. Professor Emilio is ill so he sent Tomaso in his place.”
Lucca gave Tomaso a brief nod. “I’m sorry to hear that. How long will it take him to recover?”
“He has influenza. His doctor says two weeks, maybe a little longer.”
That was too long.
“How is my wife-to-be doing?” Besides giving you a heart attack. Lucca ground his teeth together. Wife-to-be sounded more permanent than fiancée. He wanted that made clear to Tomaso at the outset.
“Signorina Grigory is an excellent student. By the time of your wedding she’ll be speaking a little Italian and understanding some of it.”
She smiled. “One lives in hope, Tomaso. Thank you for taking me on.”
“It’s an honor for me.”
And a rush you won’t be able to do a thing in hell about, professor.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Alexandra nodded. “Si. Domani. Ore due. Ciao, Tomaso.”
“Ciao, Alex.”
The hackles stood on the back of his neck. Alex? She’d given him permission to call her that?
His gaze slid to Lucca. “Your Highness,” he said in passing.
“Why two o’clock?” Lucca asked after the other man had left the room.
She picked up the book and notebook he hadn’t seen before. “Tomaso teaches classes all morning, but he can come after lunch. If I’d had a teacher like him for Spanish in high school, I might have learned how to conjugate verbs.”
Intrigued in spite of his foul mood he asked, “What was wrong with your Spanish teacher?”
“He taught by immersion, and no one ever understood anything. He gave everyone an A for trying. It was ridiculous.”
Laughter burst out of him. “What verb did Professor Morelli teach you to conjugate today?”
“To be. Essere. Io sono, tu sei, lui e, noi siamo, voi siete, loro sono.”
“I’m impressed.” He was more than impressed. Her little conversation a moment ago sounded as if she’d been studying a lot longer than two hours.
“He said I have good pronunciation. Do you think he was just saying that to make me feel better?” Lucca realized she wasn’t fishing for compliments. She really wanted to know. It dawned on him she really was a good woman, someone he would be proud to call his wife.
“I told you the other day you have an excellent ear. Why do you doubt it?”
She averted her eyes. “I don’t know.”
Lucca knew. Alexandra’s mother had never given her confidence. Considering her father had died in her infancy, it was a miracle she had any at all. Fate had made her strong, courageous. Lucca had plans to fill in the rest. The thought of it taking a lifetime lightened his spirits.
“Come on. I’m taking you to lunch at a favorite restaurant of mine.”
“Oh, good!” Her seductive mouth smiled as they left the room, giving him his reward. “Tomaso taught me some phrases to practice when I order. We went over the names of the basic foods.”
Diavolo!
She turned to him. “Did you say something?”
“Nothing worth repeating.”
Her eyes played over his features. “You sound a bit like snappy turtle today.”
“Snappy turtle?” he barked with barely suppressed amusement.
“You know. A little cross. With all you’re taking on, I don’t blame you. How can I help?”
He drew in a deep breath. “Just be with me today.”
“Your wish is my command, Your Highness.”
“I asked you not to say that.”
A pained expression crossed over her face. “I’m sorry. It came out before I realized it. I really wasn’t thinking of you in that sense. I believe you’re emotionally exhausted, Lucca.”
Without conscious thought he put his arms around her and pulled her close. Burying his face in her sweet smelling hair he whispered, “I think you know me better than I know myself.”
“That’s what arranged wives are for.” And this one-to-be knows exactly what is ailing you.
Again Alex had spoken freely, not weighing her words beforehand. When he held her like this, she forgot the reason she was here at all. The desire to kiss his sensual mouth and go on kissing it the way she’d wanted to at the restaurant was turning into a driving need, blinding her to common sense.
The only reason he didn’t feel the same urge was because someone else was in his thoughts, someone he couldn’t wait to be with on a permanent basis. In a curious way he needed Alex. Almost overnight they’d become friends. She understood that and didn’t read into the moment that it was emotional for him.
“I have an idea.” Though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she slowly eased out of his arms. “After we eat lunch, why don’t you give yourself permission to take time off and do what you really want to do until tomorrow.”
He studied her through veiled eyes. “That’s excellent advice. Shall we go?”
Apparently, she’d said the magic words. He was planning to act on her suggestion. Another shaft of pain splintered her heart. Get used to it, Alex.
When they reached the second floor, he turned to her. “Meet me at the north portico in five minutes.”
“I’ll be there.” She hurried down the hall to her suite, tossing her Italian book and notebook on the bed. Once she’d washed her face and brushed her hair, she grabbed her purse and flew out the door.
“Ciao, Alexandra.” Lucca’s sister was just coming out of her room.
She drew to a halt. “Ciao, Regina.”
She smiled. “How did the Italian lesson go?”
“I loved it.”
“Good. Where are you off to in such a hurry now?”
“Lucca and I are going out for lunch.”
Her brown eyes smiled. “I was about to ask if you’d like to have a meal in town with me, but I can see you have a much more pressing engagement.”
Alex liked Regina and wanted to include her, even though she was looking forward to being alone with Lucca. “Why don’t we all go together?”
Regina shook her head. “If my brother had wanted me along, he would have asked me. Go and enjoy yourselves.”
“You’re sure? Come with me and we’ll ask him.”
“His favorite car only fits two.”
“Maybe we’re going in the limo.”
“I doubt it.”
“Then you can squeeze in with us.”
After a gentle laugh she put a hand on Alex’s arm. “I believe you would make room for me, but under the circumstances I’m going to check on my parents. Have a lovely outing.”
“Grazie, Regina.” She’d practiced it with Tomaso. It was one of the Italian words she loved to say.
“Prego, Alexandra.”
They walked together, then parted company at the stairway. Alex felt like flying down it, but since it would look as if she couldn’t wait to be with Lucca, she controlled herself and descended as gracefully as she knew how.
It would be good practice for their wedding day, when she had to walk up and down the front steps of the cathedral she’d passed in town last evening. What would she do if she fell flat on her face?
Lucca was waiting for her at the entrance, but his expression darkened as she drew closer. “Tell me what’s put that worried look in your eyes. Something’s happened.”
The man’s radar didn’t miss anything. “No.” She shook her head. “I was thinking how awful it would be to trip on the steps of the cathedral in my wedding dress.”
His taut body relaxed. “Should that occur, everyone would feel better for knowing you’re human, too. If anything, you would endear yourself to the crowd.”
She stared at him. “Were you born a diplomat or did you learn it from your parents through osmosis?”
His lips twitched as he put a hand behind her waist and ushered her out the doors to a black Ferrari. Once inside his sensational car, he helped her fasten the seat belt. Too much bodily contact within the elegant leather confines set her trembling.
“My parents will tell you I was born a hellion and will probably go out of this world the same way.” As they sped away from the palace, she acknowledged he drove like one.
Every woman loved a bad boy. Wasn’t that the collective opinion?
Alex had to admit, it was Lucca’s wild side that made him the bigger-than-life, exciting male who’d overcome every obstacle to get her on that plane. No ordinary man could have managed it.
She still couldn’t comprehend how it had happened. All she knew for a certainty was that in a little over two days she’d fallen hopelessly in love with him.
“I met Regina in the hall and asked her to come with us, but she declined.”
“Smart girl,” he quipped.
Alex smiled to herself. “She’s such a natural person. I like her very much.”
“So do I.”
They wound up the hillside behind Capriccio and on through a town called Savono. With every kilometer the traffic thinned until they came to a tiny hamlet nestled beneath a mountaintop. It looked ancient, almost untouched by time. Forgotten even.
Lucca pulled to a stop in front of a stone church in partial ruin. No one was about. His bodyguards were doing an amazing job of keeping the paparazzi at bay.
“This is Dirupo. The word means crag, the northernmost boundary of Castelmare. Historians say it came into being in the twelfth century. There’s one grocery store with a bank and post office inside. The inn only has twelve rooms.”
“This place has a lonely feel, doesn’t it, yet that’s the reason for its charm,” Alex murmured. She got out of the car to look around. There was a plaque on one of the church’s stones with an explanation in four languages. She read the English version with interest. He joined her.
“I thought the same thing when I first explored up here as a boy. Right now it’s on a long list of things to be discussed at the cabinet meeting tomorrow. Several of the ministers want to allow hotels and restaurants to be built up here to bring in more tourism. Because of the mountain streams they’re talking of creating a spa. Yet others argue it will destroy the watershed.”
She drew in a deep breath. “The view of the Mediterranean is unmatched, Lucca. Tourists would kill to vacation in a spot like this. You could charge a fortune for a one-night stay.”
Alex continued to look out at the spectacular view. Being with him filled her with feelings of euphoria. “On the other hand it could be overrun and lose the bit of history that makes it so unique. There aren’t many untouched places like this left in the world. …”
Lucca’s gaze wandered over her features. “I knew if I brought you up here, I’d be able to resolve it in my mind.”
For no good reason her heart rate sped up. “What have you concluded?”
“I’m going to suggest we put a moratorium on any building, but we’ll restore the church and any existing structures needing repair work.”
She smiled at him. “Two hundred years from now your country will praise you for your vision.”
He cocked his head. “You think I want praise?”
“In the best sense, yes. If I were a monarch, I would like to think I’d left a legacy that preserved a vital slice of the country’s origins. Otherwise what would people in the future have to look forward to?”
Lucca seemed to ponder her comment before he said, “You’ve just helped me write the essence of my coronation speech. For that gift I’m going to take you inside the inn and buy you a lunch of fresh brook trout that will melt in your mouth.”
By now she was famished. “How do you say trout?”
“Trota di fiume.”
