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A Night Of Royal Consequences
Susan Stephens
Claiming his one-night babyCallie Smith gave up everything to care for her alcoholic father. After his death, she’s finally able to follow her own dreams. And what better way to celebrate than by spending an out-of-character—but outrageously sinful!—night with gorgeous Italian prince, Luca Fabrizio?To preserve his family dynasty, Luca was planning to marry a convenient bride—until Callie reveals the consequences of their heated encounter! Having just taken back her freedom, Callie refuses to wear his ring. To legitimise his heir, Luca must persuade her that life in the royal bed will more pleasurable than she can possibly imagine!
Claiming his one-night baby
Callie Smith gave up everything to care for her alcoholic father. After his death, she’s finally able to follow her own dreams. And what better way to celebrate than by spending an out-of-character—but outrageously sinful—night with gorgeous Italian prince Luca Fabrizio?
To preserve his family dynasty, Luca was planning to marry a convenient bride—until Callie reveals the consequences of their heated encounter! Having just taken back her freedom, Callie refuses to wear his ring. To legitimize his heir, Luca must persuade her that life in his royal bed will be more pleasurable than she can possibly imagine!
‘You’re beautiful,’ Luca murmured, reassuring and disarming Callie all in one breath.
‘No, I’m not.’
‘I guess there’s only one way to convince you,’ he said, laughing softly.
He drew her closer, inch by inch, and then he kissed her. And this was not a teasing brush of his lips, but something more that drew emotion out of her until she was happy and sad, excited and confused, all at once. She was happy to be here with him, and sad because she knew it couldn’t last. He excited her. Her body was going crazy for more—which he knew. And she was apprehensive too, in case she got this terribly wrong. There were so many ways she could get this wrong.
‘Stop,’ Luca murmured against her mouth. ‘Stop thinking and just allow yourself to feel, for once. Go with your instincts, Callie.’
Her instincts were telling her that she wanted this badly. Even more than that, she wanted the connection between them to last. But she had to face facts. Luca was an itinerant worker, as was she, and they’d both move on.
He kissed away her doubts as he lowered her slowly to the ground…
One Night With Consequences (#u9c948c99-78d6-5220-9ac7-2d5985e6676b)
When one night…leads to pregnancy!
When succumbing to a night of unbridled desire
it’s impossible to think past the morning after!
But, with the sheets barely settled,
that little blue line appears on the pregnancy test and it
doesn’t take long to realise that one night of white-hot
passion has turned into a lifetime of consequences!
Only one question remains:
How do you tell a man you’ve just met
that you’re about to share more than just his bed?
Find out in:
The Guardian’s Virgin Ward by Caitlin Crews
A Child Claimed by Gold by Rachael Thomas
The Consequence of His Vengeance by Jennie Lucas
Secrets of a Billionaire’s Mistress by Sharon Kendrick
The Boss’s Nine-Month Negotiation by Maya Blake
The Pregnant Kavakos Bride by Sharon Kendrick
A Ring for the Greek’s Baby by Melanie Milburne
Engaged for Her Enemy’s Heir by Kate Hewitt
The Virgin’s Shock Baby by Heidi Rice
The Italian’s Christmas Secret by Sharon Kendrick
Look for more One Night With Consequences
coming soon!
A Night of Royal Consequences
Susan Stephens
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
SUSAN STEPHENS was a professional singer before meeting her husband on the Mediterranean island of Malta. In true Mills & Boon style, they met on Monday, became engaged on Friday and married three months later. Susan enjoys entertaining, travel and going to the theatre. To relax she reads, cooks and plays the piano, and when she’s had enough of relaxing she throws herself off mountains on skis or gallops through the countryside singing loudly.
Books by Susan Stephens
Mills & Boon Modern Romance
The Sicilian’s Defiant Virgin
In the Sheikh’s Service
Taming the Last Acosta
Secret Heir of Billionaires
The Secret Kept from the Greek
Wedlocked!
A Diamond for Del Rio’s Housekeeper
One Night With Consequences
Bound to the Tuscan Billionaire
Hot Brazilian Nights!
In the Brazilian’s Debt
At the Brazilian’s Command
Brazilian’s Nine Months’ Notice
Back in the Brazilian’s Bed
The Skavanga Diamonds
Diamond in the Desert
The Flaw in His Diamond
The Purest of Diamonds?
His Forbidden Diamond
Visit the Author Profile page
at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk) for more titles.
For my most excellent editor, Megan,
who is a joy to work with.
Contents
Cover (#u06f2ef21-a595-58f7-9181-9c2121330215)
Back Cover Text (#ub49f608d-186a-5581-a46d-bf220aa03ef8)
Introduction (#u90ea397c-a707-5e24-afb7-6365f9caab81)
One Night With Consequences (#u99f6e3a8-6547-5acc-b58a-fc1856d18c0a)
Title Page (#u4ed97bd3-1cf7-5754-b05f-041de55db24f)
About the Author (#uec0b0d55-ffeb-5a40-91d2-22fc26402920)
Dedication (#u817284d7-4a81-57cf-80aa-26a7c5c2c74d)
CHAPTER ONE (#ud0bc81a6-8ae5-560b-aebd-78eb8178cc66)
CHAPTER TWO (#u3ff6e171-a312-51f6-aa82-14902b237a42)
CHAPTER THREE (#ubb631406-6012-55b7-838a-2d64799f71a6)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u9c948c99-78d6-5220-9ac7-2d5985e6676b)
AS FUNERALS WENT, this was as grand as it got. As tradition demanded Luca, who was now the ruling Prince, arrived last, to take his place of honour in the packed cathedral. He was seated in front of the altar beneath a cupola with images painted by Michelangelo. Towering bronze doors to one side were so stunningly crafted they were known as the ‘gateway to paradise’. Tense with grief, Luca was aware of nothing but concern that he’d pulled out all the stops for a man to whom he owed everything. Flags were flown at half-mast across the principality of Fabrizio. Loyal subjects lined the streets. Flowers had been imported from France. The musicians were from Rome. A procession of priceless horse-drawn carriages drew dignitaries from across the world to the cathedral. Luca’s black stallion, Force, drew his father’s flag-draped coffin on a gun carriage with the Prince’s empty boots reversed in the stirrups. It was a poignant sight, but the proud horse held his head high, as if he knew his precious cargo was a great man on his final journey.
As the new ruler of the small, but fabulously wealthy principality of Fabrizio, Luca, the man the scandal sheets still liked to call ‘the boy from the gutters of Rome’, was shown the greatest respect. He’d moved a long way from those gutters. Innate business acumen had made him a billionaire, while the man he was burying today had made him a prince. This magnificent setting was a long way from the graffiti-daubed alleyways of Luca’s childhood where the stench of rotting rubbish would easily eclipse the perfume of flowers and incense surrounding him today. The peeling plaster and flyposting of those narrow alleyways replaced by exquisite gothic architecture, the finest sculpture, and stained glass. In his wildest dreams, he had never imagined becoming a prince. As a boy, it had been enough to have scraps he stole from bins to fill his belly and rags to cover his back.
He inclined his head graciously as yet another European princess in need of a husband acknowledged him with an enticing smile. Fortunately, he’d retained the street smarts that warned him of advantage-takers. He wouldn’t be chaining himself down to a simpering aristo any time soon. Though he could do nothing about the testosterone running through his veins, Luca conceded wryly. Even freshly shaved and wearing dress uniform, he looked like a swarthy brawler from the docks. His appearance had been one thing his adoptive father, the late Prince, had been unable to refine.
Well over six feet tall and deeply tanned, with a honed, warrior’s frame, Luca couldn’t be sure of his parentage. His mother had been a Roman working girl. His father, he guessed, was the man who used to pester her for money. The late Prince was the only parent he remembered clearly. He owed the Prince his education. He owed him everything.
They’d met in the unlikely setting of the Coliseum, where the Prince had been on an official visit, and Luca had been stealing from the bins. He had not expected to come to the notice of such a grand man, but the Prince had been shrewd and had missed nothing. The next day he had sent an aide de camp with an offer for Luca to try living at the palace with the Prince’s son, Max. They would be company for each other, the Prince had insisted, and Luca would be free to go if he didn’t like his life there.
Young and street smart, Luca had had the sense to be wary, but he’d been hungry, and filling his belly had been worth taking a chance. That chance had led to this, which was why honouring the Prince was so important to him. He held his adoptive father in the highest esteem, for teaching him everything about building a life, rather than falling victim to it. But the Prince had left one final warning on his deathbed. ‘Max is weak. You will follow me onto the throne as my heir. You must marry and preserve my legacy to the country I believe we both love.’
Clasping his father’s frail hand in his, Luca had given his word. If he could have willed his strength into a man he loved unreservedly, he would have done that too. He would have done anything to save the life of the man who’d saved him.
As if reading Luca’s thoughts, his adoptive brother Maximus glared at him now from across the aisle. There was no love lost between the two men. Their father had failed to form any sort of relationship with Max, and Luca had failed too. Max preferred womanising and gambling to statecraft. He’d never shown any interest in family at all. He favoured the hangers-on who flocked around him, lavishing praise on Max in hope of his favour. Luca had soon learned that, while the Prince was his greatest supporter, Max would always be his greatest enemy.
Picking up the order of service to distract himself from Max’s baleful glare, Luca scanned his father’s long list of accomplishments and titles with great sadness. There would never be such a man again, a thought that made him doubly determined to fulfil his pledge to the letter. ‘You are a born leader,’ his father had told him, ‘and so I name you my heir.’ No wonder Max hated him.
Luca hadn’t looked for the honour of being heir to the throne of Fabrizio. He didn’t need the money. He could run the country out of pocket change. Success had come when he’d nagged his father to let him bring Fabrizio up to date, and had insisted on studying tech at university. He’d gone on to become one of the most successful men in the industry. His global holdings were so vast his company almost ran itself. This was just as well as he had to turn his thoughts to ruling a country, and to filling the empty space beside him.
‘If you fail to do this within two years,’ his father had said on his deathbed, ‘our constitution states that the throne will pass by default to your brother.’ They both knew what that meant. Max would ruin Fabrizio. ‘This is your destiny, Luca,’ his father had added. ‘You cannot refuse the request of a dying man.’
