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“I know. That’s because they want you for their king, and you need a queen. I understand that, but I’d rather you didn’t start using meaningless platitudes with me.”
“I was complimenting you,” he asserted.
“I’m glad we could help preserve Elena’s reputation along with your family’s, but I don’t want compliments. Your sister is doing much better these days and has a boyfriend who treats her well. Let’s be happy for that and avoid any unnecessary pretense.”
Antonio had come to the bridal suite already deeply immersed in troubled thoughts about their forthcoming marriage. Her last remark only added to his anxiety. He put the small velvet-lined box at the foot of the bed. After closing the doors quietly behind him, he left the bridal suite and walked down the corridor to the staircase of the three-storied palazzo.
Zach, his best friend, would be waiting for him in the bedroom just off the staircase of the second floor. By now some hundred and fifty guests had arrived for the ceremony, including his parents and their entourage. The small wedding Christina wanted had grown to royal proportions. It had been inevitable.
Antonio had met Christina when he went to Switzerland many times to visit his younger sister at boarding school. She always asked if her roommate, Christina, could come along with them when they went out for fondue au fromage or took the ferry to see the sights around Lake Geneva.
Though Antonio thought of Christina as his sister’s pudgy friend, he’d found her sensible and soft-spoken, and probably the sweetest girl he’d ever met. That favorable impression of her grew deep roots when she’d phoned him in the middle of the night about Elena four years ago.
His sister had needed help because she and her loser addict boyfriend had been hauled off to jail on drug possession. Her boyfriend had been arrested and charged. What if Elena was next to be tainted with a jail record?
The paparazzi would have blown his sister’s mistake into a royal scandal that would do great damage to the already damaged royal family. Antonio’s parents hadn’t been in favor with the country for a long time and were constantly being criticized in the press for their profligate ways.
In order to keep Elena’s latest scandalous affair out of the news, Antonio had to think of something quick to take the onus off his wayward younger sister. Thankful beyond words for Christina’s swift intervention with that phone call, he was able to turn things around and had talked her into entering into a mock engagement with him to create a new piece of news.
If the press focused on his stunning announcement, it would take up column space and deflect the paparazzi’s interest in his sister’s scandal, thus saving Elena’s poor reputation and the family from further scrutiny and ruin.
After some persuasion Christina had agreed to fly to Halencia and become his fiancée because she loved Elena and had believed the engagement wouldn’t last long. They’d be able to go their own separate ways at some future date. Or so Antonio had thought...
But once he’d leaked the news of their engagement to the press and it had gone public, everything changed. Elena’s problems with the paparazzi went away like magic. Even more startling, the news of his engagement to the unknown Christina Rose grew legs.
The country approved of the Cinderella fiancée doing charity work in Kenya, whom he’d plucked out of obscurity. Immediately there was a demand for a royal wedding to become front and center. Guido was insistent on it happening immediately.
Antonio understood why. The royal approval ratings had dropped to an all-time low. In particular, his and Elena’s philandering parents drew criticism with their string of affairs. There were accusations of them dipping into the royal coffers to fund their extravagant lifestyle. To his chagrin, Elena was also becoming infamous for her wild party ways and uncontrolled spending habits.
The press had been calling for the king and queen to step down. It was the will of the people that the monarchy be turned into a republic. Or...put Antonio on the throne.
A lot had gone wrong with his family while Antonio was pursuing his studies and business interests in the US. To his amazement, the separation that had distanced him from all this scandal had endeared him further to his subjects, who saw him as the one person to save the royal dynasty! Christina’s hope that there wouldn’t be a wedding was dashed. So was his... Guido’s phone calls to him had changed everything.
And had made him feel trapped.
Once Antonio reached the second floor of the palazzo, he entered the bedroom designated as the groom’s changing room.
“There you are!” Zach declared with relief. “You have a letter from your father.” He handed him an envelope.
Antonio opened it and after reading it, he put the note back in the envelope and slid it in his trouser pocket. What were his parents up to now, spending the taxpayers’ money on a honeymoon he hadn’t asked for? He couldn’t say no, but this was the last time public money would be spent on private, privileged citizens of the royal family.
“It’s getting late,” Zach reminded him. “You have to finish getting ready now. Lindsay has the wedding planned down to the second.”
Antonio looked at his best man through veiled eyes. “I had to deliver the brooch to Christina so she could pin it on her wedding dress before the ceremony.”
“How did that go?”
“She was hiding behind a screen and told me to leave.” Considering the fact that she’d been forced to go through with this marriage they hadn’t planned on, he shouldn’t have been surprised she sounded so upset.
“That was wedding nerves. Christina was a sweetheart when Lindsay and I met with her for her fittings,” Zach said, helping him on with the midnight blue royal dress uniform jacket.
After their unexpected exchange upstairs, Antonio didn’t exactly agree with his friend. “She’s not happy about this wedding going ahead.”
Zach attached the royal blue sash over his left shoulder to his right hip, signaling his rank as crown prince. “She’s a big girl, Antonio. No matter how much she cares for Elena, she wouldn’t have agreed to an engagement with you if deep down she hadn’t wanted to. Christina doesn’t strike me as a woman who would bow out on a commitment once she’d given her word.”
Antonio grimaced. “She wouldn’t,” he admitted, “but she would have had every right. When I was talking to her upstairs, I heard a mournful sound in her voice. She thought our engagement would have ended before now and she wouldn’t have to go through with a real wedding.” He’d felt her pain. From here on out he’d do everything he could to make her happy.
“You both underestimated the will of the people who want you to be their ruler.”
His jaw hardened. “But she didn’t ask for this.” He had a gut feeling there was trouble ahead.
“So use that genius brain of yours and look at your wedding as new territory. Think of it the way you do with every challenge you face at work. Think it and rethink it until it comes out right.”
“Thanks for the advice, Zach.”
His friend meant well, but Antonio couldn’t treat it as he would a business problem. Christina wasn’t a problem. She was a flesh-and-blood human being who’d sacrificed everything for her friend Elena. That kind of loyalty was so rare, Antonio was humbled by it. His concern was to be worthy of the woman whose selflessness had catapulted her to the highest rank in the kingdom.
Zach gazed at him with compassion. “Are you all right?”
He sucked in his breath. “I’m going to have to be. Because of you, I was able to give Christina that brooch. I can’t thank you enough for getting it from Sofia.”
“You know I’d do anything for you.”
A knock on the outer door caused both of them to look around. “Tonio—” his sister called out, using her nickname for him. “It’s time. You should be out at the chapel.”
“I know. I’ll be right there.”
“I hope you know how much I love you, brother dear.”
“I love you too, Elena.”
“Please be happy. You’re marrying the sweetest girl in the whole world.”
“You don’t have to remind me of that.” He’d put Christina on a pedestal since she agreed to their engagement. But he’d heard another side come out of her in the bridal suite.
“Lindsay says you two have to hurry!”
Zach’s wife had planned this wedding down to the smallest detail. The schedule called for a four-thirty ceremony to avoid the heat of the day. He checked his watch. In the next fifteen minutes Christina would walk down the aisle and become his unhappy bride.
“We’re coming,” Zach answered for them.
Antonio glanced at Zach. “This is it.”
“You look magnificent, Your Highness.”
“I wish I felt magnificent. Let’s go.”
* * *
Christina heard Elena’s tap on the door of the suite. “Come in.”
Her friend hurried in, wearing a stunning blush-colored chiffon gown. On her stylishly cut dark blond hair she wore a tiara. “You look like the princess of every little girl’s dreams,” Christina cried softly.
“So do you. The tiara Mother gave you looks like it was made for you.” Elena walked all the way around her, looking her up and down. “Guess what? This afternoon all eyes are going to be on you, chère soeur.” They would be sisters in a few minutes. Tears smarted Christina’s eyes. “Oh, la-la, la-la,” she said. “My brother will be speechless when he sees you at the altar. Your hair, it’s like red gold.”
“I just had some highlights put in.”
“And you got your teeth straightened. How come you didn’t do it a lot earlier in your life?”
“Probably reverse snobbery. Everyone thought I looked pathetic, so why not maintain the image? I knew it irked my parents. It upset me that they couldn’t accept me for myself. But when the wedding date was announced, I realized I would have to be an ambassador of sorts.
“Antonio deserves the best, so I knew I had to do something about myself and dress the right way. Until a month ago, I never spent money on clothes. It seemed such an extravagance when there are so many people in the world who don’t have enough to eat. Elegant high fashion wouldn’t have changed the way I looked.”
“Oh, Christina.” Elena shook her head sadly. “I always thought you were pretty, but now you’re an absolute knockout! If all the girls at our boarding school could see you, they’d eat their hearts out.”
Christina’s cheeks went hot with embarrassment. “Don’t be silly.”
“I’m being truthful. You’ve lost weight since the last time I saw you. Your figure is gorgeous. With your height, the kind I wish I had, that tiara gives you the elegance of a young queen. I’m not kidding. Lindsay found you the perfect gown and I love the interlocking hearts of your brooch. Is there anything more beautiful than diamonds?”
“It’s been in the Rose family for years and supposed to bring luck. Antonio brought it to the room earlier. Do you think I pinned it in the right place?”
“It’s right above your heart where it should be. You look as pure and perfect as I know you are.”
She averted her eyes. “You know I’m not either of those things.”
“I know how much your parents have hurt you, but you can’t let that ruin your opinion of yourself. One day they’ll realize you’re the jewel in their crown. Today my brother is going to see you as his prize jewel. I’ve never told you this before, but all the time we were in Switzerland together, I had the secret hope he would end up marrying you one day.”
I had the same hope, Christina admitted to herself, but she’d never confess it to anyone, not even Elena.
“The day I met you at school, you became the sister I never had and you never judged me. That has never changed. After we left school, our friendship has meant more to me than you will ever know.”
“I feel the same,” Christina said with a tremor in her voice.
“That awful night I phoned you when Rolfe was arrested for drugs, I knew I could count on you to help me. I believe it’s destiny you contacted Tonio. Now you’re about to become his bride to save my reputation.” Her eyes glistened with tears. “You have to promise me you’ll be happy, Christina. Tonio’s the best if you’ll give him a chance.”
Christina reached for Elena’s hands. “I know he’s the best because he was always kind to me when we were in Montreux. And because of his sacrifice for you, that takes brotherly love and goodness to a whole new level. He honors his family and his heritage. Who couldn’t admire him?”
“But I want you to learn to love him!” Her eyes begged.
“You’re talking a different kind of love.” After he’d phoned to tell her the date they were going to be married, she was forced to accept her fate. “I haven’t dated much, Elena. I did spend time with one doctor in Africa. But when I got engaged to Antonio, that ended any possibility of a relationship with him or any man, let alone potential love.”
In a way, her engagement had helped her to hide from love for fear that she would never be good enough for anyone. If she wasn’t good enough for her parents, why would she be good enough for any man?
Still, her parents had been overjoyed with the engagement, which made her happy. And Christina had adored Antonio in secret for years, not only for the way he loved Elena, but for his hard-work ethic. In Christina’s new position as his wife, the number of people she’d be able to help with her charities would be vastly increased. Was it worth giving up on the possibility of true love?
Christina had never felt worthy of love and so had never been hopeful of meeting “the one.” At the end of the day she’d reconciled herself to this marriage.
“Can you honestly tell me you’re not excited about your wedding night?”
“Oh, Elena—you’re such a romantic and I know you feel guilty about what’s happening, but don’t let that worry you. Yes, I’m excited, but mostly I’m nervous. Antonio and I have never spent time alone together. You know what I mean. But Antonio has been with other women both before and probably after our engagement. My eyes are wide-open where he is concerned. After the women he has been with, I’m afraid I’m not going to compare.”
A stricken look entered Elena’s eyes. “Don’t you dare say that! And don’t think about any of his past relationships. He knew they would never amount to anything, and today he’s marrying you.”
“I know, but it’s still hard to believe.” Christina stared at her friend. “I wasn’t convinced Antonio planned to go through with our nuptials. You can’t imagine my surprise when he finally called me and said I needed to start making the wedding plans with Lindsay.”
“He meant it, Christina. I know he got engaged to you to save my skin, but he could have chosen any number of eligible royal hopefuls. Why do you think he chose you?”
“I was...convenient.”
“That’s not the answer and you know it. There was something deeper inside that drove him to choose you. I think you need to think about that as you walk down the aisle toward him today looking like any man’s dream. If you don’t believe me, take one more look in the mirror.”
“You’re very sweet.”
“It’s true. Tonio came to Switzerland a lot during our days at boarding school. He liked you right off and enjoyed your company. He trusts you.”
“But he’s not in love with me.”
“Give him a chance and he will fall in love with you. I’ve always loved you and feel all the more indebted to you for the sacrifice you’re making to save me and our family from scandal. Will you promise me one thing?”
“If I can.”
“Pretend that today you’re going to get married to the man you’ve always loved and who has always loved you.”
I have always loved him...from a distance. There was no pretense on Christina’s part.
Elena rushed over to her and they hugged.
“What’s wrong, Elena? Are those tears?”
“I just don’t want anything to go wrong. This wedding is all my fault. I’ll pray for you and Antonio to be happy.”
Christina took a big breath, sensing that deep down Elena was really worried. Why? What wasn’t she telling her, unless her guilt was working overtime?
“It’ll be fine, Elena.” She’d made up her mind about that. Today was her wedding day and she was living her fantasy of marrying the prince of her dreams. For once in her life she planned to enjoy herself. She could do it. She’d seen herself in the mirror and felt confident to be his bride.
“You’d better start working on it right now,” Elena warned. “Otherwise you’re going to give everyone a heart attack if you don’t make an appearance in the chapel in the next minute.”
“I’m ready.”
“I love you, Christina.”
“The feeling’s mutual. You have to know that by now.”
Elena blew her a kiss. “I do.”
Together they walked down the stairs to the foyer of the palazzo and out the main entrance to the courtyard. The chapel faced the palazzo across the way with a beautiful fountain in the center. Lindsay was waiting for them inside the church doors of the foyer with their flowers.
She let out a gasp when she saw Christina. “You’re perfect! Better than anything I’d imagined. So perfect, in fact, I can’t believe my eyes.”
