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Jules was understandably bewildered. “How old are you?”
“Almost thirteen.”
Going on a hundred, Darrell muttered inwardly. Alex flashed her an amused glance as if he’d just thought the same thing. Her heart lurched every time he looked at her.
“Isabella’s not your mother,” Jules declared.
“No,” Darrell interjected, trying to ignore Alex. “I am. My name is Darrell Collier. I’m very pleased to meet you, Jules.” She put out her hand, which he shook politely. But it was clear he was puzzled.
Who wouldn’t be? The poor boy didn’t know Melissa had given birth to Phillip. But this was hardly the time and place for Darrell or Alex to get into the specifics.
Unfortunately it left the impression that Darrell and Alex had been lovers. One day soon the truth would come out. In the meantime she had to withstand Jules’s curiosity.
He finally switched his gaze back to Alex. “Then how come you’re going to marry Isabella?”
Darrell had anticipated his question and was ready for it. “Because she’s a royal princess and they love each other very much.”
“Isabella’s really cool,” Phillip piped up.
Jules glanced back at his new relative in fascination. “What does cool mean?”
“She’s a fox.”
Well, well, well. If her son said it, it meant Isabella was a true beauty.
Of course she would be, but the knowledge acted like a dagger plunged in Darrell’s heart.
“A fox?” Jules questioned.
Alex burst into laughter.
Jules looked so worn-out trying to figure everything out, Darrell took pity on him.
“What Phillip’s trying to say is that Isabella is a lovely person.”
Those light blue eyes studied her, then Phillip. “Do you want to come and see Great-Aunt Katerina’s dogs?”
“Sure. What kind are they?”
Jules looked to Alex for the answer.
“In English they’re called golden retrievers. Stick with my son, Jules, and your English vocabulary is going to skyrocket.”
“Go on with him,” Darrell urged Phillip. “I’m going back for a soak in the tub.”
He grinned. “You didn’t do half bad on that horse, Mom.”
“Thanks a lot, Roy.”
Her allusion to Roy Rogers, the famous cowboy, would be lost on Jules, but Alex and Phillip laughed.
“Come on, Dad.”
She felt Alex’s gaze compelling her to look at him, but that was all over. She didn’t dare allow herself another second alone with him. She didn’t want a postmortem of what had happened up on the mountain. Until Alex and Isabella sorted things out in the next couple of days, she intended to stay sequestered in the apartment away from everyone.
Turning on her heel, she took a path through the trees that would lead back to the castle without her having to see Alex’s mother.
One day they would have to meet, but not right now. Not while the feel and taste of her son’s hands and mouth had rocked Darrell’s world.
CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_05e9a1d5-bcc1-5044-8349-5a0d704346ee)
ALEX left Phillip and the boys in his mother’s apartment. She’d invited all of them to lunch. Knowing they’d be occupied several hours at least, he slipped out to take the inevitable phone call from Isabella.
Her parents expected him for dinner. That gave him three hours to talk to Darrell before the helicopter took off.
He had an idea she’d barricaded herself in the suite. The passion they’d shared had not only scared the daylights out of her, but it had changed him into someone he didn’t know anymore.
He took the stairs down to the second floor and walked through the hallway until he reached her door. Before he knocked, he pulled out his cell phone to call her.
There was no answer, however he hadn’t expected her to pick up.
He knew instinctively she was hiding from him. Maybe she would answer the door if he knocked, thinking it was the maid. But there was no response—no sound to indicate she was inside.
In his gut he knew she’d made up her mind not to open it, not even for the king.
But the man could gain access to her without anyone knowing about it—the man Alex had been repressing since that wild night years ago—the man who seemed to have been reborn since discovering he had a son…
The only way to do this meant going through the music room on the first floor located directly below the Saxony apartment. The rope Chaz had attached from the balcony to reach both floors still hung outside the window.
Driven by a need he could no longer control, Alex went downstairs and stole inside the room past the grand piano. He opened the window to test the rope’s strength, figuring it would still hold him. If it didn’t, he’d fall in the lake. It had happened many times before without incident.
After getting out on the ledge, he grasped the thick cord and started climbing hand over hand.
It wasn’t as easy as it used to be. The years had taken a toll on his athletic prowess. If Chaz saw him now, he’d laugh his head off.
One more burst of energy and he would be home free.
“Darrell Collier?” he called out to her. “I’m coming up to you so be warned!”
In the next instant he heard an answering scream. Luckily the thick castle walls would have muted her cry.
“I hope you’re presentable because I’m almost there. We have to talk.”
He threw his arm over the balcony wall and hoisted himself so only his head and shoulders were visible.
She stood there clutching the lapels of her robe to her throat. “Are you out of your mind, Alex?”
He could read several emotions coming from those violet eyes, but the dominant one was fear for his safety.
“That all depends on your definition,” he drawled.
She stamped her foot impatiently. “You’re going to fall!”
“It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Be serious,” she begged. Her face had gone pale.
“I’ve never been more serious in my life. I have to fly to Italy in a little while, so I won’t be able to see you or Phillip until tomorrow.”
Her appealing body was trembling. “You could have phoned me with that information.”
“I tried. When that didn’t work I knocked on your door.”
She bit her lip. “I—I was asleep.”
“Here at the window you mean?”
Suddenly her color came flooding back into her cheeks. “This isn’t funny, Alex. You could plunge to your death. Please come inside,” she implored him.
“You’re sure? I wouldn’t want you accusing me of taking advantage of you.”
“Yes, I’m sure!” she practically shouted at him.
“Since you asked me so nicely, I think I will.”
Another lunge brought him within a foot of her. She backed away like a frightened fawn in the forest.
She had every right to be nervous of him. At the moment he was feeling invincible. But it was the wrong decade, the wrong country, the wrong woman.
“I’m not going to apologize for kissing you today. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You’re a beautiful woman. It was one of those incredible summer mornings, and I couldn’t resist.
“That’s no excuse, but it’s the best explanation I can offer. As long as I’m engaged to Isabella, I swear it won’t happen again. That’s what I came to say. I want you to be able to trust me. If we don’t have that, we don’t have anything.”
“I agree.” Her voice caught. “What happened was both our faults. Of course I trust you. I think the situation with Phillip threw us, but no longer.”
Phillip had nothing to do with the chemistry between them, Alex reasoned to himself. But he decided to let her remark pass because he had tangible proof she desired him, too. She could deny it all she wanted, but the fact remained they were both on fire for each other with no help in sight.
“You sound totally recovered.”
“I am,” she assured him. After pausing for breath she asked, “Where’s Phillip now?”
“With mother and the boys. Though she’s not ready to admit it yet, she’s having the time of her life getting to know her grandson. The boys are in shock. The reality of Phillip has already shaken Vito out of his morose state. As for Jules, he’s just plain delighted with his upstart cousin from across the Atlantic.”
Her mouth curved upward, bewitching him. “Upstart is right.”
“Darrell—” he said before she could say anything else. “I know how hard the situation is on you. I don’t expect you to remain in this limbo forever. Just give me until tomorrow. After being with Isabella, I’ll know a lot more.”
She nodded. “It’s all right. I checked with Jack. He told me to use this time for my vacation.”
Alex’s hands curled into fists. No doubt Jack was counting the hours until she flew back. What a fool her boss was to let her out of his sight.
“Is there anything I can do for you before I leave? Anything at all?”
She shook her gilt-blond head without looking at him. “I feel like I’m living in a dream. How could I possibly want anything more?”
How indeed.
“I’ll be in touch with you in the morning and we’ll go from there. Do me a favor and answer the phone so I don’t have to risk my life a second time in order to have a conversation with you?”
She lifted anxious eyes to him. “I’m sorry. I promise to answer it.”
Before he proved that he couldn’t keep a promise to her five minutes, let alone a lifetime, he slipped back over the side of the balcony.
“Alex—”
She sounded terrified for him, but he kept on going, not daring to let her cries stop him or heaven help them both.
When he’d swung himself back inside the music room and had locked the window, he phoned the palace security guard out in the hall. “There’s a rope hanging from the balcony of the Saxony apartment to the outside of the music room. It’s a security risk and needs to be removed ASAP.”
“I thought you didn’t want it cut down.”
“I’ve changed my mind.” I don’t trust myself anymore.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Mom?”
“Hi, sweetheart!”
“Jules and Vito are with me.”
Glad she was showered and dressed in a blouse and skirt, she hurried into the drawing room of their apartment. The tenyear-old Vito looked like the rest of them. With so many similarities, they could all be brothers. It really was remarkable.
“You’re Vito. I’m so happy to meet you.”
“Hello, Ms. Collier.”
“Call her Darrell,” Phillip told him.
While they shook hands his darker blue eyes studied her with interest. “Jules and I have to go to the dentist. We’re going shopping, too. Can Phillip come with us? Mother says it’s okay. We’ll walk him back after dinner.”
She looked at Phillip. “Would you like to go?”
“Since Dad’s not here, sure.”
“Then it’s fine with me.” She looked at the boys. “Tell your mother thank you.”
“I will,” Vito replied, sounding too grown up for his age.
