THE DOOR SLIPPED CLOSED.
Darkness surrounded her.
Bianca’s heart raced. She was alone in the pitch black with her kidnapper. Her palms grew moist. Her mouth was dry. She had to do something. Fast.
Having gained her wits, she used all her might and kicked the person behind her. There was the muttering of a male voice. Immediately he released her. She spun around, but she couldn’t so much as see her hand in front of her face.
“What’d you go and do that for?”
She immediately recognized that voice. It was Leo. Leo? What was he doing grabbing her out of the ballroom into—whatever this room was?
“Leo? Is that you?”
“Who else did you think it’d be?” He sounded a bit exasperated.
“I don’t know. Some kidnapper. Or worse.”
“You are safe. It’s just me.”
Her gaze moved around the room. Even though her eyesight had adjusted to the darkness, she couldn’t make out anything, including him. “Leo, what are you doing? Why did you kidnap me from the ballroom?”
“I didn’t kidnap you.”
“Really? Because it sure seemed like it to me.” She turned around. Her hands stretched out in the darkness, searching for the door. “How do I get out of here?”
“Come with me.”
“No. Now turn on the lights.”
It took a couple of seconds but then a bare lightbulb lit up. She glanced around, finding that they were in some sort of passageway. And she couldn’t make out a door.
“Where’s the door?”
He pointed to a spot on the wall. It looked like the rest of the wall. And there was no door handle. She moved to it and tried to push it open but it wouldn’t budge.
“Bianca, stop.” The agitation had drained from his voice. “Let me explain.”
Having no success with opening the door, she whirled around to him. “Is there another way out of here?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Aren’t you even going to let me explain?”
She was mad at him. She didn’t think anything he had to say at the moment was going to change that fact. “No. Let’s go.”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “Follow me.”
He led her through a tunnel. In places the tunnel narrowed and they had to pass through it sideways. In other places there were wooden stairs.
“What is all of this?” she asked.
“So you’re speaking to me again?”
She huffed. If he thought that he was off the hook, he was wrong. She didn’t bother answering him. He could come to his own conclusion.
Not pushing his luck, the prince said, “These are secret passages that weave their way through the palace.”
“I’ve heard of palaces having secret passageways but I thought they were just works of fiction.”
“Now you know differently.”
“But how do you know where you’re going? There are so many different ways to go.” She stayed close to him so as not to get left behind.
“I learned these tunnels when I was a kid.”
“How did you keep from getting lost?”
“I did get lost, but my father found me. He taught me how to navigate the tunnels so I never got lost again. Once you figure it out, it’s no harder than walking through the halls of the palace.”
“Uh-huh.” She didn’t believe him.
If she was in here alone, not only would she be scared, but she was certain she’d never find her way out. She’d become a ghost that haunted the palace.
And then a thought came to her. “Is this place haunted?”
“Haunted?”
“Uh-huh. You know, ghosts that got trapped in these passageways.”
Leo stopped and turned to her. In the cramped space they ended up being much closer than she was prepared for. His gaze met hers, making her heart pound. That’s all it took—a look—for her body to respond to him.
She was so tempted to lift up on her tiptoes and press her lips to his. She wondered how he would react. Would he pull her closer? Would he wrap his arms around her, crushing her soft curves to his very muscular chest?
But that wasn’t part of her plan. She was supposed to ignore these unwanted feelings. After all, he had practically kidnapped her from the party. Still, it’d be so easy to just live in the moment—this very intimate and most unique set of circumstances.
As though Leo could sense her conflicted emotions, he leaned forward as though to tip the scales in his favor. The breath hitched in her throat. He was going to kiss her.
But she couldn’t let him off the hook that easy. Her hands moved, pressing against his very firm chest. Surprise flashed in his eyes.
“Don’t even think about it.” As the stern warning passed over her lips, her heart sank in her chest.
“Are you saying the thought hadn’t crossed your mind?”
She wasn’t playing this game with him because she knew that she would end up losing. “I’m saying that you aren’t getting off the hook that easily. Shouldn’t you be here with your girlfriend?”
His brows drew together. “What girlfriend? I have no girlfriend.”
She desperately wanted to believe him, but she knew what she saw. “The woman you were walking with in the gardens the night you cancelled our dinner plans.”
His eyes momentarily widened. “You saw us?”
“I did.”
“And that’s why you’ve been so distant?”
“I’ve been busy.” She answered a little too quickly—a little too vehemently.
He nodded in understanding, though they both knew it was much more than work that kept Bianca away from him.
“The woman you saw me with is an old friend of the family. I’m not now nor was I ever interested in her for anything other than friendship. We went for a walk while her father and the queen talked business. That is all.”
“Really?” She wanted to take back the question, but it was too late.
“Really.”
He said all the right words, but this thing between them—it was like playing with fire. It’d be so easy to get caught up in the flames—and get burned.
And then realizing that she was still touching him—still absorbing his body heat through his white dress shirt—she yanked her hands back to her sides. But it was too late. His energy had been absorbed into her body and it coursed through her faster than the speed of light. It warmed her chest and melted her core into a puddle of need.
No. This isn’t going to happen. He isn’t going to take what he wants.
She thought of stepping back, allowing more space between them, but she didn’t want him to read weakness in her movement. And so she stood there, rooted to the spot. Her determined gaze continued to hold his. She would not let him detect any weakness in her.
But she was starting to wonder how long she could keep this up. Because every fiber of her being craved him.
He stood there for a moment as though questioning her decision. But her determination was stronger than the way his dark eyes could make her knees turn to gelatin. Wasn’t it?
Before she could answer that question, he turned and continued through the passageway. She followed him as they ascended a set of narrow steps with no handrail. Bianca pressed her hands to the cold stone walls to balance herself. They kept going up and up. Then there was a switchback and they ascended another flight of steps.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re almost there.”
That didn’t really answer her question. But she would be grateful to get out of this secret passageway. She felt totally disoriented and utterly reliant on Leo—the man of mystery. She wondered what other secrets he had and if any of them were nearly as interesting as these passageways.
At last they reached a doorway, if it could be called that. It was more like a movable part of the wall. A faint bit of light lit the way.
As they stepped out of the wall, Bianca asked, “Where are we?”
There wasn’t a voice to be heard. So they were a long way from the ballroom. And there weren’t any other sounds. They were alone. All alone.
Stay focused.
But he’s so cute. And what happens here would be our secret.
But he hasn’t apologized. He can’t just do what he wants without consequences.
Leo turned to her on what appeared to be some sort of landing. There was a set of stairs to his left and a single step that led to a wooden door on his right. The window let in the moonlight.
“We are in the east tower,” he said.
Her heart pitter-pattered in her chest.
Why had he brought her here?
Now that he had her alone, he wasn’t sure this was such a good idea. But it was too late to back out now.
“I wanted you to have the best vantage point. Come on.” Leo took Bianca’s hand and led her up the step and out the door.
“Vantage point for what?” She glanced around.
In the moonlight, the general layout was visible. Leo let go of her hand and lit some torches. A warm glow filled the space and highlighted the large daybed with a twin mattress and a dozen plush pillows.
“What is this place?” Bianca asked.
“It’s my private spot. It’s where I come when I have a lot on my mind. Sometimes I sleep out here.”
He gazed into her eyes.
His heart pounded against his ribs. All he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and crush his lips against hers. He wanted to forget his duty—his obligations. In Bianca’s arms, he was certain he would find the release he was seeking.
But when she gazed up at him like he hung the stars—like she was doing now—guilt assailed him.
He needed to be honest with her. She needed to know the real him. Because he wasn’t the perfect prince that his mother portrayed to the world.
His thoughts drifted back to the week he’d spent on this very terrace, refusing to go back inside the palace. It had been the darkest point in his life—
“Leo, what’s the matter?” Bianca’s voice drew him from his troubled thoughts.
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
“It’s something. The pain is written all over your face. I’m a pretty good listener—that is if you want to talk about it.”
He hadn’t talked about it with anyone. Not even his mother. And she had been there—she’d gone through the nightmare, not exactly with him. They’d each gone through it in their own individual ways.
Leo turned and gazed into Bianca’s eyes. “I don’t want to ruin this night for you.”
“You won’t. I’d like to think we’re friends and that we can confide in each other.” She stared into his eyes as though she could see clear through to his soul. “Does it have something to do with your father?”
How did she do that? How did she know what he was thinking? Did she have some sort of special power? Or were his thoughts that transparent?
“How did you know?”
She shrugged. “It was just a guess. But you never talk about him. How come?”
Leo took her hand and led her over to the daybed. They perched on the edge of it. He was trying to find a place to start. He supposed the best place to start was the beginning.
“I’d looked up to my father all of my life. When I grew up, I wanted to be just like him. The problem was that I had no idea what that would entail.”
“I can’t even begin to imagine. And I thought I had it hard fitting into my family.”
He shook his head. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I’m not the good guy you think I am.”
“Sure you are. Look at what you’re doing for your sister. And how you took time out of your busy schedule to attend your friend’s wedding. And then there’s what you’re doing for me—”
“Stop.” He held up a hand as though blocking her compliments. “You don’t understand. None of that can undo the past.”
He recalled how his mother made him promise to never speak of his father’s death. She wanted to sweep all the unsavory details under the rug, where no one would notice them. His mother wanted the picture-perfect family and the unblemished prince to ascend to the throne. She wanted to live a lie because none of those things existed in real life.
But he’d already lashed out at his father and it had cost his father his life. Leo couldn’t lose his only remaining parent and so he did as the queen wanted. However, it came with a price. Every time he had to gloss over the details or leave out a fact, especially when talking to his own sister, it’d killed a little piece of him.
He’d been living with the secret for so long that it felt as though it was going to smother him unless he let it out. And Bianca was so easy to talk to. It was though he could tell her anything and she would understand. But would she look at him the same way once he told her his secret?
He drew in an unsteady breath. Peeling back the scabs hurt just like the nightmare had happened yesterday. But this wasn’t about his comfort. It was about proving to Bianca that he wasn’t worthy of her.
He stared straight ahead into the black sky. “I was sixteen. And I wanted to go on holiday with one of my friends to the lake. But my father told me I had responsibilities to attend to. I was a kid. I hated being in the spotlight. I hated being escorted by bodyguards everywhere. I hated being different.”
“It must have been difficult. I think every kid just wants to fit in. I know I did.”
Her words of comfort gave him the encouragement he needed to continue. “When I told him I was going with my friends and nothing he said could stop me, my father grew angry and started yelling at me. He told me it was time I grew up. He had plans for me to attend a royal wedding in another country. He said I would meet an appropriate young woman.”
Leo could still recall his outrage when he realized his father had already chosen the young woman he was to marry. He wasn’t even an adult yet and his whole life had been planned without even consulting him.
“I told him I didn’t want to date anyone. My father said this wasn’t going to be a date. This young woman would be my future wife.” The exact words of that horrific fight were a little lost on him. “My father suddenly grew quiet. I thought it meant he was giving in to my demands. Being a kid, I told him I quit being a prince. That my sister could be queen. By then he was perspiring and his face was a pasty color.” Leo could still see his father’s sickly image in his mind. “He strode up to me. I never saw him so angry. Ever.” Leo’s voice faltered. “He told me I couldn’t quit. I was a prince by blood. It was an honor—a privilege. And...”
Bianca reached out and squeeze his hand. There was so much to that innocent touch. There was kindness, compassion. Both of which he didn’t deserve.
He swallowed hard, hoping his voice wouldn’t fail him. He had to get out this secret that he’d been keeping so deep within him. It was as though it was choking him. And the only way he could take a full breath was to get it all out in the open.
“I should have known that something was seriously wrong with him. He’d been sweating profusely and he’d looked awful, but I was only worried about myself and being with my friends. I wasn’t giving up. I kept yelling at my father. I... I can’t believe those angry, hurtful words were the last ones I said to him.” Tears stung his eyes as emotion choked off his next words.
Bianca shifted closer to him as though letting him know that she was there to lean on. Then ever so softly, she said, “He knew you loved him.”
“Did he? Because when he stopped yelling midsentence the look in his eyes was full of rage. And...and then he collapsed.” He ran the back of his hand over his eyes. “I don’t know how long I stood there like a complete and utter fool.”
“You were in shock.”
“But it was my father—the king. If I’d acted faster, maybe things would have been different.”
“I don’t think a few seconds would have changed things. It was out of your hands.”
“You might be the only one who thinks that. Because when I finally came to my senses and started screaming for help, my mother entered the room. When she rushed over to my father, she asked me what had happened. I told her we’d been fighting and he’d collapsed. She looked at me as though it was all my fault. Then she made me promise not to mention a word of what had happened to anyone, including my sister.”
“That’s a huge secret for a kid to keep. Is that why there’s a distance between you and your mother?”
He shrugged. “Everything was different after that. She had to become the regent and it was a position she didn’t want, but she said that duty must be upheld. So I guess she holds that against me too.”
Bianca placed a finger on the side of his jaw, encouraging him to meet her gaze. “And you’ve been blaming yourself all of this time?”
“It was my fault. If I hadn’t been so insistent on having my way, things would have been different.”
“Or they might have happened the same way. I don’t think anything you said or did would have changed your father having a heart attack. And did you ever think your mother was trying to protect you? Maybe she struggled stepping into such an important role and by taking a firm line, it was her way of proving to everyone, including herself, that she was up to the challenge.”
He paused, giving Bianca’s words some serious thought. “I never thought of it that way. My mother always seemed so calm, so in control.”
“Maybe you only saw what she wanted you to see.”
His gaze searched Bianca’s. “You really don’t think I had any part in my father’s death?”
“I don’t. And I think if he was here, he’d tell you the same thing.”
Those are the words that he’d longed to hear. He just hadn’t known it. And having shared his deepest-held secret with Bianca, they now had a bond he knew would never be broken.
Her heart raced.
She’d never felt as close to anyone as she did in that moment—
A great big boom shook the ground.
Bianca instinctively reached out for Leo. Her fingers wrapped around his muscular bicep.
“Relax,” he said. “Everything is okay.”
Was it? Okay, that is. Because she was beginning to wonder if those passageways had taken them back in time and they were suddenly a couple hundred years in the past. The boom could be that of a canon aimed at the palace. When she was with Leo, it was easy to believe that anything was possible.
But then again, maybe she’d had one too many sips of champagne. As another softer boom filled the air, she braced herself for the palace to shake, but instead she saw the sky fill with light—colorful shades of pink and blue.
Fireworks. She breathed more easily. And then quickly withdrew her hand from Leo’s arm. She moved to the stone wall at the edge of the tower. There wasn’t a soul near them. They were so high up that it felt as though they were in the sky with millions of stars sparkling around them.
And then she felt Leo’s presence just behind her. She waited for him to reach out and touch her. Her traitorous heart picked up its pace in anticipation.
When she turned her face to him, he said, “I’m sorry. I handled this night all wrong.”
He looked at her like she should say something here, but if he was waiting for her to disagree with him, he’d be waiting a long time.
As the silence stretched between them, Leo cleared his throat. “It’s just when I saw Donatello flirting with you and you enjoying it...it bothered me.”
When his gaze lifted to meet hers, she searched his brown depths. Not finding the answer she was looking for, she asked, “Why did it bother you who I was talking to?”
He stepped closer to her, so close that they were practically touching. All the while the booms of the fireworks sounded in the background and the sky lit up with a rainbow of colors.
And then he reached out to her, caressing her cheek ever so gently. “Because every time you smiled, I wanted you to be smiling at me. And when you let out that contagious bubbly laugh of yours, I wanted it to be because I made you happy. And when you danced, I wanted it to be my arms wrapped around you, holding you close.”
She lifted her chin ever so slightly. And then in a breathy voice, she asked, “You did?”
He gave a slight nod of his head. “I did. Do you know how hard I’ve been fighting my attraction to you?”
“I have some idea. I’ve been doing the same thing.”
Desire reflected in his eyes. “I’ve wanted to do this since the first moment I spotted you this evening.” He lowered his head and caught her lips with his own.
The breath stilled in her lungs. There were a million reasons why this shouldn’t be happening. And in that moment, those reasons dissipated into the starry night.
With the cascade of white-and-blue fireworks overhead, Leo’s mouth pressed to hers. Her heart leaped into her throat. This was really happening. Leo was kissing her again.
In that moment, it didn’t matter that he was a prince. To her, he was just Leo—the man who made her heart race with just a look. There was so much more to him than a fancy title. And she was anxious to continue peeling back the layers that made Leo such an exceptional man.
As his lips moved over hers, she let herself get wrapped up in the moment. The boom and crackle of the fireworks faded into the background. Right now, Leo was shooting off fireworks in her mind...and her heart.
Her arms, almost of their own volition, moved up his chest, over his broad shoulders and wrapped around his neck, drawing him closer. She wanted more. She needed more.
And yet, he took an agonizingly long time savoring her lips—refusing to rush the moment like she was apt to do.
She couldn’t tell if it was the boom of the fireworks or the pounding of her heart that filled her ears. Not that it mattered. The only thing she cared about at the moment was that this kiss never ended. Because she knew deep in her heart that this moment was very precious. They were making a memory that she would cherish for the rest of her life.
When Leo pulled back all Bianca wanted to do was to draw him near once more—to feel his warm lips pressed to hers. She struggled to calm her rushed breaths.
“Bianca, if you want me to stop,” his voice was raspy as he drew in one quick breath after the other, “tell me now.”
Was he serious? “Don’t stop.”
“You’re sure? Because I don’t just want you for this moment—I want you to stay the night with me beneath the stars.”
She glanced around. “Won’t someone find us here?”
A deep laugh bubbled up from deep in his chest. “Trust me, they know better. When I’m up here, I want to be alone.”
“And how many other women have you brought here?” She didn’t know why she’d asked, but she knew the answer was important to her. The breath hitched in her throat as she waited.
“You, ma chère, are the first.”
Knowing this was as special to him as it was to her warmed a spot in her chest. She took him by the hand and led him to the daybed. She sank down on the soft cushion as Leo joined her.
When she turned her head to him, he claimed her eager lips once more. Oh, yes, this was most definitely what she needed. He was what she needed...as much as her lungs needed oxygen.
That evening, she let go of all her worries about the DNA tests, the plans for the royal wedding and the future of her business. Lying there wrapped in Leo’s very strong, capable arms, all she could think about was him, her, them.
All the problems could wait. Right now, there was a driving need to see where their star-studded night would take them.