Honeymoon With a Prince (Royal Scandals) (41 page)

“I’m doing what the client requested we do.
 
As we would do for you, were you to ask it of us.”
 

“In other words, I should ask within the family if I have questions.”

She didn’t respond.
 
Instead, she’d gazed at the necklace with pride.
 
“It’s an extremely valuable piece, Prince Massimo.
 
It belongs in a proper box, not one of our bags.
 
I don’t have an appropriate one here in the shop, but I can deliver one to you in the next few days.
 
It will protect the stones.”

He’d thanked her, then returned to the palace with more questions than ever.

Massimo slid the necklace into his blazer’s inside pocket, then rapped on the door of his parents’ private apartment.
 
To his surprise, Queen Fabrizia answered the door herself, standing back to give him room to pass before quietly closing the door.
 
She wore a red dress with a subtle white and gold Asian floral pattern.
 
It nipped in at the waist and highlighted her lithe form.
 
Her feet, on the other hand, were bare, a rarity even in her private space.

“Dinner will be here in a half-hour,” she said as she made her way to the apartment’s dining room.
 
“I’ve opened a bottle of my favorite Cabernet.
 
Join me?”

For the next few minutes, they went through their usual repertoire of small talk, encompassing the weather, their respective schedules, and discussion of the recent banquet.
 
Thankfully, the queen hadn’t noticed Massimo’s early departure.
 
Her focus was on the success of the event.

“At the moment, your father is working with his speechwriters on the address he’ll give to the European Union next week,” she said, giving her wine a lazy swirl.
 
“I don’t expect him back to the apartment until late.
 
You mentioned in the limousine that you wanted to talk about my projects and interests.
 
What, exactly, do you want to know?”

Massimo swallowed a bite of cracker topped with cheese and cucumber before answering. “I’ve wondered what led you to the various charities and causes you’ve chosen to support.
 
You came to the palace from the private sector and had to make decisions, as I am now, about where you’d focus your energies.
 
I’m curious about your process.”

She angled her head.
 
“When I married your father, there weren’t as many choices as there are now.
 
So perhaps it was easier.”

“Perhaps.”
 
As he reached for his wineglass the necklace inside his blazer shifted, giving him pause.
 
“Do you mind if I change the topic for a moment?
 
Kelly found something in my apartment that I’d like to show you.”
 

At her frown, he clarified, “Kelly’s the closet designer.”

“I know who Kelly is.
 
You forget, I make it a point to know everyone under my roof.”
 
She raised her glass to her lips as Massimo withdrew the velvet bag from his inside pocket.
 
Over the rim, she said, “I also know that you bailed her out of jail before hiring her.”

“How do you know about that?”

She took a long sip and savored it.
 
“Word travels.
 
I suspect there’s more to the story than the fact she found your dog on the beach and you just happened to need a closet designer, but we’ll save it for another day, shall we?”
 
Her lips parted slightly as she spied the distinctive blue fabric.
 
“I’m more interested in what you’re holding.”

“You should be.”
 
He placed the bag between them on the table, but kept his fingers tented over it.
 
“But first, tell me how you knew about Kelly.”

She eyed him cannily.
 
“Very well, then.
 
A staffer happened to enter the station by the back door as you were going out the front.”

“Let me guess…a member of Vittorio’s staff?”
 
The slight lift of his mother’s brow provided his answer.
 
“So there
is
something to the fraud rumor.
 
Vittorio told me he was monitoring the situation.”

“What else did your brother tell you?”

“We were in public, so he had to leave it at that.”
 
Though now Massimo’s curiosity was piqued.
 
A person so bold as to steal from the Barrali family defied logic. “But we’re alone.
 
What can
you
tell me?”
 
Another thought occurred to him.
 
“Does it have anything to do with his breakup with Carmella?”

The flash of surprise in her eyes, and her quick attempt to cover it, told Massimo he wasn’t far from the mark.
 
Damn.
 
He hurt for his brother.

The queen’s gaze fell to the table, where Massimo’s hand still partially covered the jewelry bag.
 
“For the moment, there’s nothing more to report than what Vittorio already told you.
 
But if you show me what’s in the Conti & Fancetti bag, I promise to tell you when there is.”

“Recognized it, did you?”

“Of course.”
 
She held her hand aloft, displaying her emerald ring.
 
“Those bags don’t just lie around waiting to be found by the staff.
 
I’m intrigued.”

He slid the blue velvet bag toward his mother.
 
Eagle-eyed as always, her attention immediately went to the hole in the bottom.
 
He could swear her jaw tightened at the sight, but she recovered so quickly he couldn’t be certain.
 

Slowly, she loosened the white tie that secured the neck and reached inside.
 
As she withdrew the necklace, revealing it jewel by jewel, her hand shook.
 
She spread it between the two of them, fashioning it in a circle as if it were in a luxury display case rather than surrounded by wine, cheese, and crudités.
 

“Where did she find this?
 
Was it in your closet?”

“Kelly asked me before the parade if she could use the antique mahogany bureau from my living room as part of the new closet design.
 
I told her to go ahead,” he explained.
 
“When she moved it, she discovered a hidden panel behind one of the lower drawers.
 
That was inside.”

The queen reached for her wineglass.
 
Her gaze, however, remained fixed on the necklace.
 
After a lengthy sip of her Cabernet, she asked, “Was anyone else present when Kelly discovered this?”

“Everyone was at the banquet.
 
She brought it to my attention immediately afterward.
 
No one else knows about it.
 
Needless to say, I was blown away.”

Queen Fabrizia released a long breath as her gaze travelled to the hole in the bottom of the bag, then back to the necklace itself.
 
“That was incredibly honest of her.
 
You’d be surprised how often people aren’t when faced with a temptation such as this.”

Her comment made him wonder once more about the fraud rumors.
 
Rather than needle her about a topic she either wouldn’t or couldn’t discuss, he said, “You’ve seen this necklace before, haven’t you?
 
You seem to recognize it.”

“Oh, yes.”
 
Her eyes were bright as she ran her fingertip around the edge of the central sapphire, the one that must have cost a fortune, even by Barrali standards.
 
She picked it up and tilted it in the light, which made the striations in the sapphire appear to move, like a star winking in the night.
 
“In fact, your father bought this stone and had the necklace made.”

Massimo sat back in his chair, stunned.
 
Despite the brilliance of the stones and settings, he’d assumed it to be older, perhaps from his grandparents’ or great-grandparents’ generation.
 
It was hard to imagine the straitlaced, practical King Carlo having such an extravagant piece secretly designed.
 
“That is an unreal gesture of love.”

The edge of his mother’s mouth twisted into her infamous half-smile.
 
“It was.”

“But I’ve never even heard of this necklace, let alone seen it.
 
Why haven’t you worn it?”

“Oh, it wasn’t made for me.
 
I imagine that’s why it was placed in the bureau.”

A knock sounded at the door as the sentence hung between them.
 
Massimo stood to answer it as Fabrizia swept the necklace back into the bag, then set the bag in her lap.
 
Once dinner was served and the waitstaff gone, she withdrew the necklace and returned it to the tabletop.

“Whose is it, then?”
 
Massimo asked, ignoring the salmon, strawberry, and pecan salad his mother ordered for him.
 
“Did he commission it for Grandmother?”
 

It would explain a lot.
 
The king’s mother—a woman known for her flamboyant personality—would’ve loved such a necklace.
 
However, she’d died only two years after her eldest son ascended the throne.
 
Perhaps he’d ordered it, but never had the opportunity to give it to her.
 

Still, that didn’t explain the secrecy the king had insisted upon at Conti & Fancetti or how the necklace came to be in a hidden panel in the bureau.

“Those are all questions to ask your father.”
 
With one last look at the necklace, Queen Fabrizia gently tucked it back in its bag.
 
“Though if you must, I’d appreciate it if you’d wait until after the European Union meeting.
 
He’s extremely busy and doesn’t need any distractions.”

Massimo couldn’t imagine how the necklace might constitute a distraction—for all its glory, it was a
necklace
, after all.
 
A thing.
 
Not life or death.
 
But he wasn’t going to argue with his mother.

“For now, why don’t you keep it,” she said, handing him the bag.
 
“It was safe in that bureau for a long time.
 
I imagine it’ll be safe for a while longer, and I suspect your father will want it in the hands of you or one of your siblings at some point, anyway.
 
But do watch that hole in the bottom.
 
If the bag were tipped to the right angle, I’m afraid the necklace could fall out.”

“I’ll take the proper care of it,” he promised.
 
“But speaking of care, is all well with you?
 
You don’t seem yourself lately.”

She didn’t seem surprised by the question.
 
“Your father and I are…well, suffice it to say we’re facing some challenges.
 
We’ve overcome worse, though, and we love each other deeply.
 
So there’s no need to worry.
 
Even the best marriages have ups and downs, and on the whole, I’m very pleased with my life.”

“But—”

She cut him off with tilt of her head that left no doubt in Massimo’s mind that she considered the discussion closed.

The rest of the evening was spent savoring their dinner, which was both flavorful and filling, and discussing the queen’s current projects.
 
None were pursuits Massimo cared to join, but he enjoyed hearing the excitement in his mother’s voice.
 
Though his mother claimed it was King Carlo who was busy, Massimo was quite certain it was the queen who’d been burning the candle at both ends recently.
 

“It’s good to see you so happy,” he told her as he polished off a chocolate cinnamon mousse that had been sent up for dessert.
 
His mother only picked at hers, but that was typical.
 

“Once Bruno’s done with school, I’ll have all my children back in the country.
 
Knowing you’re safe now and that Stefano is getting married…well, it’s all wonderful.”
 

She set her napkin to the side, indicating the end of the meal.
 
“I’m glad we did this, Massimo.
 
Let’s do it again soon.”

 
Out of habit, he skirted the table to help her from her seat.
 
Her fingers wrapped around his forearm as they strolled toward the door.
 
When they were partway through the grand living room, with its ornate Persian rugs and richly upholstered furniture, she stopped and gave him a meaningful look.
 
“I know you arranged this dinner to brainstorm ideas about what to do with your future, and I know I’ve hounded you about it.
 
We owe the people of Sarcaccia our service.
 
We’re expected to perform—at times like circus animals—in a manner that does the most good for the most people.”

She let go of his arm and placed her hands over her heart as she spoke, something he’d never before seen her do.
 
“Massimo, what I want most is to see you happy.
 
Over the years I’ve learned that choosing the option that made
me
happiest—no matter the consequences or risks, no matter the opinions of others—ended up being the right choice in the long run.
 
Whether it’s in your royal duties, your romantic relationships, or in both, your countrymen will respect your decision if you’re true to yourself.
 
I said the exact same thing to Vittorio just last week, and I meant it.”