The Keys' Prince (The Royal Heirs) (22 page)

“Then, please, enough with the Anya. It’s Mom. Although, I totally understand that you might not feel comfortable calling me that now or perhaps never. But I do hope, at some point, you do.”

Dario didn’t say anything. But his nod and smile told all of them that he would be glad to at least consider her offer.

“Please, all of you, make yourselves comfortable,” he said, motioning them with a wide sweep of his arms to have a seat wherever they’d like to.

“David,” he said shaking the first of his brothers’ hands. “Deacon and Duke. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.”

His three brothers having returned his handshake, each with cautious yet positive body language, chose seats across the room from Stella, surrounding their mother in a protective cocoon.

“And Delaney, who it appears we should be treating to a birthday celebration while we’re all together,” Dario said, putting his arms around his teenaged sister who buried her head into his chest and held on as if she never wanted to let go.

She finally did let go and tentatively, but with a little more zip than her weary brothers, chose to sit on the loveseat next to Stella and Dario. Stella took her decision as a very sweet sign that of the four siblings, she’d be the first to welcome them into her heart.

“I hope you all like lemonade, tea, sandwiches and pastries,” Dario said, as his head chef and two of his sous chefs delivered a wonderful array of food to attempt to ease their stomachs as they began their grand adventure.

After crossing the room, helping himself to a cup of tea and a cucumber sandwich, Dario sat back down on the sofa next to Stella and said, “Look at us. It seems crazy that here we are, family, a real family, and we have no idea what each other likes to eat, or do, or anything.”

He sat his plate and cup on the table in front of the sofa and ran his hands through his hair, probably for the tenth time at least since he’d called for all of them to meet around the pool.

“You’ll have to forgive me. I’m just not very good at this kind of thing. I’m way out of my league here.”

“I think we all are, my son,” Anya said, bringing her plate across the room, after making sure that her boys followed suit, and taking a seat in the circular area that Dario, Stella and Delaney occupied.

“It will help if we start a little closer to each other like this,” she said and winked.

“And food always helps,” David said, an ornery grin replacing the reserved smile he’d entered the pergola with.

“You can always count on David to lighten the mood,” Anya said, her smile much bigger now. “He’s our family comedian.”

“We could use one of those, for sure,” Dario said, nodding his head in approval at his brother’s valiant effort.

“We’d love to hear about each one of you,” Stella said, thinking that perhaps since she was just as new to this family as they were that she could facilitate the process.

“Yes,” Dario said, in step with her plan and grateful for her willingness to jump right in. “Tell us everything. I know we’ve got decades to cover. But we really do want to know everything.”

“As do we about you,” Deacon offered in a quiet but very friendly tone. He seemed to be the easy-going one of the bunch, judging by the relaxed way he’d settled onto the couch he was sharing with his brothers.

Duke was the only one who Stella hadn’t yet been able to read very well. Of the five, he was by far the most closed off. The way he sat with his arms crossed in front of him and no food or drink, signaled that they’d have a lot further to go to bring him into the fold than they would the others.

But looks could be deceiving, Stella reminded herself. And this entire family had been masters at it for almost an entire generation.

C
HAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Delaney, let’s start with you,” Dario said, encouraged by her enthusiasm and warm hug when she’d first joined them by the pool.

“Girls first,” David said, which earned him a sassy glare from his little sister.

Dario couldn’t imagine what she’d put up with having three older brothers. Considering how beautiful she was, she’d have had a harder time yet if he’d have also been around to see to it that she was treated right.

“I’m just a student, hoping to get into St. Andrew’s to study art history and photography. So I’m not near as exciting as my brothers,” Delaney said, her teasing tone in no way indicating that she felt she didn’t matter as much as they did. To the contrary, her sweet deference and the adoring look in her eyes when referencing her brothers showed how very proud she was of them.

“St. Andrews? I’d say that means you’re an excellent student,” Dario said, thrilled that she seemed to have as much ambition and brains as she did show-stopping beauty.

“I do okay,” she said, shrugging off his compliment.

“If by okay, you mean that you’re at the top of your class, Cinderella,” Duke offered, showing that he definitely had a soft spot in his otherwise rigid exterior for his little sister. Dario respected and was touched by his brother’s sense of pride where their little sister was concerned, and he had a feeling that despite the wall in front of him today that Duke was a really good guy, one who always had his family’s back. Maybe that’s why he seemed to be having a tougher time with this than the rest of them. Something Dario totally understood and would be glad to give him the space to deal with in his own way and in his own time.

“Okay, David, Family Funny Guy, you’re next,” Dario said, taking another sandwich from the tray that one of the chefs brought around. “Tell us about yourself.”

“I’m your brother, as you now know,” he said, immediately getting a chuckle from everyone in the room except for Duke who, to his credit, did at least somewhat crack a smile. “I was the first of us triplets born. And I’m an international business man, specializing in large, global mergers and acquisitions.”

“Boy do I have some questions for you then,” Stella said, looking absolutely delighted with David’s revelation.

Hoping that perhaps she’d finally found a reliable source to help her deal with the Anastas Foundation’s trustees, Dario was thrilled. He couldn’t wait to see what kinds of ideas David could offer them. As soon as he had all of this figured out for himself, his family and for Kristianico, Dario planned to do everything he could to help Stella destroy the Rat Pack.

She’d been so kind to put her entire life on hold to help him. He wasn’t about to let anything or anyone hurt her. From now own, they’d be a family in every sense of the word. And families, at least the kind he’d always dreamed of having, stood by each other, no matter what. They faced challenges together, side-by-side.

“I’d be glad to help you anyway I can. I’m guessing it might have something to do with your foundation’s troubles?” David asked, with an ease that made it seem as if the troubles Stella had were an everyday hassle in David’s world.

“Right you are. I’m sure, in your line of work, you’ve heard the rumblings my current board of trustees have caused.”

“Unfortunately, I’m well aware. But, I do have some ideas that I think could be advantageous to your efforts to permanently get rid of them. I’m assuming that’s what you want to do.”

“You assume correctly. We’ll definitely be talking,” Stella said, looking more relieved and hopeful where the Rat Pack was concerned than Dario had seen her since they’d gotten back together.

“Deacon, what about you?” Dario asked so pleased with the progress they’d already made with Delaney and David and anxious to forge bonds with his youngest brothers, too.

“I’m number two to pop out. And although I don’t lead the crazy-paced, globe-trotting life that David does, I’ve got a thriving business as an organic farmer, one I’m actually having a hard time getting a handle on because we’re growing so fast. We’re killing it at each week’s farmers’ market.”

“Of course! You must be Deacon of Mom’s Magic Garden,” Dario said, sitting back in his chair hardly able to grasp that the magnificent stand he admired each week at the market belonged to his brother. “That’s the terrific stand I’ve told you about, Stella. The one I wanted to show you when we made it down to the market. Stella doesn’t eat anything unless it’s organic, Deacon. And she’s got me going in that direction, too.”

“Good work, Stella,” Deacon said giving her an easy-going thumbs up. “I’ve learned everything from Mom. You won’t believe what she can do in her gardens. It really is magic. I’ve seen it, and I totally believe in her powers.”

Anya didn’t say anything, just placed her hand on her third son’s knee and smiled.

“I’d love for you both to visit our farm,” Anya said after a comfortable, very companionable silence filled the space.

Dario imagined that each of them, like him, were lost in their own thoughts, soaking in what each of them were about, how they’d chosen to live their lives and how that could potentially affect them now that they were beginning their lives as a for-real family.

It was Duke’s turn next, although he didn’t look anywhere near as anxious as his brothers or sister to talk about himself.

“Okay, Duke. That means you must have been the third of the triplets,” Dario said, trying to lighten the task for his youngest brother with his best shot at humor, although he wasn’t near as quick on the draw or as funny as David.

Duke sighed. He knew he had to participate, even though none of this was sitting right with him. “I’m Duke, which you know by now. And I’m the curator at Fitch and Bucklebury.”

“Excellent. My father loved that gallery,” Dario said, not realizing until after he’d said it that the implications of that fact were much greater now than they’d ever seemed to be when his father used to talk about the countless pieces he’d purchased there.

“It was your father who actually got Duke into the gallery business,” Anya said, with a quiet, stoic poise. She seemed genuinely grateful for what the late king had done for their youngest son.

“Yes, the man was full of surprises, wasn’t he?” Duke asked, giving them all a taste of the bitterness filling his heart.

No one said anything for several awkward seconds until Anya broke the silence.

“My dear children, the one thing I know is that despite your father’s misgivings, and he had several rather large disappointments, he loved each of you very much. And he did his best to show you that.”

Dario let his mother’s words settle in his mind first and then start the long road to his heart. If that were the case, and obviously she believed it with all she was, the man had a very odd way of showing it, at least where his oldest son was concerned.

And that begged the question of who pulled their family apart—literally pulled them apart. He’d been taken away from his real mother, who knew at what age, although it must have been when he was a wee one because he had absolutely no recollection of her or any of his siblings.

“I’ve got to ask this,” Dario said, needing to get this out of the way now while the opportunity presented itself, before he lost the courage to go after the answers he needed.

“What happened, Anya? Why did my father take me away from you? And how could he have done that to us?”

With a supreme, almost divine, strength that Dario had yet to see falter, Anya clasped her hands together, as if in prayer, bowed her head for a moment and then looked Dario straight in the eyes, as if they were the only two in the room.

“Your father loved you very much. And he loved me, too, just as much. But, it was time for him to take your grandfather’s place as Kristianico’s king. And at that time, there wasn’t room for someone like me, a commoner, without any ties to titles and ancient rulers. He thought it was best for you and for Kristianico that it appear that you were born out of he and Meredith’s union.”

“So you’re saying that my father, a man who you claim loved us more than anything, gave us both up to save his reign?”

“He didn’t give you up at all, my son. And as the years wore on and we continued our relationship, in secret, and the rest of you were born, he was here with us as much as he could be. And you all know, David, Deacon, Duke and Delaney, that your father truly did love us. And he certainly provided for us very well. We’ve never lacked for anything.”

“But what about you, Anya? How could you spend your entire life away from the man you loved and without the lifestyle that you so deserve?”

“I had it all, my dear boy, and I still do. I wake up every morning and go to sleep each night knowing that the man I loved more than anything, the man I gave my heart and soul to when I was barely eighteen, loved me back with everything he had to give. And together, we created and raised five wonderful children. Meredith is the one we should all feel sorry for. She lived in a loveless marriage, sworn from the very beginning to hide the truth. She’s the real victim here.”

“The woman is colder than ice,” Duke said, a fact that none of them disputed, even Anya, at first.

“I think her heart and soul froze over when she first held you in her arms, Dario. Not because she didn’t want to love you. I truly think she always has in her own way. But living with that awful secret was a horrible burden to bear. And she had to know that, at some point, the bubble would burst, and she’d be the one who was once again sacrificed.”