The Surprise Princess (9 page)

Brad’s voice pulled her back. “I told you all no, not unless Katie agrees. You’re not going to spring a king on her.”

Spring a king
. She almost laughed. Was that a sign of hysteria?

“And we agreed he would not be here,” Hunter said. “To start.”

April was directly in front of her now. It was almost like looking in a mirror. Except a mirror that knew how to do things with makeup and hair that were far beyond her.

“Katie, will you talk with me alone for a while? You won’t feel as pressured, as you must now with so many of us and just you and Brad. If it’s only you and me, then it’s even, right? We’ll leave the rest of them here and go into Paul’s office and we can—”

“Not Paul’s office,” Bette said firmly. “You’ll both have nightmares. Use mine.”

There was a sputter of knowing laughter from several directions that broke the tension.

Katie glanced toward Brad. His blue eyes were intense and focused on her. None of the laughter had come from him. How odd. He’d been the one to spring this on her …
spring a king
… so she should feel betrayed. Yet his presence, his look gave her the security to say, “Okay.”

In the office, they simultaneously slewed around on the love seat to face each other. It made her think of mirrors again. Only the mirror didn’t play by the rules, because it arbitrarily changed just enough that it wasn’t like looking in a mirror.

April’s mouth quirked. “Weird, isn’t it?”

Katie wondered if she and April sounded as much alike as they looked alike. They said you didn’t know the sound of your own voice. She’d have to record her voice, listen to it, then listen to April’s – oh, God, why was she focusing on this?

“Very. But you’re so much prettier—”

The other woman snorted. “I am not. You have much better features than I do.” She tipped her head. “I learned a lot about clothes and hair and makeup after Hunter asked me to…”

The way April said his name, Katie knew that was some of the difference between them. The other woman loved and was loved. Yes, that was a major difference.

April huffed out a breath. “The best way to do this is to start at the beginning and tell you about it. Hunter showed up at my office back in November and asked me to pretend to be a princess…”

The door Brad had been watching for nearly an hour, ignoring all attempts to draw him into conversation, finally opened, and then he wished it would have stayed closed.

Hunter dropped a hand on his shoulder. Reassuring? Or to be sure he didn’t jump up, grab Katie, and run out the way he wanted to?

April gave Hunter a look that communicated … something, but what?

Then she looked around the room, taking everyone in, before focusing on him as she said, “After Katie and I discussed all this, or some of it, anyway…” She stopped, pulled in a breath than started again. “What it comes down to is I’ve called King Jozef. He should be here in twenty minutes.”

“I agreed to meet you to say to you directly that I am very sorry for your loss – all your losses – but I am not your granddaughter.” Belatedly, Katie remembered to add, “Your Majesty.”

King Jozef of Bariavak had arrived moments ago.

He was medium height, straight-backed, with a precisely trimmed beard, and strong features. In an effort to not stare at him, she made herself notice the genuine warmth in the others’ greetings to him.

The only jarring note had been Hunter frowning, and saying something low to a young American who’d entered with the king. The younger man answered, “I barely got him to let
me
come.”

Bette had directed King Jozef to a seat near where Katie stood.

He’d sat at the other end of the small couch and gestured for all of them to sit.

Katie had remained standing to deliver her statement, not a trace of tremor in her voice.

“Please sit, my dear,” the king said in response.

She hesitated. Now that she’d seen him, now that she’d said what she wanted to say – needed to say – what was the point in staying? She looked toward Brad.

He came to her, put a hand on her shoulder. As soon as she felt that touch, her knees gave way and she sat, with more emphasis than grace.

Without moving or making a sound, the king drew her gaze to him. “Thank you for your courtesy and bravery in agreeing to see me and to speak with me when you preferred not to. What has brought you to the conclusion you have reached that a possible connection between us is not worthy of exploration?”

How about the fact that there is nothing royal about me.

Look at the delicate way he had worded his question. She wouldn’t have the first clue how to verbally glide so readily among the land mines.

“The knowledge that I am the daughter of a pair of immigrants of modest means,” she said bluntly.

He arched one brow. His eyes were bright and shrewd. He didn’t stare at her, yet she felt he saw everything. “That is the cover story that was created. The role they played. We have done extensive research—”

“I am their daughter. Katie Davis of Ashton, Wisconsin. That’s who I am.”

He ignored her interruption – she’d interrupted a
king
for heaven’s sake – with supreme calm. “The research shows numerous tears and gaps in the fabric of the lives they fabricated. I believe Hunter has provided you with information pertaining to a few. There are more. We can go over those—”

“No.” Great. She’d interrupted a king for the second time in a row. “The gaps don’t matter. I know who I am and who I’m not.”

“How could you know what might have happened when you were a baby?” April asked, as she had while they were alone.

It was a good point. Katie admitted that. But she said doggedly, “I
know
. Besides, there’s the
fact
that I’m younger than the princess. I’m twenty-seven. She would be twenty-eight, like April.”

“Birth certificate’s not valid,” said Michael Dickinson.

It was the first thing he’d said since their introduction.

“That doesn’t mean …” Under his steady look she dropped her gaze to her hand resting on the couch cushion beside her. “You can’t be sure.”

“It’s still being looked at, but it looks that way,” Hunter said.

“It’s not a certain the information on the certificate is false. But it can’t be certain it’s true, either.” Michael’s voice was unemotional and steady. “So you can’t know how old you are. Not precisely. No one can. We rely on certificates.” His pause added weight to the next words. “And what our families tell us.”

Hunter picked up, “The move to Wisconsin would have made it easy to shave a year off your age. Taking you away from people who might otherwise have questioned your age, and plunking you down among people who could come to your third birthday party not knowing you’d already had your third birthday party the year before.”

You’re wrong. I never had any birthday parties, much less one twice. She kept her mouth shut.

“It doesn’t mean you are the princess,” Hunter added. “But it adds another piece to it being possible. Possibility or impossibility are all we can assess until – unless we test for DNA. Even then ... well, testing to confirm maternal grandfather is difficult.”

A jolt ran through her.

It was the same jolt as in the basketball office conference room, when he had brought up DNA testing. A swab from the inside of her check…

Maternal grandfather. A relative. A connection. A family.

“Why’s maternal grandfather difficult?” Paul Monroe asked.

“Mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome links are strong. But with a maternal grandfather there’s neither the Y chromosome of the paternal line nor the mitochondrial DNA of the maternal line.”

“Okay, I get why there’s no Y chromosome involved, since neither the daughter nor granddaughter would have one. But what about the mitochondrial DNA, Hunter?”

“Mitochondrial DNA comes only from the mother. A man inherits mtDNA from his mother, but can’t pass any of that on to his kids. So a maternal grandmother and a grandchild – male or female –
would
show the connection in the mitochondrial DNA. But not a maternal grandfather and his grandchild.”

“So you’re looking for something with DNA from King Jozef’s wife or daughter?”

“After this length of time, it would mean—” Hunter’s gaze flicked to the king. “—invasive measures. It would be a last resort.”

Katie looked from Hunter to the king.

Disinterment
. “To go through that when I know it’s impossible. No,” she said.

Hunter sidestepped “With advanced testing, they can look for stretches of identical DNA shared by potential relatives.”

“I thought we all have a lot of the same DNA, with a small percentage of differences,” Paul said.

“A small percent can still mean a whole lot of genes. Plus, as I said, they’re looking for stretches of identical DNA that unrelated people wouldn’t share. If the top experts say the results show a family connection, you can rely on it. “

“It is the way to know with the greatest certainty available,” King Jozef said in a tone that said the discussion was done for now.

The force of his will slowly drew Katie’s gaze to him.

When their eyes met, he reached out a hand and covered hers where it rested on the cushion between them. “However, it would be certainty for you, alone. For me—”

She tried to move her hand. She couldn’t. It wasn’t that he held it. She simply couldn’t move her hand. She couldn’t look away, either.

“—I know. You are my granddaughter, Princess Josephine-Augusta Katrina Mariana Sofia of Bariavak.”

A
t that name, she pulled her hand back. “You can’t possibly know.”

“Looking at you, listening to you, seeing you move. I know.”

She opened her mouth to refute his certainty, not knowing what words she’d use. She was spared using any.

“Why not let the DNA testing do what it’s supposed to do?” April asked reasonably.

“I couldn’t possibly until after the third week of May,” Katie said quickly.

Hunter’s voice slid through murmurs of surprise. “The test takes hardly any time at all. A swab of inside your cheek—”

“I couldn’t
decide
anything until after the third week of May.”

They stared at her. All except Brad. “Katie, you know C.J. would understand and want you to—”

“I am not going to let this interfere with my job.”

“You’re not going to let finding out if you’re a princess interfere with your job?” Grady repeated. He sounded more interested than disapproving.

“Why the third week of May?” Paul’s eyes glinted with interest. “Basketball season ends in early April, and with Ashton having a rebuilding season, it’s not likely to be playing in the Final Four. No offense, Brad.”

“We could surprise people. But what Katie’s talking about is when recruits can sign the National Letter of Intent.”

“What is this? Recruits? National Letter of Intent?” King Jozef demanded.

“It’s about college basketball, sir,” Hunter said. “When high school players commit to which college they will attend.”

“And it’s important to the team’s future,” Katie added firmly. “Not to mention that Brad – and C.J., of course, and the others, have been working all year to find the right players for our program and then persuade them Ashton’s academics and athletics and campus life can’t be beat. It’s a vital time for the program, and I need to have all my attention on my job. No distractions.”

“Distractions,” Paul murmured.

From the corner of her eye, Katie caught his wife nudging him, even as they joined everyone else in looking toward King Jozef. She hesitated, but only for a moment, then she faced him, too.

He appeared to be contemplating the heavy ring on his right hand. His expression gave nothing away.

“We shall expect your answer after the third week of May. However, we shall continue inquiries. In addition we shall pursue opportunities to develop our, ah, connection.”

“If you show up in Ashton or if you’re seen with Katie, the media will be all over it,” Brad objected.

Hunter nodded agreement.

The king frowned.

“And I’m going to be very busy with work,” Katie added.

“Nevertheless,” he responded.

Which, she had to admit, was a good response. It held his position, yet gave nobody anything to argue with.

The room remained silent after Katie and Brad left. When Bette and Paul returned from escorting them to the front door, King Jozef watched Bette exchange glances with Tris and Leslie. Leslie then looked at April, turned back to Bette and gave a tiny nod.

“Tris and Michael, would you mind gathering up the plates and bringing them into the kitchen and help Paul and me clean up,” Bette said.

Michael and Tris rose immediately. Paul got out one “But,” then his wife steered him toward the kitchen, with Tris and Michael following with dishes.

“These women should be in the diplomatic corps. Or in espionage,” King Jozef said with dark humor. It was gone when he said to Hunter, “We require the strictest security for her. At all times.”

“Security would draw attention to her. That’s why we agreed the approach could not be direct, why I first talked to her at the basketball office, why we asked Brad Spencer to help, why we are here, not at your hotel. Her best security is that her possible connection to you is not known.”

“
Possible
! Pah. She is my granddaughter. The Princess Josephine-Augusta of Bariavak.”

“She says otherwise, sir.”

“Give her time.” April spoke to him as she laid a hand on Hunter’s arm. “See it from her view. You are telling her everything she’s been told all her life is a lie. Everything she’s been all her life is a lie. That’s a lot to absorb.”

Leslie Craig Roberts did not mince words. “Time might not be enough. In asking her to believe she is who you say she is, you’re also demanding Katie accept that the people who raised her are not who she—”

“
Them
. Those people are the filth who caused my daughter’s death when they stole her baby, who killed outright my son-in-law as well as Hunter’s father and many more. The filth who—.”