Danny stared at the scepter. “What’s that?”
“The royal scepter of Calandria.”
Danny looked at his mother. “What’s that?”
Mia cleared her throat. “Well, it’s a very important and beautiful part of your heritage. It symbolizes who you are.”
“I’m Danny.”
“Okay, yes, but you’re also your father’s son. Which makes you his heir.”
“I’m the Crown Prince of Calandria,” Rafael said, determined to be patient with the child. It was not his fault he didn’t already know this. “I will rule as king and you will rule after me.”
Danny considered that, then asked, “Where’s Calandria?”
Rafael had come prepared. He pulled a European map out of his pocket and spread it on the floor. “Here is Italy and France. This is Spain. This is the Mediterranean and here is Calandria.”
Danny stared at the island and wrinkled his nose. “It’s small. Can I be the heir to a bigger place? What about Australia? Mommy and me read all about it in a book. There are kangaroos and crocodiles. I want to heir Australia.”
As he spoke he reached for the scepter and slammed it against the floor. Rafael winced.
“Okay then,” Mia said, grabbing it from him. “Maybe we should put this on a shelf until you’re a little older. Why don’t you go see Grammy M in the kitchen? I know she’s making cookies. Maybe she’ll let you help.”
“Okay.”
Danny scrambled to his feet and ran off to the kitchen. Mia turned to Rafael. “Sorry about that. He’s still pretty young. I don’t think he’s grasping the whole ‘heir’ thing, which isn’t a huge surprise as the rest of us are having trouble with it as well.”
“He will have to learn,” he told her, remembering how many responsibilities he had had when he had been little older than Danny was now. He needed to get the boy back to Calandria, where his real education would begin.
But that journey was a few weeks away. He had best remember not to rush his plan.
“You have done well with him,” he told Mia. “A woman alone with a child, especially a boy.”
“Hardly alone. Once I knew I was pregnant, I moved back here. It worked out well. I had help and I’m close to the campus for my studies.”
“What happens when you graduate from law school?”
“I’ll get a job and move to Los Angeles. By then Danny will be in kindergarten.” She paused. “Well, that was the plan. I guess now I’ll be discussing things like that with you.”
“There is plenty of time for that,” he said. In truth she would most likely still get a job in Los Angeles. The only difference was that her son would be in Calandria.
But that conversation was for much later. First he had to convince Mia to trust him…and seduce her into wanting him again.
He looked forward to both activities, especially the latter. He still found her most appealing, although he’d never been able to say exactly why. She was attractive, but great beauties populated his world. She was more intelligent than most women of his acquaintance, not that he set a great store by a woman’s mind.
No, it was something else. He remembered the feel of her skin and how that had aroused him. Her scent, even when she was fresh from the shower, had lingered in his mind long after she had disappeared from his life. He had been with a great many women and most of those encounters blurred. Oddly, he remembered nearly everything about making love with Mia, and that remembering made him want to be with her again.
If she were someone else, someone with even minor titled connections or the daughter of a great leader, he would consider making their marriage a permanent connection. But she wasn’t, and when it came to whom he would have more children with, he had to consider his obligation to the throne. Still, they were together for now and he planned to enjoy every minute of it.
He reached for her hand and rubbed his thumb against her knuckles. “You have been most patient and understanding.”
She smiled. “Not much choice there. You’re Danny’s father. The prince thing is a bit of a shock, although it doesn’t come close to the one about you not being dead.”
He shifted closer and let his gaze drop to her mouth. “Are you glad I’m not dead?”
“Of course.”
“I can say the same about you. I was most distressed when they told me you were gone. And later, when I thought you’d been killed…” He hesitated just enough to give the words a sincere ring. “Mia…I had just found you.”
“Found is strong,” she murmured. “I was sort of thrust upon you by the agency. I was there to do a job.”
“As was I. Instead we found each other.”
He spoke easily, mostly because it was all true. He had been delighted to find her. He’d known about the American operative and knew the wisdom of beginning an affair with her as a means to ending his time as Diego. He would have seduced her regardless, but with Mia what could have been effort had turned into true pleasure. For both of them.
He had even missed her when he’d returned to his life at the palace. Perhaps not as much as he indicated, but more than he usually did. Under other circumstances, he would tell her that and know she would be grateful.
“Let us not be parted again,” he whispered.
Her eyes widened. “Rafael, I-”
He touched her mouth with his finger. “Shh. I think we are done talking.” Then he lowered his head so that he could kiss her.
A heartbeat before he finally claimed her with his mouth, he heard footsteps in the hallway and a familiar and irritating voice saying, “I sure have a habit of showing up at the wrong time, don’t I?”
“Do I need to lecture you?” Joe asked when Rafael had excused himself and Mia had scrambled onto the sofa.
She leaned back against the cushions and sighed. “Maybe. I know it’s crazy to get involved with him and I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you appeared when you did.”
“But?” he prodded.
“But knowing I shouldn’t get lost in the past and not getting lost in the past are two very different things. He knows how to push all my buttons.”
“Don’t take it personally. He’s a professional playboy by career and temperament, Mia. He’s had plenty of practice.”
Not exactly what she wanted to hear. Still, the information needed to sink into her brain. “Keep telling me he’s the enemy,” she said. “Apparently I need help not making a fool out of myself.”
There was something about Rafael. His physical appearance might be different enough to make her nervous, but the chemical attraction between them didn’t seem to care about things like scars and a change in eye color.
Joe slapped down a folder on the coffee table. “The preliminary report on Rafael.”
She eyed the pages inside. “And?”
“He’s who he said. Heir to the Calandrian throne. Not married. Not even a fiancée waiting in the wings. There have been rumors of various arranged marriages, but nothing seems to happen with them.”
“Good to know.” What with the almost kissing.
“He was educated in Europe. Graduated from Oxford. No career, of course, if you don’t count the whole soon-to-be king gig. He partied hard when he was in his early twenties-nothing too kinky. He’s a thrill seeker, but that’s calmed down, too. No dead bodies, no bastard children.”
Mia shook her head. “Oh, there’s at least one we know of.”
“Okay, but aside from Danny, he’s clean. Which means Danny’s the real heir.”
“What if he marries and has legitimate children?” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m actually discussing this. Legitimate children. Like we’re in Elizabethan times.”
“There’s nothing like dealing with a royal family to bring up the past,” Joe told her. “Per Calandria law, it’s the acknowledged firstborn son of the crown prince/ king. Whoever he is at the time. So if Rafael doesn’t marry you or he doesn’t officially acknowledge Danny, then there will be no Marcelli rule of Calandria.”