Secret Heirs: Royal Appointment

Anita sounded so hopeful that Callie couldn’t bear to disillusion her. ‘Tell you later,’ she promised as she hurried off for her afternoon shift.

‘Wave goodbye to the Prince before you go,’ Anita called after her.

Callie stopped and turned around. ‘Where is he?’

Shielding her eyes, Anita stared up at a large blue helicopter with a royal crest of Fabrizio on the side.

‘Apparently he’s been called back to Fabrizio to deal with an emergency,’ Anita explained as both women protected their eyes against the aircraft’s downdraft, which had raised dust clouds all around them. ‘Don’t worry. It won’t be an emergency when Luca gets there.’

‘Sorry?’ Callie froze.

‘Prince Luca’s will is stronger than any army his brother Max could raise, and his people adore him,’ Anita explained. ‘The people don’t trust Max as far as they could throw him. I read in the press today that Prince Luca intends to buy Max off. Max will do anything for money,’ Anita explained, ‘and that includes relinquishing his claim to the throne. Max needs Luca’s money to pay his gambling debts. He’d bleed the country dry, if he became ruler. The late Prince, their father, knew this. That’s why he made Prince Luca his heir—Callie? Are you all right?’

‘Why didn’t you tell me that Luca was the Prince?’ Callie stared at her friend in total disbelief, but how could she be angry with Anita when Callie was guilty of ignoring what had been, quite literally, under her nose?

‘I’m sorry,’ Anita said as she enveloped Callie in a big hug. ‘I thought you knew. I thought, like the rest of us, you were being discreet by not naming him, or talking about him. We all know that’s what Prince Luca prefers. If I’d guessed for a moment—’

‘It’s not your fault,’ Callie insisted. ‘I’m to blame. I only saw what I wanted to see.’ She stared up at the helicopter as it disappeared behind some cloud. Luca hadn’t told her anything, let alone that he was the Prince. What a fool she was. How could she have missed all the clues? They were as obvious to her now as the bright red arrow she hadn’t noticed when she’d first arrived at the Prince’s estate. Only worse, much worse, Callie concluded. She didn’t blame Luca. Was he supposed to act like Prince Charming in a fairy tale? He was a man, with all the cravings, faults and appetite that went along with that, and she hadn’t exactly fought him off.

‘Why are you laughing?’ Anita asked.

Callie was thinking that Luca didn’t have to excuse his actions. He simply called for his helicopter and flew off. But into a difficult situation, she reminded herself. Even if Luca and his brother had never been close, no one needed to remind Callie how much a barb from within the family could hurt.

‘I thought he was one of us,’ she admitted to Anita.

‘He is one of us,’ Anita confirmed hotly.

Callie smiled, knowing there was no point in arguing with Anita, one of Luca’s staunchest supporters, but she still couldn’t get her head around her own clumsy mistake. It was so much easier to think of Luca as a worker, rather than a prince, but how she could have been so wrapped up in her Italian adventure that she hadn’t guessed the truth before now defeated her.

‘Max’s uprising was over before it began,’ Anita explained as she linked arms with Callie. ‘You can’t fault Prince Luca for keeping his word to his father, the late Prince. Luca’s been coming here for years to work alongside the pickers, but nothing’s more important to him than the pledge he made to keep his country safe, and we all understand why he had to go back to Fabrizio.’

All except Callie, who was still floundering about in the dark wondering why Luca hadn’t told her his true identity. Perhaps there were too many people who only wanted to be close to him for the benefits they could gain, apparently like his brother, Max. She could forgive him if that were the case. Well, sort of. Luca expected her to trust him, but he clearly didn’t trust her.

And was she always truthful?

The only time she’d reached out since arriving in Italy was to text Rosie to reassure the Browns that everything was going well. She’d explained that she was going to extend her stay, but had kept her answers to Rosie’s excited questions bland in the extreme. She was staying on because she wanted to learn more about Italy, Callie had said, which explained why she had taken a part-time job. She just hadn’t expected to get her heart broken into pieces and trampled on in the process. ‘I’ll be leaving soon,’ she mused out loud.

‘Must you? Oh, no. Please don’t. Was it something I said? I didn’t mean to probe,’ Anita assured Callie with concern, ‘and I’ll understand completely if you don’t want to tell me why you’re leaving.’

Callie responded with a warm hug for her new friend. ‘You’ve done nothing wrong,’ she assured Anita. ‘If anyone’s at fault, it’s me. I could have asked Luca more questions, but chose not to. I didn’t want reality to intrude, I suppose. It’s better if I go home and get real. It’s too easy to believe the dream here.’

How true was that? She couldn’t believe she’d made such a fool of herself with Luca.

‘Can’t you stay a little longer?’ Anita begged. ‘We’re only just getting to know each other, and I’ll miss you.’

Tears sprang to Callie’s eyes at this confession, and the two women exchanged a quick, fierce hug. ‘I hope you’ll come and visit me?’ Callie insisted. ‘I don’t want to lose touch, either.’

‘No chance,’ Anita promised stoutly as they stood side by side on the dusty path that ran through the groves. ‘When I go home, it’s to a damp northern mill town not too far from your docks, so there’s no reason why we can’t meet up.’

‘Come for Christmas,’ Callie exclaimed impetuously. ‘Please. I’ll ask Ma Brown. The more, the merrier, she always says. Promise you will.’

‘Are you serious?’ Anita looked concerned, and then her face lit up when she realised that Callie meant every word. ‘I usually spend Christmas alone.’

‘Not this year,’ Callie vowed passionately with another warm hug. ‘I’ll speak to Ma and Pa Brown as soon as I get back, and I’ll send you the details.’

‘You’re a true friend, Callie,’ Anita said softly.

‘I won’t forget you,’ Callie promised.

Casting one last wistful look around the sun-drenched lemon groves, Callie firmed her jaw. She might be Callie from the docks when she returned home, but she would always be Callie from the lemon groves in her heart.

CHAPTER SIX

‘WHERE THE HELL is she? Someone must know.’

The staff stared at him blankly. He was back in the warehouse where the lemons were stored. As soon as he’d sorted the problems in Fabrizio, he’d returned to his estate expecting to find Callie still working there. He hadn’t realised how much he’d miss her until she wasn’t around. ‘Callie Smith?’ he exclaimed, exasperated by the continued silence. ‘Anyone?’

Apologetic shrugs greeted his questions. No one knew where she was. Or they weren’t telling, he amended, glancing at Anita, who was staring fixedly six inches above his head. He’d made it back just before the end of the season when the casual workers left. Most of the pickers had already gone home, but some had stayed on to make sure everything was stored properly and they were set fair for next year. Why would Callie stay when I’ve been so brusque?

Wheeling around, he strode to the exit. Fresh from resolving a potential uprising in Fabrizio, he could surely solve the mystery of one missing woman. Max had accepted a pay-off equivalent to the GDP of a small country, and Luca had paid this gladly with the proviso that Max stayed out of Luca’s life and never returned to Fabrizio. He had the funds to buy anything he wanted, even freedom from Max, but could he buy Callie? In the short time he’d known her, he’d learned that, not only was Callie irreplaceable, she was unpredictable too. Her newfound freedom after years of duty to her father had lifted her, and in the space of a couple of days Luca had succeeded in knocking her down. Throwing money at a problem like Max worked. Callie was just as likely to throw it back.

He entered the office on the estate and everyone stood to attention. In a dark, tailored suit, Luca was dressed both as a prince and a billionaire, and not one member of staff had missed that change. ‘Relax, please. I’m here to ask for your help.’

As always, his people couldn’t have been more accommodating. They gave him Callie’s home address from her file. Now there was just Callie to deal with, he reflected as he left the building. He doubted she’d be quite so helpful, and his smile faded. He’d never been unsure of an outcome before, but he couldn’t be sure of Callie.

He took the helicopter for the short flight to the airport, where his flight plan to the north of England was already filed. He’d fly the jet himself. The thought of being a passenger appalled him. He needed something to do. Callie occupied every corner of his mind. The unfinished business between them banged at his brain. There was no time to lose. He didn’t leave loose ends, never had.

* * *

Could it really be more than two months since she’d first met Luca? It was certainly time to take stock of her life. That didn’t take very long. She was living in one freezing, cold room over a dress shop where she worked six days a week to fund her studies at night school. She was determined to get ahead by building on the Italian language she’d already picked up on her trip to Italy. Her love affair with the country was in no way over, and it had turned out that she had a flair for languages. She had moved to another town, because she didn’t have a home to go back to as such. Her old home next door to the Browns had new tenants, and though the Browns had begged her to stay on with them, Callie had insisted that they’d done enough for her, and that it was time for her to go it alone. ‘I wish I could have brought you more exciting news from my adventures,’ she’d told them.

‘Exciting enough,’ Rosie had exclaimed, her eyes fever bright when Callie talked about the Prince.

Callie hadn’t told anyone about the time she’d spent locked in the Prince’s arms, and had deflected Rosie’s questions by telling her that staying in a five-star hotel had kept her away from the real Italy. ‘The posh hotel was lovely,’ she’d explained, ‘but it was bland.’

‘Unlike the Italian men?’ Rosie guessed, still digging for information.

‘And so I looked for a job amongst the people,’ Callie had driven on in an attempt to avoid Rosie’s question. She had never lied to her friend, and she never would.

‘You’re too hard on yourself, love,’ Pa Brown had insisted when Callie explained that without the young maid’s suggestion she would still have been sitting in the hotel, rather than experiencing the lemon groves she had grown to love. ‘You wanted to get out and do an honest day’s work. You asked for help to find some. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all need help sometimes.’

Pa Brown’s words resonated with Callie more than ever now. He was right. In her current situation, she would have to ask for help at some point.

Yes. From Callie Smith, Callie concluded. Like millions of women who’d found themselves in this situation, she’d get through, and get through well. Though there were times when she wished she’d agreed to see Luca when he first flew to England to set things straight between them.

‘Why won’t you see him?’ Rosie had asked with incredulity on the first occasion. ‘He’s an incredible man and he cares about you. He must do, to leave everything to fly here to find you. And he’s a prince, Cal,’ Rosie had added in an awestruck gasp, ‘as well as one of the richest men in the world.’

Callie remembered firming her lips and refusing to add to this in any way. She had simply given her head a firm shake. The money meant nothing to her and neither did Luca’s title. She couldn’t risk her heart being broken again, and the feelings she had for Luca were so strong they frightened her. But Rosie knew her too well. Realising Callie wouldn’t change her mind, Rosie had put an arm around Callie’s shoulders and hugged her tight. ‘I know you love him,’ Rosie insisted. ‘And one day you’ll know that too. Just don’t find out when it’s too late.’

It hadn’t ended there, of course. Luca wasn’t the type to meekly turn around and go home. He didn’t know how to take no for an answer. He’d called several times, sent flowers, gifts, notes, hampers of dainty cakes and delicacies from a famous London store. He’d even despatched an elderly statesman called Michel to plead his case. Callie had felt particularly bad about the old man, but Ma Brown had made up for her refusal, treating Michel to a real northern afternoon tea before politely telling him that his Prince had no chance of changing Callie’s mind at the moment. ‘You shouldn’t even have given him that much hope,’ Callie had insisted. ‘I don’t want to be any man’s mistress and Luca’s a prince. He’s hardly going to take things in the direction I...’

As her voice had tailed away, Pa Brown had piped up, ‘The direction you want is love, Callie. Love and respect is the direction you’re entitled to want, when you give your heart to someone special.’

As Ma Brown had sighed with her romantic heart all aflutter, Callie had known it was time to move on. Her relationship with Luca, such as it had been, had started to affect the Browns, so she’d told them what she planned to do, and had packed her bags. And here she was three months later in Blackpool, the jewel of the Fylde coast. It was blustery and cold this close to Christmas, but there was an honest resilience about the place that suited Callie’s mood. And there were the illuminations, she mused with a rueful grin as she glanced out of her top-floor window at the light-bedecked seafront. Known as the greatest free light show on earth, one million bulbs and six miles of lights brought tourists flocking, which meant there were plenty of part-time jobs.

The irony since she’d been here was that Luca was never out of the press. She couldn’t believe she’d spent so much time in blissful ignorance as to his identity when his face stared out of every magazine and newspaper. Even when she went to the hairdresser’s, she couldn’t escape him. She had read every column inch written about him, and knew now that Luca had won his position in Fabrizio thanks to his sheer grit and determination. That, and the love of an adoptive father who had always believed his ‘boy from the gutters of Rome’, as Luca was referred to in the red-tops, was an exceptional man in the making.

Callie had become an expert in press releases and could quote some of them by heart. Luca, who was already a titan in business, was now equally respected in diplomatic circles. A tireless supporter of good causes, he had just completed a world tour of the orphanages he sponsored.

The photos of him were riveting. Luca relaxing, looking hot as hell in snug-fitting jeans, or Luca riding a fierce black stallion, looking like the king of the world. He could be cool and strong on state occasions, when he was easily the most virile and commanding of all the men present. In a nutshell, the new ruler of Fabrizio currently dominated world news, which made him seem further away to Callie, and more unreachable than ever. Much was made in the press of his lonely bachelor status, but Luca clearly had no intention of changing that any time soon. Flowers arrived regularly at the Browns’, a clear indication that he hadn’t given up his search for a mistress yet.

The flowers were still arriving, Rosie had informed Callie only last night, together with the handwritten letters bearing the royal seal, which Rosie had insisted on squirrelling away for Callie. ‘You’ll look at them one day,’ she’d said, not realising that Callie steamed them open and had read every one.

She’d never fit into Luca’s glitzy life, Callie concluded, however much affection and humour he put into his letters. But there were deeper reasons. Her mother had died believing her father’s lies, and Callie had listened to them for most of her life. ‘Tomorrow will be better,’ Callie’s father would promise each day. But it was never better. He always gambled away the money, or drank it, and so Callie would do another shift at the pub. Did she want another man who lied to her, even if not telling her that he was a prince was a lie of omission by Luca to test how genuine she was? She would be the one lying if she couldn’t admit to herself that each time she saw a photograph of Luca, she longed for him with all her heart.

‘The trick is knowing when to say thank you, and get on with things,’ Pa Brown had told her in their last telephone conversation, when Callie had asked what she should do about the flowers. ‘You can send us your thank-you notes, and we’ll pass them on. Don’t you worry, our Callie, Ma Brown’s loving it. She’s like Lady Bountiful, spreading those flowers around the neighbourhood so they do some good. You can thank that Prince Luca properly when you see him in person. I certainly will.’

We won’t be seeing him, Callie had wanted to say, but she didn’t have the heart.

‘Stop beating yourself up, girl,’ Pa Brown had added before they ended their most recent call. ‘You went to work in the lemon groves, which was what you’d dreamed about. You turned that dream into reality, which is more than most of us do.’

She should have kept a grip on reality when it came to Luca, Callie thought with a sigh. But she hadn’t. She had allowed herself to be swept up in the fantasy of a holiday romance. And now there was something else she had to do, something far more important than fretting. Reaching into her tote, she pulled out the paper chemist’s bag. She couldn’t put the test off any longer. While her periods had always been irregular this was a big gap, even for her. Now, she had to know. It was a strange thing, becoming pregnant, Ma Brown had told Callie before the last baby Brown was born. There could be barely any signs for a doctor to detect, but a mother knew. For a couple of weeks now Callie had tried to believe that this was an old wives’ tale, but she couldn’t kid herself any longer. She might not be a mother, or have personal experience of becoming pregnant, but she did know when she wasn’t alone in her body and there was a new, fragile life to protect. She had considered that this feeling might possibly be nothing more than the product of an overactive imagination. There was only one way to find out.

She stared at the blue line unblinking. Not because if she stared long enough it might disappear, but because she was filled with the sort of euphoria that only came very rarely in life. It was a moment to savour before reality kicked in, and she was going to close her eyes and enjoy every moment of it. When she opened them again, her biggest fear was that the kit was faulty. Surely, there had to be a percentage that were?

Leaning forward, she turned on another bar of the ancient electric fire and pulled the cheap throw that usually covered the holes in the sofa around her shoulders as she tried to stop shivering. Part of that was excitement, she supposed, though her hands were frozen. She couldn’t believe it was December next week. Where had the time gone? It only seemed five minutes since she had been basking in sunshine in Italy. That was almost three months ago. Three months of life-shattering consequence, Callie reflected as she stared, and stared again at the blue line on her pregnancy test. One thing was certain. She’d have to see Luca now.

* * *

He knew Callie was pregnant since he’d tracked her down to England. He’d been tied up with his enthronement once the dispute with Max was settled. That stiff and formal ceremony was over now, with the celebratory garden party for thousands of citizens of Fabrizio still to come. He loved being amongst his people and looked forward to it, but it was time to concentrate on Callie. They were similar in so many ways, which warned him to tread carefully, or Callie would only back off more determinedly than ever. And hormones would be racing, so the mother of his child, the one woman he could never forget, would have more fire in her than a volcano. Once more into the breach, he thought as the royal jet, piloted by His Serene Highness, Luca Fabrizio, the most frustrated and most determined man on earth, soared high into the air.

* * *

Blackpool Illuminations Requires Tour Guides. Callie studied the headline. She was going to need more money soon. Her bank account was bouncing along the bottom, and when the baby arrived... Touching her stomach, she was filled with wonder at the thought; when the baby arrived there would be all sorts of expenses. A wave of regret swept over her, at the knowledge Luca should be part of this. The sooner she told him, the better, but he must understand she didn’t want anything from him.

But the baby might need things.

Might need the father she’d never really had, Callie mused, frowning. But what would that mean? Would Luca be a good father? Instinct said yes, but would he and his royal council control their every move? What about the lack of freedom that being royal would mean for a child? She wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach as, hot on the heels of excited disbelief and the marvel of a new life, came a very real fear of the unknown. What if she was a hopeless mother?

She couldn’t afford to be frightened of anything, Callie concluded with a child on the way. Grabbing her coat and scarf, she quickly put them on. Leaving the bedsit, she locked the door behind her. The baby came before everything. She had to make some money, even save a little, so she could move to somewhere bigger, hopefully somewhere with a garden. Long before that, she had to buy clothes and equipment for the baby.

Remembering not to rattle down the stairs at a rate of knots as she usually did, she walked sensibly, thinking about the baby. She was already feeling protective. She was confident of one thing. She would not be separated from her child. Luca would have to know they were expecting a baby but, Prince or not, billionaire or not, she would not allow him, or his council, to take over. She would raise her child to have values and warmth, and teach it to be kind. The Browns would help. Maybe she’d have to move back to the docks, but not yet. Burying her face in her scarf to protect it from the bitter wind, she prepared to brave the weather to find a job.

And Luca?

He was an Italian male. Of course he’d want to be part of this. But he would also want to found a dynasty, and for that he needed a princess, not Callie from the docks.

She exchanged a cheery hello with the kindly shop owner who had rented Callie the flat and paused to help with a string of tinsel. ‘Thank you, darling,’ the elderly shop owner exclaimed, giving Callie a warm hug. ‘I can’t believe how you’re glowing. You look wonderful. Don’t you get cold outside, now.’

‘I won’t,’ Callie called back over her shoulder as she stepped out into the street.

* * *

He saw the car coming from the end of the street. Driven at speed, it was being chased by a police vehicle, sirens blaring.

No!

He wasn’t sure if he shouted, or thought the warning, but he did know he moved. Sprinting like a cheetah, he hurtled down the road. Shoving pedestrians from the path of the car, his sightline fixed on his goal. Time remained frozen, or so it seemed to him, with countless variables of horror possible.

Most people hadn’t even realised there was a problem. Callie was one of them. She was still walking across the street, oblivious to the danger hurtling towards her. Launching himself at her, he slammed her to the ground. There was a thump, a screech of brakes, and for a moment the world went black, then the woman in his arms, the woman he had cushioned from the edge of the pavement with his body, battled to break free.

‘Are you okay?’ she exclaimed with fierce concern, lifting herself up to stare at him.

Winded, he was only capable of a grunt. She stared at him in disbelief. ‘Luca?’

He gulped in a lungful of fumes and dust, mixed with Callie’s warm fragrance, then, as his brain clicked back into gear, he had only one concern, and that was Callie. ‘Are you hurt?’