Diamonds are Forever: The Royal Marriage Arrangement / The Diamond Bride / The Diamond Dad

When they reached the second floor, he turned to her. “Meet me at the north portico in five minutes.”

“I’ll be there.” She hurried down the hall to her suite, tossing her Italian book and notebook on the bed. Once she’d washed her face and brushed her hair, she grabbed her purse and flew out the door.

“Ciao, Alexandra.” Lucca’s sister was just coming out of her room.

She drew to a halt. “Ciao, Regina.”

She smiled. “How did the Italian lesson go?”

“I loved it.”

“Good. Where are you off to in such a hurry now?”

“Lucca and I are going out for lunch.”

Her brown eyes smiled. “I was about to ask if you’d like to have a meal in town with me, but I can see you have a much more pressing engagement.”

Alex liked Regina and wanted to include her, even though she was looking forward to being alone with Lucca. “Why don’t we all go together?”

Regina shook her head. “If my brother had wanted me along, he would have asked me. Go and enjoy yourselves.”

“You’re sure? Come with me and we’ll ask him.”

“His favorite car only fits two.”

“Maybe we’re going in the limo.”

“I doubt it.”

“Then you can squeeze in with us.”

After a gentle laugh she put a hand on Alex’s arm. “I believe you would make room for me, but under the circumstances I’m going to check on my parents. Have a lovely outing.”

“Grazie, Regina.” She’d practiced it with Tomaso. It was one of the Italian words she loved to say.

“Prego, Alexandra.”

They walked together, then parted company at the stairway. Alex felt like flying down it, but since it would look as if she couldn’t wait to be with Lucca, she controlled herself and descended as gracefully as she knew how.

It would be good practice for their wedding day, when she had to walk up and down the front steps of the cathedral she’d passed in town last evening. What would she do if she fell flat on her face?

Lucca was waiting for her at the entrance, but his expression darkened as she drew closer. “Tell me what’s put that worried look in your eyes. Something’s happened.”

The man’s radar didn’t miss anything. “No.” She shook her head. “I was thinking how awful it would be to trip on the steps of the cathedral in my wedding dress.”

His taut body relaxed. “Should that occur, everyone would feel better for knowing you’re human, too. If anything, you would endear yourself to the crowd.”

She stared at him. “Were you born a diplomat or did you learn it from your parents through osmosis?”

His lips twitched as he put a hand behind her waist and ushered her out the doors to a black Ferrari. Once inside his sensational car, he helped her fasten the seat belt. Too much bodily contact within the elegant leather confines set her trembling.

“My parents will tell you I was born a hellion and will probably go out of this world the same way.” As they sped away from the palace, she acknowledged he drove like one.

Every woman loved a bad boy. Wasn’t that the collective opinion?

Alex had to admit, it was Lucca’s wild side that made him the bigger-than-life, exciting male who’d overcome every obstacle to get her on that plane. No ordinary man could have managed it.

She still couldn’t comprehend how it had happened. All she knew for a certainty was that in a little over two days she’d fallen hopelessly in love with him.

“I met Regina in the hall and asked her to come with us, but she declined.”

“Smart girl,” he quipped.

Alex smiled to herself. “She’s such a natural person. I like her very much.”

“So do I.”

They wound up the hillside behind Capriccio and on through a town called Savono. With every kilometer the traffic thinned until they came to a tiny hamlet nestled beneath a mountaintop. It looked ancient, almost untouched by time. Forgotten even.

Lucca pulled to a stop in front of a stone church in partial ruin. No one was about. His bodyguards were doing an amazing job of keeping the paparazzi at bay.

“This is Dirupo. The word means crag, the northernmost boundary of Castelmare. Historians say it came into being in the twelfth century. There’s one grocery store with a bank and post office inside. The inn only has twelve rooms.”

“This place has a lonely feel, doesn’t it, yet that’s the reason for its charm,” Alex murmured. She got out of the car to look around. There was a plaque on one of the church’s stones with an explanation in four languages. She read the English version with interest. He joined her.

“I thought the same thing when I first explored up here as a boy. Right now it’s on a long list of things to be discussed at the cabinet meeting tomorrow. Several of the ministers want to allow hotels and restaurants to be built up here to bring in more tourism. Because of the mountain streams they’re talking of creating a spa. Yet others argue it will destroy the watershed.”

She drew in a deep breath. “The view of the Mediterranean is unmatched, Lucca. Tourists would kill to vacation in a spot like this. You could charge a fortune for a one-night stay.”

Alex continued to look out at the spectacular view. Being with him filled her with feelings of euphoria. “On the other hand it could be overrun and lose the bit of history that makes it so unique. There aren’t many untouched places like this left in the world. …”

Lucca’s gaze wandered over her features. “I knew if I brought you up here, I’d be able to resolve it in my mind.”

For no good reason her heart rate sped up. “What have you concluded?”

“I’m going to suggest we put a moratorium on any building, but we’ll restore the church and any existing structures needing repair work.”

She smiled at him. “Two hundred years from now your country will praise you for your vision.”

He cocked his head. “You think I want praise?”

“In the best sense, yes. If I were a monarch, I would like to think I’d left a legacy that preserved a vital slice of the country’s origins. Otherwise what would people in the future have to look forward to?”

Lucca seemed to ponder her comment before he said, “You’ve just helped me write the essence of my coronation speech. For that gift I’m going to take you inside the inn and buy you a lunch of fresh brook trout that will melt in your mouth.”

By now she was famished. “How do you say trout?”

“Trota di fiume.”