The Royal Marriage Arrangement. Rebecca Winters

      

      THE ROYAL HOUSE OF SAVOY

      A modern royal family in search of old-fashioned love…

      The Vittorio family have ruled the Italian principality of Castelmare for generations. But as illness claims the aged King Rudolfo he must pass the throne on to his eldest son Lucca…

      THE ROYAL MARRIAGE ARRANGEMENT

      When Crown Prince Lucca marries, his wife will wear his emblem—the famous Ligurian Diamond. But so far no woman has been deserving enough to wear the prized gem.

      To Alexandra Grigory diamonds will always symbolise tragedy and loss, but as Lucca’s chosen royal bride she must adorn herself in his riches.

      As their marriage arrangement is sealed by the precious jewel, only true love can secure the throne and unite the prince and his bride…

       Don’t miss Crown Princess Regina’s story— coming next month:

       ITALIAN GROOM, PRINCESS BRIDE

      Alex had never given much thought to a problem like his until this minute. She was glad she wasn’t in his royal shoes; she knew she could never marry for the sake of duty and be tied to someone she didn’t love with her whole heart and soul.

      Suddenly restless, Lucca got up from the chair. “I need to choose a wife who understands the situation for exactly what it is. No lies. No self-deception or pretense.”

      “You mean someone who has no expectation of love? Is there such a woman?”

      “Among my parents’ shortlist? No.” He came to sit on the corner of the desk so his legs brushed hers. “But an extraordinary thing happened to me today. I met someone who would be the perfect consort to come to my rescue in this emergency situation. At the same time I could help her in ways no one else can.”

      As the portent of his words sank in, Alex’s eyes widened in disbelief.

      “You can’t possibly mean what you’re saying.”

      He rose to his intimidating height. “I never say what I don’t mean,” came the words of steel.

      She shook her head. “So you’ll pay my debts if I agree to marry you? Then you’ll become King and two strangers will live unhappily ever after in a loveless marriage. This conversation is utterly absurd! Don’t you know that old movie script has been done and redone ad nauseam?”

      One dark brow quirked. “But not to the tune of twelve million dollars. That will be my wedding present to you. In return, you’ll play the loving wife in front of other people—be it my family or the public.”

      “I will not!”

      Rebecca Winters, whose family of four children has now swelled to include three beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. With canyons and high Alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favourite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her Mills & Boon^® Romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church. Rebecca loves to hear from her readers. If you wish to e-mail her, please visit her website at: www.cleanromances.com

      THE ROYAL MARRIAGE ARRANGEMENT

      BY

      REBECCA WINTERS

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      CHAPTER ONE

      “HOW much is still owing to satisfy the creditors, Mr. Watkins?”

      The aging attorney raised his shaggy gray eyebrows. “Twelve million dollars.”

      Alex’s heart plunged to her feet. That much? She felt the worst about Manny Horowitz. Her mother’s agent was a good man who’d done everything to further her mother’s career all these years. He was still owed close to two million dollars. How could her mother not have paid him?

      “I’ve auctioned everything except my mother’s diamonds. They’ve got to cover it!”

      Jewelry was the only thing remaining for Alex to sell from her mother’s Beverly Hills estate. If she couldn’t meet the sum, then the tabloids would hear of it and trash her mother’s blighted reputation even more than they’d already done by exploiting her drug-related death. Some whispered that after her last divorce from Sheik Mustafah Tahar, Kathryn Carlisle had committed suicide, but nothing had been proved conclusively. Alex didn’t know what to believe.

      “I’m sorry it’s come to this, Alexandra. A child shouldn’t have to be burdened this way.”

      “Thank you, Mr. Watkins, but I haven’t been a child for a long time.” In fact, she’d been through so much already as the unwanted offspring of the world’s most beautiful woman that Alex felt ancient, but she supposed twenty-five still sounded young to him.

      Since her mother’s death on Christmas morning five months ago, Mr. Watkins had bent over backward to help her find ways to pay off her mother’s debts. Furthermore he’d never once said a bad thing about her narcissistic parent who’d been married and divorced six times. As Kathryn’s attorney from the beginning of her career, he’d had more right than anyone to castigate the willful, infamous Hollywood phenomenon of the film world who’d disregarded his advice and had run through money like she did alcohol.

      At only forty-five years of age Kathryn Carlisle had come to a shockingly ugly end with nothing to show for it but a history of disastrous marriages, explosive divorces, unpaid bills despite her millions and a criminally neglected child from her first failed union. “Where would you suggest I go to get the best price for her jewelry?”

      “The House of Savoy on Fifth Avenue in New York.”

      “My father gave her a diamond bracelet from there on their wedding night.”

      It was the only thing Alex remembered her mother telling her about her father. As Alex had matured she had learned for herself that her father, Oleg Grigory, had owned one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. When she’d grown old enough to understand, she’d heard rumors that he had ties to the Russian mafia, but no one knew for sure. His early death in an airplane crash was purported to be the work of a rivaling mob family.

      Mr. Watkins nodded. “Without question they’re the world’s expert on diamonds.”

      Alex frowned because it meant paying for an airline ticket to the East Coast. She would have to juggle her bills to come up with the money, but Alex’s mother had claimed she possessed a king’s ransom in diamonds from her various husbands. If that were true, maybe all her debts would be satisfied. Only then could Alex bury the past and try to get on with her life.

      “I’ll call you as soon as I’ve booked my flight.”

      “Good. Considering we’re talking about your mother’s collection, I feel they’re the one company that will be totally honest in their dealings with you. And…discreet.”

      Ah, yes. Discreet. For this last, financial transaction, maybe it would be best to get away from Hollywood and the scandalmongers.

      Oh, Mother… Why couldn’t you have been a mother instead of Kathryn Carlisle?

      Mr. Watkins eyed her with compassion. “Once you know your flight, I’ll make the appointment for you with the head jeweler. Drop by the bank on your way to the airport, and I’ll arrange for them to hand over the jewel case from her strongbox.”

      With a nod she left his office and headed for her job as a makeup artist on a studio lot. She would have to talk to her boss, Michelle, about getting some time off. The older woman who headed the department had always been good to her and would certainly let Alex take the time she