Royal Affairs: His Princess of Convenience / Her Royal Wedding Wish / The Secret Princess. Rebecca Winters

I was crazy about them at a very early age.” Pictures of Prince Antonio and Princess Elena were constantly in the news. From the time she was about eight, she always liked to see photos of the famous brother and sister in the newspaper accompanying their family on a ski trip or some such thing.

      He was the country’s darling. By the time she met him in person, she’d already developed a crush on him that only grew after being with him. Of course all the silliness ended when she left Montreux and had new experiences in Africa. Once in a while she and Marusha would see him in the news, but until Elena’s brush with the law he’d been as distant to her as another galaxy.

      Antonio broke into laughter. “The secret life of Christina Rose. How scandalous.”

      She chuckled. “Marusha had plenty to tell me about tribal mating rituals of the Kikuyu. In fact, she kept me and Elena royally entertained most nights after lights went out. We’d stay up half the night talking. She had a crush on this security guard who was guarding a VIP at the Montreux Palace Hotel.

      “You know how beautiful Marusha is. Well, we’d walk past him and she’d say things to him to capture his interest. He never spoke, but his eyes always watched her. He was tall, maybe six foot five, and he kept his arms folded. He was the most impressive figure I ever saw and I think he was the reason she could handle being in Montreux when she’d rather be home in Africa.”

      Laughter continued to rumble out of Antonio.

      “Your sister had other interests. There was a drummer in the band that played at this one disco we were ordered not to visit. He was crazy about her and kept making dates with her. She only kept one of them. It was through him she met other guys, the kind she finally ended up with who got thrown in jail for drugs.”

      “Let’s be thankful she has grown up now, but don’t stop talking,” Antonio murmured. “I could listen to you all night. What masculine interest did you have?”

      Christina didn’t dare tell him that there was no male to match Antonio. His image was the one she’d always carried in the back of her mind. “Oh... I always loved men in the old Italian movies. You know, Franco Nero, Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio De Sica.”

      “No Halencian actors?”

      “No. I’ve liked a couple of British actors too. Rufus Sewell...ooh-la-la.” She grinned. “Now, there is a male to die for! So, which actress did it for you?”

      “That would be difficult to answer.”

      “You don’t play fair. You manage to get a lot of information out of me, but I ask you one question and suddenly you play possum.”

      “What does that mean?”

      “It means you play dead like a possum when you don’t want to reveal yourself. The possum does it for protection. It’s a very funny American expression and it describes you right now. What are you hiding from? Is the truth too scary for you?”

      “Have a heart, Christina. I’m not nearly so terrible a womanizer as some of the tabloids have made me out to be. They’re mostly lies.”

      “That’s all right. You just keep telling yourself that. When I married you I forgave you for everything. But I’ve talked your ear off, so excuse me for a minute.”

      She hurried into the other bedroom and grabbed the book from the table, and then she returned to Antonio. “Are you still in the mood to be read to, or are you ready to confess your sins?”

      “Yes and no.”

      He was hilarious.

      “All right, then. Here’s the quote from it. ‘Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear.’” She read the rest.

      A long silence ensued before Antonio murmured, “That’s very moving. Tell me something honestly. Are you going to miss Africa too much?”

      “What do you mean?”

      “You’ve spent ten years of your life there. So many memories and friends you’ve made.”

      “Well, I’m hoping that from time to time I’ll be able to fly to Nairobi to keep watch over the foundation, which I plan to continue with your permission.”

      “There’s no question about that.”

      Good. “But our marriage is my first priority, and your needs come first and always will with me.”

      “You’re wonderful, Christina, but that isn’t what I asked, exactly. Did you leave your heart there?”

      “Certainly a part of it, but I could ask you the same thing. Do you feel a strong tug when you think of San Francisco and the years you spent there?”

      “I’d be a liar if I didn’t say yes.”

      “I didn’t expect you to say anything else. As for me, I’ve decided I have two homes. One there, where I’ve always been comfortable, and now the new one with you. I see them both being compatible. When you long for San Francisco and want to do business there, I’ll understand.”

      “You’d love it there. I want to take you with me and show you around.”

      He couldn’t have said anything to thrill her more. “And maybe you can fly to Africa with me for a little break from royal business.”

      “We’ll make it happen.”

      She studied him for a long time. “Is there a woman you had to leave who’s missing you right now? Maybe I should rephrase that. Is there someone you’re missing horribly?”

      Antonio should have seen these questions coming, particularly since he hadn’t slept with her last night. “I haven’t been a monk. What about you?”

      A quick smile appeared. Her appeal was growing on him like mad. “I’m no nun.”

      For some odd reason he didn’t like hearing that.

      You hypocrite, Antonio. Did you want a bride as pure as the driven snow? Did you really expect her to give up men while she waited four years for you to decide when to claim her for your wife?

      “Who was he?” His parents’ affairs had jaded him.

      “A doctor who’d come to Kenya to perform plastic surgery on some of the native children. Once I came back to Africa with the engagement ring on my finger, he left for England three days later.”

      “I kept you waiting four years,” Antonio muttered in self-disgust.

      A frown marred her features. “Antonio, none of that matters. I’m your wife! But you still haven’t answered my question. Is there a woman who became of vital importance to you before you had to fly home to get married?”

      He got off the bed. “The only woman of importance was one I got involved with before our engagement, Christina.”

      “Then you’ve known her a long time. If there’d been no engagement, would you have married her?”

      “That’s hard to say. I might have if I’d decided to turn my back on my family and wanted to stay in California for the rest of my life. But when your call came telling me about Elena’s problems and I talked to her, I realized how binding those family ties really are right from the cradle.”

      “I know that all too well,” she whispered. Christina had obviously been talking about the relationship with her parents.

      “The accident of my being born to a king and queen set me on a particular path. To marry a foreigner and deviate from it might bring me short-term pleasure. But I feared I’d end up living a lifetime of regret.”

      She shook her head. “How hard for both of you.”

      Her sincerity rang so true he felt it reach his bones. “Though I continued to see her after the engagement party, nothing was the same because we knew there would have to be an end. We soon said goodbye to each other.

      “In