Page 7 of The Valiant (Spy Girl 4)
"No. And it's weird because you would think, if you were investigating Ares Von Allister, you would go to Florence where the Medici family ruled during roughly the same time period as the Borghese family did in Rome. The Medici family was powerful and provided the church with four popes. It was from that bloodline that Lorenzo the Magnificent was sent to Montrovia. And according to Malcolm Prescott, our father was obsessed with all of that. Malcolm Prescott even has a book that once belonged to Ares about the Medici family and their echelon--or upper level of society."
"There are no photos of Florence," Ari says, handing me another photo.
"This photo. Was it on the locket?"
"Yes," Terrance says.
"But's the same one that was in the safety deposit box in Zurich, which means--"
"She had the pictures developed and left a trail for someone just in case. That means she knew she was in danger," Ari finishes. "At least at the end."
A scene pops into my head.
I'm in a small, windowless room at Blackwood Academy. A room I'd grown to hate in the short time I had been here. It was always the same drill. I'm asked for what seemed like the millionth time where my mom and I had been before she died--make that, before she was shot in front of me.
Blackwood Academy is nice enough, and I liked my classes because they kept me busy. I just wished they would have lasted all night, so I wouldn't have had to relive her death every time I went to sleep.
My counselor, the man who was supposed to help me deal with my grief, entered the room. He looked perpetually stressed, and I had a feeling I was the cause of his stress. I closed my eyes, waiting for him to start in. But he didn't. Instead, he asked if I had ever been to Rome. Maybe he'd finally gotten the hint that I didn't want to talk about the stupid vacation. And no amount of talking was ever going to change the fact that I had failed my mother. I should have gone out there with her. I should have killed the assassin. I should have saved her.
"Yes, many times. My parents were sent there for work often."
"And what did you see at the Galleria Borghese?"
"I've never been there," I replied, working hard to keep my breath even when I wanted to scream out loud.
"You're lying! Tell me the truth!" He wagged a photo in front of my face. "This is you standing in front of it. What did you see when you were there?"
"Art, I would assume," I replied in a smart-ass tone.
"Which art specifically?"
"I don't remember," I said as tears filled my eyes. I knew I had been there, but I didn't want to remember. I can't. I won't.
"I'm sick of your lies."
"And I'm sick of you asking the same stupid questions," I fired back.
The man jumped out of his chair with a menacing look in his eye, and came after me.
I reacted in a way that seemed second nature now--by punching him in the throat.
"Did you just remember something?" Ari asks, closely watching me.
"Sort of," I admit. "At Blackwood, I was sent to therapy sessions, which basically involved a doctor questioning me in different ways about where my mother and I had been on our trip. On our last visit, he showed me the photo from the museum in Rome. My mother must have given it to someone or left it at our house."
"What did you tell him?" Ari asks.
"Nothing." I roll my eyes and let out a sigh. "I frustrated him. When I told him I didn't remember being there, he got mad and came at me. I reacted by punching him in the throat. I guess Blackwood gave up because, after that, I never saw him again."
Terrance hands me another photo. I'm standing in front of the placard of a bank in Zurich. "There's this one. But you've already been there."
"Blackwood must have known, after Montrovia, you traveled with the Huntley Bond passport, but anywhere you went in Europe that didn't require customs wouldn't have been noted. Without these photos or your memories, they'd have had no way of figuring out what your mom discovered."
"We can assume our first stop was to Ares Von Allister's lab. That indicates that she was either working for him or investigating him," I reason.
"What if it had nothing to do with your trip?" Terrance questions. "What if she was there to introduce you to your biological dad?"
"Because she knew she might not survive this mission?"
"The mission that wasn't a mission."
"Maybe. Look, guys, this has been loads of fun, but I have a date with Lorenzo tonight, and I need to get ready. Besides, this is like a tangled ball of yarn; once you undo one knot, somehow, you've managed to create another."
Lorenzo and Lady Elizabeth Palomar meet in a private suite at the Royal Casino, each of them breathless from having to sneak separately to the hotel's seventh floor.
Lorenzo takes Lizzie's hand as she enters the room, kissing it with affection. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," she says. "Did you have any luck with Huntley?"
"She agreed to formally court me." Lorenzo grins.
"Oh, thank goodness." Lizzie lets out a sigh of relief. "What did your mother say?"
"I have yet to tell her. We are keeping the news to ourselves for a short time. She's still recovering from the injuries she sustained in the car bombing, and she doesn't need the media pressure our announcement will entail."
"I read she was experiencing dizzy spells due to carrying your heir. Is it true? Is that why you don't want to announce it straightaway?"
"It is not. She was suffering from a concussion. She hit her head when the bomb went off."
"I'm not sure it's enough," Lizzie says, walking to the window and looking longingly out to the harbor, almost like she's planning to escape.
"What do you mean?"
"Our parents have signed the agreement. We are legally bound now."
Lorenzo's stomach drops. Or maybe it's his heart. Although Lizzie is a dear friend and he initially agreed to marry her if he hadn't taken a bride by the time he was twenty-six, he never imagined his father would move up the time line or that he would fall helplessly in love with someone else.
"How do you feel about that?" he asks, walking to the window to offer some comfort.
"I wept. Then, I was angry. Then, I thought I must be crazy. What woman in her right mind would turn down the opportunity to be queen? I made a list in my head of all the positives. And there were many. The jewels, the power, the wealth. The only downside to the arrangement is that I am not in love with you.
"But, in the end, I decided, if it was meant to be my destiny, I would fulfill the agreement. We've known each other since childhood. You are my friend and I love you. I feel a duty to both my family and our country. I understand the importance of heirs, but I feel, if there were passionate love for each other in us, we would have explor
ed that facet of our friendship by now."
Lorenzo raises his eyebrow at her and smiles. "You know I had a crush on you when we were young, but you liked older boys."
"And look at where that got me." She laughs. "I'm twenty-three and single--practically a disgrace to my family."
"I want to marry for reasons of love and passion," Lorenzo agrees, thinking of waking every morning with Huntley in his arms. What would he do if he was forced to marry someone he did not love? Would he abdicate his crown to be with her? Would he be willing to let his royal bloodline die?
"So do I," Lizzie says, bringing him back to the present, "but the reality is, you are facing a ticking clock. Our wedding date is set for December seventeenth--just six months' time." Lorenzo rubs his hand across his face, trying to control his stress level, as she continues, "I was planning a trip out of town, and my father forbade me."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to go to the Olympic Swim Trials."
A smile spreads across Lorenzo's face as the realization of what she's not saying hits him. "To see Daniel?"
"It's a very recent development," Lizzie replies, blushing slightly. "We danced at the Queen's Ball and became friends. With the tabloids pitting you and Daniel against each other for Huntley's affection, it means we've been able to see each other occasionally without notice. It's one thing for you to be seen in the company of other women. It's expected. Completely chauvinistic double standard, if you ask me, but I am not supposed to have dalliances before I am announced as your future queen. Enzo, I'm told an announcement is imminent. Don't wait too long to talk to your mother, or there might be no turning back for us."
"Are you saying you would go through with it?"
"I think it would be a great injustice to our country if you did not continue to rule. But, as you know, the sole purpose of the arrangement is to continue the Vallenta bloodline. The contract states that I'm to produce a minimum of three heirs. Once I fulfill that duty, my requirements ease--a minimum time spent in the country, fewer public appearances, and the ability to take on a lover or even divorce. Of course, there are financial arrangements in place for all possible outcomes, but the most important is that our children are to be raised in Montrovia."
"All that is spelled out in the marriage contract?"
"Yes, and trust me, I've read all one hundred thirty-eight pages."
