Page 17 of The Phoenix (Spy Girl 6)
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sp; “I never wanted to marry Daniel, and Daniel had no intention of marrying me. He proposed for one reason and one reason only—to make you jealous in the hopes that you wouldn’t go through with it.”
“He tricked me?” she asks, her eyes going wide.
“He loves you and was desperate. It was a completely warped big gesture. He did what he thought he had to do.”
“He loves me,” she repeats, softening.
“Of course he does.”
“I was so upset when you got engaged. Now, I want to rid myself of this place and be back in his arms. I don’t care about Montrovia anymore,” she says dramatically. “We’ll live in Paris or America.”
“Yeah, well, that can’t happen. Lizzie, if you don’t stay engaged to Lorenzo and keep up your appearances until the Olympics are over, I’ll tell the queen and your parents what you just did.” I pause for effect. “And I have the video to prove it.”
“What?” she says, her eyes as big as saucers.
I give her a smirk. “You’re predictable.”
She flops back onto the couch and sighs. “You videotaped us on purpose?”
“No, but each room in the villa has secret cameras for insurance purposes should we encounter theft either from staff or outside sources. I got off the plane and went directly to my meeting. I would have turned them off this evening when I got back home.”
“How embarrassing,” she says, grabbing a pillow from the couch and wrapping her arms around it in a hug.
“I didn’t watch, Lizzie. I just know it’s there. And I will make sure it is destroyed after the Olympics. You agreed to an arranged marriage when you were in love with Daniel. Your country and Lorenzo mean something to you.”
“Of course they do!” she cries out. “I’ll just meet Daniel when he stays at the Olympic Village. He said he could get me a pass to get in and that the press and media are barred from the facility.”
“Lizzie, don’t be so blinded by love to think that the athletes won’t gossip and that you won’t be outed should you choose to spend time alone with Daniel in his room. And don’t forget that he will have a roommate. The Olympics only last for fifteen days. Consider yourself Lady Elizabeth Palomar, ambassador for your country. I’ll help you sneak out to meet Daniel, but you won’t announce anything until after.”
“But you and Lorenzo could just get engaged—”
“And how would that look to the world?” I ask, interrupting.
She sighs again. Like she can’t make up her mind. “It would reinforce the whole playboy prince thing. And undermine his ability to lead if there were a crisis. I hear that from his mother every single day.”
“Well, she’s right.” I nod.
“Fine. I agree,” she says with a pout.
Which is a good thing because I’m totally lying about the video.
I leave her room and make my way down the hall to Lorenzo’s quarters, finding him in his study, looking stressed.
“Lee,” he says, glancing up from the documents in his hand. “You said you couldn’t have dinner.”
“That’s not why I’m here,” I say, closing the door to give us some privacy. “You have a large staff, and you can’t afford even a whisper of impropriety. I came here to speak to Lizzie. And I should also tell you that I lied to her.”
“About what?”
“She and Daniel slept together today while we were out touring.”
“What? She’s engaged to me!” he says.
I’ll be honest. His reaction catches me off guard, and my heart is ready to pack up and leave. I take a breath and try to keep my cool, but I’m not very effective. “So, it’s okay for you and not for her? Are you sleeping with her?”
“No, it’s just”—he runs his hands through his hair in frustration—“things have been happening in my country over the last couple of weeks that being engaged to Lizzie hasn’t seemed to help.”
“Like what?”
“I’ve been getting pushback from the military. If it wasn’t for General Agueda and Admiral Lamonte, I’m not sure what I would do. The general has really stepped up his support. His men are quite loyal, and they seem to be following his orders, but I fear the rumblings. Admiral Lamonte is also worried. Add to that the political pressure from parliament.”
“Today, Daniel and Lizzie were reckless, but I came to the castle to talk to her about it.”
“What did you say? She doesn’t know that your engagement is fake. In fact, I’m honestly a bit let down by her moral turpitude. We have a contract that specifically states, until she has produced three heirs, she’s not allowed to have affairs.”
“She loves him, Lorenzo,” I state.
“Yes, but she has been my friend for years. I thought she was a woman of her word, and I’m disappointed by her actions. I also agreed to this initially because I believed she would have made a good queen had I not found love. It appears I was mistaken. I suppose I could reveal her infidelity and end the engagement.” He shakes his head and sighs. “While, personally, that would make me happy, I’m afraid how the country would react at this point.”
“So am I, especially when Daniel told me she was planning on calling off the wedding tomorrow. So, I kinda, sorta blackmailed her.”
Lorenzo gets an amused look. “With what?”
“I told her that, while we are gone, the villa has cameras in each room for insurance purposes should we encounter theft either from staff or outside sources. That I have to turn it off when a guest stays in the room. But that I got off the plane and came directly here. And that I’d share the tape if she didn’t stay engaged until after the Olympics. She whined about it being so long, but we’re talking just a couple of weeks to get through.”
“You did that for me?”
I slowly nod my head.
“La medida del amor es amar sin medida,” he says.
“I actually have a way you can repay me,” I say with a grin. “I mean, I do love you, but I’m not sure about the whole love without measure thing.”
He stands up, striding toward me. “I’m hoping I can repay you with my body.”
“What I’d like is to go into the royal vault,” I say, forcing myself to back away from him.
“If you want to visit your ring, it is still here.” He pulls the chess piece and ring out of his breast pocket. “Please, allow me.”
“No.” I take the ring from his hand, put the queen back in his pocket, and pat it. “The queen wants to stay there, close to your heart.”
Lorenzo takes my wrist, tightly gripping it, almost like he’s holding on for dear life.
“But I want that ring back in the vault until the day it can go back on my finger. It’s too valuable, Lorenzo. It’s part of your country’s history.”
He flips my hand over and kisses it. “Then, so it shall be.”
Once we’re in the vault, Lorenzo leads me to the back. “This is where the oldest of jewels are housed,” he says, opening a case and nestling my engagement ring back in its velvet box. “It is my hope that, on our wedding day, you will choose to wear the matching tiara with its flaming heart design.”
I can’t even properly describe how I feel when I see this magnificent piece of jewelry, the tiara’s design so delicate yet the stones comprising it quite large. Lorenzo hands me the accompanying journal.
“Although King Alberto took the brooch from this collection and turned it into the engagement ring, no one has worn the tiara since Lorenzo the Magnificent’s wife, Marchesa.”
“Is it cursed or something?” I ask, wondering why this gorgeousness hasn’t graced every Montrovian queen’s head over the years.
“As I mentioned, many brides choose to have custom pieces made.” He waves his hand in the direction of all of them lined up. “Now, this one,” he says, pointing out a stunning diamond version, “has been worn by nearly thirty brides over the years.”
“I can see why. It’s by far the most serious show of wealthy bling,” I say, finding myself being drawn back t
o the Arcadian tiara. I close my eyes and picture the dream dress with it. I pull out my phone. “May I?”
“Of course.”
He waits for me to take the photo and then pulls me into his arms. “I fear things will get worse in my country before they get better. I fear it might tear us apart.”
I tenderly kiss him, fearing that he’s right.
“No matter what happens, Huntley, remember that you, and only you, are my Arcadia.”
“Speaking of Arcadia, there was another reason I wanted to come to the vault.”
Lorenzo rolls his eyes, takes my hand, and leads me to the emerald Echelon ring. “Let me guess.”
“Could I see the record?”
He takes it from the shelf under the ring and hands it to me.
When Lorenzo and I last looked at it, he flipped through it from back to front to find the first entry of when the ring was first worn. But, when I was thinking about it earlier, I realized the entry wasn’t on the first page, leading me to believe that something was written before.
I open the old leather-bound journal to the first page to discover words probably hand-written by the first king of Montrovia himself.
“Um, do you think I could, like, borrow this? I want to read it.”
“Do you believe knowing what happened then will help us in our fight today?” he asks in a critical tone.
I have no idea, but I nod anyway. “If for no other reason than to not make the same mistakes.”
I go home and retreat to my bedroom, ordering myself a grilled cheese sandwich from the kitchen staff. I about cry when I find a glass of champagne on my tray along with a delicious-looking chocolate cupcake.
My phone rings.
“I modified your order. You’ve had a busy day,” Ares says.
“Where are you?”
“I’m here at the villa in Montrovia, shacking up in the basement. My father just arrived at your home in Paris.”
“That wasn’t on the list,” I say.
“Yes, well, that’s because Huntley Von Allister only recently purchased it.”
“You bought it in my name? Is it pretty?”
