“I will. She’ll have no other choice, and you know that. Once I take her, there is no going back.”
“Remember, you can’t tell her that. The choice to stay must be hers.”
“Do not explain my country’s laws to me. I know what must be done.”
“And you’re willing to live with the consequences if she refuses you after you have brought her here?”
“There is no woman who could ever mean more to me than Rubare Collina. My loyalty lies first with my family and my country, then the woman I choose.” He thought about it for a moment. “I have decided to stay in this country with her before returning home. Procure a private home somewhere in the north. I would like some time alone with her before I introduce her to the family.”
“As you wish. I will send you the details as soon as I have found the perfect place for you.”
“I should have her with me by tomorrow. Have it ready by then.”
“If you are sure she will show up — ”
Xander hung up. Simon was having too much fun at his expense. It wasn’t that amusing. His family had gone about finding their new queens in this very manner for hundreds of years. The modern world might not be able to understand the importance of their traditions, but Xander did.
Family and duty above all else.
Xander looked out the window of his vehicle and put everything else out of his head. Success came to those who demanded it. Those who saw the challenge as an opportunity to prove themselves.
Reanna Fielding had said no to him and meant it.
Xander couldn’t wait to see her again.
Chapter Three
Reanna was back at her house with her paperwork spread across the kitchen table. Normally not too much distracted her. She had learned early how to close the rest of the world out. So, it surprised her, that instead of diving into the latest lab report findings, she was shuffling the files around the table into geometric designs.
And thinking about Xander.
She didn’t believe for a second he had actually shown up at her house as he’d said he would, but, as she played with the files before her, she let herself imagine he had. What had he thought as he stood on her doorstep waiting for her to answer? Had he been disappointed? Did he drive directly to a flower shop to spend his entire paycheck on dozens of roses in an attempt to impress her?
But roses were not her favorite. She preferred daisies. She remembered seeing a photo of a golden Minoan hairpin with a daisy ornament on the end and falling in love with the hardy flower. They were easy to overlook in a florist shop full of bigger and bolder blooms, but historically, daisies were an undeniable icon. Innocence. Hope. Ideals that never went out of fashion.
Of course, there had been neither roses nor daisies upon her return home. And none were coming. Still, a little daydreaming never hurt anyone.
I would pretend to be unimpressed by the huge bouquet. He would call, of course, and wait for me to thank him. I’d explain how it would take more than bundled vegetation to win over a woman like me.
Reanna rested her chin on her hand and imagined his response. In that deep, sexy voice of his, he’d say, “Then tell me how to win your heart, and I’ll do it. I would do anything for you, Reanna.”
She was pondering what quest she would choose when her doorbell rang. It was probably Kendra. She always rang once or twice then let herself in with the key Reanna had given her for emergencies. Her doorbell rang again.
Reanna opened the door, took one look at who was standing outside, and slammed the door in his face. Still holding the doorknob, she sagged back against the door, trying to catch her breath.
“Open the door, Reanna.”
Reanna couldn’t believe he was there. She looked down at her yoga pants and oversized T-shirt. “I can’t.”
“Then we have a problem. Because I am not leaving without seeing you.”
“I just slammed the door in your face,” Reanna said, as if saying it would make it less real. It didn’t.
She wanted to sink into the floor and disappear when she heard him chuckle. “I’m aware of that.”
She leaned onto her side and spoke through the closed door. “I didn’t mean to. I would never do that.”
“I would argue that you would.”
“You surprised me, that’s all. I was imagining what I would do if you were here, and then you were here, and I panicked.” She smacked her hand on her forehead. “I can’t believe I just said that. Could you go away and pretend we never had this conversation?”
“No.”
A long silence dragged painfully on. “That’s all you’re going to say? No.”
“Yes.”
After another long silence, Reanna said, “People are probably wondering why you’re still standing at a door that’s not opening.”
“I don’t care what people think. No one has ever gotten what they wanted by walking away.”
Reanna swallowed hard. “Some people have. Bartering is a way of negotiating a price all over the world. Often it takes being willing to walk away.”
“Reanna?”
“Yes?”
“Open the damn door.”
There was something she needed to know before she did. “Did you come here at noon?”
“I did.”
Oh, my God, he did. He came here.
“I told you I needed to work.”
“That’s why I am not irritated with you.”
I can’t believe he actually came. Reanna looked through the peephole on the door. All she could see was the white of his shirt and the edge of the dark jacket he wore. She couldn’t see if he had anything in his hands, and she couldn’t remember if he had. For someone who normally paid close attention to detail, she hated how her brain scattered around him. She fought against a rising hope. “Did you bring flowers?”
He waited a moment before answering. “I did not.”
She sagged against the door. Of course he didn’t. Sadly, she said, “You should have. I would’ve opened the door for daisies.”
She heard him say something in a foreign language, but she didn’t understand what. He continued to stand at the door as if his mere presence would open it. “Was your trip to Hartford productive?”
“Yes.” She paused. “I don’t remember telling you where I was going.”
Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. “Have you completed your work?”
“No,” she answered. He didn’t say anything for several minutes, and Reanna grew anxious. “What are you doing here, Xander?”
“I’m here to see you, Reanna.”
“Why?” she asked, because the question was spinning through her head.
“Why does any man want to visit with a beautiful woman, Reanna?”
“Stop,” she implored. I don’t want to start hoping again.
“Open the door, Reanna.”
Reanna covered her lips with a shaky hand. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but it’s gone far enough. Thanks for coming by. Sorry I wasn’t here earlier. It’s been really nice talking to you.”
“Don’t you want your daisies?”
Holding her breath, Reanna peered through the peephole again. He was holding the largest bouquet of daisies she’d ever seen. “I don’t believe in magic,” she said impulsively.
He shrugged. “Do you believe in the flower shop across the street?”
Reality for once was not a disappointment. There was a florist shop across the street. She didn’t know how he’d gotten the flowers that quickly, but it didn’t matter. “If I open the door, how can I be sure you’re not dangerous? I don’t know you.”
“You could ask my driver if I have recently hidden anyone in the trunk of my Bentley.”
Reanna slowly opened the door. Standing at the bottom of the stairs to her brownstone, several feet behind Xander, there was indeed an older man in a uniform standing next to a Bentley. He looked a little flushed as if he had recently completed a sprint. “You s
ent him across the street for the flowers?”
Xander inclined his head.
Reanna waved to the white-haired man. “Thank you.”
Still holding a ridiculously large bouquet, and every bit as gorgeous as Reanna had remembered him, Xander frowned down at her. “You should be thanking me.”
Feeling like she’d stepped into some wondrous, upside-down world, Reanna found the courage to joke. “Thank you? He bought them for me. All you’re doing is holding them. Like a big vase in a suit.”
