Marion Lennox – Wedding Vows: Say I Do: Matrimony with His Majesty / Invitation to the Prince's Palace / The Prince's Outback Bride (страница 21)

“Dad wants us to meet him at his office. He says he’s got something special planned and you have to come, too, Mom, because we’re going to have dinner with Aunt Evelyn after.”

Aunt Evelyn…

Darrell hadn’t even met the boys’ mother yet, but Phillip was already calling her aunt.

“Hurrah!” Jules cried enthusiastically.

Under the circumstances Darrell couldn’t refuse. It was a good thing she’d put on her pleated tan pants and fitted purple top. Not too dressy, not too casual for her first meeting with his cousin-in-law.

The boys knew their way around the castle blindfolded. She followed them down the exquisitely sculpted marble staircase to the first floor. They took a right through the magnificent vaulted corridors lined with paintings and tapestries leading to the king’s official workplace.

“See the flag?” Vito spoke up.

“Yes.”

“If the Valleder flag is posted, then you know Uncle Alex is in the city and his ministers can have access to him.”

“That’s very interesting. Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re welcome.”

The boy knew everything and took it all so seriously, Darrell decided he had the makings of a king.

Then she glimpsed the real king. At the first sight of Alex in a black turtleneck and jeans standing in the huge double doorway, her pulse skittered off the charts.

The boys huddled around him while he gave their dark blond heads a gentle roughing.

Yesterday she’d felt those strong hands in her hair and knew how it felt. She almost passed out reliving the sensation until she remembered he’d spent the night with Isabella.

Judging by his laid-back demeanor, he’d won Isabella over and there was going to be a wedding. Then she would always have the right to his affection.

Darrell couldn’t bear it.

“Mom?” Phillip shook her arm, jerking her from a place she’d promised herself never to go again. Her gaze happened to collide with a penetrating pair of eyes that were more gray than green at the moment.

“When a storm rages, there’s a knight whose ghost walks around the castle below the waterline. Chaz and I only saw the back of him one time. I thought we’d all go down and search for him now.”

The boys laughed nervously. Phillip smiled, but his heels moved up and down, indicating his adrenaline had kicked in.

“Think you’re up to it?”

Alex had issued her a direct challenge she couldn’t refuse. In truth she didn’t want to. Who else besides Alex would think up something this entertaining for a bunch of adventurous boys on a dark, dreary afternoon inside a castle of all things?

“I wouldn’t miss snooping around this place for anything in the world.”

Another smile of satisfaction curved his lips. “Then let’s go.”

With a heavy-duty flashlight in hand, Alex strode down the hall forcing everyone to run after him.

“Admit you’re a little freaked, Mom.”

She was, but not for the reason her son was suggesting.

Alex led them down another hall and through a heavy wooden door to the ancient part of the castle. A circular stone staircase over a thousand years old seemed to go down, down forever. The only light came from the slit windows spaced every so often. Rain beat against the panes.

Without the flashlight they would have been entombed in total darkness once they reached the bottom.

Alex flashed the beam around the vast cavern with its labyrinths and pillars. Water dripped from the dank walls where moss was growing. Above them she could hear the waves on the lake crashing against the castle walls. It caused her to shiver.

“Whoa—” Phillip whispered. Vito stood manfully by himself, but Jules stuck close to his uncle.

“Stay with me everybody,” Alex warned them. They advanced a few feet.

“What are those chains for?” Jules asked.

Darrell could see them lying on the stone floor at the base of one of the pillars.

“When it’s good weather, the knight is the castle’s prisoner.”

“No, he’s not, Dad—”

“Shh. I think I can hear him,” Alex whispered. He handed Phillip the flashlight. “Go ahead with the boys. See what you can find.”

“Come on you guys. Dad’s only teasing us.”

Strange how the darkness made Alex stand out to Darrell as if it were full daylight. She could feel the warmth from his body though they weren’t touching. She knew he was smiling.

“I take it you and your cousin used to come down here to play.”

“All the time.”

“Did your parents know?”

“Not if we could help it. Security wasn’t as tight back then, so we got away with a lot.”

“Your son appears to be fearless. You couldn’t have planned anything more thrilling than this. He’s going to want to bring his friends down here when they come to visit.”

The second the words left her mouth, she realized her mistake. “I shouldn’t have said that. I apologize.”

“For what?” The air sizzled with tension.

“For assuming that everything’s normal when I know it’s anything but. I—I’ve been thinking about you and Isabella. The only way your marriage can work is for us to set up a visitation schedule that will make her happy.

“Phillip knows exactly what’s at stake here. He might not like it, but now that he feels your love he’ll be able to plan his life around the times when he can see you. It’ll work. Maybe next time he can bring his friend Ryan.”

She heard the changed tenor of his breathing. “Of course his friends will always be welcome, but I want him around more than two or three times a year, Darrell. I want you to move to Bris.”

Her heart slammed into her ribs. “You couldn’t mean permanently.”

“Is that so hard to understand? It would solve a lot of problems.”

For you and our son, Alex. Not for me or the princess or the monarchy.

“I couldn’t do that. My life’s in Denver. Yours is with Isabella and the family you’re going to raise. After your wedding is over and things have settled down for you, Phillip can fly here to see you. As long as he can talk to you on the phone between trips, it’ll be fine.”

Sucking in her breath she added, “It’s awfully chilly down here. I think I’ll wait for all of you upstairs.”

Relying on her instincts to guide her, she turned back toward the staircase, needing to get away from him before she found herself considering his wishes.

To her dismay she stumbled into the bottom step. But the cry she emitted came from the feel of Alex’s hands on her hips. At the first touch she longed for him to turn her in his arms and kiss her as if they had the right to lose themselves in each other.

But he belonged to someone else and she needed to get far away and stay there.

“Did you hurt yourself?” He’d asked the question out of concern, but the way his hands slid up her arms before relinquishing her body told her he hadn’t forgotten yesterday’s incident. The one she hadn’t been able to dismiss from her memory no matter how hard she tried.

“No—I’m all right, thank you.”

Frightened by her weakness for him, she began the long circular climb, knowing he couldn’t come after her while the boys were still down there.

By the time she reached the top, to her surprise the rest of them weren’t far behind her. They filed into the lighted hallway.

“Mom? I didn’t think you’d get scared down there.”

“I didn’t, either.” Her voice shook.

But being alone with Alex for any reason was too dangerous now. A few minutes ago she’d been willing to crush him in her arms and be swept away again by the passion that had flared between them on the mountain.

She addressed Jules. “Did you see the ghost?”