To Marry A Prince

Chapter 4

Kris watched the taped version of the press conference for the third time. There was a throbbing between his eyes as he hit the stop button on the remote, ending the recording seconds before turning the television off.

He was in his rooms now, two hours after his meeting at the bank had ended. His second meeting of the day had been cancelled and his father had never contacted him about when they would meet today. Kris sat back in the leather chair in the sitting area that he’d turned into an additional office and stared down at his desk. He did not have time for this.

Press conferences about wedding plans, announcements about parties, and yes, the blatant disrespect Malayka had just shown to the local dressmakers, were all among the things Kris did not want to deal with. There were too many more important things for him to occupy his thoughts with. The meeting at the bank and the concern that had been gnawing at him for weeks, for instance.

Grand Serenity Island was an independent territory that had been acquired by the Netherlands in the 1600s. The island did not flourish as the early settlers would have liked because of its dry climate and thus the lack of agricultural prospects. That began to change in the late 1800s when the son of a British sailor named Montgomery Chapman decided there had to be more to this place than gorgeous waters and warm air. Montgomery and his group of slaves discovered the Rustatian Gold Mill, which eventually went on to produce three million pounds of gold. In the immediate years following, the island saw more growth in the building of its first oil refinery, which was also owned by the Chapman family.

By the time Kris’s grandfather, Josef Marquise DeSaunters, gained control of the island via his leadership role in the rebellion against the then ruling tyrant, Governor Marco Vansig, the gold mills and oil refineries were the island’s main sources of income. However, Vansig’s greed and vicious rule had burned many bridges in the trade industry, leaving Josef with no other option than to look for additional opportunities for the citizens of the island to continue to thrive. On the advice of his wife, Josef formed the island’s first tourism board and by the early 1980s, when the oil industry began to wane, tourism became Grand Serenity’s financial savior.

It was Kris’s father, Rafe, who came into rule after Josef’s death from throat cancer. Rafe vowed to continue his father’s vision for the island. Rafe knew the value of forging strong partnerships on and off the island. This led him to venture to the United States where he met with potential developers and owners of the burgeoning cruise lines. This was also where Rafe met his wife, Kris’s mother, Vivienne Patterson, whose father was a Texas oilman.

Kris dragged a hand down his face at the thought. His chest clenched and he spent the next few seconds tamping down the well of emotion that always swelled when he thought of his mother, who had died when Kris was ten years old. When Kris was certain he could concentrate on the pressing matter at hand once more, he opened a large file filled with papers he’d brought back with him from the bank and began sorting them into three piles.

As a young man during his father’s rule, Rafe had begun to amass more fortune for the DeSaunters family by constructing financial institutions. He’d been successful with soliciting wealthy international clients, as well as celebrities, to invest and bank with Grand Serenity as a way of remaining ungoverned by their country’s financial restrictions. This had been the first aspect of governing the island that Rafe had taught Kris. From the time Kris was a young boy, his father had talked of the banks and how they, along with the tourism, would sustain the island’s growth, even as the natural resources continued to dwindle.

Thus came his degree in international finance. Kris spent numerous hours a day poring over financial reports and statements from each of the three banks on the island.

Three months ago, Kris had received reports of two new accounts that had been opened with multimillion-dollar deposits. The accounts had continued to see hefty deposits in the following weeks. This alone did not raise any red flags, however it was the signature cards on the account that did.

A. M. Belle Vansig.

The name had immediately struck a chord in Kris’s mind, yet when he’d searched deeper into the account, he hadn’t found any further identifying information for this person.

“You’re not concerned?” he’d asked his father during one of their morning meetings.

“It’s just a name, Kris,” Rafe had responded as he’d scooped spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his coffee.

The strong and stern ruler of the great Grand Serenity Island had a vicious sweet tooth.

“A name that has meaning in our family’s past and the history of this island,” was Kris’s counter.

Rafe shook his head. “Marco Vansig and his army were conquered by my father and his soldiers. Their bodies were burned at sea. Vansig had no wife, no children, nothing but his precious gold, which was turned over to the island treasury department upon his death. He was a dark spot in this island’s history and then he was gone. Now, decades later, you see the name and what? You think Vansig is reaching up from the grave to cause more mayhem?”

Kris had to admit that the idea seemed far-fetched. There were numerous people throughout the world with the same name that had no connection to each other whatsoever. Still, he’d decided to keep an eye on the accounts anyway.

“Nonetheless, I’ve been thinking we should implement a more thorough background check for new account holders. With the rise in criminal activity connecting to offshore accounts, we want to be sure that we’re working on a higher level.”

“Our institutions are not founded on the rules and regulations of other financial facilities. This is why we are able to hold such lucrative accounts. We do not overly tax our customers with paperwork and supervision of their own funds,” Rafe had immediately rebutted.

“I know that we are not regulated by such organizations as the United States Federal Reserve or the European Commission and other such places throughout the world. Our customers run from Russia to South America and we retain their autonomy and confidence by not working in any fashion with these other regulating entities. But that does not mean we do not have our own regulatory process. We should still know who we are doing business with.”

“We do,” Rafe insisted. “There is no need to change the protocols we have in place. It has been working for years.”

“Things change, Dad,” Kris told his father. “You know that as well as I do. I’m just trying to look out for our future. It’s my job.”

Rafe hadn’t disputed that fact. His father had been the one constantly drilling into Kris’s head the importance of his job and his duty. Kris would rule this island and continue what his grandfather and father had built before him. He would not fail. He could not fail.

Just as he could not bring himself to kiss the sexy American last night.

There had been no other reason but his duty. She was a very attractive woman, with a personality unlike the many women who had crossed his path. With Landry Norris there were no pretenses. She had not come into his office batting her eyes, or crossing her bare legs for his perusal. Her reason for being here had been perfectly explained by all the paperwork she’d completed and the way she’d sat across from him answering his questions, even though she thought they were over-the-top. Of course, she hadn’t said that—which showed that no matter how honest she seemed, she did have respect for his position. Kris could tell by the way she’d watched him carefully after providing each answer. She’d wondered if the answer was good enough for him, while inwardly not caring because she told herself she had no intention of answering any other way. Her subtle boldness and their conversation had been intriguing to Kris.

So much so, that at last night’s dinner he’d found himself watching her, listening to her talk and laugh, more focused on her than all the business issues that he still had to deal with. Kris had no idea when something else had taken over his mind before business.

Last night, she hadn’t shied away from him. He hadn’t really expected her to; he was the crown prince, after all. Not that he was conceited in any way. To the contrary, Kris wished on more days than he could count that he were just a regular guy. If he were, then he could have kissed her last night and maybe there could have been more, like a long evening in bed, a slow start to the morning after waking with her in his arms.

He sighed heavily and then shook his head. Thoughts like that were for other people, in other places. Not him and definitely not here.

“Nice to see you made it back from the bank in one piece.”

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