The Royal Marriage Arrangement

THE ROYAL HOUSE OF SAVOY

A modern royal family in search of old-fashioned love…

The Vittorio family have ruled the Italian principality of Castelmare for generations. But as illness claims the aged King Rudolfo he must pass the throne on to his eldest son Lucca…

THE ROYAL MARRIAGE ARRANGEMENT

When Crown Prince Lucca marries, his wife will wear his emblem—the famous Ligurian Diamond. But so far no woman has been deserving enough to wear the prized gem.

To Alexandra Grigory diamonds will always symbolise tragedy and loss, but as Lucca’s chosen royal bride she must adorn herself in his riches.

As their marriage arrangement is sealed by the precious jewel, only true love can secure the throne and unite the prince and his bride…

Don’t miss Crown Princess Regina’s story— coming next month:

ITALIAN GROOM, PRINCESS BRIDE

Alex had never given much thought to a problem like his until this minute. She was glad she wasn’t in his royal shoes; she knew she could never marry for the sake of duty and be tied to someone she didn’t love with her whole heart and soul.

Suddenly restless, Lucca got up from the chair. “I need to choose a wife who understands the situation for exactly what it is. No lies. No self-deception or pretense.”

“You mean someone who has no expectation of love? Is there such a woman?”

“Among my parents’ shortlist? No.” He came to sit on the corner of the desk so his legs brushed hers. “But an extraordinary thing happened to me today. I met someone who would be the perfect consort to come to my rescue in this emergency situation. At the same time I could help her in ways no one else can.”

As the portent of his words sank in, Alex’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You can’t possibly mean what you’re saying.”

He rose to his intimidating height. “I never say what I don’t mean,” came the words of steel.

She shook her head. “So you’ll pay my debts if I agree to marry you? Then you’ll become King and two strangers will live unhappily ever after in a loveless marriage. This conversation is utterly absurd! Don’t you know that old movie script has been done and redone ad nauseam?”

One dark brow quirked. “But not to the tune of twelve million dollars. That will be my wedding present to you. In return, you’ll play the loving wife in front of other people—be it my family or the public.”

“I will not!”

Rebecca Winters, whose family of four children has now swelled to include three beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. With canyons and high Alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favourite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her Mills & Boon® Romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church. Rebecca loves to hear from her readers. If you wish to e-mail her, please visit her website at: www.cleanromances.com

BY

REBECCA WINTERS

CHAPTER ONE

“HOW much is still owing to satisfy the creditors, Mr. Watkins?”

The aging attorney raised his shaggy gray eyebrows. “Twelve million dollars.”

Alex’s heart plunged to her feet. That much? She felt the worst about Manny Horowitz. Her mother’s agent was a good man who’d done everything to further her mother’s career all these years. He was still owed close to two million dollars. How could her mother not have paid him?

“I’ve auctioned everything except my mother’s diamonds. They’ve got to cover it!”

Jewelry was the only thing remaining for Alex to sell from her mother’s Beverly Hills estate. If she couldn’t meet the sum, then the tabloids would hear of it and trash her mother’s blighted reputation even more than they’d already done by exploiting her drug-related death. Some whispered that after her last divorce from Sheik Mustafah Tahar, Kathryn Carlisle had committed suicide, but nothing had been proved conclusively. Alex didn’t know what to believe.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this, Alexandra. A child shouldn’t have to be burdened this way.”

“Thank you, Mr. Watkins, but I haven’t been a child for a long time.” In fact, she’d been through so much already as the unwanted offspring of the world’s most beautiful woman that Alex felt ancient, but she supposed twenty-five still sounded young to him.

Since her mother’s death on Christmas morning five months ago, Mr. Watkins had bent over backward to help her find ways to pay off her mother’s debts. Furthermore he’d never once said a bad thing about her narcissistic parent who’d been married and divorced six times. As Kathryn’s attorney from the beginning of her career, he’d had more right than anyone to castigate the willful, infamous Hollywood phenomenon of the film world who’d disregarded his advice and had run through money like she did alcohol.

At only forty-five years of age Kathryn Carlisle had come to a shockingly ugly end with nothing to show for it but a history of disastrous marriages, explosive divorces, unpaid bills despite her millions and a criminally neglected child from her first failed union. “Where would you suggest I go to get the best price for her jewelry?”

“The House of Savoy on Fifth Avenue in New York.”

“My father gave her a diamond bracelet from there on their wedding night.”

It was the only thing Alex remembered her mother telling her about her father. As Alex had matured she had learned for herself that her father, Oleg Grigory, had owned one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. When she’d grown old enough to understand, she’d heard rumors that he had ties to the Russian mafia, but no one knew for sure. His early death in an airplane crash was purported to be the work of a rivaling mob family.

Mr. Watkins nodded. “Without question they’re the world’s expert on diamonds.”

Alex frowned because it meant paying for an airline ticket to the East Coast. She would have to juggle her bills to come up with the money, but Alex’s mother had claimed she possessed a king’s ransom in diamonds from her various husbands. If that were true, maybe all her debts would be satisfied. Only then could Alex bury the past and try to get on with her life.

“I’ll call you as soon as I’ve booked my flight.”

“Good. Considering we’re talking about your mother’s collection, I feel they’re the one company that will be totally honest in their dealings with you. And…discreet.”

Ah, yes. Discreet. For this last, financial transaction, maybe it would be best to get away from Hollywood and the scandalmongers.

Oh, Mother… Why couldn’t you have been a mother instead of Kathryn Carlisle?

Mr. Watkins eyed her with compassion. “Once you know your flight, I’ll make the appointment for you with the head jeweler. Drop by the bank on your way to the airport, and I’ll arrange for them to hand over the jewel case from her strongbox.”

With a nod she left his office and headed for her job as a makeup artist on a studio lot. She would have to talk to her boss, Michelle, about getting some time off. The older woman who headed the department had always been good to her and would certainly let Alex take the time she needed, but this was the last favor she intended to ask of her.

A few days later Alex stepped out of a New York taxi into unseasonable June heat and humidity. She checked her watch. It was 10:20 a.m. That gave her ten more minutes. Alex imagined the temperature would soar by the afternoon and congratulated Mr. Watkins for getting her an early appointment at the House of Savoy.

After gripping her purse and the small overnight bag carrying the jewel case and one change of clothes, she started across the intersection toward the exclusive store. To her surprise there was a long line of people that went from its entrance and down the street to disappear around the next corner. Security was everywhere. She approached one of the women standing there reading a book.

“Excuse me?” The other woman looked up, not particularly happy to be bothered. “What’s going on here? Why is there such a long line?”

“The Ligurian diamond is on display today,” she answered in her heavy Bronx accent before going back to her reading as if that explained everything.

Ligurian?

“I see. Thank you.”

Alex had never heard of the Ligurian diamond. She had heard of the Hope diamond and she’d seen pictures of the British crown jewels, but that was about the extent of her knowledge of the world’s most famous diamonds. As far as she was concerned, diamonds were synonymous with tragedy. The diamonds from six husbands hadn’t brought her mother any happiness. To Alex’s mind they represented the ashes of the mother-and-daughter relationship that had never happened.

She approached one of the security men at the door. When she explained that she had an appointment with the head jeweler, Mr. Defore, the guard made a quick phone call. A minute later he allowed her inside, where another guard escorted her through an installed metal detector. When the beep went off, she was asked to open her purse and overnight bag.

Once he was satisfied with the search, she was free to continue with the other guard. As they moved to the elevator past yet some other guards keeping a close eye on the orderly crowd, she glimpsed a dark, teardrop-shaped diamond on display in the center of the elegant foyer. The dazzling stone had been placed on a brilliantly lit pedestal within a closed glass casing, but she was too far away to determine its color. No doubt a diamond of such a large size would easily pay her mother’s debt.

The guard joined her inside the elevator. “Mr. Defore’s office is on the second floor,” he explained, drawing her attention back to the business at hand. When the doors opened again, he guided her to a suite on the right of the bank of elevators. A secretary in the reception area told her to sit down. Five minutes later Alex was shown in to Mr. Defore’s private office.

“Come in, Ms. Grigory. You’re right on time. I hope you had a pleasant flight from Los Angeles.”

“I did. Thank you, Mr. Defore.”

“Sit down over here.” The short, pleasant-faced jeweler held out a chair for her, then went around the desk to his swivel chair to face her. “Coffee? Tea? A soft drink?”

“No, nothing, thank you. When Mr. Watkins made this appointment for me, we didn’t realize you would have a diamond exhibit going on.”

He smiled. “Once a year the Principality of Castelmare allows it to be on loan here for a day.”

Castelmare, ruled by King Vittorio, had replaced Monaco as the favorite vacation destination on the Riviera for the world’s most rich and famous. The former city-state was located on the Mediterranean where her mother had spent part of her sixth honeymoon.

“Do you know if the diamond will be on display in California?” Alex’s boss would definitely want to see it.

Mr. Defore cocked his head. “It won’t. Except for a yearly one-day showing in New York, London, Rio, Sydney, Hong Kong and Dubai, it stays in Castelmare.”

Alex reflected that Rodeo Drive in L.A. was supposed to have some of the most exclusive shops in North America, but apparently not exclusive enough. “The House of Savoy is very fortunate to have been chosen to display it.”

His brows lifted. “I don’t think you understand, Ms. Grigory. The present day king of Castelmare is the latest Italian sovereign of the ancient House of Savoy. This store is the monarchy’s property.”

She blinked. “I had no idea.”

No wonder her mother had been so ecstatic over the diamond bracelet her father had purchased here. Alex was indebted to Mr. Watkins for directing her to this store, where she would almost certainly get the highest price for the stones to pay off her mother’s horrendous debts.

“Shall I take a look at your mother’s collection now?”

His question jerked Alex from her torturous thoughts. “Of course.” She opened the overnight bag and placed the jewel case on his desk, positioning it for Mr. Defore to open it himself. Mr. Defore nodded and got to work. Alex had never seen all her mother’s jewelry before, only heard about it. She’d put the inventory from the bank in her purse. It listed seven diamond rings, four pairs of diamond earrings, one diamond bracelet, three diamond necklaces and two diamond ankle bracelets.

When he finally lifted the lid, the sight of the diamonds would have impressed anyone except Alex, who simply mourned the life she’d never had with her mother. Money had been her mother’s God, and Alex wondered how one person could have been so devoid of motherly instinct and could have demonstrated so much bad judgment in everything she did?

Mr. Defore said nothing as he began his examination. Because the House of Savoy dealt regularly with the world’s wealthiest people, Alex realized her mother’s possessions would cause no great stir. Certainly this jeweler had little interest in Kathryn Carlisle and simply got to work studying each piece with his loupe.

He finally lifted his head. Wearing a distinct frown he said, “Who told you these were diamonds?”

Caught off guard by the stunning question, Alex took a moment before she could recover enough to say, “Mr. Watkins, my mother’s attorney.”

The man shook his head. “These are imitations.”

What?

Alex reeled, causing her to clutch the edge of the desk for support. “But that’s impossible!”

“Perhaps she kept the real jewels in another case?”

She swallowed hard. There was no other case. “This was the only one in the bank vault,” she whispered.

“I’m very sorry, Ms. Grigory. We deal with mined diamonds, not fabrications. I’m sure there are shops in Los Angeles that would pay twenty, maybe twenty-five hundred dollars for this assortment of costume jewelry.”

“Surely you’re joking!” During the flight she’d begun to get excited about being able to pay off the last of the huge debt whose weight felt like a stone sitting in the pit of her stomach.

“I assure you I’m not. Scientists have synthesized and created diamond alternatives meant to trick the naked eye. However, when you view them through the loupe, they haven’t the fire or brilliance.”

She shot out of the chair, too shaken to sit still. “Is there someone else I could speak to about this?”

A dull red entered his cheeks. “I’m the head jeweler here.”

His rigid attitude prompted her to reach in the case and lift out a piece. “My father, Oleg Grigory, my mother’s first husband, bought this diamond bracelet here twenty-six years ago. He was the owner of one of the largest casinos in Las Vegas. Surely you have a record of it somewhere, if only so I can verify it.”

“One moment,” he said quietly. “I’ll research it on the computer.”

She was shaking so hard from shock, she could hardly sit still while she waited.

“Yes. He did make such a purchase.” His gaze switched to hers. “But I’m afraid it was not that bracelet. Perhaps your mother sold her jewels without telling anyone and had these replicas made to wear?”

Is that what you did, Mother? Did you sell your diamonds along with your soul? The possibility pierced her like a fiery metal shaft.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “I’d still like another opinion. Who’s the manager of the House of Savoy?”

“Mr. Bernard Hudson. I’m afraid he’s occupied with the showing of the Ligurian diamond.”

“Will you tell him these are Kathryn Carlisle’s jewels? When he learns of this situation, I know he’ll want to talk to me.” By now Alex was desperate enough to use her mother’s name for leverage.

“You don’t understand. He won’t be available until tomorrow. I’ll ask my secretary to make you an appointment with him.”

“Surely he can spare five minutes? I’ll wait.”

“Impossible. Now I’m very sorry, Ms. Grigory, but I’m afraid you’ll have to leave my office because I have other clients to see.” He shut the case, leaving her holding the bracelet.

Her body tautened. “Look, Mr. Defore…I flew all the way from Los Angeles for this appointment. My return flight is booked for tonight.” Her hand tightened around the bracelet, which according to him was nothing more than paste. “By tomorrow I’ll be back on the West Coast. I have to talk to him!”

She fought not to lose her temper in front of this composed jeweler, who was probably paid an indecent sum of money not to lose his.

“At the risk of repeating myself, Ms. Grigory, there’s nothing more I can do for you at present.”

“Your manager has to eat lunch sometime today. Since he’s on the premises, I can’t believe he wouldn’t take out a moment to see me.”

“I’m sorry.” The jeweler was implacable.

“What kind of a man are you?” she cried out in torment. “You can at least call him on the phone. Tell him who I am. Inform him this is a matter of life and death!” Without hesitation she grabbed the phone on his desk and held the receiver in front of him.

Maybe it was the fact that her five-foot-nine height gave her the advantage over him, or possibly it was the narrowing of her eyelids with their slightly tilted shape. Whatever the explanation, he finally took the receiver from her, but then hung it up.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw his hand move to press a button on his console. He was probably summoning security. So be it. Alex had come to New York on a mission.

Alex’s mother had once accused her of being incredibly stubborn like her father. She’d been born Alexandra Carlisle Grigory. The one picture she had of her father showed him to be a tall man who’d died when Alex was just nine months old. Like her mother’s death, the police still hadn’t determined if his was accidental or staged to look like one.

The few people who knew she was Kathryn Carlisle’s only offspring remarked that she must have inherited her father’s genes. Michelle had once told her, “Your father gave you great bones, and your eyes are exactly the same gray as Greta Garbo’s—you could be her double!” Nevertheless, Alex and her mother had been as different as apples and bananas.

Kathryn had been of medium height, and curvy. On or off the set, the platinum-blond bombshell had been the ultimate drama queen.

Alex on the other hand had unruly dark blond hair with nothing remarkable about her looks, even though Manny, like Michelle, had also insisted there was a similarity between her and Garbo. Alex had laughed off both their comments. They might think she looked like a film star, but Alex preferred to work behind the scenes where she transformed other people who acted in front of the camera.

Selfishly neglected by her mother and tragically deprived of the father she never knew, Alex had learned to function on her own from an early age. She had no extended family, but did have a few close friends that she could rely on. However, no one understood the extent of her grief, or her shame….

The pitiful legacy from both her parents had left a burning stain on Alex’s soul. Now the questions surrounding her mother’s death had left new scars on Alex, whose conception, according to her mother, had been a mistake from the beginning.

Kathryn Carlisle had been a film-star idol. She had been like a brilliant comet who had swept in and out of her daughter’s existence once every millennium for only brief moments without an atom of motherly love. Alex had been raised by a trail of nannies from the age of three weeks old, and there’d been no anchor in her life except for Betty, the nanny who had taken a liking to her and who had introduced her to Michelle, head of the makeup department at one of the film studios.

When Alex had been set adrift physically and financially by her mother when she turned eighteen, Betty had been instrumental in getting her her first job in the makeup department. Alex had started off just helping out at first, but then over the years she had continued to work there while she attended college and after.

Michelle had said she was a fast learner with a natural talent. In time she paid a salary that allowed Alex to get a modest apartment and take care of herself. After her apprenticeship, Michelle had asked Alex to stay on. Lately she had hinted that she planned to give Alex more responsibility and a raise.

Alex was grateful, of course, and she’d never want to hurt Michelle’s feelings, but she’d always had a dream of doing something else. Tragically it seemed out of reach now that she was saddled with her mother’s debts and needed to find a fast way to pay for them.

Surely Mr. Defore had made a mistake, or the bank hadn’t realized there were two jewel cases in the vault. One way or another Alex would straighten things out. It would be too excruciatingly painful to go home without the money.

She simply couldn’t do it.

* * *

While the thirty-four-year-old crown prince of Castelmare sat in the security room of the House of Savoy chatting quietly with Carlo, one of his bodyguards, other local security guards manned the monitors of the twenty-four-hour surveillance cameras. They’d been strategically placed around the store to watch for anything out of the ordinary.

This stop in New York represented the last leg of a long trip that had taken Lucca around the world on business for his country. Unfortunately, he had no more excuses to stay away from Castelmare. The dreaded reunion with his parents was coming and inevitable. When he returned home this time, there’d be no escape from certain matters that would change his life forever.

Suddenly his attention was caught by the American woman he could see in the monitor. She was obviously upset, and he found himself listening intently. It seemed there was a situation developing in Defore’s office.

Lucca’s ears picked up the word Grigory, a name associated with the old Russian aristocracy. Curious, he turned to one of the computers and logged into several Web sites including the store’s archives.

When he found what he wanted to know, he moved closer to the monitor with its black-and-white screen. That’s when he heard another exchange that gave him pause. The woman battling with the head jeweler was Kathryn Carlisle’s daughter?

He was stunned because he didn’t know the Hollywood film idol even had children—he could see no physical resemblance.

Like all hot-blooded Italian males, Lucca appreciated a beautiful woman. He’d seen one of the star’s films several years ago during a flight to Asia. The tempestuous actress, whose life had come to a tragic end like all too many American A-list celebrities, did have exceptional looks with her come-hither blue eyes and champagne-blond hair. Yet it appeared the only thing she’d passed on to her offspring was her legendary, impossible temperament. Like mother, like daughter.

Defore didn’t make mistakes. For that exact reason Lucca had appointed him to be head jeweler three years ago. Naturally he couldn’t help but be fascinated by the woman’s refusal to take Defore at his word. Evidently she was as spoiled as her mother and even more naive.

How could her daughter not have known the troubled star with her uncontrollable hunger for money would have run through her own finances a long time ago and had hocked her jewels as a last resort?

When the security alarm sounded, one of the guards said he’d take care of the problem and started for the door, but Lucca moved his six-foot-three frame out of the chair and reached it ahead of him.