Page 109 of Royal Caleva: Luis

She desperately wanted to check on how he was doing, but Carmen had informed them that Su Majestad was working in his office and not to be disturbed. Not that Eve would have dared to insist on seeing him, but Grace was concerned about her father as well.

Grace piled food on a plate and plunked down in an armchair. “I’m surprised Carmen isn’t here instructing us on how to eat a sandwich.”

“I suspect it would involve a knife and fork,” Eve said, adding paper-thin jamón to her own plate.

“Being a brand-new princess is exhausting, but the food is good,” Grace said, wolfing down a finger sandwich in two bites.

Eve sat beside her daughter and put her plate on the side table between them. “Sweetheart, things are moving very fast now. I want you to stop for a moment and really think. Are you one hundred percent sure that you wish to be acknowledged as Luis’s daughter? Because once the announcement is made, your life will never be the same.”

Nor would Eve’s, but that was secondary to her child’s happiness.

“You mean because I might be poisoned?” Grace asked. “Or kidnapped? I know you’re worried about that.”

“I won’t lie. I am concerned about your safety,” Eve said.

“Mikel caught the man who poisoned Dad,” Grace pointed out.

“But not before your father almost died,” Eve said, the terror twisting her heart again.

“I’m not the king or even the crown prince, so I think I’ll be less of a target,” Grace said.

Eve winced at the last word, feeling the jab of it in her gut.

Grace must have seen it because she leaned over to touch Eve’s forearm. “Dad told me that Gabriel and Raul were extremely drunk when Gabriel got kidnapped, and they had stupidly ditched their bodyguards. I will be more careful, I promise.” She gave Eve’s arm a little squeeze. “Besides, I could just as easily get trampled by a crazed horse at vet school. Or bitten by a rabid fox.”

“I know, sweetie,” Eve said with a sigh. Grace was still young enough not to believe in her own mortality. “But what about the other issues? You’ve now seen firsthand how careful your father has to be about his private life.” Guilt about the photo on the beach poked at her again. “You can’t even see a doctor without having it be news.”

And that was why Luis was not allowing himself to recuperate as his body needed to.

“It’s going to be a big change, and some of it isn’t so great.” Grace ate another bite of sandwich as she considered. “But I balance it against the good I can do for animals. As a vet, I could help maybe a couple of hundred animals. As a princess, I can help thousands, maybe even millions, if I can get international attention. How amazing is that?”

“Amazing indeed.” Eve hated to follow that with another ugly topic, but she needed to know how Grace was handling it. “There’s another concern, though. No matter what false trails Mikel lays, or how many denials Luis issues, someone, sometime will find out that Odette is your biological mother.”

“Probably Odette herself will tell them,” Grace said, a flicker of disgust in her voice. “She is fine with kidnapping and mutilation—so I’m sure she would have no qualms about ignoring her promise to me.”

“I’m so sorry.” Eve hated that Grace would carry the knowledge of her birth mother’s sins for the rest of her life. “You should not allow her crimes to cast shadows over your own life.”

Grace made a pushing motion with her hand. “That’s not it.” She turned a face of misery to Eve. “I tell myself I should be grateful that Odette didn’t raise me herself. What kind of person would I be if she had? But it’s hard to be rejected by your criminal psychopath of a biological mother. Not even such a damaged person wanted me as her child.”

Eve’s heart nearly ripped in two. She leaped out of her chair and knelt in front of Grace. “She didn’t reject you because you were damaged. She did it because she is so damaged that she is incapable of loving anyone, not even the most amazing daughter in the world.” Grace choked out a sob. Eve gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “Do you know how often I have blessed your birth mother for giving you to me? Every single day! How ironic that I am so profoundly grateful to a terrible person, but she did at least one good deed in her life.”

Eve drew back to lock her gaze on Grace’s tear-streaked face. “I’ve never told anyone else this, but the first time I held you in my arms, I felt more than just gratitude and love. I felt a profound connection with you. I felt that you were meant to be my child, but my body couldn’t carry you, so you borrowed Odette’s, just to get you onto this earth. She was only a vessel. I was always your real mother.” Eve stroked Grace’s damp cheek. “Sorry if that sounds a little crazy, but I believed it then, and I still do.”

“Mom, you’re the sanest person I know,” Grace said. “I like your story better than mine because it feels true here.” She touched her chest over her heart. “If anyone tries to claim that Odette is my mother, I will tell them how wrong they are. My one and only mother is Eve Howard from Ames, Iowa.”

Eve used her napkin to blot the tears as Grace’s words wound around her own heart. “Never forget that, sweetheart. You have strong roots.”

Grace mopped her face and took a deep breath. “I needed to get that straight in my head. And that’s why I need you here in Caleva with me.”

Which required that Eve uproot her life and move it to a foreign country. Hadn’t she longed for adventure when she was a teenager? Here it was, and she was terrified. Her worry for Grace might be so pressing because it was intertwined with her own anxieties.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me that you know what you’re getting into,” Eve said, knowing when she was beaten. “From now on, it’s full speed ahead into your future.”

“And yours.” Grace’s face was solemn.

If only her daughter knew how hard it was going to be for Eve to see Luis and not be able to touch him. Eve curled her fingers into fists on her lap.

Grace gestured to Eve’s untouched plate. “You should eat. Who knows when they’ll allow us a meal break again since this afternoon is about rehearsing for our official appearance.”

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