Page 23 of Royal Caleva: Luis

“Oh, sweetheart, I understand.” Eve leaned in to wrap Grace in a hug. “You want answers about where you came from. It’s natural.” Grace’s answers just happened to have major baggage attached.

Luis Dragón wanted his daughter. A man like that had a lot of ways to pressure anyone standing in his path. Eve would just have to find the strength to stand up to him, if necessary.

“I have a whole history I know nothing about.” Grace returned the hug, and they sat entwined with each other in silence for a long, sweet moment. Grace tightened her embrace. “I love you, Mom, so, so much.”

“Right back at you, sweetheart.” Tears welled in Eve’s eyes, and she buried her face in the silky, citrus-scented fall of Grace’s hair, soaking up this precious calm before the coming storm whirled them up in its maelstrom.

Eve waited for Grace to loosen her hold before sitting back and picking up the phone. “Do you want to make the call to invite your dad for dinner?”

Grace stared down at the phone before shaking her head. “No. I want our first contact to be in person.”

Eve tapped the secret phone number and raised the phone to her ear, trying to swallow down her nerves. Who the heck was she—a vet tech from Ames, Iowa—to host a king for dinner at her house?

“Eve, I’m so glad to hear from you.” Luis’s deep, rich baritone seemed to pour into her ear and radiate through her veins. “You have heard the happy news!” She also heard the elation in his voice.

She had to swallow again. “Yes. Mikel called us.”

“What does Grace think about her new father?” An undercurrent of worry came through the phone.

Eve looked at her daughter, who was listening avidly to Eve’s side of the conversation. “She very much wants to meet you. We would like you to come to our house for dinner tonight at seven.”

“I hoped…of course. I would be honored.” She could hear his impatience being curbed as he accepted the invitation.

“She’s on a rotation in her specialty, so she can’t take the day off. Her supervisor could penalize her for it.” Especially since he was the obnoxious Dr. Young.

“Of course. Please let me know what I can do to help you. May my chef provide some part of the meal?”

She had a vision of the king coming in her front door holding a casserole dish and almost laughed out loud. “I’m all set.” Although the offer was very tempting. She wouldn’t have to sweat over what dishes to fix for a king. “Do you have any food allergies I should know about?”

“I have eaten some bizarre meals in my travels, so I am sure that nothing you prepare will bother my stomach.” His amusement sent a wave of warmth tingling through her. “Not that I expect your cooking to be anything other than delicious.”

Ha! Another thought struck her. “How many people should I cook for? Will you have bodyguards? Is Mikel coming?”

“Only I will be dining with you. Although”—his tone turned apologetic—“Mikel will need to discuss some security measures with you ahead of time. What time would be convenient for him to come by to review those?”

Were there going to be armed guards surrounding her house? Would a security inspection be required every time Grace visited someone’s home? Eve’s hand tightened around the phone until it dug into her fingers.

Nope, she wouldn’t think about what had happened to the king’s nephew. Doing a quick mental review of what she needed to accomplish, she asked, “Would two o’clock work?”

“He will be there at two. And I will be counting the minutes until seven. Hasta luego!” Luis disconnected.

His voice was even sexier when he spoke Spanish. Oh dear God, she had to stop thinking such inappropriate thoughts.

As she lowered the phone, Grace said, “Bodyguards? Mikel? How many people are coming to this dinner?”

“Only Luis is eating with us, although Mikel is coming by at two for a security inspection.” Eve tried to ease Grace into the realization of what being a king’s daughter might mean. “Your father is a very powerful, important man. That can make him a target.”

Eve had said that so calmly. She was impressed with herself.

“Right.” Grace was silent a moment. “You told him about my rotation.” There was a question in her voice.

“Because I got the impression that he wanted to meet you sooner.” Eve wrapped her arms around her daughter. “One thing I am sure of—your biological father cares about you already.”

If only that was all that mattered.

CHAPTER 7

At one forty-five that afternoon, Eve surveyed her living room, trying to imagine what a king—or in about fifteen minutes, his head of security—would think of it. All the furniture-protecting blankets had been whipped off the sofa and chairs after the three cats had been confined to a bedroom upstairs, and the dogs had been banished to the backyard. She had vacuumed every surface in the room twice. Hopefully, the King of Caleva was not allergic to pets since it was impossible to remove every last hair.

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