Page 18 of The Prince

“I don’t think we can do this without her.” Daniel’s arm draped across her shoulders, but all she felt was disappointment that the idea to bring her back hadn’t been his.

Chapter 11

In the dead of night, Melodia led her cameraman on the ledge around the cliff face towards the hidden bay. She told herself with every step that this was a good idea. She knew this would save the park in one gesture. Then when she flew back to Italy, she’d know everything was in good hands. An insistent urge to win Daniel’s respect drove her as well as her own motivation to save the park.

“Make no mention of our location.”

When the cameraman stepped into the water, he turned on the camera and started rolling footage. She turned to him, a spotlight on her face, “Citizens of Torren. I am standing in a secret location on our beautiful island to show you a truly rare phenomenon for the Mediterranean. These lovely bioluminescent plants thrive here but wouldn’t be able to sustain a mass influx of visitors. They wouldn’t survive a resort on the island.” She continued, explaining all their past arguments that the only reason people came to Torren was to experience its supreme beauty. And Torren, like these special glowing plankton, would be destroyed if overbuilt. It was time, with this very park, to draw the line and save the beauty of Torren for our use and future generations. She felt impassioned, she spoke from the heart and then the camera turned off. “Did I give away the location by anything I said?”

“No. You were vague. They won’t have a clue.”

She breathed out in relief. “Excellent. Thank you for doing this.”

“Happy to. And don’t worry, even if I hadn’t signed the non-disclosure, I wouldn’t say a word. I support your efforts to save the park.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

The Valdez familysat for breakfast, and every face was tense. Across the far wall, the news played, and Daniel felt more betrayed than he ever had. Images of his precious bay flashed across multiple channels. Glowing plankton shone in blue swirls from the water. Scientists were excited about the possibility of a particularly rare species, a rare sighting in the Mediterranean. And already people had begun a hunt to find the secret bay. They were calling it, glow bay. Even the title made him cringe. It was the perfect example of commercialism. Pretty soon some entrepreneur would be charging admission. Melodia had promised to keep the bay a secret. And here she had announced it to the world. How could she do that?

Her message had been heartfelt, powerful. And people were more excited than ever to save the bay, save glow bay they said now, more than rebuild Torren. The immediate shift in public opinion was remarkable. Melodia had worked a miracle in some respects. But at what cost? What would happen to the bay and the plankton, and what about trust? She had promised not to tell, plain and simple. And then she told the world. She uploaded her video to YouTube and promptly informed all the major news channels.

The brothers avoided his gaze. Everyone picked at their food.

And then another announcer interrupted the program. “We have found the location of glow bay.” All eyes shot to the screen. Daniel groaned and held his breath in horror.

Apparently Melodia had location tracking turned on when she posted the video, and the footage had a location attached to it. Someone had hacked in and pinned the exact spot. He stood, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Footage of people making their way around the cliff face with quart jars in their hands alarmed him. They could not be collecting the plankton.

He began a rapid fire conversation with their chief of police.

Melodia stepped into the room. And all conversation went quiet except for the excited voice of the newscaster.

Her hopeful expression soon fell. “Did you see how excited everyone is to save the park?”

Daniel snapped his phone down on the table and pointed to the screen.

She faltered, eyes widening as she stared at the screen. “How could they know where it is? I didn’t tell them!” She approached Daniel. “We were so careful.”

“Your location services were turned on, and they figured it out.”

Her face drained of color and she sat. “Oh no.” She stared at the screen. “What is being done?”

“I’ve sent the police to blockade the bay for now, but they won’t get there for another twenty minutes.”

People were filing in, a line all along the narrow ledge. The cameras must be on boats just outside the bay.

“Daniel… I—”

“Don’t, Melodia.” He looked around the room at his brothers, their wives, all carefully not watching the two of them, except for Thad. His brows raised in a challenge. Daniel narrowed his eyes then he turned to Melodia. “Can we talk outside?”

She nodded and swallowed.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Daniel’s frustration boiled to the surface. “Do you have any idea how precious that small bay is? How rare?”

“Yes of course, I didn’t mean—”

“You said you would keep it a secret. I trusted you.”

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