Page 4 of Forbidden Crown

If she left, she’d never have another kiss like that. If she stayed, she couldn’t honor her parents’ wishes that she marry someone who shared their manual labor, hard-working values. But they had been so unhappy. If she said yes, she might experience more of whatever had just sparked between her and Prince Antonio—she was sure her parents had never felt anything like that for eachother.

Antonio read his watch. "See you tomorrow at 5 PM? Meet me here with your answer." He took his file and walked toward the door they’d come in and opened itforher.

"I’ll be here, YourHighness."

Chapter2

Antonio Aussa stoodnear the window of his hotel suite, staring down at the empty beach below and then out to the ocean and mid-afternoon sun. Everyone here in Miami was tanned, except Kristin. She'd been pale, which would fit in fine in his country where the people were either snow white or olive-skinned. His ancestors clearly hailed from the Italianborder.

The ring of his phone pierced the air and he ignored it for a moment.Not more bad news. He still needed his father and wasn't ready tobeking.

He headed to the table he’d left his phone charging on by the second ring. Marco, his younger brother, popped on the screen and he knew the call wouldn’t directly be about his father. His mother would have called him if anything had changed. "Hello."

Marco immediately fired off a question. "So, how did meeting your true love go,Antonio?"

True love wasn’t the word he’d use, though Kristin’s sweet kiss tempted him more than he would have thought. If his father was still breathing then he had time to make things right. He collapsed into the nearby chair and kept his eyes closed. He wasn't a total failure.Notyet.

Kristin was the logical choice and he valued logic, even if the meeting hadn’t gone exactly as planned. That kiss replayed in his mind. "Stop. Marco, one day soon, you'll be like Lucio and myself as the clockcountsdown."

A click of Marco’s tongue told him that his baby brother didn't approve. "I understand that I'll have to marry in two years, but I won't be cold and mechanical as you. I can't believe you hired computer experts to track down exactly what components a spouse should have—getting a wife isn’t like takeout food where if you don't like it, you toss it in thetrash."

Computers were good at finding people with skills to do a job—and to be the future Queen of Avce was a very important job. Truthfully, he wasn't ready to be the king so he needed a wife that offset his own flaws, for balance. "I don't have the luxury of time you have.” The unknown law requiring his marriage before his birthday had just been found two months ago, since his parents had reclaimed theirthrone.

"Two years isn't a luxury," Marco said. "It's a death sentence, but I won't go to my execution like either of my olderbrothers."

Despite Marco’s title, he’d spent years studying at Interpol. "You’re used to facing your own death because of all the terrorism detection stuff you’ve learned." And execution was a strong word. Kristin's kiss hadn't felt cold, like a computer. She was sweeter than he would have thought based on her 95% aggression score in her personalityprofile.

At least he had facts to back him up. Lucio's image-driven strategy was sure to backfire. "And my method is nothing likeLucio's."

Marco continued with his censure. "His is slightly better than yours, and I mean that in the narrowest sense possible because his method is stupid, but at least he's face-to-face with his options. Your computer programmers chose yourbride."

Silence was all that comment warranted. Besides, his only argument right now was that logic mattered more than anything else, but her kiss made him question if this was such a calculated decisionafterall.

"So, now that you’ve met her, has anythingchanged?"

Lust filled his thoughts. Her kiss excited him and made him feel more than the last woman he'd taken to bed. He refused to tell his brother that. He walked to the window overlooking the beach. "Nothing. I need to close the deal andgethome."

Marco snorted. "What happened to you as achild?"

"Same thing that happened to you. English boarding school choked my emotions out of me." Antonio watched the beachgoers—kids with pails, parents in the surf with them, laughing. Beautiful women tanning on beach towels next to buff men in lounge chairs. In America, people seemed happy. His own country was ready for a civil war. Nobody smiled. Someone close to his parents stirred controversy around the right of kingship. When Antonio took the throne, if he took the throne, he'd have to find out who the agitatorwas,fast.

"If you say so,” Marco said like he hadn't a care in the world. “Look, I have to go. I can't wait to meet the soon-to-be queen and give her mycondolences."

Right.He and Lucio, as the oldest two males, had to marry by the age of thirty to stay in succession. He teased back, "Marco, I'll have my team find you the perfect woman so you have two years to persuade her. You’llneedit."

"Please don't. Victor Amadeus and I have plans to sweep across Europe and the world to interviewwomen."

The panic in his voice was all Antonio needed to smile and continue, "Oh I’m ordering the workup now. Consider this a birthdaypresent."

"Have you spoken to Mother today?" Marco asked, quickly changing thesubject.

His heart banged in his chest. Their mother was at their father's bedside, holding the king’s hand as he lay in a coma. If she called, it wouldn’t be good news. He stilled and stepped into the shadow, away from the sun. "No, has somethingchanged?"

"She asked me to tell you to call. She wants to talk to allofus."

The simple words made his body grow cold. If his father took a turn for the worse, then he needed to be back in Avce right away. He’d promised his father that he'd protect the kingdom from this takeover threat and that he’d find himself a wife as decreed by some ancient law. "Talk to youlater."

His stance widened and he closed the blinds. No one needed to see him as less than stoic, the trait that was often commented on as his most admired characteristic. He also cut the light so the only illumination in his suite came from the door of the other room. Satisfied he was alone in his own hotel room, he called the palace. He heard the phone click. "Mother?"

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