Page 88 of Royally Roma
An eyesore? Seriously? Somewhere in her consciousness she remembered the playful look in Nico’s eyes when he’d proclaimed her scooter a dinosaur, and she felt like crying all over again.
Perfect. Just perfect.
“Well. I do apologize for defiling your hotel with my only mode of transportation.” Good grief, she couldn’t get out of here quickly enough. “If you’ll tell me where it is, I’ll be on my way.”
He held up a hand. “I shall go fetch it for you.Aspetta qui.”
Aspetta qui. Wait here.No, thank you. She couldn’t wait to put some serious distance between her and Nico. She was leaving. Now.
“I’ll fetch it myself. Just tell me where it is.” Her voice came out louder than she’d intended. But honestly, how much more could she take?
Horrified, the valet’s eyes widened. Julia had no doubt he was torn between letting her stand there and make a scene on the front steps of Rome’s finest hotel and breaking the rules and telling her where her “eyesore” had been stashed. He opted for the latter.
“Signorina, very well, your vehicle is parked in theviabehind the piazza.” He motioned toward the back of the hotel.
“Grazie.”She stormed off in the direction he’d indicated.
But as soon as she stepped onto the piazza, she stumbled into a crush of people. Some of them had cameras. Some had notebooks. And all of them were gesturing wildly and yelling at something beneath the massive peach umbrellas by the bar. Correction—not something, someone.
Nico.
Her breath caught in her throat. This was his press conference! She’d forgotten all about it, and here she was, stuck in the middle of it.
She tried pushing her way out of the crowd, but ended up getting jostled farther toward the front. She’d never seen paparazzi in such a frenzied state before. She’d faced down plenty of mobs of reporters and people with cameras and lived to tell about it, but not like this. It was like being stuck amongst members of a firing squad.
People were shouting, yelling questions from every direction. Nico just stood calmly beneath the umbrellas, waiting for them to settle down. An older man stood beside him, and Julia knew instantly it was his grandfather, the king. He had the same regal posture as Nico. Neither of them yelled or attempted to speak above the noise. Nico, in particular, appeared completely calm and authoritative.
Majestic.
At the sight of him, a lump lodged in Julia’s throat. The instant he spoke, a reverent hush fell over the piazza, and the lump took root.
“If everyone would please settle down, I have a statement to make. I’ll keep it brief and once I’m finished, I’ll take your questions.”
The crowd of reporters grew still. Other than the shutters of the cameras, there was no movement on the small piazza. Trapped at the center of the grouping, Julia couldn’t slip away without being noticed at once. And that was the absolute last thing she wanted.
This cannot be happening. I can’t be here.
She couldn’t leave either. At a loss, she did her best to hide behind a tall man from the BBC. She closed her eyes, as if doing so would make her invisible.
When Nico spoke again, his familiar voice washed over her like a caress. “This weekend I missed several appointments, and I disappointed a great number of people. For that, I sincerely apologize. I wish I could say I was sorry that I’d allowed myself to stray from my royal duties and obligations, but in all honesty, that is not the case.” He paused and waited for the murmurs among the crowd to subside before continuing.
What in the world was he doing? He was supposed to be apologizing. Making amends. Wasn’t that the whole point of meeting with the press? She glanced at his grandfather, but couldn’t discern a thing from his impassive expression.
Nico cleared his throat. “I’ll get to the reasons behind my disappearance in just a moment. There’s a matter I need to address first.”
A shiver ran up and down Julia’s spine. She didn’t know what he was about to say, but everything within her told her that after he gave voice to it, there would be no turning back. It was in the tone of his voice, the gravity of his presence. Things were about to change.
“I know you all remember the untimely death of my mother a decade ago.”
All the air left Julia’s lungs in a terrifying whoosh. His mother? Why was he talking about his mother? Unless...
But no. Why would he disclose a family secret now, of all times? Did he think she was planning on going to the press, and that he needed to beat her to the punch?
She had to stop this. Now, before it was too late.
“No!” She moved out from behind the BBC reporter, and every pair of eyes on the piazza turned toward her.
Including Nico’s.
