Page 82 of Royally Roma
“No.” The valet stood in front of her scooter, blocking her way. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell him that. He’s the prince. Please,signorina.Please. I could lose my job.”
Lose his job? All because she wouldn’t let him drag her back inside?
What was wrong with Niccolo? Was he determined not to leave the country until he’d managed to get half the Romans fired?
“Fine.” She climbed down from the scooter, yanked off her helmet, and slammed it down on the seat. “Lead the way to His Royal Highness.” She had to bite her tongue—hard—to keep from tackingThe Prince of Darknessonto the end of his title.
The valet escorted her through the vast marble lobby, glancing at her nervously every few seconds, lest she make a break for it, no doubt, sending him running for the unemployment line. He stopped when they reached an outrageously oversized, unmarked door in a quiet corner and knocked three times.
Sure enough, the two men she’d seen outside her apartment building earlier stood on either side of the enormous door. They were indeed the same ones from Café Rocha. So she and Nico had been spied on?
Perfect. Just perfect.
Her gaze flitted back and forth between the two of them. “Hi, guys.”
Neither of them responded.
Julia tapped her foot and waited. Niccolo probably needed a room with a door this big to fit his royally huge ego. She smiled sweetly at the valet, who’d begun to sweat profusely.
The door flew open, revealing a regal-looking Niccolo. Regal-looking and angrier than she’d ever seen him. He nodded at the valet. “Grazie, Marco.”
“Prego.”The valet, Marco, beamed.
Niccolo aimed his dark gaze at Julia. “Miss Costa, won’t you come in?” His voice was rich with temper, so much so that it frightened her a little.
Don’t be silly. What’s he going to do? Throw you in a tower and lock away the key?
Possibly. The black fury that seemed to roll off of him in waves and envelope his commanding presence didn’t bode well. At all.
She felt sick to her stomach all of a sudden. Somewhere along the way, she’d gotten in over her head. Had she really thought she could hold her own with a royal prince?
You haven’t done anything wrong.
He was the one who’d behaved so abominably. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Absolutely nothing. She squared her shoulders and stepped inside.
Niccolo slammed the door and stalked past her toward the table in the center of the room. He moved with laser focus, like a dangerous animal intent on taking down its prey. A sleek, lethal panther. If she hadn’t been so certain of her role as prey in this scenario, she may have found his fatal intensity appealing. Erotic, even.
Instead, it frightened her. But she would rather die than let him know how intimidating she found him.
“What is the meaning of this?” He threw something at her.
A quick glance told her it was the envelope she’d stuffed full of his offensive euros. She threw up her hands and managed to catch it before it fell to the floor.
“So now you’reliterallythrowing money at me,” she snapped. “Charming.”
He crossed his arms and glared at her. Even in this furious state, he was still as gorgeous as ever. Maybe even more so, with the captivating knot pulsing in his clenched jaw and the storm clouds gathering in his gray eyes. “I thought so.”
“I’ll bet you did,” she retorted.
“For the love of God, Julia. What am I going to do with you?” Clearly, he was neither accustomed to nor fond of being defied. Julia supposed not many princes were.
But that wasn’t her problem, was it? “I don’t expect you to doanythingwith me. And if I did, I most definitely wouldn’t want to be paid for it.”
Tears stung her eyes. Damn it. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry. Not in front of him. How much humiliation was she expected to take?
Niccolo’s gaze softened, and he cursed under his breath. “Don’t cry, Julia. Please.”
“I’m not crying,” she said through a fresh wave of tears.
