Page 33 of Stranded with His Runaway Bride

He took a lazy sip of wine. ‘Well, begin there, then. Gather good people around you. People you trust, who share the same values, but who won’t be afraid to tell you the truth if you’re getting things wrong. Then once you have that support network in place, ask San Nicolo precisely what it wants to do.’

‘You make it sound so easy.’

‘It isn’t, but it will be worth it.’

He was talking to her as if he believed what she wanted was possible.

‘You think I can do it? Actually introduce democracy to a four-hundred-year-old absolute monarchy? Me? The girl who didn’t have the guts to stand up to her uncle and say no to a marriage she didn’t want.’

‘Running away ten minutes before you were due to leave for the cathedral took courage. You grabbed the only opportunity you’d had at that point. Apply that to introducing democracy and you’ll get there.’

‘What? Run away a lot?’

‘No.’ He laughed. ‘Grasp the opportunities as they present themselves.’

Getting naked with you and hang the consequences.That’s the opportunity I want to grasp right now.

She took a gulp of her wine at that shocking thought.

Leo watched the soft blush spreading over her cheeks and wondered what had caused that. And wondered too about her ambition for herself and her duchy.

Hers was a noble aspiration. All she wanted was for her country to flourish. It had nothing to do with her needs.

How short of that did Leo’s ambitions for San Nicolo come?

They were about him. His wants and his proving something to a dead man who’d never given a damn about his only son. Except for how he could benefit Grimentz. Prince Friedrich had certainly never cared about San Nicolo in the way this young woman did.

He’d let his father poison his mind and drive him in the wrong direction.

Here sat a petite woman with a big heart, caring only how she could use her position of privilege to serve others.

‘What is it?’ she asked, concern in those brown eyes.

What had she seen? The moment when his shame had obliterated his ambitions? San Nicolo wasn’t his, it belonged to her and her people. He had no right to it.

‘I was imagining you running amok in the palace of San Nicolo. Your uncle has a shock coming.’

‘Uncle Guido isn’t going to like this at all, is he?’

‘I think that’s a given.’

‘Will he try to stop me?’

‘Almost certainly, but you have the right of succession on your side. There is nothing in the constitution that says you can’t rule. Just that you can’t if you marry. Then you’d have to surrender power to your husband. But if you believe in it you should go after what you think is right.’

She smiled.

‘What?’

‘For a moment there you sounded just like your grandmother. She was for ever telling me to go after my dreams.’

That wasn’t quite what he’d said. His comment was more cynical, less emotional. But he heard Grand-Mère’s voice, too. Telling him to stop being so rigid and controlled like his father, and to lead with the heart, at least try to be happy.

She sighed. ‘Imagine if my dream allowed me a husband too and it could be like this. Just two people getting to know one another, enjoying each other’s company.’

Yes, he thought wistfully, just imagine...

Then dialled back. He never wanted that. That was how you got hurt.

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