Dieter wrapped one muscled arm around her, but he didn’t take his eyes off of Pierre. “I love you, myDurchlauchtig.”
She turned under Dieter’s arm and stared at Pierre. “Now, you can’t come after the rest of them. I have no legal or cultural relationship with them anymore. They’re safe. You can’t charge them as accomplices becausethere’s no relationshipand they weren’t there.”
“You can’t renounce,” Pierre said, horror dawning in his dark eyes. “Youhaveto be a princess.”
“No, I don’thaveto. I can stand on my own two feet. I can get a job and pay my own bills. I don’t have to be a princess. I can be with my husband, Dieter Schwarz, and live my own life.”
Funny, she didn’t feel even the smallest bit of worry thatDieter wouldn’t love her anymore if she wasn’t a princess and extraordinarily wealthy. She knew he would still be Dieter Schwarz, pure as the alpine snow, and her husband who loved her.
Pierre squeezed his eyes and fists as if rage and anguish warred in him. “The Council of Nobles won’t confirm me as the Prince of Monaco without you.”
“Ah,” Flicka said, disgust leaking through her threadbarecontrol. “There’s the real reason you want me back. I’m not surprised in the slightest.”
“Flicka, I am begging you. I can’t go back to Monaco without you. You must reclaim your titles and come with me. I need to be married to a Princess of Hannover. You were my ace in the hole. You were my proof that I was worthy. Without you, I’m just another playboy prince who can’t keep his dick in his pantsand jizzes off illegitimate children on the weekends. If I’m not confirmed, there’ll be a succession crisis that will make Japan’s look like a minor flummox.”
“Someone will take the throne,” she told him.
“No one will, or the nobles might not confirm anyone who would. Without a sovereign, Monaco itself may not survive. The Prince and royal family are part of Monaco’s cachet and part of its glamour,that we haveroyaltyrather than just a republic. At the least, without a prince, Monaco will be just another tiny strip of beach and a casino governed by a moderately corrupt legislature. It will lose everything that makes it special. Monaco will slowly die. It’s entirely possible that if no prince is confirmed at all, Monaco might be reabsorbed into France. It might cease to exist. Every Monegasqueperson would lose their citizenship.”
Flicka frowned at him. “First of all, I doubt that they won’t confirm any prince at all. Someone will be suitable and will take it if they go down far enough. I’ll bet your cousin Marie-Therese would raise her hand right up. She’s what, number eight or so?”
“Marie-Therese? Are you serious?” he gasped.
“Second, I think Monaco will survive, and if it doesn’t,there are worse fates than being French.”
His hands were open and empty.“It’s my country,Flicka. They’re mypeople.I have been bred and raised to be the Prince of Monaco my whole life. It’s the reason I was born. I havenothing else.Iamnothing else.”
“That’s not true, Pierre,” Flicka told him, stepping past Dieter. “You can do other things. You’d make a great prince. You’ve been a greatroyal for them. If they can’t see past a stupid divorce of a marriage that never should have happened, then that’s their loss. You can still contribute to Monaco.”
Pierre covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know what to do. It’s my whole life.”
Dieter lowered his handgun farther and dangled it in one hand now that the danger was over, but Flicka could feel his eyes watching over her.
Flicka walked toward Pierre. “I’ll talk to them. I’ll tell them you should be the prince.”
He shook his head. “They’ll never select anyone who has been divorced. Some of the nobles are hardcore Catholics. Divorce is a mortal sin. Divorce is disqualifying. They argued about it at the last meeting, and they won’t change their minds. They signed a proclamation to that effect, but they haven’t releasedit yet.”
“Oh, Pierre. I’m so sorry.”
“You can come back with me,” he said, dropping his hands. His eyes were red but dry. He took a step toward her. “We don’t have to have children. Alexandre’s children can inherit. It won’t be the first time an uncle recognized his nephew as heir, right?” he asked, his voice breaking.
“Pierre, no. I can’t, and I won’t,” she said.
“You have to,” he said, steppingforward.
His hands were too close to grabbing her.
“Don’t come near me,” Flicka said, stepping back.
Dieter moved forward, still holding his gun low and in front of his boot. “Back off.”
Pierre stepped toward her again, reaching out. “Just come back with me. I have nothing else. If they won’t confirm me, my life is over.”
“Nonsense, Pierre,” Flicka said. “You’re still a prince of Monaco.You’ll still be an important delegate of the royal family. They need you.”
“No,” he said. “I’ll be nothing.Nothing.”
Flicka backed up more.
