‘Only one?’ He groaned theatrically.
‘Any job I take must be lawful and respectable.’
‘Of course. What do you take me for?’
‘I don’t know yet,’ she said honestly.
Recognising him, the uniformed doorman flung the door wide.‘Principe!’he gushed, bowing low. ‘What an honour!’
‘Principe?’Breath shot from Samia’s lungs.‘What?’
Numb with shock, she stared at Luca, and it took a few moments before the pieces fell into place.
‘I do know you... Of course I do. You don’t work on theBlack Diamond. You own it. You’re Luca Fortebracci, heir to the throne of Madlena since your brother’s tragic—’ She stopped when she saw the expression on Luca’s face. ‘I’m so sorry. That was clumsy of me. I’ve been off the grid too long, but that’s no excuse for not thinking before I open my mouth. How insensitive you must think me.’
‘Why should I think that?’
Nice words, but Luca’s tone was frighteningly clipped and cold. She braced herself as he continued, ‘Are you in a position to offer sympathy? Do you know me? Did you know my brother?’
In the space of a brief few moments, the sexy, laid-back guy she’d met in a bar had changed into a cold and distant prince.
‘We need to clear the doorway,’ he rapped. ‘More diners are arriving.’
Cut him some slack!His grief was still raw, and she’d clearly poured salt on the wounds. ‘I’m really sorry. If you’d rather I didn’t come with you, I’ll just go.’
Luca kept his hold on her arm and then she saw his need to hurry.Photographs.Those who had witnessed the mini drama between them were surreptitiously capturing the moment on their phones.
‘Come on,’ Luca gritted out. ‘Let’s get out of here. There’s a time and a place, and this isn’t it.’
She knew how it felt to be the focus of everyone’s interest, and though in her case the scandal had soon passed over, forgotten as someone else came under the spotlight, for royalty it was remorseless.
‘I understand your need for discretion,’ she told Luca, ‘and I get that everything needs to be calm and orderly in the enclosed confines of a yacht, but please don’t let this stand in the way of you considering me for a job. I really need something, and I’ll keep my head down and work as hard as I can. We’ve both relaxed more than perhaps we intended to over this past hour or so—equally, I think we both know playtime is over.’
Luca drew to a halt on the pavement outside. Narrowing his eyes, he pierced her with a stare, as if mining for truth, and then, as if he’d come to a decision, he jerked his chin, indicating it was time to move on.
Stay or go? Glancing behind them, she went with the best option.
She’d touched a nerve by mentioning his brother’s death, but Luca knew that Samia wasn’t responsible for his guilt. If he wanted her on board, he had to ease off. In her favour, having learned he was a prince, and no doubt recalling his colourful reputation, had made no difference to her opinion of him, and there was no doubt she was a welcome change from simpering princesses and spoiled celebrities.
‘Hey!Watch out!’ A surge of concern ripped through him as she almost stepped into the path of a passing coach. ‘I get you had a shock back there, but there’s no need to throw yourself under a bus.’
She looked at him, weighed him up, and then laughed. ‘Wow, I thought I’d lost you there for a moment. Welcome back.’
He huffed something resembling a laugh as he stared down into her heart-shaped face.
‘Are you sure this is good enough for your princely self?’ she asked as they approached the burger stall.
‘On the basis that your mouth will be too full of food for more cheeky remarks, I’d say it’s the perfect choice.’
A rebellious glint fired in her eyes that promised more entertainment down the line. What had happened to his much-vaunted control? Wrecked, he concluded when he’d bought the burger and watched Samia lap red sauce from her fingers.
‘So what do you think you know about me?’ he asked as a distraction from his body’s urgent prompting to do more with this woman than eat burgers.
‘Very little,’ she admitted. ‘Only what I’ve read in the press.’
‘You mentioned being off the radar a while. Is that because of this trip?’
She confined her answer to a brief nod.
