“I'm so pleased you took my advice. You've spent so long closed off from the world in this house, working, working, always working. You need tolive.”
“Well, if kissing a prince is living, I suppose you could say I'm doing that,” I lead.
Her eyes widen. “Oh, Val. You kissed him?” I nod, happiness threatening to burst out of me. “I told you to put yourself out there. I told you not to blame him for his father's misdeeds, and you did it. You kissed him.”
I shrug, the memory of being in Max's arms filling my chest with a warm glow.
“Tell me everything.”
So, I do. I tell her about how getting to know Max changed my opinion of him, how the staff like him, how he behaved with the teens, how he gradually opened up to me more and more, showing me that he’s a good, decent man who feels constricted by his role. A man who loves lifewith a zest that’s infectious.
“That rainstorm certainly did the trick.”
“It wasn't as though it was planned, Nona.”
“Sometimes the universe has to push us off our intended path to get us where we truly belong.”
I shake my head at her, grinning. “Since when did my grandmother talk about ‘the universe’?”
“I’ve been on TikTok.”
I blink at her in disbelief. “You have?”
“I started out watching your videos. I did so enjoy the archery one. That prince of yours is very athletic.”
I’m about to protest as I did before that Max isn’t my prince when I stop myself.
Perhaps he is my prince now?
The thought sends a warm glow of sunshine through my chest.
“How did you go from watching Max shoot an arrow to learning about the ways of the universe?”
“Oh, it’s all on there, plus a lot of drivel.”
I shake my head, laughing. “You will never cease to surprise me, Nona.”
“We should always try to be surprising. Now, does Prince Max know you’re Valentina Romano?”
My chest tightens, and I find myself unconsciously touching the spot where Max's hands had rested during our last kiss. “Not yet. It's been such a close-held secret for so long. But I want to tell him. I almost did.”
She gives my hand a squeeze. “Oh, sweetheart. The complicated webs we weave. Do you love him?”
The directness of her question is like a jolt.
“I...I think I do.”
Her hand flies to her mouth.
Tears prick my eyes. “I didn't mean to fall for him. It just…happened.”
She pulls me roughly against her, patting my back. “It'sokay, darling girl. We can't help who we fall in love with. You just so happened to fall in love with the country’s most eligible bachelor.”
I pull back from her to see her eyes dancing, and I can't help but let out a watery laugh. “I suppose I did.”
“Does he love you back?”
I think of the way he looks at me, the softness in his eyes. The way he kissed me, full of passion and something more. Something deep. Although he hasn't said it in so many words, it feels as though he does.
