He would do what he could to reassure his ageing grandfather and then he’d spend some time with the rest of his family. But not too much time. He didn’t want to raise false hope. He could do the maths as well as anyone. There were three surviving male heirs ahead of him, and he had no doubt they had all found some reason to exclude themselves from the succession, which meant he was next on the list.
Why else would his grandfather want to see him?
Whatever King Giorgio’s reason, it didn’t change a thing; he wasn’t interested in the throne.
Nico’s reasons for refusing the throne of Niroli went far beyond his restless nature. He wouldn’t accept anything under false pretences and knew that the last thing Niroli needed was another king desperately casting about for an heir some time in the future. A childhood illness had left him infertile, which meant marriage and long-term relationships had always been out of the question. He didn’t dwell on it, and in some ways it suited him, because he didn’t answer to anyone.
She couldn’t tell the father of her baby the news over the telephone. She had no alternative other than to face the lion in his den….
Lifting her suitcase as the underground train slowed to a halt, Carrie squeezed her way through the press of commuters. When she finally saw the light of day again she put her suitcase down and turned her collar up. It was a typical summer’s day in London with rain sheeting down from pewter skies. And every cab was taken, which was hardly a surprise. One drop of rain was always enough to ensure that was the case, and this was a full-blown summer storm.
Picking up her bag, Carrie started to walk at a brisk pace towards the commercial centre of the city where she had been employed as a secretary. It seemed so long ago, though it had only been three months since she had left her job on a point of principle.
More pride than principle, Carrie accepted, shivering with cold. Aunt Mabel, never one to miss an opportunity, had immediately dismissed her nursing staff and hired Carrie in their place. It was a job Carrie had been pleased to do. Aunt Mabel hadn’t paid her, but at least she had felt useful, as if she was earning the right to her board and lodgings, though, of course, she had paid for those, too. In her naïvety, she had hoped by working for her aunt it would bring them closer.
She knew better than to expect miracles now, but whatever happened she would cope with it. Apart from sharing the news of her pregnancy with her baby’s father, she was after a reference. With a baby to support she had to find something more than casual work and had left her job in such a hurry she had overlooked the practicalities. Where had her brain been?
Somewhere below Nico Fierezza’s belt, Carrie accepted grimly as she shouldered her way into his sleek steel-and-glass office building. She had been so overwhelmed by Nico noticing her at all that she had been swept into a fantasy of her own making without any thought of the consequences.
The first discovery Carrie made was that the girl who had once been her assistant was now office supervisor. Meek and mild to haughty in twelve weeks flat, which wasn’t bad going, Carrie conceded as she braved the girl’s disdainful stare.
‘Not there.’ The emery board that had been busily sawing at some impressive red talons took a break. ‘If you leave your case there it will drip on the carpet.’
‘I seem to be doing that, anyway,’ Carrie pointed out, holding onto her composure by the thinnest of threads. ‘Do you mind if I take off my coat and hang it up to dry?’
The girl shrugged.
‘Is Nico in?’
‘Mr Fierezza? I’m afraid you can’t just drop in here on the off chance that Mr Fierezza will see you. He’s a very busy man. You will have to make a proper appointment.’
‘I appreciate the fact that he’s busy…’When was Nico not busy? ‘I’m prepared to wait if I have to, but would you mind telling him that I’m here?’
‘Why can’t I help you?’ The girl’s gaze sharpened as she looked at Carrie.
‘Are you going to call him? Or shall I go straight in?’ Straightening her back, Carrie left the girl in no doubt that she would.
‘It won’t help you to go—’
The girl moved faster than Carrie could have imagined, leaping in front of her to bar the way to Nico’s office. ‘He isn’t here,’ she said smugly.
Carrie’s shoulders slumped. The news was a real blow.
‘Carrie!’
Carrie’s heart lifted as she turned to see an older woman advancing on them like a galleon in full sail.
‘Great to see you, Carrie! What are you doing here?’ Linking arms, she led Carrie away.