Santina's Scandalous Princess(15)

An hour later, dressed in a sedate and modest evening gown of  ivory  silk, Natalia followed her mother into the palazzo's formal receiving   room. She hated these evenings. Hated how she felt like a dressed-up  doll, or  worse, a slab of meat. Something to be assessed and  bargained over, and then  picked apart or even devoured.

The hours dragged on as her parents engaged the dignitaries in   social niceties and political innuendoes that Natalia didn't even bother  to  listen to. She'd long ago learned not to have an opinion about  any of it. As  they headed into the dining room, her mother whispered  in her ear once more.

‘At least smile, Natalia. You're behaving like a block of  wood.'

‘I thought that was exactly what you wanted,' Natalia  muttered.

Her mother silenced her with a quelling look and swept into the   dining room. Natalia took her place at the table, her mind wandering as  the  conversation continued to flow around her. Then she heard her  name.

‘The Princess Natalia has enjoyed herself, hasn't she?' One of  the  dignitaries-from some Middle Eastern island nation, Natalia  thought-glanced  at her with a smile, although his words had held a  sharp edge.

‘All young girls enjoy themselves,' Zoe answered with a  gracious  smile. ‘But the princess now needs a strong husband to guide her.'

Natalia nearly choked on her vichyssoise. She didn't want a man  to  guide her. Or even love her. She didn't want to get married at all. The   thought of being auctioned off to some nameless autocratic royal  made her  insides clench in a spasm of both fear and fury.

Even as she told herself that her parents couldn't force her to marry  anyone, she acknowledged that they  very well could. They could  certainly make her life unpleasant or even  unbearable unless she  agreed to whichever husband they had chosen for her. She  might as  well live in the Middle Ages.

Perhaps she would have been better off with Prince Michel.

‘The princess is involving herself with some charity work,' Zoe   continued. ‘For disadvantaged children.' She turned to Natalia,  acknowledging  her presence for the first time. ‘You find it very  rewarding, don't you, my  dear?'                      
      
          



      

Natalia thought of the hundreds of envelopes she'd stuffed and   sealed over the past few days. From somewhere she dredged up a small  smile.  ‘Very.'

Zoe smiled at the men assembled, who looked satisfied by  Natalia's  meek answer. One of them gave her what she suspected he thought was a   benevolent look. ‘I'm glad to hear the princess is changing her  ways.'

‘The princess,' Natalia said before she could stop herself, ‘is  right here.'

The ensuing silence was like a thunderclap. Defiantly Natalia   reached for her wine glass and took a large sip. What could they do to  her after  all? She was twenty-seven years old, a grown woman …

A woman who was dependent on her parents and their generosity   because there was no way she could ever support herself. No way she  could ever  make it in this world.

After an icy pause her mother resumed the conversation,  steering it  towards more innocuous matters. At the end of the meal Queen Zoe   rose to retire with Natalia to one of the smaller salons while the men  discussed  politics-and her possible marriage-in another room.

As soon as they were alone, the staff dismissed, Zoe turned to   Natalia. ‘How dare you embarrass me,' she hissed. ‘And yourself, and  your  family. We have been very patient, Natalia. Very tolerant-'

Natalia flushed. ‘I didn't like them talking about me as if I  wasn't there.'

‘That is how it is done, Natalia! That is how these  negotiations  take place. These men want to see you and how you comport yourself   so they can make a report to their sovereign. Is even this concept too  difficult  for you?'

‘I am not,' Natalia said through gritted teeth, ‘that  stupid.'

‘You could have fooled me tonight,' Zoe snapped. ‘The way you  have  carried on these past years, never mind your abysmal performance in  school!  At least your sisters have learned how to behave  themselves.'

That stung. ‘Oh, really? Carlotta is unmarried with a child and  Sophia eloped with-'

‘Their marriages are now settled,' Zoe cut across her, ‘and so  must yours be.'

‘And if I don't want to marry?' Natalia flung out. ‘At  all?'

Zoe sighed, the anger seeming to drain out of her. ‘You are a  princess, Natalia. Princesses marry.'

‘This is the-'

‘Twenty-first century. Yes, I'm well aware.' Her mother sat on  a  little antique chair, her back ramrod straight as always, and yet for  the  first time Natalia realised how old her mother looked. Living a  life for duty's  sake took its toll on you, she supposed. Had her  mother ever been happy? Or was  happiness not even a consideration?

‘What other option do you have, Natalia?' Zoe asked

wearily. ‘Would you prefer to live your whole life in your parents'   palazzo, and then with your brother and his bride, an object of pity and   scorn?'

Natalia swallowed. It sounded horrible. Everything did. ‘I don't want to marry a man who-'

‘Doesn't love you?' Zoe filled in, her voice ending on a sigh.  ‘Really, Natalia, love is for fairy tales.'

‘I don't care about love,' Natalia said stiffly. She'd seen and  done  enough not to trust such a concept. ‘I just want respect.'

‘Then perhaps you should start acting like you're worthy of  it.'

The words felt like a slap. She knew she hadn't done much with her life.  She didn't have much to be  proud of. She'd always known that. She  just didn't know how to change. If she  could. Even if she wanted to.  ‘Is that all?' she asked her mother, her voice  wooden. ‘Because  I've had a long day and I'd like to go to bed.'

‘Very well.' Zoe sighed and waved her away. ‘At least you have   curtailed your evening exploits. But I do not want this ridiculous  volunteering  of yours to interfere with your real duty-and that is  to find a husband.'                      
      
          



      

‘Father insisted I volunteer for a month,' Natalia reminded her  mother. ‘I must do as he says.'

‘So you must. And then you must do as I say, Natalia, and  marry.'

Nodding again, her heart like a stone inside her, Natalia  slipped  out of the salon and up the stairs. A week ago volunteering for Ben had   seemed like a prison sentence. Now it felt like a reprieve.





CHAPTER SIX

AT precisely noon the next day Natalia watched Ben's silver Mercedes  pull up in front of the palazzo. She was already waiting in the front  foyer, having cleared his entrance with the royal security. Now she  checked her reflection in one of the ornate gilt mirrors that lined the  hall and attempted to subdue the wild beating of her heart. She was far  too excited by the prospect of a day with Ben Jackson, and not a  photocopier or football pitch in sight.

‘Princess.' Ben's mouth curved in a smile as his gaze swept over her like a wave of sun-warmed water. ‘You look delightful.'

‘Thank you.' Ben didn't look too bad himself. He wore a lightweight  linen suit, his Aviator sunglasses emphasizing the chiselled planes of  his face. He opened the passenger door and Natalia slid inside his car,  smoothing the cream silk of her designer shift across her thighs.

Ben returned to the driver's seat and as they pulled out of the palazzo's drive he slid her a sideways glance. ‘Is that a hat?'

Laughing a little, Natalia reached up to pat the tan feather and silk  creation perched pertly on one side of her head. ‘Technically it's a  fascinator.'

‘A what?'

‘A fascinator. A millinery creation that is, of course, meant to  fascinate.' She smiled at him, enjoying the way his mouth curved in an  answering smile, one hand on the steering wheel, the other stretched out  along the back of the seat, his fingers nearly brushing her shoulder.  Her heart beat hard again and her senses sang in answer to that smile.  Natalia knew she was going to enjoy every minute of this day, a day out  of time and reality, a day that could actually be a date. She had no  doubt that come Monday, she would be no more than Ben's irritating  employee-or volunteer-once more.

‘So I can drive around the island,' Ben told her as he made his way  through Santa Maria's capital city, ‘but I assume with that outfit you  have some destination in mind?'