Clarissa whooped with laughter. “I knew it! I liked you on sight, but now I know I’ll love you! You’re exactly the addition we need to our brigade!”
Ferruccio cast an indulgent look at his wife, then raised an eyebrow at Glory, clearly approving the comeback that bundled him and Vincenzo and put them firmly in their places.
Vincenzo’s arm tightened. “How about we call it quits, Ferruccio, before we’re cut down to an even tinier size?”
Ferruccio gave a tiny bow of his regal head. “By all means. Not that I’ll quit being flabbergasted at your phenomenal luck anytime soon.”
Vincenzo sighed. “Your flattery knows no bounds. Now before you have Glory rethinking her hasty and ill-advised decision to marry me, how about you go do some kingly stuff and leave me to resume what I was about to do before your…surprise inspection? I was about to take Glory to explore the place before dinner.” He turned his eyes to Clarissa. “You, of course, are more than welcome to join us.”
Clarissa looked up into her husband’s eyes, exchanging what Glory had once thought she’d shared with Vincenzo. Such allegiance. Such understanding. Such adoration.
Clarissa pinched her husband’s hard cheek. “See what you’ve done? Now make nice so you can stay for the tour and dinner, too.”
Catching her hand to bury his lips in its palm, Ferruccio looked over at Vincenzo challengingly. “Why make nice when I can order him to invite me? Or better still, invite myself?”
Vincenzo raised him a pitying glance. “Seems you haven’t lived on Castaldini long enough to realize how provincial it remains, don’t realize what power I wield in my ancestral region. Here, I rule supreme. King or no, Ferruccio, one more word and I sic my whole province on you.”
Ferruccio’s eyes gleamed with devilry. “Let’s not start a civil war over the dinner you’ve been cornered into feeding me. Now lead the way, Vincenzo. And try to do your ‘ancestral home’ justice as you act as the guide.”
Grumbling something about getting Ferruccio later when he wasn’t under Clarissa’s protection, Vincenzo did lead the way.
And how he did. He detailed everything with the thoroughness of someone who took the utmost pride in the place that had been in his family for generations. As he should. This place was phenomenal.
And it would be the first and last time she was here. Why not just enjoy the experience while it lasted?
“The architecture of all the buildings is a symbiosis of every culture that makes up Castaldini—Roman, Andalusian, Moorish and some North African influences,” Vincenzo said, his explanations all for her. “Geometric patterns rule, with accessory-heavy decoration, from mosaic to plaster carving to worked metal. The main castle is circular but the other annexed buildings and towers are quadrangular, with all rooms opening onto inner courts.”
It was all right out of a fairy tale. Far grander and better preserved that any of the architectural wonders she’d visited all over the world.
She asked, “How long has this place been in your family?”
“Over five hundred years.”
Wow. That really put into perspective the difference between them. Her family tree was known only three or four generations back on both sides. And there hadn’t been a “family home” in her life, let alone an ancestral one.
Vincenzo underlined the unbridgeable gap between them. “My umpteenth great-grandfather was Castaldini’s founder, King Antonio D’Agostino.”
“Our umpteenth great-grandfather,” Ferruccio put in.
Vincenzo countered, “My line is that of one of his grandsons, who started building this place, but it reached its present size by gradual additions of more quadrangles over two centuries. Leandro, a slightly less obnoxious cousin, inherited a similar place, which King Antonio himself had built. When we were young, we always liked to brag about which is bigger and better.”
Glory’s blood tumbled as her imagination flew on a tangent, to other bigger and better…things.
“You still do,” Ferruccio said, his tone condescending. “I always leave you boys to squabble over size and quality. Mine is the undisputed best of all.”
“But the royal palace isn’t yours, my liege,” Vincenzo calmly retorted. “As per Castaldini’s laws, you’re just the resident caretaker. You really should start building or acquiring a place to pass on to your children.”
Ferruccio suddenly threw his head back and guffawed. “See that, Vincenzo? That’s the take-no-prisoners attitude I want you to have when you’re representing Castaldini.”
Clarissa’s eyes rounded. “You mean you’ve been poking him to get him to bare his fangs?”
Ferruccio grinned down at her. “He’s been getting soft of late. Now that he has Glory, I was afraid he’d turn to putty and be no good to me in the war zone I’m sending him to. I had to do something to remind him how to use his fangs.”
Vincenzo huffed. “Have I told you lately how much I love you, Ferruccio?”
“You’re welcome to renew your oath of allegiance anytime, Vincenzo.”
Clarissa spluttered as she smacked her husband and cousin playfully, and Glory had to join in the laughter.
After that the day flowed, filled with many unprecedented experiences with the most exciting people she’d ever met.
It was past midnight when she and Vincenzo stood in the courtyard, watching the regal couple vanish into the night.
Her heart twisted at the symbolism. This place and Vincenzo would soon disappear from her life as if they’d never been.
The moment she turned to Vincenzo, he turned to her, too, taking a leashed step closer, practically vibrating with intensity.
And she realized. That he was sending her away because he no longer wanted to coerce her. But he still wanted her. And she’d already decided that this passion was worth any risk.
Closing the gap between them, taking both his hands in hers, she took the plunge into the path to eventual heartache.
And she whispered, “I’ll marry you for the year you need, Vincenzo. My choice this time.”
Eight
“What did you say?”
As the exclamation rang in her ear, Glory sighed. “You heard right, Mom. I’m getting married. To Vincenzo.”
Silence expanded on the other end of the line.
Which was to be expected. She herself still couldn’t believe any of this was really happening.
After she’d told Vincenzo last night that she’d marry him of her own free will, she hadn’t known what to expect.