Slow Tango With a Prince (Royal Scandals) Read online

  Slow Tango With a Prince

  by Nicole Burnham

  Copyright 2014 by Nicole Burnham

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without express permission in writing from the author or publisher.

  Cover design by Patricia Schmitt

  Edited by Valerie Susan Hayward

  Edition: June 2014

  ISBN: 978-1-941828-000-7

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  Nicole's Website.

  For my aunt, Jan Burnham, who appreciated a rich cup of coffee, the experience of foreign travel, and all the good life has to offer.

  Prologue

  TODAY’S ROYALS: THE LATEST

  By V Dempsey, December 1

  SARCACCIA’S ROYALS COME CLEAN

  Barrali Family Hosts Press, Addresses Recent Scandals

  Cateri, SARCACCIA - In a first-of-its-kind event for the Barrali royal family, Today’s Royals and other select media representatives were invited to what was termed an “informal press reception” in the palace’s famed green parlor. While being served traditional Sarcaccian appetizers and wine from the Famiglia Barrali vineyards, the reporters were told they’d be given a half-hour to ask questions about both matters of state and the rampant rumors that have plagued the monarch and his family over the last few months. As expected, when the family entered the parlor, media attention zeroed in on the flurry of reports regarding the family’s romantic relationships and the apparent disappearance of Prince Alessandro, who is second in line to the throne after his twin brother, Prince Vittorio.

  To the surprise of those gathered, it was Prince Stefano rather than King Carlo who raised his hand to quiet the room, declaring that he had an announcement to make before the family answered any questions.

  He asked his rumored fiancée, Megan Hallberg, to join him in the center of the parlor before stating that the two are indeed planning to marry. Amid congratulations from those assembled, the prince explained that he proposed on a beach near Cateri in late July, but that the couple wished to have time for Ms. Hallberg to begin her new position managing Sarcaccia’s conference center and to become better acquainted with the royal family before making a formal engagement announcement. Though the news was not a surprise, given that Ms. Hallberg has been attending family functions and appeared with the Barrali family at Independence Day festivities in September, the prince then stunned the crowd to silence by further announcing that Ms. Hallberg’s ten-year-old daughter, Anna, is his biological child.

  “Megan and I met in our early twenties, during my time working in Venezuela,” the prince explained. “While I’m sure you have a number of questions about our relationship and what I knew of Anna’s existence, what Megan and I believe is most important is that we found each other after many years of separation. We are very much in love and excited to be a family. On that note, our daughter is a wonderful girl, very bright and well-adjusted. She has lived out of the spotlight for her entire life. As her parents, we wish for it to remain that way. Therefore, we kindly ask all of you to give her space to enjoy her childhood.” The prince went on to explain that he’d purchased his waterfront apartment and moved out of the royal palace in July in order to provide Anna as normal an upbringing as possible, not due to a rift with his parents as has been rumored.

  Ms. Hallberg then showed off her diamond and sapphire engagement ring at a reporter’s request. While the sapphire has been in Queen Fabrizia’s family for over a hundred years, Prince Stefano designed its diamond setting with the assistance of longtime royal jewelers Conti & Fancetti.

  A wedding date has not yet been set, but the couple say they will wed in Cateri’s cathedral and are considering dates during which Anna will be out of school.

  Following Prince Stefano’s announcement, King Carlo reminded those present of Sarcaccia’s strict laws concerning paparazzi coverage of minors, then took a question about the recent five-day trip he and Prince Vittorio took to the Middle East, where the king was involved in peace negotiations and the crown prince visited several schools funded by the Barrali Trust. However, the line of questioning quickly turned to Prince Vittorio’s twin, Alessandro, who hasn’t been seen in public since the early October funeral of Prince Vittorio’s former girlfriend, Spanish actress Carmella Rivas, and was rarely seen during the two-week period preceding it.

  Prince Vittorio told the media that there is nothing suspicious about his twin’s absence. However, he admitted, “At the moment we’re unaware of his location, though this isn’t unusual. As you’ve reported on many occasions, Alessandro is an adventurer at heart and often travels to areas where communication is limited.” When pressed, Vittorio did acknowledge that Alessandro has never been away for such an extended period. Asked point-blank if Alessandro was missing, the crown prince laughed and responded, “No. As I said, we are simply unaware of his exact location. If there is any cause for concern, we will of course discuss that with the Royal Police. However, I must reiterate that this is simply not the case.”

  A follow-up question noted unsubstantiated reports that Prince Alessandro was photographed in Croatia, but Vittorio stated that the family had no such information.

  The crown prince then accepted a question about his former girlfriend and took the opportunity to once again extend his sympathies to the Rivas family on Carmella Rivas’s tragic suicide. “It came as a horrible shock to us all and I hurt for her family. Unfortunately, there is no explaining it. We may never know what drove her to that place,” he said. “However, it is my hope that the Carmella Rivas Memorial Fund will help others who are contemplating suicide by offering them free professional counseling. No family should be torn apart by the loss of a loved one this way.”

  The event ended on an upbeat note when Prince Massimo was asked about his relationship with Kelly Chase, the American he employed as a closet designer in September, but who has not yet left the country…and whether Sarcaccia should prepare for a second royal wedding.

  The question drew a burst of laughter from the entire Barrali family and a comment from Queen Fabrizia that, “One royal wedding is plenty to plan. Imagine the hours all of you in the media would have to work if there were a second. Impossible!”

  * * *

  Queen Fabrizia slid the emeralds from her ears and deposited them on a glass end table in the private palace apartment she and King Carlo shared. She hadn’t wanted to wear them to the press event, as heavy earrings tended to exacerbate her headaches, but they photographed well and brought out the green in her eyes.

  All the better to counteract the red.

  Fabrizia prided herself on her steel spine and her ability to keep her large, powerful family together, but recent events tested her resiliency. Learning over the summer that she had a ten-year-old granddaughter—one who was her spitting image—and hearing Stefano declare he intended to break tradition and live outside the royal palace broke her heart.

  Worse, though, was having to endure these weeks following Carmella Rivas’s funeral. Carmella’s deception and her subsequent suicide wreaked havoc within the family. It had taken every bit of Fabrizia’s resourcefulness to keep the Barralis on an even keel, at least to the public eye. But if she continued to let it keep her awake at night, a sharp photographer would soon notice the evidence and the tabloids would pounce like buzzards on ca
rrion.

  “I certainly hope we never have to do that again. I abhor discussing personal affairs in a public forum,” King Carlo said as he sank onto the sofa beside Fabrizia and put a comforting hand on her knee. Across from them, Megan and Stefano occupied a matching sofa while Massimo and his still-secret fiancée, Kelly, adjourned to the kitchen so Massimo could update Kelly on the afternoon’s events.

  Sprawled in a chair to the side, Alessandro held up his left hand, as if weighing an invisible object. “Hmmm…Mideast peace, or” —he raised his other hand, palm up— “rumors about the love lives of the royal family. Which did you think they’d want to address? I thought that was the point, anyway.”

  “Sit up,” the queen hissed. “What if someone were to walk in?”

  Physically, the twins were indistinguishable aside from the tiny white scar beneath Alessandro’s left eye—now carefully concealed with makeup—and the location of their ears, with Vittorio’s slightly higher and further back than his twin’s. Even family members confused them from time to time. But once they opened their mouths, the differences were clear. Though the timbre of their voices was remarkably similar, Alessandro’s relaxed, devil-may-care attitude and Vittorio’s perpetually formal one gave away their identities as surely as if they’d been born with different hair or eye colors. While all the world thought it was Alessandro, rather than Vittorio, who’d disappeared, Alessandro needed to keep that fact in mind.

  “No one will come in, Mother,” Alessandro replied, though he straightened in his chair to mimic the carriage of his absent twin. “Umberto knows to keep the staff away for the rest of the evening. Besides, the press conference went exactly as planned. No one thought for a moment that I was anyone other than who I claimed. They were far more interested in Stefano’s big news than in yet another Alessandro-has-taken-off story.”

  “I certainly hope so.” Fabrizia sent an apologetic look across the coffee table to Stefano and Megan. “Thank you for being the sacrificial lambs. I know you were planning to make an announcement soon, but not in that manner.”

  “If it takes their attention off my delinquent brother” —Stefano flashed a look at Alessandro— “then it’s worthwhile. Megan and I couldn’t keep quiet much longer, anyway. The staff have been suspicious about an engagement for months. Besides—” an embarrassed smile lit his face— “Anna’s started calling me Dad when we’re at home. It’d only take one person to overhear her for that particular cat to be out of the bag.”

  “Oh, Stefano, I’m so glad.” Tears pricked Fabrizia’s eyes, though she blinked them back. How long had she wanted to be a grandmother? To see the joy Stefano took in Megan and Anna now that they were becoming a real family, one built on love and trust…it was everything she desired for her children. Yet, due to the public nature of their lives, such happiness was as often as elusive as a butterfly in winter.

  Megan shifted closer to Stefano at the same time he reached for her hand. “It’s been a long haul, but Anna’s transitioning well. She adores Stefano. You’d never know he hasn’t been with her from birth.”

  Stefano and Megan made a handsome pair, Fabrizia decided. If only she could convince them to move back to the palace, the situation would be perfect. At the moment, however, pressuring the couple held a low spot on her priority list, given what was happening with Vittorio. And perhaps Stefano was right: the paparazzi were less likely to sneak photographs of Anna if she lived in a private home than if she stayed at the palace, which served as both a residence and government office.

  “Let me know if the media becomes a problem now that they know Anna is your daughter,” King Carlo told the couple, his thoughts apparently mirroring Fabrizia’s. “I’ll personally ensure that anyone who breaks the law is prosecuted.”

  After Megan thanked the king, Alessandro asked, “So what’s next? Has anyone heard from Vittorio?”

  “Not since he arrived in Argentina two weeks ago and called you,” the queen said. Why Vittorio picked Buenos Aires as his escape, she couldn’t fathom, but at least he was safe there for the time being. He could battle his demons far from the spotlight of Sarcaccia.

  Sophia, the king and queen’s only daughter, emerged from the kitchen in time to overhear Alessandro’s question. “So what were the reporters saying about Croatia? I looked online and saw a photo of a man boarding a luxury yacht near Dubrovnik. It was taken from a distance, but it looked a lot like Vittorio to me.”

  “He’s in Argentina,” Alessandro assured her. “He gave me the name he’s using at his current hotel in case of an emergency.”

  “Did you check to see if he was telling you the truth?” Sophia’s forehead creased into a frown. “The way the man in the photo tilted his head to the side was just like—”

  “Vittorio is not in Croatia.” King Carlo’s tone was meant to close discussion.

  At the same time, Alessandro replied, “Of course I checked.”

  “Let’s forget Croatia,” Fabrizia said, rising from the sofa and smoothing the front of her dress. “The press is focused on Stefano and Megan for now. And Alessandro, you did a wonderful job both at the press conference and in the Middle East. I have every confidence Vittorio will return shortly, then we can all get back to business as usual with no one the wiser.”

  Then she could forget Croatia.

  Chapter One

  Three Months Later

  [Nearly fifty people depended on Emily Sinclair for their livelihood. Given that pressure, she needed to focus on the shooting schedule and pages of red-inked notes spread across the breakfast table in front of her rather than allow her mind to wander. But the contrast between the serene scene surrounding her and the intense pressure of her job made concentration difficult.

  Across the narrow street, in the outdoor seating area of a restaurant similar to the one in which she worked, a dark-haired man in crisp jeans and a white Oxford-cloth shirt sat alone, his face hidden behind the pages of the Buenos Aires Herald, a steaming espresso on the table in front of him. The smell of freshly ground coffee beans and warm pastry drifted through the air, mixing with the exhaust fumes of an early-morning city bus as it made its way up Avenue Quintana, which bordered the other side of the restaurant. A mother knelt to zip her son’s backpack, then wave him off from his corner bus stop before picking up her own briefcase and heading in the opposite direction. Kiosk owners set out stacks of magazines, shop owners unlocked doors, and a lone black and yellow taxi idled at the corner, the yawning driver awaiting his next fare.

  The residents of Buenos Aires’ trendy Recoleta neighborhood were ready to start another workweek while Emily feared it could be her last. However, if there was any hope of At Home Abroad being renewed for a fourth season, it rested with her as the television show’s host and executive producer. Because the program melded house-hunting with travel information and it focused on a different country each season, a bevy of local researchers, travel specialists, and real estate consultants drew a portion of their income from At Home Abroad. That was in addition to the usual salaried producers, camera crew, film editors, and sound and lighting experts. She couldn’t bear to let them down. The season finale had to be extraordinary and she had only a week left before the wrap deadline.

  She stifled a sigh, forcing her attention back to the proposed shooting schedule. Somehow, some way, she had to make this work.

  “You don’t want to stop staring at him, either?” the show’s director and co-executive producer, Rita Bragna, asked while she haphazardly spread fresh marmalade on her morning croissant, her eyes locked on the table across the street. She waved her knife in the man’s direction. “I’ve seen plenty of hot guys since we arrived in Buenos Aires, but he wins the prize. Too bad we picked this place for breakfast instead of Café Luchana.”

  “Huh? Him?” Emily flicked her gaze toward the man, whose face remained hidden behind his newspaper, then turned back to Rita. Rita had been happily married for nearly twenty-five years, but she liked to look. Even more, she liked to
point out good-looking men to Emily in the hope Emily would find the same happiness. But as Emily told Rita time and again, the lifestyle of a television host made it impossible, and she’d fought too long and too hard for her job to quit. She’d learned the hard way that it wasn’t worth it to risk her career in order to pursue a relationship. Especially when her health history made a solid relationship a long shot at best.

  “Yes, him. Didn’t you notice when he lowered the paper to turn the page? I’d swear you were staring. The man is gorgeous.”

  Emily shook her head. “I wasn't staring at him so much as staring into space. I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to come up with a better hook for our final episode. What we have planned isn’t going to generate the buzz we need to guarantee our renewal.”

  “Hate to say it, but I agree.” Rita shrugged, giving up her matchmaking scheme for the moment. “The Winstons are a nice couple, but boring. We should’ve arranged for someone with his looks and an outrageous bank account as our finale’s house-hunting ex-pat. Problem is, anyone who looks that good can’t possibly have a budget to match. It’d go against the laws of nature.”

  “I’d settle for the budget alone.” Unfortunately, every lead their network of real estate agents offered was for buyers seeking mid-range properties. Leave it to Emily to select Argentina for season three just as the housing market took off and most foreigners moving to Buenos Aires were unable to afford anything luxe. Featuring mid-range properties yet again in the finale would be a Yawn, with a capital Y.

  Rita indicated the calendar on their breakfast table. “Whatever we decide, this schedule has to be finalized by tonight. We have the camera crew at six a.m. tomorrow. Unless your real estate contacts come through today with the a spectacular apartment that’s going cheap, we should try to make the most of our other material.”