“So do you, bellissima. I’d give anything if you didn’t have to go yet.”
“I’m sorry, but my staff is waiting for me and we’re on a tight schedule. I’m grateful you came. Seeing you has given me closure. Addio per sempre, Enrico.”
Goodbye for good? If she thought that, she had another think coming.
He watched her walk away on those long, slender legs until he couldn’t see her anymore. Damn if she wasn’t more gorgeous than any woman had a right to be.
Enrico had admired Donetta through a boy’s eyes, but now he was a twenty-seven-year-old man and recognized those feelings for her had taken root at an early age. They’d never gone away.
No matter how bad his father’s Alzheimer’s had become, it was time to do something about the way he still felt about Donetta. But Madrid hadn’t been the place to reconnect. She’d dropped an impenetrable shield around herself, with good reason.
He needed time and privacy so she couldn’t dismiss him, because that was exactly what she’d done. It was his fault. By ending the letter writing at the time, he’d left her to believe he’d gone on to follow the path his parents had outlined for him. Enrico couldn’t blame her for anything and needed to start over again with her.
On the flight back to Vallefiore with Giovanni, Enrico broke his silence over coffee and confided his long-held secret to his cousin. “I fell for Donetta when she was only ten years old. I would have married her after college if Papà hadn’t already been so ill and needed me.”
His cousin nodded. “I suspected that was the reason for all the letter writing. But the queen would never allow such a marriage. As if the bitter enmity between our two countries weren’t reason enough, I’m afraid she’s going to have a coronary when you don’t marry Valentina.”
“It’s my life. I want Donetta. Always have. Seeing her again has let me know she’s the one for me.”
“Have you said as much to her?”
“Not in so many words.”
Giovanni sat forward. “Why not?”
“I intend to the next time I see her.”
“Next time? Did she ever admit she was in love with you?”
“No. If she had, I would have run away with her.” He’d hoped to hear those words when they’d been in Spain, but they hadn’t come, probably because Donetta was wary of him. Deep down it had bothered him. “Why are you asking me all these questions?”
“Because I’m afraid I have bad news for you about her.”
“What do you mean? I’ve kept track of her and I know she’s not married yet.” Enrico had always followed news about her and her family. Today he had the proof she wasn’t attached to any man. Not yet...
“That’s true, but you’re still out of luck.”
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
Giovanni’s eyes were as black as Enrico’s. “You could never have married her.”
“What are you saying?”
“I hate to tell you this, but I have it on the best authority that Princess Donetta has turned down every proposal ever received because she never plans to marry!”
Enrico shook his head. “Come on, Giovanni. It’s me you’re talking to.”
“Don’t I know it, so you have to take me seriously. Get this—she’s living for the day when Domodossola’s laws of succession change to allow women to rule. She wants to be queen.”
“That could never happen.”
“You and I know that. Nevertheless, up to this point in time she has wanted to reign and reign alone. No husband. That’s why she’s our age and still single!”
With that explanation, Enrico burst into laughter. That didn’t sound like the Donetta who’d shared her feelings with him on paper. What he’d just heard was ridiculous, and yet it wasn’t beyond possible that she did want to change her country’s rules established over centuries. Besides her brains and beauty, she was the most unique woman he’d ever known.
The woman did have strong opinions that excited him, but he had no idea she was so ambitious.
“Tell me, Giovanni. How do you know all this?”