Page 84 of Raul
Raul had never questioned that his father loved him and loved Caleva. But this revealed how inextricably the two were braided together, reinforced and made more powerful in combination. His lungs constricted as a roil of emotions churned in his chest.
“Thank you,” he said to his father and to the king, because the man before him was speaking as both. “I hope you will continue to ask that question for a very long time.”
“I do not intend to vacate the crown until I have grandchildren, so you will be able to ask yourself a similar question.” Luis sat back with a faint smile. “Not that I am pressuring you. However, if you are going to remain unattached, you should work less and enjoy yourself more while you have the opportunity.”
Of course that brought Erica to mind. Those two days with her in the mountains had been a respite he hadn’t known he needed. And she was…everything he wanted but couldn’t have. Because he had the same duty to Caleva that his father did.
“Can you make that a royal command?” Raul joked to cover up his longing.
“It’s only fatherly advice. Which, in the long tradition of fathers and sons, you will not listen to,” Luis said with an affectionate smile.
“I’m selective about what advice I take,” Raul said. “This kind, I can get behind.”
“I have more, though.” Luis’s smile vanished, and he locked his gaze on Raul. “Promise me this,hijo mío. If you find the visits to Odette too onerous, you will tell me. I love you too much to let her corrode your soul.”
“I promise,” Raul said without meaning it. He had made his deal with Odette. He would carry it through.
His father searched his face for a long moment before he sighed. “Sometimes you are too much my son.”
Chapter 19
Erica finished up the last piece of documentation following her latest taxi flight to Madrid and back. The cockpit itself was quiet because she had sent Bertrand home to his family, but she could hear the cabin crew and maintenance staff going about their post-flight business. Now it was time for her to go back to her apartment and try not to think about Raul. An impossible assignment when she wanted to know whether her crazy idea about Odette had worked. Or had blown up in Raul’s face, a more likely outcome since Erica knew nothing about psychopaths.
She sighed and shrugged into her uniform jacket. Picking up her cap and flight bag, she said goodbye to the crew and started down the plane’s stairway. As she reached the last step, a voice called her name. She turned to see Dario walking toward her in the echoing hangar.
If Dario is here, does that mean Raul is too?
But she saw only the maintenance crew and the approaching bodyguard. Disappointment hit her like a lead balloon.
“Erica,el principerequests that you accompany me to the VIP lounge,” Dario said.
The balloon turned light and buoyant as her heart bounced in her chest.He’s here.
“Of course,” she said. Dario fell into step beside her as they walked out of the hangar’s side door toward the airport terminal. “How’s his ankle?” she asked, to make conversation.
“He refused to use the cane today at the wedding rehearsal, but you can see a slight limp if you know to look,” Dario said. “He has promised to stay off the ankle for the rest of the day, but you know how stubborn he is.” The bodyguard shrugged.
Stubborn and determined not to take any attention away from Quinn and Gabriel’s big day. It was admirable, really. But she knew that Dario’s comment came from the bodyguard’s genuine concern for his prince.
“He does things his own way,” she said.
They arrived at the door to the VIP lounge, and Dario swung it open for her. When she stepped onto the thick green carpet, the room was empty.
“A moment,” Dario said and crossed the room to another door.
Erica dropped her flight bag and hat on the leather sofa. The memory of her meeting with the queen rose up, the encounter that had started this strange, wonderful, agonizing time in her life.
The door Dario had exited through opened, and Raul walked in. Her breath hitched. He wore a light gray suit, so perfectly tailored that the fine fabric showed not a single wrinkle over his broad shoulders or trim waist. Every wave of his hair was tamed into place, and his dark red tie was snugged up at his neck. His chin was lifted, and his expression was solemn.
For a moment, they simply looked at each other. Erica let her gaze linger on the firm curves of his lips and the clear pale blue of his eyes. Then she straightened her own shoulders, glad of her uniform to remind her of her position.
“Buenas dias, Su Alteza Real,”she said. “How did the rehearsal go today?”
“Raul,” he said, his voice tight with intensity. “I am Raul.”
The best she could do was nod and twine her fingers together in front of her waist. Because she wanted to bury them in his glossy hair to muss the too-neat waves and then trail her fingertips along his sculpted jaw.
He gestured that she should sit, so she sank onto one end of the couch. He seated himself on the other and swiveled towardher with a wry smile. “You wanted to know about the rehearsal. Quinn asked Gabriel at least a dozen times if they could elope. Then she told me it was my fault that the wedding is so elaborate.”
