Hand-Me-Down Princess (23 page)

“Yes.” Jessabelle offered no further details, and Lizbeth decided not to pry any further for the moment. “He’d known King Antonio since they were children.”

An interesting tidbit, but nothing the papers hadn’t reported in the lead up to the wedding.

“What about you?”

“Pardon?” The two women came back in and began the pedicures, but didn’t interrupt as she talked with Jessabelle.

“Tell me about yourself?”

Lizbeth shrugged. “I haven’t lived a very exciting life. I mean, my family is well-off so I’ve traveled, and we have houses in all three
Belles Montagnes
countries. I’m not sure how long we’ve known the royal family but for many years. Mal and I have worked together on several different charities since I turned sixteen.”

“Oh!” Lizbeth didn’t think Jessabelle meant to gasp.

“What?” She’d probably just made the connection between Lizbeth and her husband.

“I was trying to figure out where I knew you from. I’ve seen your picture with Malachi before.”

“Most likely.”

“You dated him for a long time, didn’t you?”

Had Malachi not told her the truth about their relationship? “We went on dates, I suppose, but we never actually dated. It’s more that I was an appropriate young lady to take to all kinds of functions so mothers wouldn’t keep trying to push their daughters at him. Everyone assumed there was more to our relationship than there was.” She didn’t worry about the other two women. This place was known for its discretion.

“Did you want to marry him?”

How to answer that without lying? “Mal and I never talked marriage, except in the vaguest of senses and never about marrying each other.”

“I see.”

This friendship wouldn’t be easy to get underway. There was too much baggage between her and Jessabelle’s husband. And Jessabelle was far too reticent. It would take work, but something told Lizbeth it would be worth it.

* * *

Malachi sat in the conference room in Montevaro waiting for Adeline to arrive. They would video conference with Christiana in Ravenzario. He scrolled through his notes for the meeting, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle easily. William had been slated to come, but the same flu that hit his mother had taken both his brother and his father down as well. Sleeping without Jessabelle at his side had been odd, to say the least. Shocking how used to her he’d become when he still slept on top of the sheet.

He glanced at the calendar to see what Jessabelle had planned for the day. A girls’ day out. Lizbeth hadn’t wasted any time. Were there pictures already on the gossip sites? He pulled up one of the more popular ones to find a photo of Lizbeth but only the back of the woman she was with. The caption didn’t help any, calling her only an “unidentified woman.”

Could that be Jessabelle? The hair didn’t seem right. It wouldn’t surprise him to find out that his wife had canceled.

The door opened, and Adeline walked in. Her pregnancy had definitely begun to show, but that shouldn’t be responsible for the stress on her face.

“What is it?” he asked as she sat down.

“Christiana is engaged. No one’s been told yet.”

Malachi leaned forward. “She’s actually going through with it?”

“No one has been able to get definitive information to give her about his duplicity. Until they can
prove
it to her satisfaction, she won’t listen.”

“They told her?”

“No. They don’t want her to tip him off.”

“So they’re stepping up their surveillance?”

She shook her head. “If they step it up any more, he’ll notice. I’ve directed our team here to add more people to the already dedicated team. Your father has done the same. There’s not much more they can do, but more men can go through the paper trails that much more quickly.”

“I’d say to let me know what I could do to help, but I can’t imagine there’s much.”

“Probably not. Talk to her at Ana’s wedding next week. See if you can get her to let something slip.”

“I’ll do my best.”

A chirping sound let them know it was time to face the screen and begin the meeting.

Three hours later, Malachi was back on the plane for the quick hop home. He walked into the bedroom he shared with his wife. Several shopping bags were on one of the chairs, and he could see quite a few more piled in the closet. “
Mia Belle
?” he called. “Are you here?”

“Sir?” The voice behind him wasn’t his wife’s.

He turned to see Melinda in the doorway. “Yes?”

“Your wife is waiting for you in the dining room. Dinner is ready.”

“I’ll be right there.” So much for his desire to change clothes before dinner.

After setting his briefcase on the desk and emptying his pockets, he headed for the dining room. The windows looked out over the mountains nearby, and that was where he found his wife. Staring into the distance.

Something seemed different, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. “Are you ready to eat,
Mia Belle
?”

She turned, and the first thing he noticed was her bottom lip caught in her teeth.

Then he took in the rest of her. He barely recognized her, but in a good way.

“
Mia Belle
,” he whispered. “You look fabulous. I love your hair.” That was the first thing he noticed. The rest of the differences were too subtle for him to pick up without more careful study.

“I saw Stefan last night and let him do whatever he wanted with it.”

Malachi stopped when he stood directly in front of her. “I love it.”

Her eyes dropped. “I should have let him before the wedding, but it was a small thing I could still control, so I didn’t. That day would have been much better if I had.”

He crooked a finger under her chin, tilting her head up. “A different hairstyle would have changed how that day went?”

She gave a slight shake of her head. “Not really, but it might have given me more confidence. It did today.” Her eyes closed. “And the pictures in the paper the next day would have been more flattering.”

Malachi winced. “You saw those?”

“Not until later, but yes.”

He rested his hands on her shoulders then slid them down her arms until he could link his fingers with hers. “I love it.” Taking a step back, he held their hands out to the sides. “And I love your dress and the boots, too.” It hit him. “Were you with Lizbeth today?”

“I was.”

“What did you do?”

“We got mani-pedis and went shopping.”

The lightbulb went off. “I saw a picture of her with an unidentified woman, but the woman was only shown from the back. It must have been you.”

“The hair and make-up must have done the trick then.” She let go of his hands and walked toward the end of the table where two places were set. “If the paparazzi didn’t realize it was just me.”

Malachi caught her by the arm and turned her around. “There is no ‘just me,’ understand? You’re my wife, Princess of Mevendia. You were beautiful yesterday, and you’re beautiful today. If they haven’t figured that out yet, they’re stupider than I gave them credit for.”

His hands rested on her hips, and he tugged her closer to him. “I missed you last night, and I realized something.”

“What’s that?” she whispered, her face close to his.

“That it’s been far too long since I’ve done this.”

And he kissed her.

Chapter 22

Jessabelle didn’t want to look in the mirror. She still wasn’t used to the new look.

Or the attention it got her.

From Malachi, who watched her more to people on the street when she’d been out with Lizbeth. And then her in-laws who hadn’t said anything but did stare a bit more.

The only one to have said something directly was Nana Yvette at the family dinner a couple days later.

The former queen took Jessabelle aside and held her face between wrinkled hands.

“You were lovely before, my dear, but you are stunning now. You look so much like both your mother and your father.”

“I was adopted,” Jessabelle reminded her.

“I know.” She gave a sad smile. “But my statement stands.” With a slight wave, her assistant came to her aide. “I believe I am going to rest. Be well, lovely Jessabelle.”

“Be well,” Jessabelle whispered back as the elderly woman left.

If she stared out the window of their hotel, she could see the crowds lining the streets. Princess Anastasia’s wedding was being held in the same cathedral where Adeline’s had been held nearly nine months earlier. How quickly things changed. Jessabelle had watched Adeline’s wedding on television with her father. She strongly suspected that wedding had prompted her father to push King Antonio even harder for the marriage contract.

“Are you ready?”

Jessabelle looked up to see Malachi walking out of the closet, fiddling with the cuff link on his starched white shirt. “I think I am.” If she wasn’t, she didn’t know what else she could do to improve her appearance. Belinda had already worked her magic.

Malachi stood in front of her, tugging the sleeve of his suit coat down a bit more. “You look beautiful,
Mia Belle
. Except for Ana, you’ll be the most beautiful woman in the room.” He leaned closer. “And that’s only because she’s the bride, and everyone knows the bride is always the most beautiful at a wedding.”

Right. Except for the last wedding Jessabelle had attended. The bride was definitely the ugly duckling at that one.

“Don’t go there,
Mia Belle
.” Malachi pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Our wedding was quite different. You didn’t want to be there. I didn’t particularly want to be there, but it was the right thing. In time, we’ll see that. I think, to some degree, we both already do.”

How could he know her so well? Most of the time she had no idea what he was thinking or feeling. “I know,” she finally answered, knowing full well that, if she had to marry him, she wished it could have been different.

The door to the hotel suite opened and Yvette walked in, accompanied by William and Christiana.

Jessabelle watched William glance at her and look away before coming back to give her a once over. She hadn’t seen him since her haircut. He turned back to the rest of the group. “The car is waiting for us downstairs. If we wait much longer, we’ll delay the wedding.”

“We’re ready,” Malachi answered for both of them.

The elevator waited with a white-gloved steward of some kind to whisk them to the ground floor without being stopped by those on other floors. The lobby wasn’t empty but a path had been cleared to the front door. Malachi’s hand rested on Jessabelle’s lower back. She loved and hated it at the same time. It made her feel cared for, but she wasn’t sure how to interpret the increased activity of the butterflies who long ago took up permanent residence in her stomach.

William led their little phalanx with Christiana at his side. Yvette brought up the rear, but both gentlemen allowed all three women to enter the vehicle first. No one had ever told Jessabelle the protocol for how to sit in a typical limo. Did she sit on the smaller, backward facing seat with her husband? Or next to the other two women facing forward? Yvette gave a tiny nod toward the other seat. Jessabelle took that as her signal. A few seconds later, Malachi sat unnervingly close to her. She remained quiet, but the other occupants of the car kept up a lively discussion about people they all knew and places they’d been together.

Christiana seemed a bit more in the loop than Jessabelle was, but definitely wasn’t completely comfortable. It didn’t take long to arrive at the cathedral. There was a line of people going through security, but a few people didn’t have to do that. This car held some of those people. They pulled directly up to the red carpet where another white-gloved attendant opened the door. They emerged opposite the order they had entered.

Malachi leaned down and looked directly in her eyes as he held out his hand.
You can do this
, they told her. She took it and prayed desperately for balance so she wouldn’t trip. Once they were a few steps away, William helped first his sister, then Christiana, out of the vehicle. The five of them walked up the actual red carpet just as they had walked through the lobby. Any number of spectators lined the sidewalks, but she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do.

“Just smile and nod,” Malachi whispered. “Don’t wave.”

She did as he told her, and, in just a few minutes, they walked through the towering cathedral doors. Her shoulders relaxed, just a bit, as they were out of the sight of the casual viewer. An usher led them to the second row on the bride’s side of the church. Ana’s family would be sitting directly in front of them. At least she’d already met most of them.

Malachi’s arm came to rest along the back of the pew behind her. “Are you doing all right?” he whispered in her ear.

She nodded, but didn’t reply.

“You’re doing very well,
Mia Belle
. I’m quite proud of you.”