Seduced by the Spare Heir Page 14

  He didn’t care if he was crammed in a middle seat at the back of the plane, he had to get to her. Saying he was sorry wasn’t enough. He needed to follow that up with how he felt about her. It had taken losing her for him to get in touch with how he truly felt. There was nothing quite like waking up and realizing he was in love and he’d just ruined everything.

  But maybe, just maybe, apologizing and confessing his love for her would be enough for Serafia to forgive his snap judgments.

  Luca appeared in the doorway, an odd expression on his face.

  “Where’s the jet?” Gabriel asked.

  “It’s still at the airport in Del Sol, Your Grace.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Tell them I want to go to Barcelona as soon as possible. I need a car to meet me at the airport and I need someone to track down Serafia’s home address. I have no idea where she lives.”

  “Yes, Your Grace. I will see to all that. But first, you have...a visitor.”

  Gabriel could feel his own face taking on Luca’s pinched, confused expression. “A visitor?” Could people just stroll up to the royal beach compound and knock on the door to join him for tea?

  “Yes. It’s an old woman from Del Sol. She told the guards at the gate that she took a taxi out here to speak with you. She said it’s very important.”

  Gabriel was certain that everything people wanted to say to the king was very important, but he was at a loss. He wanted to pack his bag and be in Barcelona before dinnertime. Certainly this could wait...

  “She says it’s about Serafia.”

  Gabriel stiffened. That changed everything. “Have her escorted into the parlor. Tell Marta to bring some tea and those almond cookies if we have any left. That will give us some time to make the arrangements before I leave.”

  Luca nodded and went off to fulfill his wishes. Gabriel returned to his closet to pick a suit coat. He’d been dressing himself for the last few days and if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t doing a very good job. He knew that Serafia would want him to wear a jacket to greet a guest, especially an elderly one with more conservative ideas about the monarchy. He selected a black suit coat that went with the gray shirt he was already wearing. He knew he should add a tie, but he just couldn’t do it. He was in his own home; certainly he could get away with being a little more casual there.

  By the time he reached the parlor, all his instructions had been executed beautifully. Marta had placed a tray of lovely treats on the coffee table and was pouring two cups of tea. Seated on the couch was a tiny woman. Perhaps the smallest he’d ever seen, withered and hunched over with age. She was at least eighty, the life shriveling out of her just as the sun had seemed to tan her skin to near leather. Her hair was silver and pulled back into a neat bun. She looked like everyone’s abuela.

  “Presenting His Majesty, Prince Gabriel!” one of the guards lining the wall announced as he entered the room.

  The old woman reached for her cane to stand and curtsey properly, but Gabriel couldn’t bear for her to go to that much trouble just for him. “Please, stay seated,” he insisted.

  The woman relaxed back into her seat with a look of relief on her face. “Gracias, Don Gabriel.”

  He sat down opposite her, offering the woman sugar or cream for her tea. “What can I do for you, señora?”

  She took a sip of tea, and then set it down on the china dish with a shaky hand. “Thank you for taking the time to see me today. I know you are very busy. My name is Conchita Ortega. In 1946 when the coup happened, I was just fifteen years old and working as a servant in the Espina household. I have seen what was published in the papers over the last week or so, and now I have heard that Señorita Espina has left Alma.”

  “Señorita Espina was only working for me for a few weeks. She was always supposed to return home.”

  The older woman narrowed her gaze at him. “I understand, Your Grace, but I also understand and know amor when I see it. I know in my heart you were a couple in love and those vicious lies have ruined it. I had to speak up so you would know the truth.”

  Gabriel listened carefully, his interest in what the woman had to say growing with each additional word she spoke. Even though he didn’t hold the past of her family against Serafia, it would help to know the truth of what really had happened back then. This woman might be one of the only people left alive who knew the whole story. “Please,” he replied. “I’d love for you to tell me what you know.”

  She nodded and relaxed back in her seat with a cookie in her hand. She took a bite and chewed slowly, torturing Gabriel by delaying her story. “By the time everything fell apart,” she began, “the hurt feelings about the broken engagement between Rafael the First and Rosa Espina were nearly a decade in the past. Rafael had married Anna Maria, Rosa had married another fine gentleman and the young Prince Rafael the Second, your grandfather, was seven years old. All had turned out for the best. The Espina family would not, and did not, conspire against the Montoros during the coup. In fact, they were your family’s closest confidantes.”

  “How do you know?”

  “At fifteen, I was like a little mouse, moving quiet and unseen through the house. I was privy to many discussions with no one giving any thought to my presence. I was serving tea when Queen Anna Maria came to the Espina Estate in secret. She’d come to ask your family to help them. Alma had weathered the Second World War, but they feared the worst was yet to come for them. Tantaberra was growing in power, staging large demonstrations and causing unrest all over Alma. The royal family was worried that they were losing hold of the country.

  “The queen asked the Espinas to help them protect Alma’s historical treasures by smuggling them out of the country before things got worse. The Montoros had to stay as long as they could to appear strong against their opposition, but they feared that when they did leave, they’d have to leave everything behind. The queen couldn’t bear for such important things to be lost, so they arranged for the Espinas to move to Switzerland and take the country’s most important historical artifacts with them.”

  Serafia had mentioned that her family lived in Switzerland before moving to Spain. The article had said the family fled before the coup, which was interpreted as suspicious at the time. “What kind of things?” he asked.

  “The royal jewels and stores of gold, an oil portrait of the first king of Alma, handwritten historical records of the royal family...everything that would be considered irreplaceable.”

  “Were they successful in smuggling everything out?” he asked.

  “Yes. I helped load the ship myself. They sailed from Alma with all of their things and a secret cargo of Alman treasure. They traveled down the Rhine River to Switzerland, arriving just weeks before everything fell apart. Your family was not so lucky. They fled to America with nothing, leaving everything else behind for Tantaberra to claim as his own.”

  “What about you?”

  “I had the option to go with the Espinas, but I couldn’t leave my family behind. I stayed. But I’m glad I did so I could be here to tell you the truth. The Espinas are not traitors. They’re heroes, but no one knows the truth.”

  “Why doesn’t anyone know about this? Not even my father has mentioned it.”

  “It is likely he does not know. The queen orchestrated everything and may not have told anyone in the family so they could not be tortured for the information. It was a closely guarded secret and everyone was instructed not to speak of it while the Tantaberras were still in power. At the time, they had ties with Franco in Spain and they feared that if anyone knew the truth, their network would seek out the Espinas and retaliate. They were instructed not to breathe a word to anyone until the royal family was restored officially to the throne again.”

  “Do you think the family still has the treasures after all these years?”

  “I have no doubt of it. I ask you to reach out to Señor Espina in Madrid. He can tell you the truth. After all these years, I’m sure he will be happy to return the
royal treasure to where it belongs after the coronation.”

  Gabriel was stunned by the entire conversation. Apparently this information had not been passed down through the generations the way it should’ve been. But as they finished their tea, a plan started to form in his mind. He arranged for a car to take Señora Ortega home and finalized the preparations for his flight. Instead of going to Barcelona, he decided a visit to Madrid to see Serafia’s father was in order. If her family had his country’s treasures, they needed to be restored to the people. Once he knew for certain the story was true, he intended for the whole country to know the truth about the Espinas. They deserved a parade in their honor, and all the vicious rumors to be put to bed once and for all.

  And while he was there...he wanted to ask Señor Espina for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

  Twelve

  It was a quick flight to Madrid, but still too long in Gabriel’s eyes. The car that picked him up at the airport rushed him through the streets of the city to the Espina residence. Now all he had to do was face Serafia’s father and accept his punishment for hurting her.

  Arturo Espina opened the front door and glared at Gabriel. He had been expecting a less than warm reception. Serafia had no doubt told her family how horribly he’d treated her. He was on a journey to make amends not only with Serafia, but also with her parents. If what Señora Ortega said was true, things needed to be made right with the Espinas. By keeping Queen Anna Maria’s secret so diligently, they’d lived in the shadow of suspicion and rumors for too long. And Gabriel had a long path to redemption where Serafia was concerned. The pain would start here, now, but it had to start somewhere.

  “Señor Espina,” he said, hoping his smile didn’t give away how nervous he was. “Hello.”

  The older man glanced over Gabriel’s shoulder at the royal guard hovering nearby. The irritation suddenly faded and was replaced with a respectful bow. “Prince Gabriel. To what do we owe the honor of your presence?”

  “Please,” Gabriel said. “You bandaged my skinned knee once. Let’s drop the formalities. I’m not here as prince. I’m here about Serafia.”

  Arturo nodded and took a step back to allow him inside. The guard remained outside the door at Gabriel’s request. Arturo led him through the large mansion to an inner courtyard landscaped with trees and a sparkling tile fountain. “Please, have a seat,” he said. “May I offer you a drink? Something to eat?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “No, thank you.”

  “I’m surprised to see you here, Gabriel. Serafia hasn’t mentioned what happened in Alma, but considering how she rushed home, I’m assuming things did not end well. What I’ve read in the Alma newspapers has been disheartening, to say the least.”

  “I know, and what I’m really here to do is apologize. And maybe, if my apology is accepted, I’d like some information only you can give me.”

  Arturo sat down across from him and waited for the questions to come.

  “First, I want to apologize for the way I’ve handled all this. Regardless of the truth, I behaved poorly, lashing out at Serafia, and I’m ashamed of that. Your family, and specifically your daughter, never gave me any reason to doubt your loyalty.”

  “You are not the first to be suspicious of our family over the years.”

  “I had never heard any of those stories before,” Gabriel explained. “The papers have had some terrible things to say about your family. I grew up in America in a household that very rarely, if ever, discussed Alma and what happened. Our families have always been friends, so I was blindsided by those stories. I feel like a fool, but I allowed those articles to taint my feelings for your family and for your daughter. I shouldn’t have let that happen, but I was upset with myself and took it out on her.”

  “I read about what happened at the oil rig. Am I wrong in thinking that was related to your abduction?”

  Gabriel looked Arturo in the eye. “It was. I wasn’t sure how many people knew about it. My father wanted to keep it all pretty quiet.”

  “He called me while it was happening and asked for advice. Rafael was torn up about the whole thing and how it was taking so long to bring you home. Rafael was so frustrated—he felt helpless for the first time in his life. When you showed back up in Miami, I think he was embarrassed about how it was all handled and never wanted to talk about it again. He thought you would blame him for everything, so he wanted to forget about it all.”

  “I didn’t blame him,” Gabriel said. “But I’ve always felt like I was a disappointment to him, somehow. I tried to hide my claustrophobia because I thought he’d see it as another weakness.”

  “No one—your father included—would hold something like that against you. You went through a terrible experience. He probably thought that putting it behind you would help. We did that with Serafia and I’ve never been certain it was the right course. But as parents, you do what you can to protect your children.”

  Gabriel sighed. He’d come here for answers about the Espina family and ended up with more than he’d expected. “Thank you for telling me that. I’ve never really been able to get past what happened. I don’t do well in small spaces since my kidnapping, and I blamed Serafia for not warning me ahead of time about what was in store on the oil rig. It wasn’t her fault. I ruined everything with her, and then I find out that all those rumors that poisoned my mind weren’t even true.”

  “Do you mean the rumors about the Espinas helping Tantaberra depose your family?” Arturo asked. His tone was flat, as though he’d had to hear these slanderous charges his whole life.

  “Yes. An old woman who worked for your family back then came to the house today and explained the truth about how the Espinas safeguarded the royal treasure. At least, I hope it’s the truth.”

  Arturo nodded. “We’ve had to keep quiet about our family’s role in all this for decades, ignoring the rumors so we didn’t risk anyone finding out the truth. I don’t think any of them believed the dictatorship would last as long as it has. We feared that the Tantaberras would come after us if they knew what we were hiding, or worse, come after your family if they had any knowledge of it. Even after all this time, we had to deliberately keep it from you and others in your family.”

  “I can’t imagine that burden.”

  “I think it was worth it. I heard that Tantaberra was furious when he took the palace and all the gold and jewels he’d coveted were gone.”

  Gabriel had never given much thought to his great-grandmother, Anna Maria, but in that moment, he admired her fire. He wished he could’ve seen the dictator’s face when he realized that the Montoros had outsmarted him. “That means your family still has it?”

  Arturo stood. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared down a hallway and returned a few minutes later with something in his hand. When he sat down again, he placed two small items on the table. One, a gold coin, and the other, a diamond and ruby ring. “This is just a small part of what my family has protected for seventy years.”

  Gabriel reached out and picked up the coin. It was a coin minted in Alma in the 1800s. “You keep it here?”

  “No. I’ve always kept a few tiny items in my safe for a moment like this, but the rest is in a vault in Switzerland. We were to keep it until the coronation took place, to ensure it was official, and then it can all be restored to the palace. I’ve always hoped to see this day happen. It’s been a weight on my shoulders since my father told me the truth.”

  Returning the coin, Gabriel examined the ruby ring and felt a touch of sadness come over him. It was so beautiful, with a dark red oval ruby that had to be nearly four carats. It was surrounded by a ring of tiny diamonds and flanked on each side by a pear-shaped diamond. The setting was a mix of platinum and gold filigree. It was more beautiful than any ring had a right to be. He was incredibly grateful the Espinas had hidden it away from the Tantaberras, yet sad that no one had enjoyed the ring for all these years. This ring was meant to be on the hand of a queen—a woman like Serafia. />
  “I’ve betrayed the family that I should’ve trusted above all others. I’m so sorry. I can’t apologize enough. I want to see to it that the truth gets out. When the treasure is restored, I want it put on display in Alma’s national museum so that everyone will know how the Espinas safeguarded it all these years, and put an end to the rumors once and for all.”

  “That would be wonderful,” Arturo said. “I would like to move back to Alma one day. My father was born there. I grew up in Switzerland, but I’ve always dreamed of going back to where my people belonged.”

  Looking down at the ring, Gabriel was reminded of the other reason he’d come here today. The truth was nice, but even if the old woman’s story was just a fabrication, his first priority was getting Serafia to forgive—and marry—him. He put the ring back on the table and looked at Arturo.

  “I also came here today because I want Serafia in my life,” he said. “I...I love her. I want her to be my queen. Do you think she’ll ever be able to forgive me for the way I’ve treated her?”

  Arturo sat back in his seat and looked at him with a serious expression. “I don’t know. She’s taken this very hard. Her mother and I have been worried about her.”

  Gabriel’s gaze met his. “Worried?”

  “Did she tell you about her illness?” Arturo asked.

  “The anorexia? Yes, but she said that was behind her.”

  “We’d hoped so,” Arturo explained, “but her doctors had warned us that patients are never fully cured of this disease. Stress, especially emotional upheaval, can send her spiraling back into her bad habits. Her housekeeper has told us that she is hardly eating. That she does nothing but exercise and sleep since she returned to Barcelona. There have been a few times where she’s fallen into this slump before, but she’s righted herself before it went too far. I’m hoping that you can help pull her out of it.”

  Gabriel sensed the worry and fear in Arturo’s voice and felt even more miserable than he had before. He knew how much Serafia struggled with her image and how hard she’d worked to overcome her illness. She’d done so well when they were together that he never would’ve known about the anorexia if she hadn’t told him the truth. If he’d sent her into such an emotional state that she fell prey to it again—if she got hurt because of it—he’d never forgive himself.