The Secret That Shocked De Santis

‘You cared about her?’

‘She was the big sister I’d never had.’ He nodded. ‘The one person who made Antonio smile. He was always serious, always burdened, but she brought him joy. And he pushed her away. I was so angry with him.’

He hadn’t been able to understand why Antonio had kept her at a distance, and he’d been angry when his brother had pushed him away too. Because he’d been too young, too impulsive, not really necessary—which was pretty much the sum total of his life. ‘Special’ but not needed.

‘I didn’t tell him and I should have. I should have made him come and see her.’

Stella frowned. ‘What happened?’

He regretted this already. But he saw the look in Stella’s eyes and the words fell from him anyway. ‘I was dating a girl from my law class. She saw me with Alessia and was jealous. I told her the truth—that Alessia was Antonio’s fiancée and that she was sick, and that was why I was visiting her. But I hadn’t realised just how sick Alessia was. And then Antonio learned that his fiancée was dying through the media.’

‘Because your girlfriend sold the story?’

The look of outrage and disgust on her face made him smile bitterly. ‘Alessia refused to see him, but he got in to see her anyway. She refused to marry him. She couldn’t give him heirs. She was too ill. He said he didn’t want children—he wanted her for as long as they had left. But she still refused. She sent him back to San Felipe and in the end he had to go. He had to rule. She died a few weeks later.’

He reached past Stella to steer the yacht back on course.

‘He won’t marry now, won’t have children. He promised that to Alessia and he’s determined to keep it true. That is his decision. Duty above all else.’ He glanced up at the flapping sail and pulled on a rope. ‘He could have had a chance with her...even just more time. But I let him down by not telling him. And then by talking to someone I thought I could trust.’

‘It wasn’t your fault,’ she said. ‘You should have been able to trust her. Antonio must have understood that.’

‘Antonio was lost in his own grief and I just made things worse for myself. That was my “playboy prince” period.’ He grimaced. He’d given in to a downward spiral of meaningless sex and parties. His university daze.

‘What made you stop?’

‘It wasn’t fun any more.’

He’d got bored, unhappy, lonely. He’d come home and apologised to an unmoved Antonio and he had been trying to redeem himself ever since. But he was still bound by the limitations his meaningless title imposed.

He sighed. ‘Shall we see how fast we can make her go?’

‘Yes.’

Eduardo loved fast. So did Stella.

Those headlines she’d read—Search for San Felipe’s brides—who will heal Antonio? Who will tame Eduardo? She’d thought it was all glossy marketing speak to help sell the romance of the islands to tourists, but it was based in truth. Eduardo was everything she’d imagined—full of vitality and energy and passion. But he was also full of anger and hurt, and she’d never expected to ache because of that.

Her leg pressed close to Eduardo’s as they sat side by side on the very edge of the vintage yacht, half hanging over the water as they raced as fast as they could.

‘I’d missed out on a promotion,’ she confessed. ‘That day I met you on the beach.’

He looked at her.

‘I was so angry and so alone and I...’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘You didn’t know me. I wasn’t the usual challenge to you—the tough one all the guys placed bets on. I wasn’t the General’s forbidden daughter. I wasn’t anyone. I was just a girl and you were—’ She broke off.

‘The pirate Prince?’

‘You were fun and a...a rogue. And—’

‘You thought you knew me?’ He shook his head. ‘There’s more to me than that. Just as there is more to you than being the General’s daughter.’

‘Yes,’ she muttered—she was learning that about him. ‘But back then I just wanted a moment for me.’

‘Only now you’re paying quite the price?’

She didn’t like the sombre expression that had entered his eyes. ‘A boatload of trouble, you think?’ she teased, pleased when she saw his amusement sparkle back. ‘Are we going to land on that island?’

She sat up and put out her hand to shade her eyes, realising they were getting closer and closer to a land mass.