The questions tumbled through her mind. They weighed on her, putting everything she thought she knew about herself into question.
Tears of frustration pricked the backs of her eyes. She blinked repeatedly. How long were those DNA tests going to take? The wait was agonizing.
But right now, she had an important dinner with the royal family. She put on diamond stud earrings followed by diamond dangle earrings. She may be a poor pauper compared to the wealth of this royal family, but back in her own world, the Bartolini’s had made a name for themselves.
She gazed down at the navy-and-silver dress she’d selected for this evening. It was formfitting and hugged her curves. As she stared in the mirror, she sucked in her breath, pulling in her stomach. Maybe this wasn’t the right dress to wear for meeting the queen for the first time. But when she checked the time, it was a quarter to seven. Too late to change now. She expected Leo to arrive any minute.
Bianca slipped on the silver rhinestone–studded stilettos. Still, she was stuck on the fact that a prince—a sexy, gorgeous prince—would be her escort for dinner. Who cared if he was a bit presumptuous? She knew how to put him in his place if he got obnoxious. Though she just couldn’t imagine Leo being an overbearing jerk.
As she finished with the delicate strap on her shoe, her attention focused on her nails. She’d had them done for the wedding at the vineyard. She lifted her hands to her face and inspected them. Other than a slight tremor, they looked good. The French manicure was holding up nicely. The last thing she wanted was to greet the queen looking anything other than her best.
The nervous tremor that had started in her hands moved to her stomach. She was meeting a queen. Who did that? People with a much higher social status than her. She didn’t even know what to say to the woman. Her mouth grew dry. Her brain drew a blank.
Don’t think about it. Think about something else.
She wanted someone to share this moment with. Her thoughts turned to her sister. She knew Gia would be in awe over this just as she was. And she had promised to let her siblings know when she’d arrived safely.
She reached for her phone. As she went to pull up her sisters’ number, she paused. The last time she’d seen them, there had been a big argument. She didn’t want to go there again. Perhaps a text message would be best.
Arrived safely.
Immediately a response pinged on her phone.
Exciting! What’s it like?
Amazing!
And the prince?
Bianca thought for a moment. Scads of adjectives raced to the front of her mind.
Amazing!
#jealous Tell me more.
Knock. Knock.
“Coming,” Bianca called out.
Can’t now. My prince...
Bianca groaned. Erase. Erase.
Can’t now. The prince has arrived for dinner.
#exciting Don’t forget. Details. Lots of details.
LOL. Talk soon.
Bianca smiled as she set aside her phone. Things were starting to seem normal between her and her sister. Perhaps she’d had the right idea about putting a little distance between them. Because during this whole thing of losing her parents and the mess with the will, she could really use her friend—her sister.
Knock. Knock.
“Bianca, are you ready?”
“Yes. I’ll be right there.” She glanced in the mirror. She adjusted a stray hair and then smoothed the makeup under her left eye. It was as good as it was going to get.
She moved to the door and swung it open. She didn’t know it was possible for Leo to look any better than she’d seen him so far. But she’d been wrong.