Her eyes burned as the tears came at last. Perhaps it was dramatic to think she would lose her son, but everything would be different. He would probably summer with his father and go to school in Los Angeles with her. He would have major life experiences without her, learn things, be independent. She'd expected that when he was a teenager, but not before he was eight.
She wanted to hate Rafael for all this. She wanted to blame him for everything, but she couldn't. In truth, Danny was his son and he had as much right to the boy as she.
She closed her eyes and felt the trickle of moisture run down her temples and into her hair. Her chest ached. How would she survive without Danny around? The summer would be too long. She could—
Eventually he would have to go to school in Europe.
Mia sat up. He would need exposure to a larger world. An international one. She had the sudden hope that he'd inherited her ability to learn languages. It would certainly make his life easier.
But what about her? Should she move to Europe? Would that help Danny? There had to be law firms that would want to hire her. And then what? Make a life for herself living quietly somewhere while her son trained to be king and Rafael married someone appropriate?
She picked up a pillow and threw it across the room. "Damn you, Rafael," she cried as more tears poured down her cheeks.
"Mommy."
Mia froze and looked at the now open door. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts, she hadn't heard it open.
Danny stood there, his eyes wide as he stared at her. "Mommy?"
She quickly wiped her face. "Hi, sweetie. I'm okay. What's going on?"
"I want to do a puzzle."
He still wasn't very good at them. Even the ones with the really big pieces.
"Sure. I can help. Let me go wash my face and we'll head downstairs."
He crossed the room and climbed up on the bed. "Are you mad at Daddy?" he asked.
Her first instinct was to deny that she was, but based on what Danny had just seen and heard, that seemed kind of stupid.
"I am, right now, but that's okay. Grown-ups get mad at each other and then we talk and make up."
"Does Daddy have to 'pologize?"
"He has."
"But you're still mad?"
She sighed. "I'm mad about a lot of things."
"You could make a list."
She laughed, then put her arms around him. He hugged her back, his body small and sturdy.
"I love you, big guy," she whispered. "So much. You're my whole world and the best thing in it."
"I love you, too, Mommy."
She couldn't let him go, she thought as she continued to hold on to him. Not even for a summer. She couldn't survive. Which meant she and Rafael had a whole lot of stuff to work out.
But how was she supposed to negotiate with a man she didn't trust?
She straightened. "Okay. Let's go find that puzzle."
"Okay."
He smiled and slid off the bed. She followed him. In the hallway, he reached for her hand. She held on to his small fingers and vowed that no matter what, she was never letting go.
* * *
Rafael walked toward the back door of the Marcelli house. He'd had two angry phone calls with his father that morning. The king was not a patient man and he expected his grandson in residence before the end of the summer. Rafael didn't see how that was possible. He was no longer willing to simply spirit Daniel away, as he had been before. Mia had worked legal magic to keep Daniel with her in any other circumstances. It was a problem without solution.
The door opened before he could knock. Daniel stood there.
"Good morning," Rafael said pleasantly. "I thought we could go into town today. There is a children's museum that is— "
"You made my mommy cry," Daniel told him. "You made Mommy cry and say a bad word. Go away."
With that, the door slammed shut, leaving Rafael standing alone outside.
Mia looked up when Grammy M walked into the library. "What's up?" she asked.
The older woman was twisting an old dish towel. "It's Danny," she said, then quickly added. "He's fine."
"Okay." Mia stood. "Did he do something wrong?"
"I'm not sure you'll think so. Rafael was here."
Mia glanced at the clock and swore. It was ten after two. Their appointment was for two.
"I was trying to figure out my class schedule," she said. "I wasn't watching the clock." Her heart froze in her chest. "Oh, God, Rafael didn't take him, did he?"
"What? Of course not. None of us would be lettin' that happen. It's nothin' like that. Danny answered the door and told his father that he'd made you cry and that he should go away. Then he slammed the door in Rafael's face and ran up to his room. He's there now."
Mia winced. "He walked in while I was having a personal pity party last night," she admitted. "I didn't think he would take it so hard. What did Rafael do?"
"He left."
Mia blinked. "You're kidding. I would have thought he would demand his son."
"I think Danny hurt his feelings."
Mia couldn't imagine a building falling on the man and causing pain, but stranger things had happened. "Okay, I'll take care of this."
Danny first, then Rafael, she thought.
"Rafael really left?" she asked again.
Grammy M nodded. "He got in his car and drove away."
"So not like him to walk away." She couldn't believe he'd given up on Danny, which left what? He'd been shocked, maybe? Because the hurt thing… so not happening.
Thirty minutes later she pulled into the hotel parking lot. She'd had a very productive talk with her four-year-old, explaining he didn't get to say who came and went in the house, and now she was here to… to…
She parked and stared at the small hotel as she tried to figure out what she was there to do. Telling Rafael he was welcome to come over was the sort of thing she could say on the phone. So why had she left Danny in the very capable hands of the Grands and driven here herself?
Oh, well, now that she was here, she might as well deliver her message.
She walked up to the second floor and was immediately stopped by Oliver.
"It's me," she said easily. "I'm not armed and I'm not going to let you feel me up to confirm that, but you can check my purse if you want."
She held out the bag. He quickly went through it, then handed it back.
She walked to Rafael's room and knocked.
"It's open."
She stepped inside and found him sitting on the sofa, reading what looked like a very thick report.
"Hi," she said as she entered. "I came by to, ah, talk about what happened with Danny."
Rafael rose and pointed to the sofa. "Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"
"No, I'm good."
He waited until she was seated before claiming his own chair again. She studied him, trying to figure out what he was feeling, but his dark blue eyes gave nothing away and the half smile hid all his secrets.
"I heard what happened," she began, again wondering why she hadn't just phoned it in. "I'm sorry Danny did that. I didn't coach him."
"I did not think you did. Two days ago he was furious with you because he thought you were the reason I no longer lived at the house. Today I am the villain."
Bad guy, she thought, but didn't correct him. "Okay. Well, I thought maybe you were upset."
"So you came to gloat?"
"Ouch. That's not fair. I said I'm sorry."
"So you did. You are sorry and I am sorry. Where do we go from here?"
He was asking her? "I haven't a clue," she admitted. "We'll have to find some middle ground."
"Difficult when you don't trust me."
Difficult, yes. But impossible?
"I want to trust you," she said slowly.
"You say that as if it's a horrible thing."
"It is. How many times do you get to fool me?"
"I'm not fooling, Mia. This is very real. We're talking about our son and his future and how best to be parents. What is more real than that?"
"You're still an arrogant prince who doesn't believe he has to play by the rules."
"Perhaps, but you didn't come here because of Daniel."
He was on his feet before she had a chance to absorb his words. Once she did, she stood and glared at him. "If you're saying what I think you're saying…"
"You're here because of me. Because of the connection that exists. You're here because there is a need and a hunger and because when you close your eyes at night, I'm the man you see."
She started to stalk out, but he grabbed her arm and spun her toward him. They were inches apart. She could feel the heat of his body and hear the soft rhythm of his breathing. His eyes were as dark as midnight and she recognized the passion burning there.
"Admit it," he commanded.
"Never."
"But you must, Mia. You were never a liar."
"Of all the arrogant, self-centered, egotistical— "
He cut off her rant with a kiss. She knew what he was going to do the second before his mouth touched hers and she braced herself for the assault.
Only it never came. Instead he released her arm and pressed his lips to hers in a gesture so tender, so soft and tentative, she felt herself strain toward him to deepen the contact.
All the anger and uncertainty drained away, leaving nothing in their wake but desire. Her body remembered what it had been like to be touched by this man, and every cell called out to him. Her breasts ached, her thighs tightened, and between her legs, she was already wet.
All this and they were still kissing like schoolchildren.
"Mia," he breathed against her mouth. "How I've wanted you. How I've thought about what it was like when we made love. We have always had the fire. When I touch you, I feel your pleasure."
She felt the same. As she ran her hands over his body, she knew his response as if it were her own. But she didn't say that. She might be foolish enough to sleep with him again, but she wasn't going to get sucked in emotionally.
This was just sex. Fantasy and friction. Nothing more.
Still, when he pressed against her mouth, she turned into him. And when his arms came around her waist, she raised hers to his shoulders. Then she tilted her head and parted her lips and surrendered.
His tongue swept inside her mouth. His heat and taste combined with incredible sensations of delight. She surged toward him, wanting to feel the hardness of his body against hers. Even as he explored her mouth, he rubbed his hands up and down her back. She did the same to him, then went lower, to cup his rear and squeeze.
He immediately pressed his hips toward her, driving his erection into her belly.
He was already hard, she thought happily. Hard to her wet. She closed her lips around his tongue and sucked as she remembered what it had been like last time, when he'd driven into her so deeply, she'd been forced to come over and over.
He reached for the hem of her T-shirt. She released him long enough to step back and hold her arms up over her head. He pulled the shirt free, then expertly unfastened her bra.
Then his mouth was on one breast with his fingers matching the movements on the other. As he stroked and sucked and licked, she ran her fingers through his hair and tried to remember how to breathe.
It was perfect, she thought, her head falling back. With each tug on her nipples, she felt an answering contraction between her thighs. Her shorts confined her. She needed to be naked, her legs spread, him between them. Going down on her or plunging inside of her, she didn't much care. Just something.
He straightened and claimed her mouth again. She didn't complain because he covered her breasts with both hands and continued to caress her. Even as he kissed her over and over again, he nudged her back. She allowed him to urge her into the bedroom where the high four-poster bed beckoned.