LITMIR.BIZ

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on their arrangement now.

      Per his instructions the pilot started the engines. Lucca noted with satisfaction that the Fasten Seat Belts sign had flashed on. The sound of her strapping herself in was music to his ears. For the first time all day he was able to let go of the tension gripping him. He fastened his.

      Soon they were taxiing out to the runway. He glanced at her striking profile. She had a proud nose. He liked that. He liked everything about her. “Once we’ve reached altitude, I’ll ask dinner to be served.”

      “I’m afraid I’m still full from lunch.”

      “Even so, you might change your mind later.”

      In a few minutes the engines screamed and they were moving faster. Soon the wheels left the tarmac and the jet was airborne.

      Lucca felt a sense of excitement he hadn’t experienced since he was a young boy taking his first ride in his father’s plane, but this time it had nothing to do with power and everything to do with his passenger.

      All his life he’d known the day would come when he would have to marry someone royal like himself. But to reach his midthirties and still not feel as much as a spark for one of them had thrust him into a living nightmare from which he hadn’t awakened until this morning.

      Who could have imagined a scenario as unlikely as the one he’d commandeered in Defore’s office? Meeting Alexandra had constituted nothing short of a miracle. Their marriage would solve Sofia’s problem, as well.

      “Veni, vidi, vici,” Lucca found himself muttering aloud. He felt like the great Roman emperor Julius Caesar who after one of his victories said, “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

      She glanced over at him with those hypnotic eyes. “Were you talking to me?”

      It was better she didn’t know what was going on in his mind. “I was telling you the seat-belt light has gone off. We’ve reached cruising speed. I’ll ring for the steward.”

      By the time she’d unfastened hers, the other man appeared and requested she follow him. The second she was out the door Lucca rang one of his bodyguards and gave him a flurry of instructions he wanted followed immediately. While he waited for his bodyguard to appear, he phoned the galley and advised them to prepare some sandwiches and fruit.

      In a few minutes Paolo the bodyguard entered the study, carrying a square eight-by-eight inch metallic box by the handle. Lucca took it from him and placed it on the conference table where he ate his meals.

      They walked to the door and he thanked him before getting on the phone to his secretary working in the rear compartment of the jet. Bringing home a bride-to-be at the midnight hour meant dictating a ton of new instructions. When Alexandra reentered the cabin, his breath caught to realize he hadn’t been hallucinating after all. She really was on the plane with him. He rang off to give her his full attention.

      “Come and sit at the table. There’s something I want to show you.”

      Her gaze fastened on the box, then swerved to his with an expression that held traces of pain. “If that’s what I think it is, I don’t need to see it. If I never lay eyes on another diamond again, it will be too soon.”

      He grimaced. “Nevertheless, you need to look at this. Every wife should know how her husband makes a living. Sit down and close your eyes.”

      She complied, wondering exactly what he meant. He opened the box and removed the smaller black jewel case, then lifted the lid. “You can look now.”

      Alex couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her throat. Nestled against silver velvet lay the teardrop-shaped diamond almost the size of an American half dollar. It was a shade of green, darker than peridot but lighter than emerald.

      “The true color of nature,” he spoke her thoughts.

      “I didn’t know a diamond could be green. The hue of the stone is utterly incredible.”

      He nodded his dark head. “Its color was caused by the crystals in a volcanic pipe coming into contact with a radioactive source at some point during its lifetime. The phenomenon is so rare in a diamond this size, the Ligurian is rated among the top five diamonds in the world.”

      “Why do you call it that?”

      “Castelmare is situated on the Ligurian coast we share with Italy.”

      “I’m ashamed I don’t know my geography better.”

      “Don’t be. The majority of people haven’t heard of it, either. In 1906 my great-grandfather started buying diamonds from the owner of a mine in South Africa, and they established a business relationship.

      “As a result, he created a diamond-cutting industry in Castelmare to augment the kingdom’s prosperity. Today it’s a thriving concern. People from all over the world flock there to buy diamonds, which brings us a good percentage of our wealth.”

      “I had no idea,” her voice trailed. “Forgive my temper. That’s twice today.” Already she was aware her soon-to-be husband soon-to-be king was a hardworking man, as well as a monarch.

      With jewelry stores in New York and around the globe, this little lesson about the Ligurian diamond was just the beginning of many others. One of the most daunting would be to learn Italian. Help!

      “I’ve already forgotten.” He was a much kinder person than she was. Her Carlisle temperament had a nasty habit of coming out at precarious moments.

      By agreeing to their unique marriage arrangement, she was entering a brand-new world. Only now did she realize how much she would have to learn, starting with this rare gemstone.

      “It’s the most exquisite thing I’ve ever seen.”

      “It’s flawless from the inside out. You have no idea how rare that it is.”

      There was a reverence in his voice. She wondered if he was thinking about something else. Someone else …

      “How many karats is it?”

      A pause ensued before he said, “It is 44.16. Go ahead and hold it up so you can view the facets’ reflections.”

      “You’re not afraid I’ll run off with it?”

      His lips formed a half smile. “Where would you go?” he teased dryly.

      The next thing she knew he reached for her right hand and placed the famous diamond in her palm much the same way he’d kissed it in the limousine. Her body had turned to jelly then, too. This had to stop! Every time he came near or touched her, she reacted the same way.

      Alex couldn’t believe any of today had really happened, let alone that she was holding something this precious in her hand. When she raised it to the light, she let out another cry. “The sight’s so dazzling, it hurts your eyes.”

      “My thoughts exactly when I saw it in its uncut state for the first time,” he whispered, but he was looking down at her as he said it. She got this fluttery feeling in her chest and put the diamond back in the case.

      “When was that?”

      “I was on a buying trip at nineteen when the mine owner showed me what they’d just discovered. After I purchased it, I kept it hidden. A few years later I got the best diamond cutters in the business together. Between us we decided a teardrop shape would show it off to the best advantage.”

      “Do you keep it on display year round?”

      “Except for the six weeks while I take it on a world tour doing business.” He placed it in the carrying case and shut the lid. “The rest of the time it stays in a museum on the palace grounds. Several hours each day it’s open to the public, where tourists can view the family jewels and various items dating from the Middle Ages.”

      “I can’t imagine having a family history you can trace back that far.”

      “Have you forgotten your uncle Yuri is going to bring

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