Standing up, she faced the door, then stopped in her tracks at the sight of a man standing there with a lifted eyebrow.
“Is there something you need, Ms. Palazzo?” he asked with a slight accent, but in perfect English.
Though she knew she was doing nothing wrong, the man made her feel as if she were.
“I need to get ahold of my brother,” she said, firming up her voice as she stared him down. “It’s important.”
He gazed at her a moment before giving his head the slightest shake.
“I apologize, but that’s something we cannot do right now.” His voice was customer-service friendly, but unyielding at the same time.
“You do realize that my basic rights are being violated by your refusal to let me make a phone call. Heck, even prisoners are allowed their one call,” she snapped, no longer even pretending to be friendly.
If these people were going to keep her trapped here, pretend not to speak English or Italian when it suited them, and refuse her basic liberties when speaking in words she could understand, she wasn’t going to dance to the tune they were playing. She was going to throw a giant-sized fit.
As she watched the man look down his nose at her, Rachel realized he might not want her to be here. He probably didn’t think she was good enough to serve as his queen. What if she could turn him to her side? Maybe he would help her to escape so a proper queen could be found for his country.
Her attitude changed, and she put a bright smile on her face. His gaze narrowed suspiciously.
“What’s your name again?” Rachel asked, seeming to recall him from the States. He had to be one of Adriane’s right-hand guys.
“I am Nico,” he said, his expression not changing.
“Well, Nico, maybe you can offer your assistance,” she said, batting her eyes.
From his unaltered expression, she didn’t think her pathetic attempt at flirting was doing her any good.
“Of course, Ms. Palazzo. I am willing to assist you with anything I can,” he said, though his suspicious expression was telling her otherwise.
She had to try, though.
“I need to speak to my brother so he can return me to the States. We both know I’m not the right fit to be queen of Corythia. Wouldn’t it be better for everyone involved if I just disappeared? Adriane could then find a proper woman of royal or at least noble birth to be his wife and the queen of this exquisitely beautiful country.”
OK, so she might be laying it on a bit thick, but she was desperate.
“It is King Adriane’s baby you are pregnant with, is it not?” he asked, looking pointedly down at her stomach.
“Does it really matter? Many, many children have been born out of wedlock to royalty. They and their mothers don’t join the family. So we can all just pretend I never existed. Everyone can get on with their lives.” Rachel spoke in pleading tones, growing a little more desperate at the hardening in his eyes.
“Why do you want to leave?” This time there was no expression on his face, not a clue of what he was thinking.
“Because I won’t marry a man simply because I carry his child. I only spent one week with Adriane, knowing him then only as Ian, a beach bum who was romantic and made my world spin. Corny, no? That certainly isn’t enough of a reason for us to wed.”
He seemed thoughtful as he looked at her. Had she made him understand?
She continued to work on him. “You must know, Nico, that it’s not right for him to hold me captive here. I have a family back home. All you have to do is let me make one little bitty phone call. Just turn your back while I get through to my brother. Adriane need never find out.”
Nico’s lips tilted almost imperceptibly as he stared at her.
“I like your determination, Ms. Palazzo. I think perhaps that I may have misjudged you. Most Americans I have encountered aren’t as…resourceful as you. But still, I can’t go against my king. That would be profoundly disloyal, even treacherous. I will say that I believe you will make a fine queen,” he said, dashing the last of her hopes.
He was doing his job, so there was no use in getting angry with the man. But someone here had to be willing to help her. She had never found a group of employees to be completely happy in their jobs.
“I will see myself out,” she said, and she walked past him to the door. There was no point in continuing the conversation.
“I do apologize, Ms. Palazzo,” he offered as she passed him.
Rachel paused for a moment before continuing on. She wasn’t going to say anything more. She certainly wasn’t going to thank him. He hadn’t helped her.
With her head tilted up, and more determined than ever, Rachel retreated, for now, back to her room. This wasn’t over — not by a long shot.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
NOT AGAIN! YET another night in which sleep played the merciless tease. If this didn’t stop soon, she was going to make herself sick — far sicker than just a mere fainting spell and slightly high blood pressure.
And yet, while sitting on the balcony, Rachel was at least able to enjoy the pleasant breeze as the sun rose in the sky. If she hadn’t been there against her will, she would think it an ideal place to be. The sea was so gloriously fresh that it was almost clear, making her desperately eager for a swim. The food was amazing, and the accommodations beyond luxurious.
This could be a resort.
There was just one minor problem: she’d been abducted, and that tended to color her mood. She wasn’t so relaxed that she’d forgotten the reason she was here.
She hadn’t seen Adriane since the morning before, but she knew he was back. If she were able to fly the dang helicopter, she would have been hot-wiring it and making her escape. But, no, she knew how to fly only as a passenger, and she had no interest in ending up on the bottom of this beautiful sea.
This morning, when she’d looked in the mirror, she’d noticed the tiniest hint of a bump on her stomach, not enough that she looked pregnant, but enough that it was all becoming more and more real. Each time she experienced morning sickness, or felt dizzy, each time she looked in the mirror and found minor changes in her body — it all added up to the fact that she was going to be a mother.
In about five and a half months she would have a baby.
At this moment, it would be so nice to sit down and talk to her mother, ask her how she’d felt the first time she’d noticed a change in her body. Had she been afraid or overjoyed? Had she run to the toilet and thrown up or lay back and rejoiced? What had gone through her head and heart?