Luis (Royal Caleva #2)

CHAPTER 5

Eve paced over the braided rug in the living room, listening for the sound of Grace’s car in the driveway. Her daughter had worked late with classmates doing charts, as she often did. Eve had spent those hours composing and discarding ways of delivering the stunning news about the man who might be Grace’s father.

Might be. A strange glimmer of hope arose. Maybe all this agonizing would be over nothing. The DNA test might prove that Grace was not the king’s daughter. Then Eve and Grace could go back to their familiar, comfortable lives and laugh over this bizarre memory.

She grimaced at her wishful thinking. The King of Caleva and his very intense head of security would not have trekked all the way to Ames, Iowa, and cleared out an entire law firm if they weren’t pretty certain Grace was his child.

Eve went back to pacing and trying to figure out how to ease into telling Grace about her potential parentage.

There was no way to make the words less shocking. All Eve could do was be there to help her daughter through it.

When the dogs barked and jumped off the couch at the sound of the old Honda rattling up the drive, Eve took a deep breath and went to greet her daughter at the kitchen door.

As Grace trotted up the wooden steps, Eve traced the resemblance to Luis in her daughter’s striking features. It was impossible not to see it now that she knew what to look for.

“Hey, Mom.” Grace gave her a peck on the cheek before she unslung the backpack from her slim shoulders and bent to greet Trace, Eve’s three-legged golden retriever, and Army, Grace’s rescued marshmallow of a pit bull. “I’m starving. Have you got any leftovers of last night’s lasagna?”

“Of course!” Eve was half-relieved and half-anxious about postponing the upcoming revelation.

Grace grabbed a fork before she dropped into one of the antique Windsor chairs at the round oak table. “Dr. Young is such an asshole. He made us redo our charts for the third time this week.”

“What did he claim was the problem now?” Eve asked as she put a generously heaped plate of lasagna in the microwave.

“Nothing of any importance. He was just nitpicking.”

Since she worked as a veterinary technician in the school’s clinic, Eve knew most of the teaching veterinarians. Evan Young was a prissy, rigid, stick-in-the-mud. None of the vet techs liked working with him.

“Don’t take it personally. He’s like that with everyone. At least you don’t have much longer on your rotation with him.” Eve pulled salad greens out of the fridge, added some sliced vegetables, and tossed them with a balsamic dressing. As the microwave dinged, she set the salad on the table before she fetched the lasagna. “Here you go. How about some Chianti?”

Grace looked surprised. “No, thanks, but you go ahead and have some.”

Eve debated before grabbing a glass and twisting the cap off the cheap Italian wine. A quick gulp eased the tightness in her throat a little. Grace gave her a curious glance before digging into her chunk of lasagna.

Eve had drunk her entire glass of wine before Grace finished eating. The Chianti had done nothing to dissolve her tension.

Grace leaned back in the chair with a satisfied sigh. “Okay, Mom, what’s up? You never drink on weeknights.”

Of course, Grace would notice.

“Let me clear off the table, and then we’ll go in the living room to talk,” Eve said, standing.

“Now you’re scaring me.” Grace’s brows lowered in a frown of concern. “Did you get bad news from a doctor? Just tell me before I freak out.”

“I’m fine, but I have something…significant to tell you.” Eve rinsed the plates and stuck them in the dishwasher. Then she poured herself more wine.

“Maybe I’ll have a glass after all,” Grace said. “It feels like I might need it.”

Eve filled another goblet and handed it to her daughter before leading the way across the creaky wooden floor to the living room. She gestured Grace toward the blanket-covered sofa, figuring she might need room to join her if the conversation grew emotional. As soon as her daughter sat, Army jumped up beside her and curled up against her thigh.

Grace stroked the dog’s head absently. “Okay, tell me,” she said. “I can’t handle the suspense.”

Eve sat in one of the roll-armed chairs, also covered by a blanket to protect it from pet stains. She watched Grace closely as she said, “Sweetheart, your biological father wants to meet you.”

Grace opened her mouth, closed it, and finally said, “I have so many questions I don’t know where to start.” She twisted the wineglass in her hands. “Is his name really Luis Dragón, like it says on my birth certificate? What about my birth mother? Are they not together anymore?”

Eve set her glass on the occasional table beside her chair and leaned forward. “Yes, his name is really Luis Dragón. In fact, I met him today.”

“Why did he show up now?” And the unspoken question in her daughter’s eyes: Why did he not want me for all these years?

“He didn’t know you existed until very recently,” Eve said. “Then he needed time to find out where you were. He came here as soon as he could track you down.”

“That means he’s not with my biological mother.” A little of the sadness left Grace’s gaze at hearing that her birth father hadn’t deliberately abandoned her. “What’s he like?”

Eve recalled the room-filling power that Luis Dragón projected and the intensity of his desire to connect with his daughter.

“He’s—” Regal. Imposing. Charismatic. Crazy attractive. Eve shoved that last thought away. “Right. Here’s the thing that’s going to be hard to wrap your mind around.” She paused. “Luis Dragón is the King of Caleva.”

Grace stared at her, ignoring Army when he headbutted her hand because she had stopped petting him. “What?”

“He’s the King of Caleva. We saw him on television during their big music festival, remember? He introduced Kyran Redda at the main concert because Kyran was staying at the palace. Everyone thought that was kind of funny. That’s how I recognized the king.”

“I know you wouldn’t joke about this, but…” Grace shook her head in bewilderment. “I don’t understand. Caleva is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Spain. We’re in the middle of Iowa.”

“I’m in shock, too, but here’s what…Luis told me.” She felt awkward calling a king by his first name. “His wife died in a car accident soon after their son, Prince Raul, was born. We saw the prince on television too.” The prince who might be Grace’s half brother. “The king, Luis, was, er, upset and lonely. He had an affair with your biological mother but broke it off before either of them knew she was pregnant. Evidently, she was angry at being dumped and punished him by not telling him about you.”

“Holy crap,” Grace muttered, massaging her temples as though she had a headache. “This can’t be real.”

Eve thought of the emptied-out law office, the bodyguard masquerading as a receptionist, the slightly sinister Mikel Silva, and the compelling presence of Luis Dragón. “What I’ve told you is real, but because Luis is a king, the proof of your relationship has to be undeniable before you meet him. They need to do a DNA test to make sure you are really his daughter. The only evidence they have right now is DNA taken when you were a baby, and they need to confirm you are the same person as that infant.”

“Then it’s possible that I’m not the King of Caleva’s child?” Grace said slowly.

“Possible, but I would say unlikely. He has gone to a lot of trouble to find you and come here.”

“Then let’s get it done, because there’s no point in getting worked up about it if I’m not related to him,” Grace said. “How soon can I take the test?” That was so typical of her daughter—cut right to the heart of the matter.

Eve wanted to slow things down, because once Luis’s paternity was confirmed, he would turn their world upside down just by being who he was.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take more time to absorb such overwhelming news?” Eve asked.

“I feel like I’m in limbo right now.” Grace swirled her wine in her glass. “I need to know the truth.”

“I can call the king’s…assistant, Mikel, and ask him about the test,” Eve said.

Grace glanced at her watch. “Isn’t it kind of late?”

Eve could picture Luis pacing his room, wherever it was, trying to will the phone to ring. He would be accustomed to getting things done when he wanted them done. “He said to call anytime, day or night.”

Grace took a deep breath and let it out again. “Go for it.”

Eve retrieved her phone from the kitchen and called the number for Mikel. The man answered on the first ring. “Good evening, se?ora. How may I help you?”

“I’ve spoken with my daughter. She would like to take the DNA test as soon as possible.”

“That is good news,” Mikel said. “Could I come to your home to take the samples in half an hour?”

So soon. Events were spiraling out of Eve’s ability to control them. But Grace was driving this, too, and Eve had to respect that.

“Let me check with her.” Eve muted the phone. “The king’s assistant can be here in half an hour. Are you okay with that?”

Grace stroked Army’s big square head as she hesitated, her eyes still wide with shock. To give her time, Eve put the call on speaker. “What is involved in the test?” Eve asked Mikel.

“Just a cheek swab,” Mikel said. “I will be bringing some legal forms giving consent for the test. If you feel uncomfortable signing them without a lawyer’s review, we can delay the procedure until tomorrow.”

Eve glanced at Grace. “As medical professionals, I think we can interpret legal permissions ourselves. Will the king be coming too?”

Grace shook her head frantically.

But Mikel was already on the same page. “I believe it would be better if he and your daughter met only after any question about their biological relationship has been laid to rest. Then it can be a joyful occasion without reservations.”

That protected both Grace and Luis. “We support that plan,” Eve said.

“Shall I come in half an hour?” Mikel repeated.

Eve hit the mute button. “It’s perfectly reasonable to delay the test until tomorrow.”

Grace was silent for a moment before she sat up straighter. “There’s no point in waiting. It won’t change anything.”

Eve reached out to squeeze her daughter’s hand as she unmuted the phone. “Grace will be ready.”

“Very good. Please ask your daughter not to eat or drink anything from now until the samples are taken,” Mikel said before he disconnected.

“I’m glad the king isn’t coming,” Grace said, a quaver in her voice. “It would be too uncomfortable not knowing whether our relationship is real or not.”

Eve thought of Luis’s almost overwhelming presence and agreed. “I’m going to put the dogs out in the yard so they won’t bother Mr. Silva. Remember not to drink any more of that wine.”

“Wine is not nearly strong enough for how I’m feeling right now,” Grace said.

Eve herded Army and Trace outside. When she came back into the living room, her daughter wore a worried frown.

“Mom, how do you feel about all this? I mean, having my father walk into my life and having him be a king, for God’s sake. It’s going to change a lot…if it’s true.”

Eve’s heart clenched, both at how right Grace was and at how sweet she was to think of her mother’s concerns. She sat beside Grace on the sofa. “I’m okay with anything you want to do. All I care about is that you’re happy.”

Tears brimmed in Grace’s eyes before they overflowed down her cheeks. “I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. Maybe happy, but also like I’m in an alternate reality.”

Eve stroked her daughter’s hair. “You look like your father, except for your hair color. I guess that came from your mother.”

“I look like the King of Caleva?” Grace pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket and tapped at the screen.

Eve peered over her shoulder to see a gallery of images of Luis Dragón. Some showed him in an elaborate uniform at various state occasions. Most showed him in perfectly tailored suits, standing beside or shaking hands with world leaders. Grace scrolled past those before she stopped at a photo of the king when his hair was still dark brown and he was clean-shaven.

“I do look kind of like him,” she murmured.

The resemblance was also in the way Grace held herself. She stood exactly the way her father did—straight-backed, shoulders squared, chin lifted. Maybe royal genes affected posture too.

Grace flicked the screen to display more photos. Eve’s attention snagged on one—clearly taken by a paparazzo with a long lens—in which the king was walking up the steps of a swimming pool on what appeared to be a yacht. Water glistened on well-defined shoulder and chest muscles and an abdomen carved like a Michelangelo statue.

He was one hot royal.

She jerked her gaze away and banished the thought to a dark corner of her brain.

“Find photos of Prince Raul,” Eve said. “You look even more like him.”

“I have a half brother.” Grace’s voice was filled with wonder. Then she turned to Eve with doubt in her eyes. “Do you think he’ll be glad to have a half sister? After all, he’s been the only child of a king all his life. That has to be a pretty privileged position.”

“If he’s not happy to have you as his half sister, he’s an idiot.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Grace gave her a strained smile and went back to scrolling, this time pulling up pictures of the crown prince. She went into the entrance hall and stood in front of the gilt-framed wall mirror that had belonged to Eve’s grandmother. Holding up the phone, she studied her own face next to the prince’s.

“I look even more like Raul.” She shook her head and declared, “My father is the King of Caleva,” as though trying to convince herself.

She shook her head again before returning to the sofa. Huffing out a breath, she locked her gaze on Eve. “What about my birth mother? What did he say about her?”

Eve couldn’t bring herself to weigh down Grace’s shoulders with such an ugly revelation yet. Maybe Luis could find a way to soften the blow of what her birth mother had done. He should be an expert at diplomacy, after all.

“We discussed the past more than the present,” Eve said, which was true in its own way. “I was very focused on who your father was since he was standing in front of me. If the test comes back positive, you could ask him about your birth mother.”

“Anyone would be a little overwhelmed by meeting a king.” Grace looked down at her hands twisted together in her lap. “I’m overwhelmed at the idea too.”

Eve covered her daughter’s hands with a gentle touch. “He said not to think of him as a king. He wants you to see him as just Luis Dragón, a man who is overjoyed to learn he might have a wonderful daughter.”

Grace turned one hand over to grip Eve’s. “I guess I shouldn’t miss my rotation tomorrow, but it’s going to be hard to concentrate.”

“Just remind yourself that if Dr. Young gets annoying, you could have him beheaded,” Eve joked.

Grace’s laughter might have a slightly hysterical edge, but the sound of it sent a wave of relief through Eve.

When the doorbell rang, they both jumped. If a king wanted something done, it got done at high speed.

Eve gestured for Grace to wait in the living room while she opened the door. Mikel stood in a pool of light on the front porch, holding a silver metal briefcase. Behind him stood the young woman from the lawyer’s office.

“Come in.” Eve held the door open.

Mikel smiled and stepped inside, followed by the woman. “Eve, you met Bridget earlier today.”

Eve nodded to Bridget and ushered them both into the living room, where Grace stood tall, her gaze shifting between their two visitors. Only the clenched fists at her sides gave away her nervousness.

“Mikel, Bridget, this is my daughter, Grace,” Eve said, pride in her voice.

“Nice to meet you.” Grace took a step forward with her hand held out.

Mikel covered the distance between them, took her hand, and bowed over it. “It is an honor to meet you,” he said.

Grace looked at Eve with a startled expression. All Eve could do was shrug. Then Bridget curtsied to Grace.

“Really, you don’t have to do that,” Grace blurted. “I mean, it’s not even confirmed yet.”

Eve figured Mikel and Bridget didn’t want to risk offending even a potential princess. “Why don’t we go to the dining room?” she said. “We can sign the forms there.”

After they sat, Mikel opened his briefcase and pulled out a folder, passing papers to Grace and Eve. “These are the consent forms. I think you’ll find them straightforward. If you would please sign both copies, Grace.”

Eve read through the legalese. As Mikel said, there was nothing worrisome about the form. She turned to Grace. “Are you comfortable signing this?”

“It seems fine.” Her daughter’s voice was tentative.

“I don’t see any problems,” Eve said, injecting reassurance into her voice.

Grace accepted the pen Mikel held out to her, signing her name so it was clear and legible on both pages.

Mikel tucked the forms back into the folder before he pulled out a white plastic box. “With your permission, Bridget will administer the test. She is trained as an EMT.”

“What do I have to do?” Grace asked as Bridget opened the box and took out a couple of long swabs in sterile packages, along with two plastic vials.

“You just let me swab the inside of each cheek for forty seconds,” Bridget said. “May I wash my hands?”

“Of course,” Eve said. “Go right in the kitchen.”

“His Majesty asked me to convey his gratitude for allowing us to administer the test so quickly,” Mikel said to Grace. “He looks forward to meeting you once the results are confirmed.”

Grace nodded but said nothing. Eve suspected her daughter’s throat was tight with nerves.

When Bridget returned, she unscrewed the top of one of the vials and tore open a swab’s envelope. “Would you mind standing up? It will be more comfortable for you.”

Grace stood and opened her mouth so Bridget could twirl the swab against the inside of her right cheek. Mikel started a timer on his phone. The room grew very silent as they watched Bridget roll the swab to gather Grace’s saliva. The timer chimed, and Bridget withdrew the swab, inserting the absorbent end into the vial.

Bridget repeated the procedure on Grace’s left cheek and packed the vials into another plastic box, this one smaller and flatter, before she handed it to Mikel. He laid three labels in front of Grace. “Would you sign these as well? I will use them to seal the box. It will not be opened again until it is in the testing lab, but the labels will prove your DNA has not been tampered with.”

“How long will it take to get the results?” Grace asked as she wrote her name on the labels.

“We will have the answer by tomorrow morning.” Mikel stuck one label over each seam of the box.

For a moment, Eve’s gaze rested on the box. It seemed so small and unassuming to bear the weight of her daughter’s future.

“I will transport this to the lab personally.” Mikel placed the box in the briefcase. He closed the lid and then pressed his thumb against the locking mechanism. “The lab is a private one, and Grace’s identity will not be anywhere in their records. Once the test is completed, her samples will be destroyed under my supervision.”

Not just for Grace’s benefit, but for the king’s. He wouldn’t want any extraneous royal DNA floating around.

Mikel picked up the briefcase. “We will not impose upon you any longer.”

“Please call me as soon as you have the results,” Eve said. “No matter what time it is.”

“I will be in touch immediately after I inform the king,” Mikel said, but a gleam of understanding showed in his eyes. “He also wishes to hear the moment the analysis is complete.”

Eve nodded as they all stood and went to the front door.

Once again, Mikel bowed. Grace eyed him for a moment. “Are you going to bow every time you see me?”

His lips quirked into a half smile. “On official occasions, yes. It is your due as the daughter of my king. If you prefer to dispense with the gesture in less formal settings, I will follow your wishes.”

“Good.” Grace nodded. “Let’s do that.”

As soon as the door closed behind them, Grace burst into tears.

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay.” Eve wrapped her arms around her sobbing daughter.

Grace burrowed into her. “It’s…it’s insane! People are bowing to me! My father might be a king, and I might be some kind of princess! I don’t know what to do with all that.”

Eve let her daughter wail a little longer before she drew her to the sofa. Grabbing a box of tissues with one hand, she set it beside Grace. “Let’s wait for the DNA test results before we plunge into the princess issue.”

“Wait, Luis wasn’t married to my mother, so I’m illegitimate. Even with a DNA match, I might not be a princess,” Grace said, mopping the tears off her face. “Except that Bridget curtsied, and Mikel bowed. By the way, is it just me, or is Mikel a little scary?”

Eve heaved an inner sigh of relief. If Grace was trying to analyze the ramifications of her birth, she had gotten past the emotional overload…for now.

“Mr. Silva is the king’s head of security,” Eve said, “so it’s probably an occupational requirement that he strike fear into the hearts of evildoers. As for you being illegitimate, it seems that there have been other royals born without benefit of married parents who were still considered full members of the royal family.”

“Huh.” Grace twisted around to face Eve. “I’m never going to be able to sleep tonight. There’s too much spinning around in my brain.”

“You and me both, kiddo,” Eve said, brushing a tear-dampened strand of hair away from her daughter’s face. “But we need to try. Tomorrow could be a doozy of a day.”

“Can I sleep in your bed?” Grace asked. “When they call with the DNA results, we can hear them together.”

“Of course you can, sweetheart.” It was like the old days, when Grace had been sick or sad. They would share Eve’s bed, wrapped in the double wedding ring quilt her grandmother had handstitched.

If her daughter was living in a castle, that probably wouldn’t happen ever again. A terrible sorrow jabbed at Eve.