CHAPTER 6
Luis sat alone on the second-story porch of the rented house, the late-night fall sky huge and star-spackled above the flat horizon. A coffee mug threw up a ribbon of steam from the table beside him while his cell phone lay stubbornly silent on his thigh.
He could not sleep, an unusual problem for him. Government matters never disturbed his rest. Only family could do that. The last time he had stayed awake all night had been when Gabriel had been kidnapped.
Luis scooped up his phone and launched himself out of the chair to pace across the porch, the light spilling through the door of his bedroom illuminating his path.
What the hell was taking so long?
Once he had collected Grace’s samples, Mikel had driven to Des Moines, then flown to Chicago on the royal jet. From there, he had traveled to the private DNA lab where a team of experts awaited the DNA samples from both Luis and Grace.
The phone rang, and he nearly dropped it in his haste to answer.
“Su Majestad,” Mikel said, his voice solemn, “I am honored to tell you that Grace Howard is your daughter. The DNA demonstrates a ninety-nine point nine percent match. It also matches the genetic record from her birth.”
An explosion of joy and pain sucked the breath out of Luis’s lungs. He had to grab the porch railing to brace himself against the geyser of emotions Mikel’s words released.
“Gracias, mi amigo,” he managed to gasp.
“The lab personnel and I will swear under oath that the test is accurate and valid.” Mikel’s voice softened. “I congratulate you on gaining a daughter. She will bring you great joy. And also great worry.”
Luis recognized that Mikel spoke from his own experience of being father to a young woman. “Your good wishes are accepted with gratitude, especially given all you’ve done to bring about this happy conclusion so swiftly.”
“Do you wish to share the news with Eve and Grace yourself?” Mikel asked.
Luis wanted to trumpet the news to his daughter, but… “No, it will be easier for them to hear it from you.” They would need time to absorb the impact, and he wanted his first interaction with Grace to be as relaxed and uncomplicated as possible.
The complications would pile on soon enough.
“I will call them as soon as we finish speaking,” Mikel said.
“Please tell them how elated I am to have Grace as my daughter,” Luis said, “and that I cannot wait to meet her.”
“Por supuesto, Se?or,” Mikel said.
The call ended, and Luis paced the porch boards once again, but for a different reason. Now he vibrated with the anticipation of meeting his daughter face-to-face.
His brain spun plans for when to call Raul, how to get Grace to Caleva, how to introduce her to their family, how to present her choices about her legal relationship with him, how to handle the media…and then he stopped the scheming.
Right now, this moment was for savoring the wonderful, astonishing fact that he had another child. A precious addition to the family he treasured. A daughter he could embrace in his heart.
He leaned on the railing, letting the delight of that soak into his bones. Pulling out his phone, he scrolled to the photo of Grace so he could trace the family lineage in the slant of her cheekbones, the angle of her jaw, and the ice blue of her eyes. He basked in the beauty and sweetness of her smile.
My daughter. Hija mía.
When he looked up from the phone, the edge of the sun glowed just above the horizon, painting faint pink brushstrokes across the lightening sky.
A new day. Luis stretched his arms out wide to welcome it with exultation.
Eve started when the phone lying on her chest vibrated. She glanced out the window to see a pale rosy glow signaling early dawn. Grabbing the phone, she pushed herself upright in the bed and shook Grace’s shoulder. Her daughter had fallen asleep a few hours before, but Eve had lain on her back, staring at the ceiling as she tried to decide whether she wanted the DNA test to be positive or negative.
“What?” Grace muttered sleepily.
“It’s Mikel,” Eve said as the phone vibrated again.
Grace bolted into a sitting position. “Oh my God!”
“Ready?” Eve asked, her finger poised over the screen.
Grace nodded, her hair catching a crimson gleam from the soft dawn light.
Eve took a deep breath as she swiped to answer. “Hello, Mikel. I’m going to put you on speaker so Grace can hear the news from you too.”
“Let me know as soon as you are ready.” Mikel’s voice was kind with understanding.
Eve hit the speaker symbol and looked at Grace again. Her daughter sat sideways on the bed so she was facing the phone in Eve’s hand as though it were Mikel himself. Her shoulders were squared, and her jaw was tight. Eve gave Grace’s knee a squeeze. “Go ahead, Mikel.”
“I am honored to inform you that Grace is el Rey Luis’s daughter. The DNA matched at ninety-nine point nine percent.” Mikel’s voice rang with conviction. “The king asked me to convey how elated he is about this news. He looks forward to meeting Grace as soon as possible.”
Grace’s eyes were wide, and she flattened her palms against her cheeks, mouthing, “Holy crap!” without making a sound.
“That’s…quite something,” Eve said. “I guess I’m not surprised after seeing the family resemblance.” However, the results were shocking. Until this confirmation, some part of her had believed the story was all a crazy lie the evil Odette had fabricated to upset Luis. “But it’s still hard to absorb.”
An understatement. Panic and happiness danced a tango in her chest. Happiness because Grace had a father at long last, a father who truly wanted his daughter. But this man would disrupt their lives down to the very foundations. He lived in—no, he ruled—a foreign country. Luis might sweep Grace off to Caleva, where Eve would become just a visitor. Eve could almost feel Grace slipping away from her, and the panic intensified.
“I understand.” Something in his tone told her he did, and that steadied her.
She had to focus on Grace in the here and now.
“We’d like to invite Luis to dinner…” She glanced at the clock. “Tonight, at seven.” She and Grace had discussed it earlier as they lay talking in the big bed together. Eve wanted to make the first meeting between father and daughter as smooth as possible. Having it on Grace’s home turf would give her daughter one less thing to be nervous about.
Grace had been dubious. “Do you think our house is grand enough for a king?”
“I think it’s grand enough for your father. That’s how you should think of him,” Eve had said.
Now Eve wondered if her daughter was right about the house…and the food she would have to prepare. She would be cooking for a king. Nerves butterflied in her stomach, but it was too late now.
“Perhaps you would like to issue the invitation yourself?” Mikel said. “I will text you his direct number. Please do not attach his name to it in your contacts.”
“No, of course not.” She was getting a direct line to a king. How bizarre was that? At least she could have some fun with deciding what his pseudonym should be.
She heard the ping as Luis’s number arrived as a text.
“By the way, he is awake, so feel free to call at any time,” Mikel said. “Buenos días.”
Eve set the phone on the bed and took several deep breaths to settle herself. “How do you feel, sweetheart?”
Grace sat cross-legged in her T-shirt and pajama shorts, her hair in tangled waves around her shoulders, a dazed expression on her face. “I—I don’t know. It’s too far out of my ballpark, this whole royalty thing.”
Eve took Grace’s hands in her own. “Let’s forget the princess part. Instead, think about meeting your birth father. How do you feel about that?”
“Excited, I think.” Grace’s eyes lost their stunned blankness as she nodded. “Especially because now I know he didn’t abandon me back then.”
“I think you’ll like him a lot.” Eve wanted this encounter to be nothing but positive for Grace. “He will certainly like you.”
“You think so?” Grace asked.
Eve cupped Grace’s smooth cheek. “You’re brilliant, hardworking, compassionate, funny, warm, and you look just like him. No father could resist that combination.”
“And you’re not biased at all.” But Grace smiled for a moment before she grew serious again. “Mom, I don’t need any parent except you. You’re the most wonderful mother—and father—anyone could want. That’s not why I want to meet…Luis. Or whatever I should call him.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I understand.” Eve leaned in to wrap Grace in a hug. “You want answers about where you came from. It’s natural.” Grace’s answers just happened to have major baggage attached.
Luis Dragón wanted his daughter. A man like that had a lot of ways to pressure anyone standing in his path. Eve would just have to find the strength to stand up to him, if necessary.
“I have a whole history I know nothing about.” Grace returned the hug, and they sat entwined with each other in silence for a long, sweet moment. Grace tightened her embrace. “I love you, Mom, so, so much.”
“Right back at you, sweetheart.” Tears welled in Eve’s eyes, and she buried her face in the silky, citrus-scented fall of Grace’s hair, soaking up this precious calm before the coming storm whirled them up in its maelstrom.
Eve waited for Grace to loosen her hold before sitting back and picking up the phone. “Do you want to make the call to invite your dad for dinner?”
Grace stared down at the phone before shaking her head. “No. I want our first contact to be in person.”
Eve tapped the secret phone number and raised the phone to her ear, trying to swallow down her nerves. Who the heck was she—a vet tech from Ames, Iowa—to host a king for dinner at her house?
“Eve, I’m so glad to hear from you.” Luis’s deep, rich baritone seemed to pour into her ear and radiate through her veins. “You have heard the happy news!” She also heard the elation in his voice.
She had to swallow again. “Yes. Mikel called us.”
“What does Grace think about her new father?” An undercurrent of worry came through the phone.
Eve looked at her daughter, who was listening avidly to Eve’s side of the conversation. “She very much wants to meet you. We would like you to come to our house for dinner tonight at seven.”
“I hoped…of course. I would be honored.” She could hear his impatience being curbed as he accepted the invitation.
“She’s on a rotation in her specialty, so she can’t take the day off. Her supervisor could penalize her for it.” Especially since he was the obnoxious Dr. Young.
“Of course. Please let me know what I can do to help you. May my chef provide some part of the meal?”
She had a vision of the king coming in her front door holding a casserole dish and almost laughed out loud. “I’m all set.” Although the offer was very tempting. She wouldn’t have to sweat over what dishes to fix for a king. “Do you have any food allergies I should know about?”
“I have eaten some bizarre meals in my travels, so I am sure that nothing you prepare will bother my stomach.” His amusement sent a wave of warmth tingling through her. “Not that I expect your cooking to be anything other than delicious.”
Ha! Another thought struck her. “How many people should I cook for? Will you have bodyguards? Is Mikel coming?”
“Only I will be dining with you. Although”—his tone turned apologetic—“Mikel will need to discuss some security measures with you ahead of time. What time would be convenient for him to come by to review those?”
Were there going to be armed guards surrounding her house? Would a security inspection be required every time Grace visited someone’s home? Eve’s hand tightened around the phone until it dug into her fingers.
Nope, she wouldn’t think about what had happened to the king’s nephew. Doing a quick mental review of what she needed to accomplish, she asked, “Would two o’clock work?”
“He will be there at two. And I will be counting the minutes until seven. Hasta luego!” Luis disconnected.
His voice was even sexier when he spoke Spanish. Oh dear God, she had to stop thinking such inappropriate thoughts.
As she lowered the phone, Grace said, “Bodyguards? Mikel? How many people are coming to this dinner?”
“Only Luis is eating with us, although Mikel is coming by at two for a security inspection.” Eve tried to ease Grace into the realization of what being a king’s daughter might mean. “Your father is a very powerful, important man. That can make him a target.”
Eve had said that so calmly. She was impressed with herself.
“Right.” Grace was silent a moment. “You told him about my rotation.” There was a question in her voice.
“Because I got the impression that he wanted to meet you sooner.” Eve wrapped her arms around her daughter. “One thing I am sure of—your biological father cares about you already.”
If only that was all that mattered.