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Nico smiled. “Angelo couldn’t get over the way you, a princess, gathered that piglet in your arms like it was a baby.”
“It was a baby.” They both chuckled.
The extraordinary woman seated next to him blended in wherever he took her. Today had been a day out of time. Fausta was such great company, he could wish it would go on forever and he had to face the truth. He’d never been in love. But after meeting and being with Fausta for the last two weeks, he knew he’d fallen in love with her. It had happened so fast, he couldn’t believe it.
Yet in acknowledging it to himself, it only made him more conflicted. They were relishing each other’s company now, but even if she accepted him for who he was, her royal heritage hung between them like a barrier that could prevent them from moving forward.
Before she got out of the car, he needed to tell her what was on his mind. She needed to understand that the visit with Enzo had underlined a problem he could no longer ignore. He pulled in the parking area and shut off the engine. Two other cars were outside, but no one was around except the palace guard.
Her eyes darted to him. “You’ve been quiet for the last little while. I can tell something’s on your mind. I would invite you in so we could talk. But since I know you’ll turn me down like you did before, I won’t.”
He eyed her in frustration. “Fausta—”
“I saw the look on your face when you realized my father’s cousin had a connection with Enzo. I know what you’re going to say,” she interrupted him. “Before long my father will learn through Lorenzo that you and I spent a whole day in the country together and visited Enzo.”
His lips thinned. “That’s right. Say what you want, but I’m not a person on the king’s short list of possible suitors for his daughter.”
“No, you’re not. But that’s all nonsense to me. I’ve told you how I feel about living a normal life.”
“Even so, you’ll understand why I’m reluctant to go on spending more time with you when we know your parents couldn’t be happy about it.”
She bowed her head. “I understand more than you think. Thank you for a beautiful day I’ll always remember. When we see each other at the hospital, we’ll agree to nod and walk on.” In the next breath she got out of the car faster than he could believe. “Addio, Nico.”
As she walked toward the palace doors, he jumped out of the car and hurried toward her. “Wait, Fausta!”
She wheeled around, her features taut. “Why are you prolonging this when you’re afraid to be with me?”
“Afraid?” The breath caught in his lungs.
“Well, aren’t you?” she asked.
He let out a sound of exasperation. “It’s not fear! To continue pursuing you would be pointless for several reasons! But I didn’t mean for what I said to come out the way it did. Per l’amore di Dio, will you come back to the car and let me explain?”
At first he didn’t think he was getting through to her. He stood there in agony until he saw her expression change. “I will for a few minutes.”
“Grazie,” he whispered.
After opening the car door for her, he got back in his side and turned to her.
Fausta cocked her head. “What is it you want to say that I don’t already know?”
“On the day I first met Enzo, Angelo came out to the pen where I was feeding the pigs. He said the owner of the property had come to interview everyone who worked on his land.
“I didn’t know Angelo wasn’t the owner. He said Duca Frascatti was a great man whose family descended from a former Italian king and had riches I wouldn’t be able to imagine. He’d hired Angelo from the village to come and run his pig farm for him. It was a great honor. As such, Angelo told me I had to honor the duca like he was a holy person.”
“Did that frighten you?”
Nico frowned. “No, but it made me nervous. I didn’t want to say anything wrong for fear I’d—”
“Commit a sin?” She smiled. “I saw the cross on the wall in Angelo’s office. I imagine the nuns put the fear in you. You poor thing.”
Fausta understood a lot. “When the duca came, he talked to everyone, but when he interviewed me, he started to weep. I thought I’d done something wrong until he told me I looked like his grandson who’d drowned.”
“That’s what Pippa said.”
“What he said made me very sad. From then on, he asked if he could keep coming to see me and be friends with me. No one had ever taken a personal interest in me that way in my life. With Angelo it was different because I worked for him in a business-type arrangement. He wasn’t looking for another son.”
“But he wanted to adopt you.”
