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“She does. It’s not an issue. She’s planning on heading home after the wedding.”
“I understand you are taking her along with Gabriel and Olivia on a trip to the vineyards?”
“Gabriel mentioned something about it, but I haven’t spoken with Brooke.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea that you get any more involved with this girl than you already are.”
“We’re not involved,” Nic assured her.
“Is she in love with you?” Nic waited too long to answer and his mother made a disgusted sound. “Do you love her?”
“It doesn’t matter how we feel about each other,” Nic said, his voice tense and impatient. “I know my duty to Sherdana and nothing will get in the way of that.” From his conversation with Gabriel, Nic knew she hadn’t gone this hard at Christian. Why was Nic alone feeling the pressure to marry? Christian was just as much a prince of Sherdana. His son could just as easily rule. “I assume you have several matrimonial candidates for me to consider.”
“I’ve sent their dossiers to your room in the visitors’ wing. Did Gabriel mention the problem in your suite earlier today? Apparently your bathtub overflowed and flooded the room.”
“Gabriel thought it might have been the twins although no one caught them at it.”
His mother shook her head. “I don’t know why we’re paying a nanny if the girl can’t keep track of them.”
“From what I understand they are a handful.”
“There are only two of them. I had three of you to contend with.” His mother took Nic’s hand in hers and squeezed hard. “It’s good to have you home.” She blinked rapidly a few times and released her grip on him. “Now, run along and look over the files I sent to your room. I expect you to share your thoughts with me after dinner tonight.”
“Of course.” He bent and kissed her cheek again. “First I’m off to see Father. I understand he has a ten-minute gap in his schedule shortly before five.”
After reconnecting briefly with his father, Nic headed to the room he’d been given until his suite could be dried out. The oddity of the incident left him shaking his head. How could a pair of two-year-old girls be as much trouble as everyone said?
As his mother had promised, a pile of dossiers had been left on the desk. Shrugging out of his blazer, Nic picked up the stack and counted. There were eight. He had twenty minutes before the tailor arrived to measure him for a whole new wardrobe. The clothes he’d traveled in today had belonged to Christian, as had most of what he’d worn the past ten days. Of the three brothers, Christian spent the most time at the Greek villa.
Nic settled into a chair in front of the unlit fireplace and selected a file at random. The photo clipped to the inside showed a stunning brunette with vivacious blue eyes and full lips. She was the twenty-five-year-old daughter of an Italian count, had gotten her MBA at Harvard and now worked for a global conglomerate headquartered in Paris. She spoke four languages and was admired for being fashionable as well as active on the charity circuit. In short, she was perfect.
He dropped the file onto the floor at his feet and opened the next one. This one was a blonde. Again beautiful. British born. The sister of a viscount. A human rights lawyer.
The next. Brunette. Pretty with big brown eyes and an alluring smile. A local girl. Her family owned the largest winery in Sherdana. She played cello for the Vienna Philharmonic.
Then another blonde. Bewitching green eyes. Daughter of a Danish baron. A model and television personality.
On and on. Each woman strikingly beautiful, accomplished and with a flawless pedigree.
Nic felt like a prize bull.
Replaying the conversation with his mother, he recognized he shouldn’t have ignored Brooke’s concerns that their relationship would come under scrutiny. He’d deliberately underestimated his mother’s perceptiveness. But he didn’t regret bringing Brooke to meet his family.
What he wasn’t so happy about, however, was how little time they would have together in the days between now and her eventual departure. Being forced by propriety to keep his distance would be much more difficult now that he’d opened the door to what could have been if only he wasn’t bound to his country.
At the same moment he threw the last folder onto the floor, a knock sounded on his door. Calling permission to enter, Nic got to his feet and scooped up the dossiers, depositing them back on the desk before turning to face the tailor and his small army of assistants who were to dress Nic.
While the suits he tried on were marked and pinned, Nic fell to thinking about Brooke. He hadn’t seen her since leaving the plane and wondered how she’d coped in the hours they’d been apart. Despite the nervousness she’d shown during the flight, he suspected she’d figured out a way to charm everyone she’d encountered. He knew she was supposed to meet with Gabriel’s wife right away and wondered how that had gone.
