Romancing the Jewel by Katherine Bone

Author:Katherine Bone [Bone, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: esKape Press
Published: 2014-09-21T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

Gian-Paolo crumpled the Gazetta del Sud in his fisted hand. He sat back and inhaled a deep breath. His questionable relationship with Carolina had been spread across the front page in bold font. Speculation and hearsay had been printed about the timing of his betrothal. He wasn’t surprised. He’d anticipated trouble from the moment he’d initiated his plan and expected backlash from members of his inner circle who’d pushed for an heir. But mio Dio, he hadn’t anticipated this kind of media fallout.

Though her beauty had never been in question, the general consensus suggested Carolina was unworthy of ascending the Montovanni throne. Within twenty-four hours, her parentage, upbringing in a small Georgia town, education, and credentials had been uncovered, dissected, and ridiculed. The media established she was a gold-digger, not unlike the ones on reality shows on American television. And so it had been printed in the rags that, compared to the two exceptional, prominent young women from Greece and Sweden he’d considered to take his mother’s place as Princess of Monte Blanco, Carolina didn’t satisfy.

Gian-Paolo chuckled. Little did his cynics realize they were right about Carolina on every front but one. Yes, she’d been raised by bickering parents, sent to public schools, and forced to work her way through University. She had no social training or finesse, and she was the product of a loveless marriage. But what the media didn’t know was one important fact that he could not forget: Carolina was an extortionist.

Gian-Paolo meant to keep that knowledge to himself, for the time being. And there was only one way to do that. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. He planned to keep Carolina as close as possible.

In his eyes, this was a business matter of epic proportions. Business relationships were fickle entities. As prince, he had a duty to fulfill. As a man, he owed no one an explanation for whom he chose to marry — not his cabinet, his friends, or the paparazzi. It was inevitable that once the necklace was recovered and he broke off his betrothal to Carolina that the public would either question his behavior or applaud it.

Had Prince Montovanni taken leave of his senses or had he just been sowing his wild oats?

None of that mattered. No one could know about the scandal surrounding his mother. For this reason alone, he’d only entrusted Pace with his suspicions about Carolina’s involvement with the theft of his mother’s necklace. Pace was the only servant left who’d been present during his mother’s altercation with her ex-lover and his father’s subsequent collapse. No matter how many times he questioned Pace about that day, he gained no more information.

Basta! Nothing could be gained by questioning the man’s loyalties.

Gian-Paolo redirected his focus onto a couple of e-mails detailing shock at his engagement announcement. Frustrated and unwilling to deal with the repercussions, he reached across the table and grabbed his martini. He stared at the clear liquid, imagining himself the olive bobbing for air. He was in over his head.

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