Along Came A Prince (35 page)

Lastly, but above
hers, she thought about Clay’s needs. Not because they were the least important
to her, but because it seemed like she had no other choice. Even with his heavy
work schedule, they spent as much time as possible alone together in the
daytime, as well as long hours talking into the night while the others were
asleep. Clay confided in her about how he was feeling, and she hoped she
administered the therapy he needed to help with healing his own grief.

Somehow, she also
managed to sandwich in time to begin memorizing the script Hal had sent with
Ryan for her new movie
.
The first thing she discovered when she started
to learn her lines was that this time it wasn’t as easy. Nothing was familiar –
unlike
London Affair
. This gave more substance to Josie’s theory that
she was Audra...and more credibility to her belief that she couldn’t marry.

Day after day, her
love for Clay grew stronger and stronger. How could she not marry him if he
asked her? But the simple answer to that was if she did, one of them might die.
Clay had dreamed someone would die, and his father had. Why was it so impossible
for her not to recognize the same thing from her feelings? How could she be
wrong?

But she couldn’t
give him up either. So she plodded through her thoughts whenever they dumped
their fatalistic view on her. And when she was with Clay, she reveled in the
joy of loving him with her whole heart and soul, as if their life together
would not end.

♥♥

“Why don’t you
come with us?” Helen asked Clay’s mother after dinner one evening. “I’ve
discussed this with Sam, and he suggested that instead of flying around the
world, we cruise around it with you. It would give you time to relax and heal. You
need that. We’d start with a Caribbean cruise and go from there.”

“I wouldn’t want
to interfere in your honeymoon plans,” the queen said.

“You wouldn’t. I
promise you that,” Helen stated firmly. “How about if we toss in a trip to
Hollywood for you? You know after all my years there, I could show you around
pretty good, and I could also introduce you to most of your favorite stars. Does
that tempt you?”

The queen smiled. “I’ve
never been to California,” she admitted.

“We’d like you to
come with us,” Sam said.

“Please say yes
,
”
Helen pleaded.

The queen looked
at Clay. “What do you think, son?”

“Say yes quick
before they change their minds,” Clay said and grinned. “You know you’d love
the Hollywood part.”

“How soon would we
leave?” the queen asked.

“The day after
tomorrow, if that’s all right with you,” Sam suggested.

“I should be able
to be ready by then.”

“Then,
everything’s settled,” Sam confirmed. “I’ll make the necessary arrangements
tomorrow.”

“We need to leave
too,” Ryan said. “We both have to get back to work.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t
go,” the queen inserted.

“Mother, I believe
you should. You said yes, now don’t change your mind because Ryan and Josie are
leaving. Stacia and I can handle things here.”

Stacia noticed the
tears in the queen’s eyes. “We’ll be fine. Really we will,” she said as she
attempted to calm the woman’s fears.

“You’re not going
to try to avenge your father’s death while I’m gone, are you? I couldn’t cope
with losing you also.” Tears began to slip down the queen’s face as she spoke.

Clay took her
hands in his. “Mother, did you forget our talk? I told you I had no desire to
be king. I meant that then, and I always will. Father told me once that I
didn’t have the kind of passion burning inside me to be king, and I don’t. Why
would I run to his kingdom to shoot some rebels when I had no goal in mind? And
would I do this alone, or do you want me to get involved with the mob as he
did? I wouldn’t even know where to start,” he said as he put his arm around her
shoulder. “I can’t change what father chose to do with his life, and I won’t
let his choices interfere with mine. Not now. Not ever.”

The queen wiped
her eyes with her hanky and tried to smile. “I believe you, Clayton.” She
turned to Stacia. “Don’t you let him change his mind while I’m gone,” she
commanded.

“I’ll do my best,”
Stacia replied.

♥♥

“Stacia,” Ryan
said later that evening when he managed to get her alone. “There’s something I
want to tell you. I don’t like deliberately withholding information from you.”

“And what’s that?”
she asked.

“I didn’t want to
tell you before. I wanted to wait until you recovered from the stalking, and I
think you have now.”

“Ryan, what is
it?”

“Remember when you
were being stalked, and I called Clay? You asked me the reason I called him,
and I wouldn’t tell you. And neither would he.”

“I remember it
very well,” Stacia said, her temper elevating slightly from the memory. “I also
remember you wouldn’t tell me when I talked to you on the phone.”

“Since Sonny
Marcellini is dead, and as I said, you seem recovered, I can see no reason not
to tell you the facts. First though, I’ve talked to Chief Brannigan, and he’s
relieved Marcellini was killed. According to him, it saves the state a lot of
money and him a lot of headaches. And puts an end, however temporary, to many
crimes. Regrouping the mob under these conditions won’t be easy. Their new boss
may have a hard time.”

“Will you please
get to the second thing?” Stacia demanded.

“All right. I
called Clay to ask him to have his father contact his friend in the mafia and
deliver Jordan to me. But I swear, Stace...” Ryan put his hand up to emphasize
his vow. “I didn’t intend for them to dump his dead body on the police station
steps.”

“What...” Stacia
opened her mouth to talk, but no sounds came out.

“This is the first
time I’ve ever deceived you, but I was desperate. I was terrified the stalker
might kill you, and I wouldn’t be able to stop him. I didn’t know where else to
turn.”

Stacia’s voice
came back. “So you made Clay your accomplice?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I
suppose I did in a way, but you have to remember Jordan’s death had nothing to
do with you...or me. The guy was a hit man who had murdered some of Marcellini’s
men. The mob had already closed in on him because of your escape publicity, and
he got careless. According to Brannigan, the only thing extra they did before killing
him was extract a confession out of him about your stalking.”

She sat down hard
on the sofa. “I was responsible for someone’s death.”

“You weren’t
listening, Stace. You didn’t cause his death. He did, by killing members of the
mob.”

“How could you do
this to Clay? What were you thinking?”

“Only one
thing...you...and keeping you safe. Nothing else mattered. Hell, I didn’t even
know if his father was associated with the mob for sure.”

“But you got Clay
to admit he was connected.”

“I guess I did.”

“Ryan, I didn’t
know you operated that way.”

“Neither did I. But
I’ll tell you something. I’d do the same thing again, if your life was at
stake, or Josie’s, or Mom or Dad’s. Love is funny, Stace. When you love
someone, all that matters is keeping them with you. How you choose to do it,
whether it’s right or wrong, doesn’t seem important at the time. Keeping them
safe does.”

“Do you think Clay
respects you for what you did?”

“I think Clay
would have done the same thing, if he’d thought of it first. He loves you,
Stace. The forever kind of love like I have for Josie. Don’t lose him. You
might not find someone else to love you like he does.”

“I love him too,”
she admitted.

“Then, what’s the
problem? Why don’t you two get married?”

“It gets
complicated.”

“So
un-complicate
it for me.”

“I can’t.” She
realized she was as guilty as he was for concealing information from her. She
couldn’t explain why she couldn’t marry Clay to her brother, yet she expected
Ryan to explain what he’d done. And in the end, he had. She got up off the
sofa, went over to her brother, and kissed him. “Thanks big brother, for loving
me and protecting me ever since I was little. You’ll always be my hero, no
matter what you do.”

“Thanks for
forgiving me,” Ryan said.

♥♥

“Before you leave
on your cruise, Mother, I want you to understand I plan on asking Stacia to marry
me,” Clay said.
“
We have some things to work out between us first.”

“Is one of those
things a prenuptial agreement?” the queen asked.

“You had me fooled,
Mother. I thought after you got to know Stacia, you’d grow to love her and
welcome her into our family. She’s done so much for both of us since my father
died. Are you still opposed to our marriage because she doesn’t have royal blueblood
lines?” He hoped there wasn’t too much bitterness and disgust in his words,
because he didn’t mean to hurt his mother. He was tired of the same old
argument, and now it seemed, she’d found something else to question and hold
against Stacia.

“Clayton
Alexander,” his mother said in that commanding tone he knew so well. “You’ve
lived with me all these years, and you still don’t believe I know what’s best
for you.”

Damn, here it
comes.
“And what is that, Mother? A prenup?”

“Well, there is a
lot of money involved…”

Clay was ready to
explode. “Did father ask you to sign one? Or did he love you enough to know you
weren’t marrying him for his money? Because that’s how much I love Stacia. And
with that love comes my trust.”

“I think things
are getting way out of hand here, Clayton. Since your father died, I’ve
realized how unimportant royalty blood lines are. The only thing that sustained
our marriage was our love for each other. That’s what I want to remember about
him. Don’t you know all I want for you is to find someone you love, and she
loves you back, no matter what happens in your lifetimes? That’s what’s
best
for you. I didn’t mean for the prenuptial agreement to become an issue. You
are a grown man, and any mother would be proud of you as a son, the way I am. You
have also been raised to be king, and you are in your own way. Therefore, you
are extremely capable of deciding whether you need a prenup, as you call it, or
not. And furthermore–”

No more words were
needed for Clay. He gathered up his mother in his arms and hugged her tightly. “Thanks
for your blessing,” he said. “I love you.”

“And Clayton,
there’s one more thing,” his mother said. “I love Stacia too.”

♥♥

The day of
departures arrived. Stacia and Clay had said good-bye to Josie and Ryan. Now it
was time to do the same with Helen, Sam and Clay’s mother. They were standing
at the entry to the palace waiting for the queen to come downstairs.

“Sam,” Stacia
said, “I’ve been meaning to tell you thanks for sending me those tickets to the
Caviar-On-Ice Extravaganza. Without them, I’d never have met Clay.” She smiled
appreciatively. “And also, for choosing me to play Audra’s part in
London
Affair
.” She wondered what he’d say if she also told him he might be her
brother
from a previous lifetime.

“There’s something
about you, Stacia. You remind me of Audra a great deal. The first time I saw
you on the screen, I got a déjà vu feeling. I can’t describe it exactly, but I
felt as if I was watching my sister act. Later, when I heard Sterling and Keyes
were going to remake
London Affair
, I knew I had to finance it, and you
had to play Audra’s role. With you in the lead, it would become a fitting
memorial for Audra, the one final thing I could do for her and for the closure
I needed.”

There, he’d opened
the door, just tell him...No, I can’t...
Instead, she played it safe by
continuing on with the already established conversation. “But why the secrecy
about not revealing who you were until after
London Affair
was
finished?” she asked.

“Can you imagine
what people would say if they found out some
rich old geezer
backed a
movie for some
young chick
to star in? Don’t laugh...that’s what they’d
call us. After all, you are the only actress in the movie. Gossip like that
would destroy my intention and the beautiful memory I have of my sister. Later,
when Clay became involved with you, he talked me into telling you who I was,
but I agreed to reveal my identity only
after
the movie was completed.”

“Did Clay tell you
I have Mark’s journal?”

”Briefly.”

“If you ever want
to read it, let me know. It’ll always be available for you.”

“I don’t know,
Stacia. I’ll have to think on that option. When I asked Helen, she filled me in
about Audra’s death, all the parts I didn’t know. I’m still wrestling with
that.” He rubbed his eyes with his balled-up fists.

Stacia understood
how he still had grief and anger clutched in his hands. She didn’t think now or
probably ever would be the right time to tell him that he’d also lost a niece
or nephew. Even Helen didn’t know about that. Stacia reached up and hugged him.
I love you
,
brother,
she whispered silently in her mind.

“I’m ready to go,”
the queen announced as she descended the last step into the entryway.

After their goodbyes,
the trio left in the limo for Sam’s jet and a luxurious cruise wherever the
healing waters flowed.

“Did you hear Sam
say he had a déjà vu feeling about me when he first saw me?” Stacia asked Clay
when they were alone. “I so wanted to tell him I might be Audra.”

“I’m glad you
didn’t at this time,” Clay said. “Maybe someday he’ll be ready to believe
you’re his sister reincarnated. The world is certainly spinning in that
direction. From what’s presented on television, in movies, and in books, it
seems more believers are born every second.” He took Stacia in his arms. “And
this is one change I’m definitely in favor of...us being together and all
alone.”