Lucio straightened. Sophia Venko’s royal family had money but no power. "You think this has to do withSophia?"
Antonio said, "It's a theory. She went through a lot to depose us. Maybe her family is behind it, with thecash."
Theories may or may not be true in the end. Right now, they needed facts, not opinions. Lucio redirected his brother to ensure they were all on the same page. "I want to investigate Suzie and her banking information. We'll need warrants and the use of treaties to gather all theinformation."
"I'm on it," Marco said. "Mother just camein."
Lucio imagined that they must be in the war room. His mother's voice was calm as she asked, "How'sAmy?"
"Awake. Smiling." In love with Lucio though he kept that to himself. "Her mother said the wedding will have to be a minimum of three months to let her heal enough towalk."
His mother made thehmmsound. Then she spoke like the Queen she was. "This means we'll have to invite worldwide royalty and despite what you hoped, this will be more formal. Your wedding will be complete with the weeklong celebration,Lucio."
The whirlwind of procedure he’d intended to avoid was now becoming a reality. None of that mattered, but he brushed off his mother's comments. "I need to discuss this with Amy, but I wanted to warnyou."
His mother paid him no mind. "I'll start drafting the formal invitations to show her when we bring her to thepalace."
"Mom, I have to go." If he stayed on the phone with them, it would be hours until the report on Suzie arrived. Right now, he needed to see Amyagain.
He hung up after goodbye and brushed any wrinkles his pant legs might show. He must always be royal and put together. Once he placed his phone in his back pocket, he reentered the hospital hall. No one looked at him while he made his way to Amy'sroom.
Amy's parents and Evie were all laughing with her. It was clear the family had patched up their differences. Amy turned toward him and met his gaze. She smiled at him. "How was yourmother?"
"She's happy you’re awake, but she's drawing up invitations for royal dignitaries for a formal royal wedding in a fewmonths."
A huge grin grew on Amy's mother’s face. "Wait. Does that mean we invite the Queen ofEngland?"
He nodded and crossed his arms. Did she have something against the queen? The last thing he needed was to argue with Amy’s mother. "Is that aproblem?"
"No." She smiled wider and he dropped his arms to his sides. "I'd be thrilled, though Lucio, what matters the most to me is that you and Amy arehappy."
Evie rose to her feet, and took Michael’s arm. "On that note, we'll leave you two alone and head back to thepalace."
"Thanks." Lucio walked all four of them toward thedoor.
Amy stayed silent as he said goodbye tothem.
The second the door closed, she held out her hand for his. "Lucio, what's going on? You look so serious. I'm okay with planning a formal wedding as long as I can walk down the aisle toyou."
"Amy, we need to talk." He repositioned the seat next to her, and then clasped her warmpalm.
She pushed a button so her bed went higher and he had a clearer vision of her pretty brown eyes. "I'mhere."
She’d been so brave sharing her feelings that he wanted to be frank with her. "When I couldn't find you and then when I did find you, I could hardly breathe. I need you to believe me that you're the only woman in the world I want tomarry."
She gave him a small nod and continued with her beaming, beautiful smile. "I understand and I'm happy. I loveyou."
"I love youtoo."
Amy blinked with disbelief. "Youcan't."
He stood and leaned over her until he found a way to sit next to her on the bed. She needed to believe him. He met her gaze. "It's the truth, Amy Fields. I don't lie. I never lied. When I first met you again I was happy to see that you were the one the computer said was mymatch."
Her eyes stayed wide and full of questions. "Computer? I just don’t understand it. There must be a person who believes in love if their program put ustogether."
"I don’t know who runs the IT department." Lucio swallowed and let his heart choose his words. "I had Antonio's IT department run a report to find me the woman I was to marry. It came back as you. Whenever I even thought about Evie, you were the next image I saw. In my head, I remembered a skinny girl with glasses, but when I found you again, I realized why it was your face and not your sister's that I remembered with vivid colors. I must have loved you as a boy but I didn't recognize thefeelings."
"This is impossible." She let his hand go, but her face returned to its normalcolor.
