He followed her past the curtain. "I'm in shock that out of billions of women on the planet, it's you I'm going to ask,too."
At least on that score they were on the same page. She slid into her seat and the waitress brought her different stemware and dining options to choose. She pointed toward the classic white with gray trim plate and crystal glasses while they set the table. Once they were alone she asked, "What is it that you might want with me,Lucio?"
He turned his chair and pinned her with his gaze. "I'm here to ask you to marryme."
Fireworks exploded inside her mind and body. Seriously? She knew about the archaic law—had written an article about it. He’d asked her? She couldn'tmove.
A sommelier arrived with a bottle of wine. Lucio motioned for her to pour while Amy just stared at the fiber optic curtain, stunned, and couldn't look away. She couldn't hear anything, including the noise of the restaurant. On some level she heard the woman say "Enjoy" but she couldn'trespond.
Lucio put his hand on her knee and the world roared back into sound. She heard the patrons talking at their tables inside the restaurant beyond the fiber optics and she put her hand on his. "Am I on one of those joke shows where someone is going to come in here and call me asucker?"
"No."
She pushed his hand away and shook her head. "You can't expect me to say yes. All I know about you is that you love my sister and you live in Avce and that you have to get married... before your 30th birthday... which is coming up...thisyear."
Her recent report for a client on his family had shed light on his motives, but why her? Why not her sister? The question kept her from running out of therestaurant.
"How do you knowthat?"
"I'm a political analyst for a living, but like the rest of the world, I recently read about your situation in an article on my way to work." She kept the article she’d written on his country's strengths and weaknesses to herself. "So, why aren't you trying to steal my sister from marrying her Duke? Evie might say yes if you askher."
His eyes twitched but he held absolutely still. She waited for more of a reaction, but then he leaned closer, as if sharing a confidence. "I went to see your sister last night, before coming to you." He sat back in his seat. "I wanted to apologize for breaking up with her how I did, and now it is done. I can assure you that your sister is not the love of mylife."
He’d looked out the window so sadly she’d assumed…Her mind focused. "And that doesn't explain why me. Why would you want to marryme?"
"And for why, the answer is because out of all the women in the world, your name was the one the computer programmers returned with as a perfect wife for me." He stared at her with such intensity she believed him. "Since I'm on a countdown so to speak, I'd rather marry someone I might have a shot at happiness with than someone with whom I have no future. It was in your report that you’re not dating anyone at themoment."
Seriously? He had a file on her dating life? Her sister still considered him the one she loved and lost. Evie was his first choice. She dropped the napkin on the table and began her defense. "I don't need to marry anyone, ever. I make enough money to adopt, go get my eggs fertilized or whatever I want in thefuture."
"That's your plan?" His eyebrowrose.
Drat. Truth was she’d shied away from dating too much as her sister always interfered. Her muscles stiffened. "Or, I might be waiting for true love. Either way, I'm fine as I am. I don’t need you to swoop in and save me from my ownchoices."
"It's good to hear that. I won’t take away your independence,Amy."
"By marrying you, I throw my potential future happiness away, all for a crown that probably shouldn't evenexist."
"A crown that shouldn't... I'll get back to you later on that one." He stood as she stood, ready to end dinner and the night and stop playing games. "Please sit, let me explain why it has to be you and what I can offer you that you don't have rightnow."
Lucio reminded her of the ancient Italian warrior in his genealogy, his intensity just as sharp as what she remembered in highschool.
With a heavy heart she sat, picked up her wine glass, sipped and motioned for him to do the same. "I'm all ears on why you'd have your IT department pick you awife."
He leaned forward and placed his hands together. "Let's start with why you and why this isserious."
"Okay." She avoided eye contact while she prayed he didn’t mention her parents or the cement contract they wanted inAvce.
He stared at her until she finally met his gaze. He nodded. "Your parents want to build a chemical plant on our land for their cement and they feel I slighted them years ago when I broke up with your sister, in highschool."
Her heart sped. She knew her parents would one day try to set her up and she had no doubt they’d expect her to say yes to Lucio. Marriage had often been the topic at family dinners, and for years she fought with them about who she’d marry, or if she’d marry, and she thought they were finally at an impasse. She’d beenwrong.
But her parents’ scheming had nothing to do with his IT department. She held the stem of her glass harder than normal. There had to be a way out ofthis.
"My parents favored Evie, who is marrying a man they very much approve of." Amy gulped her wine and once she was done, put the glass on the table, half afraid she'd break it. "Since you broke her heart in high school she's been working to keep their good opinion. But I'm not her and I don't need my parents to tell me what todo."
"Good. I don't need my parents either, but I do love them. It's why I will marry, but let's get back to broken hearts. We were fifteen. You were fourteen. Those moments don't defineus."
"For some they do." Evie had cried foul for years that she’d been punished for being inlove.
