Chapter 4
Anna Camila’s pulse raced as she stared off the private yacht to the docks leading to South Castle. After her parents had died, she’d forced herself on the sea to get over the heart-pounding fear of it their death had caused, years ago. Leo’s yacht was in top shape. She’d read the reports herself. So, she’d changed below deck from her dress to a white blouse and white tailored pants, with designer leather flats, also in white. The moon, high in the sky, shone on the dark water and she shivered with a breeze.
Leo had spent the short trip talking to the ship’s captain, avoiding her. She’d wondered what she’d done—until she’d spotted the castle and she’d been transfixed. The blue tips of the turrets and the white walls could be out of a movie. No photos had done South Castle justice. The cameras were probably too flat to truly show how the waters around the island all shone and created a halo effect from the ground up.
It was like she was heading to heaven.
She was now a princess. Here, she would become Leo’s as they joined in matrimony.
Here, she’d be his lover and not the confident woman who could handle castle business with a clear head. Love had been something she’d avoided out of fear she’d lose who she was inside.
She winced, her body tight, and she was glad she hadn’t touched a bite of food as the castle grew bigger and bigger, until they docked.
Her wedding day was over, and she was alone.
Unsure what to do about it, she pressed her heels onto the ship’s smooth deck. Planks weren’t the right word for this fancy wood.
Honestly, she wasn’t someone who relaxed on yachts, or partied with other rich socialites. That was Francesca.
The name sent another chill down her.
Maybe marrying Leo had been a mistake.
Just as she let that fear in, he found her on deck and joined her in watching the white walls of the seaside castle.
Blue turrets and steeples on the white building made the entire palace seem dreamlike, especially in the moonlight. A fairy tale.
Her life never used to be a fairy tale. Leo’s proposal had changed that.
A thrill raced through her when Leo’s hand pressed against her lower back. He touched her elbow to get her to join him so she followed without a word down the narrow gangway and stepped onto the dock. He led her through the small lines of the port where customs was set up for visitors, but he knew his way. Soon they were on stone path that led toward the castle. She stared up the entire time as this was a place writers claimed mermaids came to seduce the resident prince.
Luckily that was just her imagination, and she’d married the only prince. She sighed. “This is beautiful.”
He guided her higher up, past sea cottages toward the castle doors. He glanced around furtively but no one spoke to them or even came close that she could tell.
Leo acted like people watched them behind shuttered windows and closed doorways when he said, “I haven’t been here in years.”
Her lips pursed. If the entire time they were here, he seemed suspicious then they had a problem. Was he not safe? “Why did you pick it for our honeymoon?”
At the huge double doors of the castle, large enough to allow an army through if both were open, he said while he led her inside, “We’re alone here, away from society or the press. We need time to figure each other out.”
“True.” She agreed completely but halted when she saw a line of staff waiting for them. Leo tugged her closer to him and pressed his lips against hers.
Steam rose through her from the fast kiss, but he let her go and addressed the staff.
Her mind raced and she couldn’t concentrate on his introductions as his kiss lingered. Memories of yesterday’s kisses made her weak in the knees and she felt powerless in their relationship. She somehow managed the introductions, not that she would remember anyone.
Once they were done, she fixed her hair with her fingers and asked, “Can we talk where servants can’t hear us, Leopoldo?”
He offered her his hand. “Leo.”
“Leo,” she corrected and took his ungloved fingers that guided her toward the stairs like she was a fancy lady of old.
Granted, she was now a lady by marriage, so she ensured she walked in step beside him rather than behind as she might have done as his secretary. Up two flights, he led her toward a room and opened the doors. The balcony outside of this room overlooked the ocean with no land in sight, anywhere. She itched to go out—what a view! The door handle clicked closed and she turned toward Leo.
This time her heart beat but it was entirely different than earlier.
She backed up as he walked toward her.
