A Royal Wedding(96)

His number won again. A larger crowd was gathering, which didn’t help under the best of circumstances. His wide mouth twisted as he frowned and glanced at the croupier. The young man shrugged imperceptibly and appeared a bit bewildered. Prince Andre motioned to have his winnings collected and prepared to leave, ignoring the murmurings of the crowd and the entreaties of his two young female companions.

But when he rose and turned toward where he’d seen her she was gone.

Had he been dreaming? He scanned the room. No, he was still living in the real world. There she was, walking quickly toward the outer terrace that overlooked the lake, her honey-blond hair bouncing against her lovely back, the skirt of her yellow sundress swishing about her shapely knees.

He hesitated for another second or two. Was he sure it was Julienne? How could it be? His ward should be living under veritable lock and key in the mountain convent where she’d been ensconced for years now. The entire staff was under strict orders not to let her roam free. Was this merely a lookalike? A twin sister he’d never known about?

No matter. In any case, he had to check it out. He turned to leave the roulette table.

“Your Highness,” the exotic beauty was saying, reaching for him. “Please….”

“May we go with you?” her Scandinavian partner was asking plaintively. “We’re supposed to accompany you to—”

“Find Rolfo,” he said shortly, barely glancing at them. “He will see that you are taken care of. I have something urgent I must attend to.”

And he was off.

Princess Julienne was hurrying toward an exit, if only she could find one. She’d come up in an elevator, but now she was disoriented and wasn’t sure where it was. This had been a bad idea. She should have known better.

This entire scene was alien to her. She’d never been in a casino before. She hadn’t really been in a city before—at least, not for years. She was a convent girl. What had made her think she could come here and beard the lion in his den? She’d thought she would have the element of surprise, but she hadn’t realized he would have every other advantage.

He was so darn scary. Funny how she’d forgotten about that. Strength, power, and a casual disregard for danger seemed to exude from him like she’d never seen in anyone else. There was no way she could fight him. What had she been thinking? She wasn’t going to talk him into anything. She’d do better making a run for it.

A little part of her had hoped. She hadn’t remembered him as an ogre, exactly, and she’d thought she might be able to spark a little tiny flare of compassion in him. If she just had a chance to talk to him, face to face, surely….

But, no. She’d seen now how the land lay. There had been a time when she’d thought he cared about her, that he wanted her to be happy as well as useful to the crown. He was out of her life as far as she was concerned. He could just stay here with his fancy ladies and gamble and—

She stopped herself, biting her tongue as her gaze darted about, searching for a way back to the parking lot.

She’d left Popov, the driver from the convent, down below with the car. Dear, sweet Popov. He was the only person she could trust. Now … could she trust him to take her to the border and help her get across? Once she told him that was what she wanted, would he still be her only friend? Or would he become just as mean as everyone else?

She made one last attempt to find an elevator, but she’d lost track of where she’d come out on the floor, and besides, she was out on a wide terrace now. There were so many people, so much noise and color, with the blue waters of the lake shimmering behind it all. But ahead she saw an opening to wide, curving steps and she hurried forward, hoping to take them down.

The question remained—was he following her?

She glanced back over her shoulder as she started down the huge sweeping staircase to street level. There was some sort of commotion back on the casino floor. That only spurred her on, and she raced down the steps, leaping from one to the next, her heart in her throat. Her only hope was to make it back to the parking area and find her driver before anyone could catch her.

She was going to get away.

Prince Andre was finding it necessary to push himself through a growing knot of people who were gathering about the table, as though just watching him play would make them rich. He cleared them just as she disappeared down the stairs, and by the time he got to the railing he could see that she was more than halfway down to the street. If she reached it before he caught her she would melt into the tourist traffic and be gone for good. He hesitated for barely a second. His impulse was to call out to her, but something told him she wouldn’t obey his commands and he might as well save himself the trouble.