Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
His lips curl up. “He thinks I’m insane, but as his parents are close to losing their home because their business dried up, he understands. If Joe is serious and he’s willing to shoot part of his next film in my country, then this whole gamble will be worth it.”
Because a shoot like that can bring millions into the local economy. And if one production goes well, word gets around. “You need to think about infrastructure.”
“Already done,” he says with obvious satisfaction. “We put a good deal of money into a production studio. We are a small country with a business-forward government. Despite how small we are, we can stand in for any number of European countries, and we’re cheaper than they are. We’re ready for business. Once we get tourism going and our reputation as a good place to film is established, I can relax a bit.”
He sounds like he knows what he’s doing, and I shouldn’t forget that he has an agenda. “What does relaxing look like, Luca?”
“I don’t know. I think I forgot how to when my parents died.”
“You were young. I knew that when you told me, but I didn’t have certain important context. That’s a lot of pressure for a twenty-six-year-old.” I can’t help but think about what Harper said earlier. She’d talked about Luca not having a role model relationship. “What were they like? I kind of got the feeling you had a complex relationship with them.”
That gorgeous mouth of his becomes a stubborn line. “I didn’t come here to talk about my parents.”
“Why did you come here then?” I ask. “To tell me you kept your word about keeping Hannah? I realized that when she showed up and we spent an hour and a half talking on camera about how the date went.”
“And you’re jealous.” He sighs and moves his big body so his legs are in front of him and he’s sitting back against the headboard. “I would be, too. It’s an odd situation and one I did not expect to find myself in.”
“You had to know it would be awkward to date so many women,” I point out. “It’ll get weirder as you get to know them all.”
“I didn’t think any of them would move me,” he admits. “I thought I would come in and find a woman who could play the part for a few months. That’s how the producers sold me on it. They said I only had to get engaged. I didn’t have to actually have a wedding. It would be good for tourism, but I don’t have to go that far if I don’t want to. I think they would prefer it since it’s written into my contract that if I marry one of the women, they have to pay seven million toward a wedding in Ralavia.”
I smile at the thought. They were banking on this show going the way of so many others. There are only a handful of couples who meet like this who are still together a year later, much less married. If you want to get married, go on Big Brother or Survivor. “Now that would get you some tourist dollars.”
He turns my way with a wolfish smile. “Excellent. Let’s do it.”
“Luca,” I say with a sigh.
He twists his body again so he’s facing me. “I’m not joking, Anika. Why not? I like you. You like me. There are some nice jewels that come with the job. Are you seeing anyone?”
He’s annoying me again. “That’s not the point. And the fact that we like each other isn’t a reason to get married.”
“It’s the best reason I can think of,” he confesses. “Honestly, it’s the best outcome for me. I never expected to like the woman I marry.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means my parents expected me to marry someone from another royal family, and they didn’t give a damn if the marriage satisfied something in my soul. Marriage for them wasn’t about love or happiness or being content. It was about the crown. Always about the crown. My mother was connected to Danish royalty. She married my father when she was eighteen and was expected to immediately produce an heir. It took her fifteen years and painful fertility treatments to finally give birth to me. To say their marriage was unhappy would be denial. From what I can tell it was hell, but they did it.”
“Not for you.” I can see plainly where this is going. “They did it because royals don’t divorce. But Luca, you can’t expect a modern woman to stay in an unhappy marriage.”
“No. I don’t. I would never put my wife through that,” he promises. “I don’t care about children. If I marry and the name dies with me, then at least I will have brought real democracy to my country. But it’s hard to change. Our history is all we have. Our rituals and traditions are part of that, but I assure you I wouldn’t hold a woman hostage to the crown. We could have a prenup that allows you to leave if you’re unhappy.”