Temporarily His Princess - By Olivia Gates Page 0,46

Alonzo placed the pieces in a rectangular box he’d had under his armpit all along then handed it to Vincenzo.

Coming to stand above where she sat feeling as though she’d fall apart any moment, Vincenzo suddenly dropped down on one knee in front of her.

Holding her stunned gaze with eyes roiling like thunderclouds, he opened the navy blue velvet box. She relinquished his gaze to its contents…and the gasp that had caught in her chest when he’d knelt before her escaped.

A seven-piece set—necklace, bracelet, ring, earrings, tiara, armlet and anklet—lay on the dark velvet like a brilliant constellation of stars set against a night sky. They were all made from the most delicate filigree yellow gold she’d ever seen, and studded with magnificent white and blue diamonds in ingenious patterns. But it was the ring that her eyes couldn’t leave. A flawless, vivid blue diamond of at least ten carats, the color of her eyes at night, with emerald-cut white diamonds on both the sides.

Vincenzo singled it out, turned his hand up, asking for hers. She placed it there without volition or hesitation.

The moment he slipped the ring on her finger, she knew what a huge mistake she was committing. She wouldn’t survive losing him this time.

His watchfulness intensified as he singed her hand in a kiss, then with a long groan, he stabbed his other hand into the depths of her hair and hauled her against him, kissing her so deeply, so hungrily, she felt he might finish her.

Surrendering to his passion, her need, her panic subsided as she accepted that if she wasn’t careful, he would finish her.

*

“We have only one hour left to go.”

Glory turned her head at Alonzo’s declaration. The man was the most outstanding organizer she’d ever seen. He’d marshaled everyone’s efforts to get the most efficient operation going. And in just one week, he’d managed to plan a wedding more incredible than any in storybooks.

Alonzo took exception to her saying that. The wedding hadn’t happened yet, and would she stop jinxing it?

If only he knew a jinx wasn’t needed to spoil anything. Everything would self-destruct in a year.

But a year was a long time.

The week had passed faster than she could catch her breath. Now the wedding was an hour away.

Her mother had arrived only yesterday with her father and brother, and Alonzo had promptly swept them off their feet and into the rush of preparations, for which Glory was grateful. No one had time to think of any relationship issues. Amelia, who’d arrived the day after Glory had invited her, had been running interference for her whenever any awkward moment arose.

Clarissa and Gabrielle—Clarissa’s sister-in-law—were now flitting about doing Alonzo’s last-minute bidding. He’d already sent Phoebe and Jade, the other two in the Fabulous Five brigade, on errands. Though they were his queen and princesses, in those wedding preparations, he ruled supreme.

Everything around the castle and the town below now echoed the themes of Glory’s dress and accessories. Everything was swathed in glorious white, gold and a whole range of vivid blues. Vincenzo had already told her that she was made of Castaldini’s hues, her hair of its soil, her skin of its sunlight, and her eyes of its skies.

“You do look like a princess, darling.”

Glory looked at her mother in the Andalusian-style full-length mirror before shifting her gaze to stare at her reflection. She had to admit her mother was right.

So clothes did make the woman. This dress made her feel like a different person. The person a dozen designers had turned her into as she’d stood for endless hours for them to mold this creation on her.

During the stages of its creation, she hadn’t imagined how it would look finished. She’d last seen it when it had yet to be embroidered. The end product was astounding.

In sweeping gradations of brilliant blues on a base of crisp white, it looked like something made in another realm, from materials and colors that defied the laws of nature. Its fitted, off-the-shoulder bodice with a heart-shaped plunging neckline accentuated her curves and swells to beyond perfection, nipping her waist to a size she hadn’t believed achievable—and without a breath-stealing corset.

Her one request had been that the dress not have a mushrooming skirt. But it was only when Clarissa had backed up her request that the designers had backed down. On hearing that they hadn’t taken her request as a command, Vincenzo had fired them and gotten new ones who’d been doing everything she said before she