Princess in the Iron Mask - By Victoria Parker Page 0,43

distorted his vision.

‘Lucas, are you coming?’

No, unfortunately not. Although if she kept touching him...

What the hell was she thinking, kissing him like that? When he’d already told her no! Dios, maybe he was over-analysing what could have been a simple thank-you.

Discarding his unease, he snatched his briefcase from the floor and strode towards her. ‘Give your bags to Armande and we’ll walk through town.’

The assistants scurried over with an armful of bags, a pair of large sunglasses and a black hat trimmed with the same blue of her dress. Claudia eased the hat atop her head and slowly pushed the glasses up her nose.

‘Camouflage, Claudia?’ Although he had to admit she looked stunning. Like the front cover spread of some glossy American magazine.

‘Baby steps, Lucas.’

He didn’t bother telling her she was wasting her time.

As predicted, flying under the radar had become a distant memory, because every pair of eyes swung in Claudia’s direction and locked on target as they sauntered down the main avenue—his favourite part of the old town.

Blossom trees lined the road, branches heavy with a full show of colour, and the light breeze wafted tiny pink and cream petals in every direction to settle on the cobbles beneath their feet.

‘Now I know what it feels like to be a cell on a slide,’ she said, tugging on the sleeves of her dress in that habitual way that drove him loco, before inching closer as if needing to absorb his strength.

‘Let them see the Lost Princess has returned.’

‘Is that why they’re staring so much?’ she asked, her honeyed voice tainted with amazement. With a discreet jerk of her head she motioned up ahead. ‘Even him?’

Pausing mid-stride, Lucas looked up to see a young hotshot sitting on one of the stone benches lining the street, leering at Claudia with blatant lust.

Locking a growl in his chest, he curved his arm around her small waist, protectively, and steered her past, ignoring the slow burn up his arm. It was untenable to realise the ramifications of her illness.

‘Has it never occurred to you that after you recovered from your illness people would look at you for an entirely different reason? Men would stare because they were enthralled? Women would stare with envy?’

‘N...no,’ she said, stunned, and breathless as she sidled closer still. ‘Not once.’

Dios, little wonder there had been no men in her life. ‘Well, now you know,’ he said, dropping his arm as if she were a grenade. Before he nigh on detonated.

‘As for the rest—remember you are a mystery to them.’

On cue, a small girl tentatively approached Claudia, all long blonde curls and sweet smiles as she curtsied and bestowed upon her a small posy of lilacs from behind her back.

Claudia blinked as if the child were an apparition, then bent at the waist until they were at eye level. In the same rich-with-affection tone she used with Bailey—the one that made a strange yearning pour through his soul—she said, ‘How beautiful you are. I shall treasure them, for they are the first flowers I’ve ever been given. Thank you.’

A wild torrent of feeling flooded down his chest. How could that be? Had her parents never sent her flowers? Even on her birthday? Claudia turned to him, her forehead nipped, as if trying to suppress the power of her emotions. And a memory slammed into him, making the world tilt on its axis. His mind flickered...

There he was. His ninth birthday. His mother—so soft, so sad—trying to smile through the pain of a broken jaw. A small box wrapped in her favourite blue headscarf. A car—a toy Ferrari. The brightest shade of red he’d ever seen. His throat closed, his heart bleeding, when he realised the exorbitant price she had paid. Dios. Breathe, Garcia. Breathe.

‘Lucas?’ Claudia’s voice, rich with affection, tainted with concern, drifted on the sweet-scented air and he fisted his hands to stop himself reaching out, hauling her to him, burying his face in her neck, breathing her in.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Sí,’ he said, slamming the door on the past. ‘Do you like your gift?’

She tried for a smile. One that cut him to the core.

‘Arunthia holds its royal family close to its heart. And your career has made you very popular with the people.’

‘I didn’t think...’ Her husky voice cracked.

‘That you were so important?’ he asked incredulously.

With a little shake of her head, she tore at her lower lip. ‘That I would matter at all.’

Jaw slack, Lucas floundered at the severe lack of her self-worth. ‘Well, you