Free Marcello & Grace (Royals of Valleria #2) by Marianne Knightly Page B

suit. I’ll, uh, just go make sure it’s pressed for tonight if you don’t need my help with anything.”
     
    Grace looked confused and a little hurt, but he didn’t approach her again. “I think we’ve got everything handled,” she said. “Thank you. The guests should arrive at seven, if they all accept.”
     
    Marcello, a man who had faced death on the battlefield, now slowly slinked backward towards the exit and away from the slim, waif-like creature in front of him. “Good. Good,” he said absently. “I’ll see you for lunch, then,” he said and slipped out.
     
    As he made his way back to his room, he wondered why wedding bells were pealing loudly in his mind all of a sudden, the sound a deafening clanging he could not control.
     
    He wanted Grace; that much was true. He wanted her on a personal and a sexual level. He wanted to feel her hot body close around him and watch her eyes lost in ecstasy.
     
    But was he looking for a wife?
     
    Marcello shook his head as he entered his guest room. He had never thought of marriage before, had never really needed to as the fourth child of a king. He had only been in love once before, and that had ended in betrayal. He wasn’t sure he could love again, even if he did have the strength to try it.
     
    Suddenly exhausted, he sat down on the bed, then fell backwards.
     
    As he tried to unravel his feelings, his phone rang breaking him out of his reverie. When he saw the number, he sighed again.
     
    “Gregory,” Marcello said. “How goes it?”
     
    “We’ve agreed to your terms,” he said in his squeaky voice.
     
    “You mean you’ve agreed. I haven’t heard from the others,” Marcello said as he sat up. He knew better than to assume anything where intelligence matters were concerned.
     
    “I am speaking for everyone.”
     
    “You’re speaking for no one but yourself. When I have confirmation from the others, we can proceed. I’ll just give them a call myself.”
     
    “No,” Gregory said quickly. “They are unavailable to speak.”
     
    “Convenient.”
     
    “Believe what you like. I speak the truth.”
     
    Your truth , Marcello thought. “Then it will still be the truth when the others become ‘available’ and can speak to me.” Frustrated with both work and his personal life for the first time in years, Marcello became impatient with diplomacy. “Look, I haven’t got time for this. Figure out your story and get back to me,” he said and hung up.
     
    He tossed the phone on the bed and began pacing around the room. He didn’t doubt the others wanted the mission, but he wouldn’t proceed until he received the assurances he needed. He decided it was time to start planning for the mission in earnest.
     
    This was not how he had planned to redeem his and Valleria’s reputation but, at the moment, he could not see another path.
     
    Resolved, his dark eyes firm and unwavering, he sat down and began to plot a top secret mission into the dregs of the Gardar Rus.
     
     

Chapter 8
     
    Grace walked slowly up the steps towards the guest rooms, particularly towards Marcello’s room, balancing a tray as she did so. She had become worried when he hadn’t come down to lunch. The servant she had sent to check on him had also told her that he wasn’t interested in a meal.
     
    Grace wondered perhaps, if it was really her that he wasn't interested in anymore.
     
    Even with her dismal experience, she could tell when a man was interested in her. Daniel had made her afraid to speak to any man, really anybody but him. However, in the last year, that had slowly changed. She could now tell the difference between a man’s interest and a man’s general pleasantries. Marcello acted like he was interested in her, at least he had during their morning walk.
     
    What had changed?
     
    As she adjusted the tea tray in her hands, she knocked softly and heard muttering but no answer. When she knocked louder, the door flew open and left her hand knocking