First, though, Rocco had business in the heavily-guarded building on the outskirts of Rome"s central tourist district. There"d be no cameras, no press. No curious looks except, perhaps, from the man he"d arranged to visit inside.
"You"re sure you want to do this?" he asked Justine.
"I"m here, aren"t I? And you said you had a surprise for me afterward, so let"s get it over with."
They showed their identification to the uniformed man who sat behind a thick gla.s.s window, then waited to be buzzed in through a fortified door. Once inside, they pa.s.sed through metal detectors, were given a briefing by a stern-faced officer, then were escorted to a room at the very center of the building, one with no windows, only a few long tables and benches that were bolted to the floor.
"The air"s stale," Justine commented quietly. "Does anyone even use this room?"
At that moment, a door on the opposite side from where they"d entered beeped, and a man in jeans and a plain gray T-shirt entered. In the corner, a camera swiveled to follow his movements as he took a seat at one of the tables.
Without lifting his head to meet Rocco"s gaze, he asked, "Why are you here?"
Rocco crossed the room to sit across from Viktor Radich. Justine followed, sliding onto the bench beside Rocco.
"You"re still awaiting trial."
"And?"
"I"m curious about a few things."
Radich snorted. "If you think I"m going to bare my soul to you in an attempt to have charges dropped, you"re wasting your time."
"You have a daughter."
Radich finally lifted his head. His dark eyes flared. "How did you-"
"I learned that your girlfriend gave birth while you were at MIT. About a month before your graduation, she ended your relationship and cut off access to your daughter. I believe it"s because your father had started pressuring you to join the family business. You didn"t fight her because you didn"t want the nature of your father"s work discussed in court. You were afraid if that happened, he"d take out his anger on them."
The stunned expression on Radich"s face confirmed that Kos"s research and his own conclusions about Radich"s background were dead accurate.
The Russian sucked in his lower lip, then exhaled. "I quit seeing my father after I graduated high school and the courts could no longer force me to go. I haven"t visited Russia since. If you know so much, you should know that."
"That"s true," Rocco said carefully. "But your father"s reach is long and you have skills he covets. He wanted you to work for him from the time you were a young boy and didn"t take well to losing you as an a.s.set. He threatened your ex-girlfriend and daughter."
Justine leaned across the table, but followed the prison rules and refrained from touching Radich. "Your daughter is diabetic, isn"t she? What you told Rocco"s mother was true."
Radich"s eyes darted to the camera, then back to Justine, but he said nothing.
"You read medical journals on the latest technology and came across my name. You befriended my mother, hoping you could learn enough to steal my newest design when it was finished and possibly copy it to help your daughter." Rocco waited a moment, gauging Radich"s reaction to the accusation. "Whether you could copy it yourself or not, you knew you could use the money your father paid you for it to help your ex and daughter escape him for good. If you could send them into hiding, they"d no longer be his p.a.w.ns. You were hoping that if you pulled off this one job, you could escape him, too."
"I"d be insane to confirm any of that. As you pointed out, I"m awaiting trial."
"I understand that Karpovsky has cut a deal to testify against you. He"s fighting extradition to Russia on charges he murdered his sister-in-law," Rocco said.
"That"s what I"m told."
"You and Karpovsky are two different breeds."
Radich remained silent, though his set jaw and the grim lines at the edges of his mouth made it apparent he was fighting an internal battle. Radich and Karpovsky had both threatened Rocco"s life and Justine"s, but in his gut, Rocco doubted Radich would"ve gone through with it, even to protect his ex-girlfriend and daughter. Karpovsky, on the other hand, might"ve killed them just for sport.
Radich folded his hands in his lap. He looked from Justine to Rocco. "I"ll ask you again: why are you here?"
"The pump you attempted to steal is being readied for testing and eventually a clinical trial. There"s a long way to go until it gets there, but when it gets to that stage, your daughter"s name is on the list, should she still be eligible to partic.i.p.ate. "
Radich"s expression changed. "You"ve spoken with her doctors? How is she?"
"I haven"t, no, but a few calls were made from Johns Hopkins to her primary care physician. They asked targeted questions to see if the doctor had any patients who were good candidates for the trial."
"He suggested Lexi." At Rocco"s nod, Radich"s hands started to shake. He clutched them tighter to hide his nerves. "I a.s.sume I"m to confess in order to secure her place."
"No. You don"t have to do anything." As Radich frowned at him in confusion, Rocco stood and Justine followed suit. "I imagine it"s difficult being estranged from your daughter by simple reason of your birth and family connections. Consider this a kindness from someone who understands."
Rocco turned and went to the door, pressing the b.u.t.ton to signal the guard. As the door opened, he heard Radich say, "Mr. and Mrs. Cornaro? Thank you. I won"t forget this."
"Good. Learn from it. Make yourself the kind of man Lexi will be proud to call her father someday."
A few minutes later, when they were outside the building, Justine nudged him with her hip. "You"re a good man, Rocco Cornaro."
"It was your idea."
At her look of confusion, he said, "On the flight to Baltimore, you told me to imagine I had a child with Type I diabetes. You said that if I were in that situation, I"d risk anything to save that child. I imagine that"s what Radich felt he was doing. Even if he couldn"t use the pump itself to help her, Radich hoped the money he might"ve gotten from his father could."
"I suppose I did say that."
He paused and turned to face her, taking both her hands in his. "You know, you"re a brave woman. That man threatened to kill you, yet you didn"t flinch at going to see him in prison. In fact, you spoke to him with a great deal of compa.s.sion."
Justine let go of one of his hands and reached up to smooth his hair back from his forehead, then caress his jaw, running her thumb over the close-cropped beard she"d asked him to keep...for now. "People will do anything for someone they love. He was trying to help his daughter and his ex-girlfriend. He was completely misguided in the manner he chose to go about it, but I understand the motivation."
"I hope he fights at trial. Not that he doesn"t deserve to be punished, but I"m afraid part of his reticence lies in his belief that if he"s in jail, it"ll be safer for them. His father won"t be interested in them if he can"t use Radich for his own purposes."
"Maybe his father will see that Radich isn"t a very effective criminal. We escaped him twice. You broke his nose. And he got caught."
"We can only hope." But that battle was Radich"s to fight. Or not.
An easy smile lifted Justine"s lips. "You told me you had a surprise for me."
"We still have one place in Rome to visit before we meet up with Marit in Austria tomorrow." And begin what was sure to be a whirlwind World Cup season.
"Where?"
He tucked her arm through his and led her toward the Metro station. "I thought we could go to the Vatican. We"ll see St. Peter"s, then the museum is open if we"re willing to stand in line."
"We can skip the museum."
"It"s the best way to the Sistine Chapel."
"Rocco-"
"You"ve wanted to see the Sistine Chapel ceiling for as long as I"ve known you. To see the separation of light from darkness, G.o.d"s creation of Adam, David slaying Goliath-"
She shook her head vigorously enough to make her hair bounce. "You aren"t comfortable when you"re trapped. You know that line runs all along the outer wall of the Vatican. Once we"re in it, we can"t leave without giving up the chance to see inside. It"ll take at least an hour, maybe two or three. It"s not like sitting on the Spanish Steps or walking around the Colosseum, where we can simply move to another spot if there are too many gawkers or paparazzi."
"Then it"ll be a good test of what I"ve learned from you about how to handle celebrity." He grimaced on the last word. He still didn"t like using that term to describe himself or what his public life had become.
"You"re going to hate it."
"It"s Michelangelo. How much can I possibly hate it?" He paused at the top of the steps leading to the Metro station and drew Justine into his arms for a long, romantic kiss. "Trust in my strength. If you"re with me, I can handle anything."
When he finally released her, she rewarded him with a smile that made his heart soar. "Onward then, my dear husband. Heaven awaits."
Thank you for reading The Royal b.a.s.t.a.r.d. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review at your favorite bookseller or book club website. Look for more books in the Royal Scandals series, coming soon!.
Learn about Nicole"s upcoming releases and get special insider perks by subscribing to her e-newsletter at www.nicoleburnham.com.
Nicole is also on Facebook and on Twitter @nicoleburnham.
The Royal Scandals Series.
Christmas With a Prince (novella), Royal Scandals #0.5.
Scandal With a Prince, Royal Scandals #1.
Honeymoon With a Prince, Royal Scandals #2.
Christmas on the Royal Yacht (novella), Royal Scandals #2.5.
Slow Tango With a Prince, Royal Scandals #3.
The Royal b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Royal Scandals #4.
Acknowledgements.
Many thanks to Douglas Onsi of HealthCare Ventures, who took the time to walk me through the stages of pre-clinical product development for Rocco Cornaro"s diabetes pump and answered my (innumerable) questions about Rocco"s education and career path as an independent biomedical engineer. Any errors are entirely my own.
I owe a great debt to my wonderful editor, Valerie Susan Hayward, who has worked on the entire Royal Scandals series to date. Valerie, your insights have proved invaluable. May you enjoy your retirement...you"ll be missed.
About the Author.
Nicole Burnham is the RITA-award winning author of over a dozen romance novels, most featuring modern-day royalty. She has lived and traveled all over the world, absorbing different cultures and visiting the opulent palaces and lush gardens that inspired the Royal Scandals series. All About Romance declares, "Nicole Burnham gives life to a fictional kingdom and monarchy that feel as though they could be real" and "gosh darn it, Nicole Burnham is good....readers should definitely check her out."
Nicole currently lives in Boston. She enjoys yoga, rowdy baseball games at Fenway Park, taking her dog for long walks, and reading the many romance novels on her bookshelves. Most of all, she loves writing stories about far-off countries, deliciously powerful heroes, and pa.s.sionate heroines for her readers.
You can read more about Nicole and sign up for her popular e-newsletter at her website, www.nicoleburnham.com.
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