Lani didn"t know what to say. It was true. As she"d gotten to know AJ, she"d realized the duty would have been a pleasure. She didn"t want to push her luck by saying that, though. She"d called to tell him how she felt about Vanu, not to put pressure on him to do anything about it.
"Why did you decide to tell me now?" AJ"s voice had an odd sound to it.
Lani swallowed. "I don"t know exactly. I just wanted to tell you the truth."
"The truth. That"s been an elusive little... Don"t go anywhere."
"What do you mean?"
"Don"t leave the palace."
"Why not?" She glanced over her shoulder. She felt under siege all the time lately, with press everywhere and people taking photos of her whenever she even looked out the window.
"So I know where to find you." His voice had a ring of command to it.
Why did he want to find her? Did he plan to come and scold her for keeping the truth hidden all this time? She"d only been trying to protect the family name.
The truth had been her enemy since she"d come to this palace. She"d danced around it, skirted it and fluffed over it so many times since she"d had the misfortune to marry Vanu. And there was one powerful truth she still kept locked tight in her heart.
She"d never told AJ that she loved him.
"Joe, you still got that jet out at Burbank?" AJ marched across the room, picking up items of clothing and tossing them into his bag.
"Do you know what time it is?" His friend"s gruff voice a.s.saulted him down the phone. He and Joe had shared a house when AJ was in film school-two kids with too much money and no sense of direction. They"d seen each other through more than a few sc.r.a.pes since. Joe was now a successful film agent with a pa.s.sion for cars and planes.
"Late, yeah. I can wait until dawn to leave, though." Every moment away from Lani was agonizing right now, but no need to torment other people with his desperation.
"Dawn? What the heck are you talking about? Where do you need to go in such a rush?"
"Home. Rahiri."
"I thought you"d decided once and for all that L.A. was your home." Joe"s voice softened a bit.
"It"s complicated. Anyway, I need to get to Rahiri as soon as humanly possible."
He heard a long sigh. "Let me guess, that gorgeous almost-wife of yours is involved somehow."
"Lani. Yes, I need to see her." And touch her, and hold her and kiss her-if she"d let him.
Joe chuckled. "I think everyone in America wants to see her, given the amount of media coverage she"s getting. I doubt most of them had even heard of Rahiri until the two of you became such media darlings."
"Why am I friends with you?"
"Because I have a plane, apparently. And yes, I"ll take you, but not until first light."
"I love you, Joe."
"And I"m not the only one you love, from the sound of things. See you on the tarmac." Joe hung up the phone.
AJ drew in a deep steadying breath. In only a few hours he"d see Lani again. Hearing her voice had undone all his hard work of trying to move on. Not that he"d been at all successful. He couldn"t even stand to talk to her anymore. The distance between them was too agonizing and he had to see her right away. He didn"t want to exchange one more word with her until they were face-to-face. Too easy for misunderstandings and complications to arise.
It was still dark when he arrived at the airport, but he wasn"t surprised to see the lights on inside his friend"s beloved plane. Joe was outside checking out some piece of machinery and he laughed when he saw AJ. "I knew you"d be here at least an hour early."
AJ shrugged.
"Lucky thing I came out here right when I hung up the phone-and she"s ready to go."
"I really do love you." AJ grinned and heaved his bag inside the tiny c.o.c.kpit.
By the time dawn came they were already out over the ocean, and the tentative rays of sun illuminated the featureless plain of dark water. They stopped to refuel and grab a late breakfast in Hawaii. Another seven hours or so of empty ocean and they"d be there.
His heart rate increased as they pa.s.sed the first of the green, sand-fringed islands that dotted the route to Rahiri like giant stepping stones.
Would Lani resent him for ruining all their careful plans and leaving her in the lurch?
Of course she would. She"d borne the brunt of all the insatiable media curiosity that stood his hair on end-while dealing with pregnancy and the organizational and emotional drama of preparing to become Rahiri"s official monarch.
But she"d called him. At a time when no one else would know and-as far as he could tell-with no hidden agenda other than to air the ugly truth she"d kept hidden all along.
She hadn"t asked him to come back, but right now nothing could stop him.
"Is this a round-trip excursion or are you staying for good this time?" Joe"s voice jolted him from his thoughts.
"It all depends."
"On Lani the lovely."
"You got it." He wouldn"t force himself on her. He"d always resolved not to do that. Rahiian or not, every woman deserved to choose her own husband.
"Speaking from personal experience, I"ve learned that women will let you make a mistake once, but they don"t look too kindly on you s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up the same way a second time. What made you change your mind about her?"
AJ hesitated. He"d probably mentioned his older brother to Joe in pa.s.sing a few times, but had never revealed the full extent of his malice. In general he preferred to leave Vanu buried in the past. But was that perpetuating the fraud that had driven him and Lani apart? Still, he didn"t want to say anything without asking Lani. If she wanted the ugly details of her first marriage kept secret, he"d oblige.
"Maybe I just came to my senses."
"Don"t lose "em again, okay? This is a long flight to make at a moment"s notice." Joe turned and shoved him.
"I"m living and learning every day, bro. This time I plan to get it right."
"I did warn you that marriage isn"t for the faint of heart?" Joe had been married three times and, by his account, paid untold amounts of alimony to his three former beloveds.
"Many a time. You"re probably at least fifty percent responsible for scaring me off marriage until now. That and the fact that the divorce rate in L.A. is around seventy percent."
"What"s the divorce rate like in Rahiri?"
"I have no idea. Haven"t lived there in a decade. Lani"s mom was divorced, though I suppose that took place in the States."
"You just make sure it doesn"t happen to you."
"I"d have to be married first." A possibility that had blossomed in his mind again. Sure, it would be easier if it weren"t for the whole royalty angle, but the prospect of making Lani his wife made his chest swell with excitement.
The sun was climbing across the sky by the time Rahiri came into view, its familiar teardrop-shaped outline beckoning him like an old friend. "Skip the airport and head straight for the palace. There"s a long paved drive with palm trees on each side. You can land right there."
"And get a royal summons? I"d rather go to the airport."
"Too far away. It"s almost an hour"s drive from the palace."
"I thought that was so their royal majesties don"t have to be troubled by the drone of engines."
"It is, but I"m sure they"ll survive."
"Your mom was really p.i.s.sed off last time." They"d done it once before, years ago, when AJ returned for a family party with a group of friends.
"I can handle her. I already called and told her we were coming in. Didn"t want to get shot at on approach now that everyone"s so paranoid these days. She wasn"t happy about it, but she"ll survive." AJ scanned the ground through the small side window. Already he could make out the multilayered rooftops of the palace and the lush grounds. Lani was down there somewhere. How would she react when she saw him?
Joe guided the plane expertly into a straight line with the drive, which was mercifully free of vehicles and pedestrians. "Here goes nothing."
As they roared to the ground and taxied down the drive, AJ"s pulse went into overdrive. As soon as the plane stopped, people came running out of the palace. He jumped from the plane, scanning the faces.
"AJ!" His mother"s scream rose above the din of voices. "Didn"t I tell you never to land on the drive? It"s dangerous-there could be a pothole, or a fallen tree branch."
"Palm trees don"t have branches, Mom." He gave her a hug. "Where"s Lani?"
"She"s being measured for her coronation gown. They"re doing it in the ballroom because of the good light in there. Hey, where are you going?"
AJ had already slipped her grasp and strode into the palace, heading for the ballroom. Staff members stared at him, and hushed whispers buzzed amongst the polite greetings.
He had no idea how Lani would respond to his sudden arrival, but at this point he really didn"t care, he just ached to see her. The palace corridors seemed endless as he marched along them, past the secret pa.s.sageway he"d sneaked into with Lani, past all the other doorways and hallways where they"d exchanged glances-and more.
"Did you return to claim the throne?" A black-clad reporter, brandis.h.i.+ng a tiny video camera, leaped out of a doorway to his left.
"How did you get in?" AJ lunged toward him, responding instinctively to the invasion of privacy.
"Couldn"t stand to see your brother"s wife claim the throne?" A female reporter darted up behind him, holding up a camera phone.
AJ grappled with the first man, getting him in an armlock. "Guards! There"s an intruder."
People rushed around them, servants hurried along the corridors and reporters poured in through the unsecured and gla.s.sless windows that ringed the palace and linked it to the gardens outside.
AJ grappled with a smelly man in a plaid s.h.i.+rt and yelled to the servants to make sure none of the sc.u.m got anywhere near Lani. Reporters who"d been hanging around the palace bored out of their skulls for weeks surged in after the others, shutters whirring and microphones thrust in his face.
"Are you back for good?"
"Is Dragon Chaser Five Dragon Chaser Five going to start shooting?" going to start shooting?"
"Did you fly the plane yourself?"
"Is the baby really yours?"
"Did you miss Lani?"
This last question made him look up, and his eyes met the beady blue ones of a blond reporter he vaguely recognized.
"I did miss Lani."
The scrum of reporters suddenly hushed.
"Did you come back for her?"
"I came back to see her." He didn"t want to claim more than that. He wasn"t sure if Lani even would see him, after he"d promised to marry her-in front of the whole world-then welshed on the deal.
"Do you want to marry her?"
"I think that"s a bit premature. I..." Something caught his eye behind the reporter"s head and he looked into the long hall leading to the interior of the palace.
Lani. Flanked by two guards, standing only a few feet away. Her face was blank, expressionless.
Blood rushed to AJ"s muscles and he pushed through the crush of reporters. He"d imagined her so many times, soft honey eyes, long silky hair hiding her slim figure, her hesitant walk and sweet laugh and his vision seemed conjured to life in front of him.
But as he approached her, Lani seemed to shrink from him. She glanced at the reporters behind him-why were they still there? Couldn"t the guards throw them out?
"Let"s go somewhere we can talk."
She nodded.
He turned to the guards. "Make sure they don"t follow us." He reached out to take Lani"s arm, then noticed how stiffly she held her body and pulled it back. What did she think of his sudden appearance?
Nine.
Lani marched as fast as she could beside AJ. Her thoughts ran in all directions. Why was he here, and so suddenly? Hope mingled with terror and antic.i.p.ation as they drew farther away from the crowd of crazy reporters and into the quiet recesses of the palace.
"In here." AJ opened a door into the darkened throne room. She stepped past him, agonizingly conscious of his big, broad physique and the energy that always crackled in the air between them.
None of the hundred sconces or the incongruously high-tech video conferencing equipment was turned on, and the only light came through a small skylight in the ceiling. The ma.s.sive "throne"-a squarish chunk of black basalt etched with symbols so ancient that no one could actually read them-hulked in the middle of the room.
AJ closed the door quietly behind them. The shaft of light from overhead threw his strong features into high relief, including the frown etched in his brow. "I had to come right away, to apologize."
"For what?" He had much to apologize for, but she didn"t want to jump to any conclusions.
That, and she didn"t know what else to say.