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He had grown up seeing how easily his strong-willed grandfather had used his own son's deep love for all those ere close to him to coerce, manipulate and,what King Giorgio wanted Marco had seen too much to have any illusions about the value of entleness and a desire to please others Not that Marco hadn't loved his father; he had, soboy he had often furiously resented and verbally attacked his grandfather for the way the older man had treated his immediate heir

That would never happen to him, Marco had decided then He would allow no one, not even Niroli's king, to dictate to him

Marco ell aware that, despite the fact that he had often angered his grandfather with his rebellious ways, the olderrespect for him Their pride and their tenacity were attributes they had in coh Marco knew that once he was Niroli's king there were dom

Marco considered that the way his grandfather ruled Niroli was almost feudal; he'd shared his father's belief that it was essential to give people the opportunity to run their own lives, instead of treating the, unschooled children who couldn't be trusted to make their own decisions

He had so er to step out of the role he had created for himself here in London to take on the mantle his birth had fated hi without a mistress bothered him a little but, after all, he was aa willing bed-al commitment

No, he wouldn't let hiiving valuableabout the issue was his concern that she ht not accept his announcement that their affair was over as calmly as he wished He had no desire to hurt her—far from it

He still hadn't decided just howLondon, of course, but he suspected that the paparazzi were bound to get wind of as happening on Niroli, since it was ruled by the wealthiest royal family in the world

For her own sake, E they had shared could i He had never really understood her steadfast refusal to accept his expensive gifts, or to allow him to help her either financially or in any other ith her sn business Because he couldn't understand it, despite the fact that they had been lovers for al theto gain from him that orth more to her than his money It was second nature to hi his grandfather and members of his court what happened to those whose natures allowed others to take advantage of them, as his own father had done

Marco tensed, auto about his parents and their deaths could still cause hie that pain, and he certainly didn't want to acknowledge the confused feelings he had buried so deeply: pain on his father's behalf, guilt because he could see what his grandfather had been doing to his father and yet he hadn't been able to prevent it, anger with his father for having been so weak, anger with his grandfather for having taken advantage of that weakness, and hi seen what he hadn't wanted to see

He and his grandfather had one, he himself was a man and not a boy any more It was only in his dreams now that he sometimes revisited the pain of his past When he did, that pain could be quickly extinguished in the raw passion of satisfying his physical desire for Emily

But what about the ti his ti himself such foolish questions? Ultimately he would find himself another ht kind of woh not so young that she didn't understand the rules, of course He ht about providing her with the respectability ofcourtier in order that they carry on their affair, once he becaed, the very passion that made her such a responsive lover also meant she was not the type ould adapt to the traditional role of royal mistress