The Prince's Second Chance Read online

  Chapter Sixteen

  Prince Cameron’s Mistress Exposes Truth About His Secret Love Child With Another Woman

  Former international supermodel Chantal St. Laurent, recently spotted snuggling with the Tesorian prince in Germany, stormed out of his hotel room in Munich early this morning after learning that her lover is the father of an illegitimate teenage daughter with newspaper columnist Gabriella Vasquez.

  “I was shocked when he told me,” she later confided to a friend.

  Independent investigation has confirmed that Gabriella Vasquez is the mother of a sixteen-year-old daughter named Sierra, but the prince is not named as the father on the child’s certificate of birth. In fact, the official document lists the father as “unknown.” Sources close to Ms. Vasquez at the time of her child’s birth agreed that she was uncertain about who had fathered her child.

  Gabriella pushed the paper aside, unable to read any further. And the thought of Sierra being exposed to such ugly lies and rumors—she felt sick just thinking about it.

  “It’s a gossip rag,” Lara said gently. “And Chantal St. Laurent will say or do anything to see her name in print. I don’t know how she happened to be in Germany at the same time as Cameron, but I promise you it wasn’t a coincidence.”

  “You think she set him up?” she asked hopefully.

  “I think she’s spewing venom and lies,” Lara said. “I can’t imagine what she thinks she’ll gain from any of this, but I don’t doubt for a minute that she made up the whole thing.”

  “Even the part about being in his hotel room?” she asked hopefully.

  “No, she was there.”

  Cameron acknowledged the fact wearily as he stepped into the room.

  He looked exhausted, as if he’d been up all night. Exhausted but still so handsome, and Gabriella wanted to rush into his arms. She wanted him to hold her and reassure her that everything was going to be okay. But she knew that he couldn’t make that kind of promise and it was foolish and naive to wish that he could—especially when he’d just admitted that the woman who’d sold out Sierra to the media had been in his hotel room. With him.

  “I was out for dinner with a friend,” he explained, “and when I got back to my hotel room, Chantal was there.”

  “In your room?”

  He nodded. “She wasn’t there very long—probably not more than ten minutes. Just long enough to ensure that the photographer was in place to snap the photo of her leaving again.”

  “And long enough for you to tell her about Sierra,” Gabriella said, though she was still trying to fathom why he would do so.

  “I didn’t say a word to Chantal about Sierra,” he said.

  “Then how—” Gabriella faltered, as the pieces finally clicked into place in her mind.

  Cameron nodded. “I knew you’d figure it out.”

  Lara picked up her coffee cup. “Is anyone going to fill me in?”

  But Gabriella shook her head, wanting to deny it. “I know she hates me, but this—the lies and innuendos—they’re going to hurt you and—” she blinked back the tears, because she knew that if she let even a single one fall, she wouldn’t be able to stop the flood “—Sierra as much as they hurt me.”

  “Collateral damage,” he said easily. “The princess royal wouldn’t concern herself with that so long as she got what she wanted.”

  Lara stared at Cameron. “You think your mother set this whole thing in motion?”

  “She didn’t want Cameron to ever know about Sierra,” Gabriella told her.

  “And since you failed to keep that information from me, she used it to hurt you.”

  “Wait a minute—” the princess turned to Gabriella “—are you saying that Elena knew about Cameron’s child and didn’t tell him?”

  “Yes, she knew,” Cameron admitted.

  Lara shook her head and pushed away from the table. “Apparently you two have bigger issues than the paparazzi to work through, so I’ll leave you to it.”

  Cameron sat down at the table across from Gabriella.

  “Are we going to be able to work through them?” he asked softly.

  She wanted to say “yes.” She wanted to believe it was true. But she wasn’t as naive or idealistic as she used to be and she knew that the odds were stacked against them. It wasn’t just that he was a royal and she was a commoner; it wasn’t even that their fledgling relationship was suddenly under very public scrutiny. It was so many different things, but mostly it was the acceptance that no matter how much she loved him, love wasn’t always enough.

  And so, when she finally responded to his question, it was to say, “I honestly don’t know.”

  It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but Cameron couldn’t blame Gabriella for being cautious.

  One step forward, two steps back, he thought wearily. Their relationship had finally been moving in the right direction, until he’d left the country with a lot of questions and uncertainties still between them.

  “Are you…” she hesitated, almost as if she was afraid of the answer he would give to her question. “Is it true—” she started again “—about you and Chantal being lovers?”

  “No,” he said. “Dios, no.” And it was the truth, but not the whole truth, and he knew that he couldn’t hold anything back from Gabriella now. If they were going to move forward, they couldn’t do so with any more secrets between them. “Not anymore.”

  “So you were,” she murmured.

  “A long time ago.”

  She nodded.

  She didn’t look surprised or even disappointed. Obviously his confirmation was no more than she’d expected, and why wouldn’t it be? For a lot of years, he’d been known as the partying prince—a favorite of the paparazzi because he was always out on the town, always with a different woman, always having fun. He’d grown weary of the scene long before he’d managed to extricate himself from it, and though he’d done so more than half a dozen years earlier, the reputation continued to haunt him.

  “If it was over a long time ago, why would she do this?” Gabriella gestured to the paper.

  He had several theories about the unlikely partnership between his mother and his former lover. It was possible that Elena had bribed or blackmailed Chantal to ensure her complicity. It was just as likely that Chantal had jumped at the opportunity to be involved—just for fun. “Because Chantal’s never as happy as when she’s in the middle of a scandal.”

  Gabriella shook her head. He knew she didn’t understand people like Elena and Chantal, people who could find pleasure in using their power to hurt others. Her basic honesty and goodness had appealed to him from the start. And even when he’d been furious with her for keeping his daughter a secret, he’d known that it hadn’t been easy for her.

  Elena, on the other hand, wouldn’t have lost a wink of sleep over the role she’d played in the deception. More likely, she’d have taken pride in the display of her power. It was what she did—manipulating others so that she could feel important. He’d long since figured out that her behavior was rooted in her own childhood, in the feeling that she was insignificant and powerless because she was a female child born to a ruler who already had a male heir. But the fact that he’d come to understand the reasoning behind her behavior didn’t mean it sickened him any less.

  Gabriella turned the paper over, so that she didn’t have to see the headline staring at her. “Sierra’s going to be devastated when she sees this.”

  Cameron wasn’t so sure. Oh, he knew that Sierra would be hurt, that she’d wonder if there was any truth in the midst of all of the lies. But the fallout for her would be minimal. Regardless of what anyone believed about her father or her mother or the circumstances of her conception, she was the innocent in all of this. Right now he was more concerned about Gabriella.

  “Rowan suggested a press conference, and I agree that it’s probably the best way to handle this,” he told her.

  “Why don’t I just walk outside the palace gates with a target on my chest inst
ead?”

  He reached across the table to touch her hand. He half-expected her to pull away, and when she didn’t—when she actually turned her hand to link their fingers together—the relief he felt was almost overwhelming.

  “We’re going to present a united front,” he promised her. “Me and you and our daughter. We’ll read a prepared statement and formally introduce Princess Sierra and we won’t answer any questions.”

  “That won’t stop them from asking.”

  He nodded, acknowledging the fact.

  “Okay.” She drew in a deep breath. “When are we going to do this?”

  They decided that the press conference would be held at Waterfront Park at nine o’clock the next morning. The exact location wasn’t too far from where Cameron had initially confronted Gabriella about Sierra’s paternity, although that was by coincidence rather than design. Rowan’s advisors had suggested the outdoor stage where summer concerts often took place as a suitable venue to ensure access to all the media who chose to attend. Cameron had some concerns about providing security for Gabriella and Sierra in such an open space, but the prince regent promised that the royal security detail would be there to look out for them.

  Gabriella had hoped that the paparazzi would back off when the date and time of the conference were announced. As grateful as she was to Rowan and Lara for allowing them to stay at the palace, she wanted to be back in her own home, she wanted to pretend that things were normal. But the media vans remained just outside the palace gates, trapping her inside.

  When she’d ducked out of her house under cover of darkness so many hours earlier, she hadn’t thought about what she was throwing into the bag she brought with her. She certainly hadn’t packed anything that would be appropriate to wear to a press conference. She had no sooner expressed this concern to Lara than the princess asked if she wanted to make a list of items for someone to pick up from the house or do some online shopping. Though she was tempted by the shopping, she opted to make a list. She already owed the princess far more than she could ever repay.

  An hour later, she was sorting through the suits and blouses she’d selected. She managed to narrow it down, but continued to waver between the taupe and the red.

  “Definitely the red,” Lara said, when she’d finally got up the nerve to ask the princess for her opinion. “Even if you wear the taupe, you won’t be able to escape the spotlight but it’ll look like you tried. Also, Sierra’s wearing red. Red and white, actually, but you’ll coordinate nicely. And red is definitely your color.”

  So the next morning, Gabriella got dressed in the red, then she went to see what her daughter was wearing.

  She halted in the doorway of Sierra’s room and absorbed the twinge of regret that stabbed at her heart when she couldn’t see any sign of her little girl anywhere. Instead, there was a poised and beautiful young woman in front of her, dressed in a simple but elegant white sundress with red poppies dancing along the hemline, red peep-toe pumps on her feet and a wide-brimmed red hat on her head.

  “It was Lexi’s idea,” she said. “The hat. She said it would make me look more mysterious.”

  “I almost didn’t even recognize you,” Gabriella said with a smile.

  She was pleased that Alexandria and Sierra had hit it off so quickly. Lexi had been raised as a princess from birth, so she knew everything there was to know about the duties and responsibilities of a royal and had already proven herself an invaluable support to Sierra.

  “You look fabulous.”

  She smiled shyly. “I feel strange. I mean, I like the outfit, it’s just so different from my usual style. But Lexi said it set the right tone between formal and casual.”

  “It’s perfect,” Gabriella assured her.

  Sierra nodded. Then she took a deep breath and blurted out. “I told Jenna. About Cameron being my father.”

  And Gabriella suddenly realized why her daughter had been so uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn over the past two days—not just because she was feeling overwhelmed by everything that was happening, but because she was feeling guilty.

  “She’s my best friend,” Sierra continued. “And I didn’t think she’d tell anyone—”

  “She didn’t,” Gabriella interrupted. She took her daughter’s hands, squeezed gently. “The leak didn’t come from Jenna.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She nodded. “There were…details given to the media that Jenna couldn’t have known, that you didn’t know.”

  Sierra exhaled a heartfelt sigh of relief. “I thought this was all my fault.”

  “Oh, Sierra.” She hugged her daughter tight. “None of this is your fault, honey. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. If I’d told you the truth—if I’d told Cameron the truth—a long time ago, we might have avoided this now. Or at least been more prepared for it.”

  “Well, I’m as prepared as I’m going to be,” Sierra told her. “So let’s get it over with.”

  The park was packed. Somehow word had got out that Prince Cameron’s daughter was going to be in attendance and the citizens of Tesoro del Mar flocked to the park, anxious to finally set eyes on Princess Sierra. A lot of Sierra’s friends were there, too. Aside from Jenna, no one had known that her father was a prince until they’d read it in the papers or seen it on television, and they were all curious to know if the prince’s daughter really was the same Sierra Vasquez that they knew.

  Gabriella wasn’t surprised by the turnout. She’d known there would be more curiosity-seekers than media personnel, but she’d still tried to discourage her mother from attending, worried that Katarina would be an easy target for the paparazzi. But Katarina had insisted on being there to support her daughter and granddaughter, and Gabriella saw that she wasn’t alone. In fact, she was flanked on all sides by members of Cameron’s family. Rowan and Lara and Matthew and William; Christian and Lexi and Damon; Eric and Molly and Maggie and Joshua. Even Cameron’s sister, Marissa, was there, with her other brother’s daughter.

  Only the princess royal was absent—apparently having left the country on short notice to visit an ailing friend in Corsica. Gabriella knew that explanation was nothing more than an excuse, but she was nevertheless as grateful for Cameron’s mother’s absence as she was everyone else’s support.

  As a child, Sierra had relentlessly hounded Gabriella for a sister or a brother, and Gabriella’s heart had ached that she couldn’t give her little girl what she wanted. What Gabriella, too, had always wanted. Because from the time she’d been a child, she’d dreamed of someday having a big family—including at least half a dozen kids running around the yard.

  Of course, in that scenario she’d also imagined that she would have a husband—someone who went out to work at a respectable but normal nine-to-five job every day and came home to his wife and family every night. Falling in love with a prince had totally screwed up all of her plans, and while she could maybe forgive herself for the youthful fantasies that had allowed it to happen when she was seventeen, she should have known better this time around.

  …the mind does not and cannot control the heart.

  She no longer doubted the truth of her mother’s words, but as she looked out at the familiar faces in the front row, she could at least be happy that she’d finally given her daughter the family that she always wanted.

  Rowan’s secretary stepped up to the microphone first, drawing her attention back to the purpose of the assembly. He introduced himself to the crowd, thanked everyone for coming, and announced that Prince Cameron had a statement to make.

  Though neither Gabriella nor Sierra was expected to say anything, it was agreed that they would stand with Cameron, demonstrating their support of him and agreement with the official statement he would deliver.

  “Over the past couple of days, the media has been inundated with rumors regarding my history with Gabriella Vasquez and the paternity of Gabriella’s daughter, Sierra. I’m here today to separate the fact from fiction…”

  Gabriella didn�
��t listen to any more of his speech. They’d gone over it together the previous afternoon, so she knew exactly what he intended to say. Instead, she focused on the sound of his voice, allowing her frayed nerves to be soothed by the smooth cadence.

  As he spoke, she held Sierra’s hand in her own. Her daughter’s icy fingers were the only outward indication of her trepidation. She had to know that everyone was staring at her, but she stood tall with her head held high, looking every inch the princess, and Gabriella had never been more proud.

  There was a brief silence after Cameron finished speaking—probably not more than a few seconds—and then the real uproar began. There were so many questions that it was almost impossible to decipher any individual words, until someone shouted: “Prince Cameron, are you going to marry Gabriella?”

  And Gabriella’s heart actually stopped for the space of several beats.

  She and Cameron had talked about this scenario and they’d agreed that they wouldn’t respond to any questions or statements from the crowd. But this one seemed to linger in the air for a moment, as if everyone was waiting for an answer. As Gabriella held her breath, waiting for the same thing.

  Cameron had heard the question. She had no doubt about that. And he even paused, as if considering his response. But in the end, he only said, “Thank you all for your time.”

  And then he turned away from the microphone.

  Sierra immediately fell into step behind him, obviously eager to get off the stage and away from the endless flash of bulbs, and Gabriella followed her. There were still questions being shouted, but Gabriella was only aware of the one that had gone unanswered.

  What did you think—that he’d want to put a ring on your finger? Wake up, Gabriella. You’re a nobody from nowhere and he’ll never marry you.

  The words that echoed in her mind now weren’t those of her mother but his, and the scornful tone with which they’d been delivered had cut her to the quick. Because she’d believed him when he’d told her he loved her, and she’d been foolish enough to think that a man who loved her would want to marry her.