I Want You for Christmas: The Prince's Lost Princess - a Heartwarming Snow-Capped Holiday Romance by Holly Rayner, Lara Hunter Read Free Book Online Page A

don’t have claim to your wealth now doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I created this ruse to get you here because I too believe that you might be the descendant of royalty, Gabriella.”
     
    “That’s insane. You’re insane. There’s no way that could be true,” Gaby said, not wanting to hope. She had been let down a lot in her life, and now here was some spoiled prince who had duped her into flying to Florence just so he could see if she might be royal, too? What, was he short on friends or something?
     
    Gaby moved to stand, but Luca placed his hand on hers, his eyes beseeching.
     
    “Gabriella, please,” he said.
     
    Gaby froze as she stared down at him. She, Gabriella Galtieri, was glaring down at a prince. What was her life right now?
     
    “I knew you wouldn’t come if you knew that this was my plan, so I had Giorgio convince you it was for something else. Would you have come otherwise?”
     
    “Of course not,” Gaby said. “I don’t buy into delusions of grandeur. I’m a realist.”
     
    Just then the server returned with two plates of steaming hot food. The warm, aromatic smell was enough to sink Gaby back into her seat as a plate of breaded chicken with capers over a bed of linguini was placed before her. She tried not to drool at the smell of it. She tried not to evaluate the pasta to see how they had made it. Making pasta from scratch was one of Gaby’s specialties, and one she was testing with various new flavors back at Il Lupo.
     
    “Thank you, Adriana,” Luca said, and the server nodded as she left. Luca turned back toward Gaby then, gesturing to their table. “Will you not at least enjoy one meal with me before you rush off?” he asked
     
    Gaby hesitated for only a moment before she nodded, grabbing her napkin back up from the table.
     
    Taking a sip of wine, she smiled. “This is delicious!” she said, swirling the liquid around in her glass and taking another sip.
     
    Luca nodded, taking a sip from his own glass. “You like it? It is from our family’s vineyards, just there,” he said, pointing out towards an expansive plot teeming with grape plants.
     
    Gaby picked up her fork and cut a piece of chicken, eating it with the fresh pasta. The fresh flavors exploded on her tongue, dancing over her palate. It was the best thing she had ever tasted—and that was saying something. She closed her eyes and savored the sensation of eating on a balcony in Florence… with a prince.
     
    That reminder had her opening her eyes to find him staring at her. Quickly he looked away.
     
    “My grandmother is convinced that what you say is true,” Gaby said, taking a sip of water.
     
    “She has good reason to be. Gabriella, it is entirely possible that you could be of noble birth, and have never known it all your life. We might have more in common than we realize.”
     
    Gaby frowned, setting her fork down. “What are you trying to say? That where you are now is better than where I am? That you’re better than me just because of the family you were born into?” Her tone was harsh, offended.
     
    Luca put up his hands. “No, not at all…”
     
    “But the thought of associating with someone who has worked hard to put food on the table and pay for an education rather than having it handed to them is just too much for a royal like you, is that it?”
     
    Luca’s expression was a twisted combination of guilt and pensiveness as he clearly tried to find a way to lie himself out of that truth.
     
    That was enough for Gaby. She pulled her cloth napkin from her lap and set it on the table.
     
    “Thank you for the opportunity to see Italy, Mr. Campania—is that what they call you? Anyway, you have a nice life. I’m going home now.”
     
    As Gaby stood to leave, another man walked in wearing a neat suit. He approached Luca after nodding politely to Gaby.
     
    “Sir,” he said in perfect English. “I’m afraid there has been some trouble with the jet. A major engine component has