pressure, just to salve his own guilty conscience.
But he couldn’t just leave things. Not now he’d seen her again. Surely she could spare him two minutes?
‘Please excuse me. I’m expected to mingle,’ he said to the guests he was with. As the patron of the charity, he was supposed to talk to every guest and thank them for their support; but he was pretty sure he’d already done that. So his conscience was clear as he headed towards the balcony where Tia had gone.
She was standing on the other side of the door as he opened it, and almost dropped her tray.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘Tia. It’s good to see you.’
‘Thank you, Your Royal Highness,’ she said coolly. ‘I would curtsey, but I’d rather avoid the risk of dropping my tray.’
He winced, knowing he deserved the rebuke. ‘You don’t need to curtsey, and it’s Antonio to you. Your brother was my friend.’
‘Yes, Your Royal Highness.’
Which put him very much in his place. He’d been a stranger and he deserved to be treated like one, despite his current attempt to be friendly with her. Given how he’d behaved, the last time they’d met, maybe it wasn’t so surprising that she preferred to keep a barrier of formality against him. OK. He’d stick to formality.
‘Ms Phillips,’ he said. ‘I appreciate that you’re working right now, but perhaps we could talk when you’ve finished?’
‘I really shouldn’t be taking up guests’ time, Your Royal Highness,’ she said.
Which was a polite way of telling him he shouldn’t be taking up her time, either. Another deserved rebuke, he thought. ‘After your shift,’ he said, glancing quickly at his watch. ‘The gala finishes in five minutes.’
When it looked as if she was going to think up an excuse, he said softly, ‘Please. It’d be so good to talk to someone who knew Nathan.’
For a moment, his brown eyes were filled with pain, before his expression returned to its former careful neutrality. So maybe the Prince wasn’t quite as cold and uncaring as he’d seemed. That glimpse of pain just now told her that the Prince really had cared about her brother. Maybe she should cut the man some slack. Be kind to her brother’s friend. Even though part of her still felt he should’ve made more of an effort, for her mum’s sake.
‘All right,’ she said. ‘I’ll meet you when I’m done here. But I’m working tomorrow. I can’t stay long.’
‘Just a few minutes. Thank you.’ He paused. ‘I’m staying in the penthouse suite. I can of course arrange for a chaperone, if you prefer.’
‘That won’t be necessary, Your Royal Highness.’ Like her brother, Prince Antonio was a man of honour. Tia knew without having to ask that his behaviour towards her would be respectful. ‘The penthouse suite,’ she echoed.
‘My security team will let you in,’ he said. ‘Forgive me for being rude, but I’d better go back to the guests. I’m the patron of the charity.’
Meaning that he was here on official duties? Though the Prince had been so cold and starchy when he’d come to tell Tia and her mum the news about Nathan, she wasn’t convinced he really cared about bereaved children, the way the patron would normally have a personal interest in the cause they supported. Though maybe losing his friend had taught him a little more empathy.
To her surprise, he held the door for her so she didn’t have to struggle with her tray of glasses.
This was surreal.
She’d just made an assignation with a prince. In his penthouse suite.
A prince who’d been her brother’s best friend, though because Nathan had kept his work and his family separate this was only the second time she’d ever met Prince Antonio. They didn’t really know each other. The only thing they had in common was Nathan and the hole his death had left in their lives.
But maybe she should hear what he had to say. Maybe he’d give her some crumb of comfort she could give to her mum. That would be worth her feeling even more tired tomorrow morning.
The next few minutes passed in a blur of clearing tables and attending to the last-minute needs of guests, but finally she was done.
Sadie hugged her. ‘Thanks so much for helping tonight, Tia. I owe you.’
‘That’s what friends are for,’ Tia said with a smile. ‘And you know it’s a cause close to my heart.’ She’d been in exactly the same position as the children that the charity helped.
‘Get a taxi home. I’ll pick up the bill,’ Sadie said.
Tia shook her head. ‘It’s fine. I’ll get the night tube. The walk will give me a chance to wind down.’ After she’d met Prince Antonio. Not that she planned to tell her friend about that.
‘Then I’m buying you dinner, some time this week. No arguments,’ Sadie said.
‘That would be good. Depending on how Mum is,’ Tia added swiftly. No way was she going out if her mum was having a tough health day. Family came first.
‘Or maybe I could bring dinner round for the three of us,’ Sadie suggested.
‘That might be nicer, if you don’t mind. Mum would really like that.’ And the company would help to brighten her mum’s day.
‘Then we’ll do it. Check your diary tomorrow and text me with your free dates,’ Sadie said.
I’m free every day, Tia thought, but didn’t say it. She was just grateful that one of her old school friends actually understood her situation enough to make the effort to stay in touch. Grace had encouraged her to make a life for herself; even though her grades hadn’t been good enough for her to train as a teacher, Grace had suggested other ways into the classroom. Tia could work as a classroom assistant or at a playgroup, perhaps, or maybe she could do a foundation course at university and then do her degree and train as a teacher. But Tia hadn’t wanted to leave her mum, knowing that Grace’s health really wasn’t good. Being away from home would’ve left her worrying that her mum was struggling, and eventually Tia had convinced her mother that she was much happier staying where she was.
‘I will,’ she promised.
Instead of leaving the hotel, Tia took the lift up to the penthouse suite. A man in a very ordinary suit leaned casually against the wall opposite the lifts as the doors opened, but Tia wasn’t fooled; it was obvious that he was the Prince’s security officer.
‘Ms Phillips.’ It was a statement, not a question. He clearly knew who she was and was expecting her. ‘Would you like to come with me?’
It was a polite enough question, but she knew there wasn’t a real choice. It was accompany him or go straight back down in the lift.
‘Thank you,’ she said.
He ushered her over to the door of the penthouse suite, and knocked. ‘Your guest has arrived, sir.’
Not ‘Your Royal Highness’? Or maybe he was from the Casavallian military.
‘Thank you, Giacomo,’ Antonio said as he opened the door. ‘Please come in, Ms Phillips.’
The carpet was the sort that you sank into when you walked on it. One wall of the sitting room was pure glass, looking out over the Thames; it was late enough that the lights from the bridge and the buildings on the other bank were reflected on the dark water of the river.
‘Thank you for coming. May I offer you a drink? Champagne?’
This was her cue to refuse politely and ask him to just get on with it and see what he had to say. But since he had offered refreshment and she’d been on her feet all