The Italian's Runaway Princess
Is life outside the palace walls everything she dreamed of?When billionaire Gio Grassi rescues a beautiful stranger on the streets of Florence he never imagined she'd be royalty! Princess Luciana’s vivacity intrigues him. With her arranged royal wedding only weeks away, can this chance encounter change their lives forever?
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Is life outside the palace walls...
...everything she dreamed of?
When billionaire Gio Grassi rescued a beautiful stranger on the streets of Florence, he never imagined sheâd be royalty! Princess Lucianaâs innocence compels Gio to protect her, and her vivacity intrigues him. But Gioâs been betrayed before and he canât let it happen again. With Lucianaâs arranged royal wedding only weeks away, can this chance encounter change the course of these two livesâforever?
ANDREA BOLTER has always been fascinated by matters of the heart. In fact sheâs the one her girlfriends turn to for advice with their love-lives. A city mouse, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. She loves travel, rock ânâ roll, sitting in cafés and watching romantic comedies sheâs already seen a hundred times. Say hi at andreabolter.com.
ISBN: 978-1-474-07812-2
THE ITALIANâS RUNAWAY PRINCESS
© 2018 Andrea Bolter
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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For Ellen
Contents
HER ROYAL HIGHNESS Princess Luciana de la Isla de Izerote finally inhaled the warm air of Florence, Italy. The secret journey from her home, an island near the coast of Spain, had been difficult. At last she was under the Tuscan sun, the yellow glow much different from the seascape she was used to. But the liberation she expected to feel as she took her first breath of freedom was hardly as sheâd hoped.
As a matter of fact, Luciana was starting to feel afraid being alone. She was short of breath from walking too fast away from the encounter at the jewelry store, where she had been unsuccessful in converting a palace ruby into a typical touristâs spending money. Worse still, three teenage boys seemed to be following her. Swiveling her head enough to take a look at them behind her, she saw they were scruffy and wore shabby T-shirts and track pants. These unexpected companions made her entire escape plan seem not only reckless, but like it was about to become dangerous.
âBambolina, let us see your necklace,â one of the boys called out as they closed the distance between themselves and the princess. âWeâll buy your jewel.â
Luciana hastened her pace. Sheâd arrived in Florence to have an adventure before she lived the rest of her life in royal duty. The escapade didnât include being chased by thugs who might be trying to steal the jewelry sheâd brought with her to sell as a way to finance her trip, given that she had no actual money of her own. The princess quickened to almost a run as her hand clutched the ruby pendant that hung from a heavy chain. Her sense of direction turned all around, she didnât even know where she was headed.
The boys behind her may or may not have seen that she had other pieces of jewelry in the purse that hung from a long leather strap on one of her shoulders, crossing her body and slapping against her at the opposite hip as she rushed away from them. She might have been able to run faster had she not also been toting a wheeled suitcase that contained her belongings for her three weeks as a Florentine tourist. After which time, sheâd return to Izerote. And to her obligations, including her arranged marriage to King Agustin de la Isla de Menocita, the widower thirty years her senior from a neighboring island.
