Page 75 of Not-So-Perfect Princess
Alejandro choked up. That was all he’d ever wanted from his father. “I love you, too.”
“We’ll have to start listening to each other as a family. Perhaps you can show me your plans for the properties you’ve purchased.”
Alejandro nodded.
His father smiled. “Good luck with Julianna, son.”
“Thanks.” Alejandro ran to his car. The island wasn’t that big, but searching for her alone would take too much time. The crew was preparing for the race.
The race.
No, Julianna was more important.
He saw a familiar car and sprinted over to his security detail. “We must find Princess Julianna. I don’t care if you have to search every single hotel on the island. Find her.”
For the next two hours, Alejandro searched to no avail. He checked the tunnels, the beach, the dock and the yacht club that was sponsoring the race. The narrow streets grew crowded as the town came alive. Excitement about the Med Cup finals filled the air.
Text messages from the crew asking where he was and why he wasn’t at the boat preparing for the race, grew more frantic. They also wanted to know if J.V. was coming.
Alejandro didn’t want them to know Julianna was missing. He finally sent a reply he never expected to send: Go without me.
He’d regret not looking for Julianna more than he’d regret missing the race.
The race.
He’d checked the yacht club earlier, but she might go to the boat to race.
Hope glimmered, the first time all morning.
Traffic clogged the roads. Impatient, Alejandro parked on the side of the road, exited the car and jogged to the marina.
Up ahead, a woman with long, blond hair wearing the colors of his crew headed toward the yacht club.
“Julianna,” he yelled.
She didn’t stop. Alejandro ran after her, but was going against the crowd of people. He found himself being pushed back.
He had to reach her somehow.
Alejandro saw a narrow opening between buildings. He worked his way over, but a large hedge blocked his way.
Nothing was going to stop him from reaching her.
Looking around, he saw a crate. He dragged it over and climbed over the hedge. His team jacket caught on a thorn and tore. He didn’t care. He dropped down on the other side, jumped over some small plants until he made it to a paved walkway that led to the marina.
Alejandro ran, his legs pumping as fast as they could, but he’d lost sight of her. Julianna was…gone.
A bolt of grief ripped through him. His fault. He had no one else to blame.
He stared at the marina in the distance. A familiar mast caught his attention. La Rueca was heading out to the course to race.
Alejandro didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He pulled out his phone instead.
Good luck, he texted.
Sam replied: We’ve got J.V., no luck needed.
Alejandro read the message three times before the words sunk in. Julianna had been on her way to La Rueca. She’d made it onboard in time.
But he hadn’t.
He laughed.
Now he would have to wait to see how things turned out both with La Rueca and Julianna. But at least he knew she was safe. That was enough. For now.
He texted Sam, asking him to hand his mobile phone to Julianna.
What? she asked.
He typed, You OK?
OK. You?
Alejandro typed a message and hit Send.
That was all he could do now.
He called his security detail and his father then made his way to the yacht club. There, he could watch the race unfold. His boat was out there with the woman he loved at the helm. He didn’t want to miss a single minute of it.
The race was in its final leg. Not having Alejandro aboard was strange, especially during such a tight race. La Rueca had made up distance since heading upwind, but couldn’t catch the lead boat.
Jules clutched the wheel, the wind whipping through her ponytail. The same frustration etched on the crew’s face must be on hers. “We’re going to run out of course.”
“We’ll never catch them this way,” Phillipe agreed.
“Alejandro will be satisfied with second place.” She thought about the text he’d sent as they headed out.
If we lose the race, we lose. But just being here, we’ve already won.
She’d already won her freedom. She’d lost her family and…
No. Jules needed to focus. “But he deserves a win.”
