“Your prince is very charming,” Grandma Tessa said as she held out a cup of coffee. “Too charming, if you ask me.”

“No one did,” Grammy M said tartly. “You’re always looking for the bruise on the apple. Sometimes there isn’t one.”

Grandma Tessa sniffed. “How can you be as old as you are and still so foolish about the world?” She narrowed her gaze as she looked at Rafael. “Crown prince or not, what do we really know about him?”

At that moment, Rafael’s lineage was the least of Mia’s problems.

“This has been fun,” she said, and grabbed Rafael’s coffee cup along with one for herself. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“Stay close to the house,” Grandma Tessa told her. “I’ve called Joe. He’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

“Joe?” Rafael asked as they left the kitchen and stepped into the sunny late June morning. There was still dew on the flowers, and the scent of grapes from the acres of vineyards filled the air.

“The ex-Navy SEAL brother I mentioned before.”

“He lives nearby?”

She handed him his coffee and nodded toward a large house on a hill, less than a quarter mile away. “He lives there.”

“A very close family,” Rafael said.

“You have no idea.” She clutched her coffee in both hands and turned to the man walking next to her. “Who are you and why are you here?”

“I told you. I am the man you knew as Diego.”

“As simple as that?” She tried to laugh, but the effort fell flat. Her mind wouldn’t accept what was happening. She didn’t know what to think, what to feel. Her anger had faded, leaving behind confusion and a sense of loss. As if seeing Diego after so long made her miss him all over again. “Nothing makes sense. You’re supposed to be dead.”

“You have mentioned that before. Are you disappointed to find otherwise?”