Pearl went back to their place on the couch. She wasn't going to approach Erik. She wasn't going to approach any man. She was going to enjoy her night and if a man wanted to earn her time, that was on him. Fi followed suit. "Another bottle of wine, please," Pearl asked the waiter. "This one's on me," she heard a familiar voice say."Erik," Pearl said, standing to greet him. "I would like to say I'm a such a terrific stalker that I made this happen, but this, this is a completely fortuitous meeting and I cannot say I am disappointed." He said, kissing her hand. "Fiona, always a pleasure." He kissed Fi's hand as well. "I have a favor to ask of you both. My cousin is a huge fan of your show, Fiona. And my little brother appears to have a bit of crush on you, Pearl. He is the one that noticed you were here, in fact. He said he cannot wait for the Poems for Wolves album to "drop", would you mind if I showed off my famous friends to my family by having a drink with us?" Fi smiled and t

Pearl woke up in her room, wrapped in a towel, her hair still damp. She remembered leaving the pool and wrapping the towel around her and excusing herself to bed. Fi and Louis had already went to their room and the rest of them were close to passing out as well. She remembered Erik coming into her room and lying next to her, bringing her into his arms and telling her how sorry he was about what she had found out. She told him she didn't want to talk about it or think about it and fell asleep. Good god, a prince and a gentleman, what's next? A spell from witch and a white horse?She laughed out loud to herself. She put on some clean clothes and washed her face, putting on a little bit of makeup to make her not look hung over and managed to her a brush through her hair. She walked to the kitchen and found Erik there, having coffee with the maid, reading the paper. "Well well well, if it isn't the Islay scotch loving, Olympic canon ball champion herself. I'll need a proper autograph" Erik

"This is great! Who knew polo was so intense?" Pearl said to Erik. They had a private area with a table and chairs on the lawn with a perfect view of everything. "Your brother is really good." Pearl said. "He's good at everything. He's always been the good brother. I am positive my family wishes he was the elder brother and next in line." Erik said. Pearl saw the look in his eyes and recognized it well. Self loathing. "I'm not so sure about that. Of all the men I've met, which isn't very many, but still important, you've been the most stand up, honest and good so far. I think there's something to be said about that." She said "That's one side of me." He said with a devilish grin. She looked down and decided not to dig further into that. "So, did you go to college? You know everything about me and I know nothing about you." "I did." Erik said. "I went to the University of St. Andrews. I have a degree in business." "Really? You seem so artistic. I would think some kind of degree i

"And now, on behalf of the polo association and the 37th annual charity ball of Rome, we would like to introduce his royal highness, Prince Friederike Pilsen-Chamberlain, the crown prince of Wales and future King of England." The crowd roared and clapped. "I'll just be a sec, darling." He smiled and said to Pearl, leaving her side for only the second time that evening. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the annual charity polo match and ball, I thank each and every one of you for the time and effort you have all put into this evening to raise money for such noble causes. One of those causes being the New Hope Foundation, a charity incredibly important to me. It has become an international success in it's assisting women of all nationalities with becoming independent of abuse and trafficking and allowing them the ability to achieve a better life for themselves and for their children by providing housing, education, counseling and grant money to help them find strength

Pearl awoke to Erik laying beside her. Even though she had denied him the night before, he was still right by her side when she woke up. Something she was not used to. "Good morning, beautiful nightingale." He said. Pearl smiled. "Good morning." "I slept like the dead. Sleeping next to you is the best sleep I've had in decades. I'm going to have to kidnap you just to keep you as my sleep mate." He laughed. "Yes. Come to think of it, I sleep really well when you're around too. Even when I'm not passed out drunk." She joked. "I have to have Auggie back to Florence this afternoon and I have an early dinner with my uncle in Venice. I will drop you off on the way. I was hoping maybe you could meet me there for drinks later this evening." He asked shyly. "Meet you? Again tonight? In Venice?" She asked. "Don't act so surprised, nightingale, I already told you I was kidnapping you. You're in Italy until next Friday, correct? Today is Sunday so that gives me only a week and four days to