CHAPTER 93

COUNTESS ELENA'S POV

The private upper deck of the Royal Empress, a two-hundred-foot luxury megayacht docked at the private berth of Port Vell, was a sea of international influence and high-society elegance.

Under a canopy of warm fairy lights and starlight, soft Spanish guitar music blended with the gentle clinking of crystal glasses and the polite murmur of global business. Below the yacht's polished mahogany deck, the dark water of Barcelona harbor reflected the lit-up skyline of the city.

I stood near the right-side rail, wearing a flowing floor-length gown of midnight-purple silk, with my hair styled in quiet Spanish elegance. In my hand, I held a glass...