Chapter 11

Author's Note: Hi Girls! I'm so sorry about the delay... I wanna say thanks to all of you, who reviewed this chapter, so to Tommysmy21, Risingdancer, bluegirl-783, Naseka, Kristi-Julie, and to Ursa. And a big hug to Rach for beta this for me again. :-) Thanks. I'm dedicating this chapter to all of my faitful reviewers.

"So, you want to catch her?" asked Elsie Kentworthy from the across the telephone line. She could not hide the excitement in her voice.

"I knew you would appreciate that," the Viscount laughed evilly. "After all, it's your specialty, my dear."

"I will do my best. And I have to support my beloved brother."

"Thank you. You know how fair Nicholas is. At least I can count on you from the family. And don't forget, if we can manage this, I will be the king and you --"

"A Princess! Oh my God! I can't wait for that," said Elsie excitedly. "But we have to begin the work immediately. I think the most important question is the identity of the mysterious man?"

"Well, that will be hard to find out."

"Hard?! You're joking!" Elsie laughed in disbelief.

"Why? Do you have any ideas?"

"Of course I have. Don't play with me. You also know the only man who can be her lover."

"…."

"It's Joseph! Her Head of Security."

"No. No. No. He's totally out of the question," said the Viscount heatedly.

"Why?"

"Clarisse would never get off with a guy like Joseph. He is a commoner, a rat. She would never sink so deep."

"But don't you see the little looks and touches between the two of them?"

"Of course, I do." answered the Viscount. "But that's only one sided. Joseph is madly in love with her and that's all. She is just kind to him. Believe me; she would never sink so deep. She needs a real man, someone who deserves her… "

"Someone like you?" Elsie asked suddenly.

"Of course," Mabrey replied, as if it were obvious. "She made a mistake by marrying Rupert."

"Maybe she just wanted to be a queen…"

"She is not that kind. But even if she was, she can be a queen by my side as well."

"You mean…" started Elsie.

"After I finesse the throne away, she will marry me to regain her position."

"You cannot be serious." Elsie said disbelievingly. "She would never marry you. I'm sorry, but that's the truth. Maybe if Joseph were not in the picture, but…"

"She doesn't love him!" cried the Viscount. "First she chose the wrong person, and now that Rupert is out of the way, I'm the only potential choice on the horizon."

"Alright. We will see," said Elsie impatiently. "But now, we have to make a plan."

"Of course," the Viscount answered as he struggled to calm himself. "So do you have any concrete ideas?"

"Well, I think the most important thing is to keep her under observation. We have to watch her every move. That's not easy, but I've done it many times before," Elsie said self-confidently. "That helped me to catch Princess Mia with our Nicholas at the lake. That was a juicy story," laughed Elsie.

"Ha ha. Yes. And that's what we need again – a big scandal! Let's get to work!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A few hours later in Clarisse's suite…

"Good afternoon Your Majesty." Joseph smiled and closed the door behind him.

"What?" Clarisse asked as she turned around at her dressing table in surprise. "Your Majesty?"

"I'm sorry, but Peter was standing at the door." Joseph smiled and stepped forward.

"Oh I see." Clarisse chuckled and stood up. She was in his arms a moment later.

"So are you leaving?"

"Yes, but first I wanted to drop in on you." Joseph looked at her lovingly and stroked her cheek right above her lips.

"How long can you stay?"

"Actually, I should be downstairs already, but I cannot go without a goodbye kiss."

"I wouldn't let you go without it," whispered Clarisse and she was lost in his loving eyes for a moment before he leant closer and kissed her. Everything was so slow, they wanted to prolong this sweet little time together as long as possible.

As he sucked her lower lip, he breathed in her perfume what mixed with her natural scent. It was simply intoxicating. And he wanted more. More from this woman. He felt he could never get enough of this feeling. To feel her. To be with her. But he had to go.

"Two days." whispered Joseph when they slowly broke the kiss. "But if I can catch the six o'clock plane, I can be here at seven thirty."

"And I will wait for you at… our little hideaway." Clarisse smiled radiantly.

"Fifty-two hours and… "

"… Seventeen minutes," laughed Clarisse.

"That's an eternity. But at least I won't be bored. I can dream about you."

"But meetings are so noisy. How could you concentrate with so much noise?"

"Don't worry." Joseph laughed. "I can dream about you anytime and anywhere…. What is so funny?" he asked, because Clarisse started laughing.

"Just… Don't you think we like silly teenagers sometimes?"

"Yes, I do. But I'm certainly enjoying it. And I think we deserve this happiness."

"Do I really deserve this?" Clarisse asked lost in thought.

"You deserve nothing but this."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fortunately, time passed by quickly. Clarisse was busy with her meetings and the paperwork, and Joseph… he simply did not pay attention to the time. He was at a conference but mentally he was somewhere else, far away from Genf. He was in a little flat in Pyrus with Clarisse in his arms. And no-one could take that away from him…

"Joseph! Joseph!" Suddenly he heard his name, and as he looked around everybody was staring at him.

"Yes?" asked Joseph uncertainly.

"What's your opinion?" asked Mr. Montaz again. He was the representative of Genovia from the Parliament.

That was a bit awkward. Joseph had absolutely no idea about the subject.

"Do you agree with us?" Mr. Montaz tried to help, because he saw that Joseph didn't pay attention in the last few minutes. That was just a yes/no question.

"Yes, of course." answered Joseph self-confident. His chance was fifty-fifty.

"Right." smiled Mr. Montaz "So Gentlemen, we all agree with the new security system. And that means, the royal chambers will fitted up with voice-recorder security cameras."

"Damn it." whispered Joseph as he laid back.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Meanwhile in car with darkly tinted windows parked in front of Joseph's flat…

"Yes, she is here again," Elsie said to the phone. "No… She just visited a charity center and two ministries in the last two days. Nothing extraordinary, except this."

"And she was there yesterday too, right?" asked the Viscount.

"Yes. It's a private flat. So I'm sure we are very close, but the strange thing is that she is always alone."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. No-one went in and out. Not a soul. And there wasn't anybody indoors too, because everything was dark before she arrived."

"And whose flat is it?"

"I'm working on it, don't worry. I'm just waiting for a phone call… Oh, I think that's it. Please hold!" said Elsie and changed to another line. "Yes? Oh my God! Thanks." cried Elsie and switched lines to speak with the Viscount again. "So my dear brother, who do you think the owner of the little flat in town is? Hm?" Elsie asked happily, barely able to contain her laughter.

"No! No, that's impossible."

"But it's true. It's JOSEPH's flat!!!!!"

To be continued….