AllFreeNovel
Share Us
For a hysterical moment, she wondered what would happen if she told Luis she was busy. She took a deep breath. “I would be honored, Su Majestad. Thank you so much.”
“My secretary will be in touch.” He turned to the duchess in what was clearly a dismissal of Quinn.
Quinn curtsied again, just in case anyone cared, and beelined for the door. As she got there, Raul intercepted her, his eyes glinting with amusement. When he reached for the knob, he leaned in close. “It won’t be so bad. Hopefully, Tante Hélène will be there, and you won’t have to sit beside my father.”
“Is that even a possibility?” Quinn knew her eyes were wide with terror at the prospect.
“Well, he must want to get to know you better, or he wouldn’t have invited you.” Raul chuckled. “Don’t look so horrified. Pater can be charming in an informal setting.”
“He’s the king!” Quinn grated under her breath.
“You Americans aren’t supposed to be impressed by titles,” Raul said.
“Right now, I live in his country.”
Raul twisted the knob and pulled the door open with a grin. “The dungeons have been converted into storage, so you’re safe.”
“Please don’t ever send me to the palace again,” Quinn begged Mikel as she sat down in his office to report on her meeting.
“Why not?” her boss asked.
“Because I was in a room with a prince, and then a duchess walked in. That was bad enough, but then the king showed up. I’m not cut out for royal protocol.”
The corners of Mikel’s mouth twitched upward. “I assume the duchess was Gabriel’s mother.”
“Yup.” So now Mikel knew that she’d just met her boyfriend’s mother for the first time. “Then the king invited me to dinner at the palace on Sunday.”
Mikel coughed.
“You’re laughing at me, aren’t you?” Quinn said.
“It is entertaining to hear how much you object to an invitation that most Calevans would kill for.” The amusement faded from his face. “In truth, you should be grateful. The king is throwing the mantle of his protection around you. Also, Sunday is family night, so it will be an informal meal.”
She suspected her idea of informal and the king’s were very different.
“This is surreal.” She shook her head, trying to clear the turmoil. “Can we talk about the case? Criminals are so much easier to deal with.”
“Did Raul have any names to offer?” Mikel asked with a nod.
“A couple, but he didn’t believe they rose to the level of kidnapping him.” She ran through the three possibilities and their backgrounds.
“Dead ends,” Mikel agreed before he tapped a fingertip on his desk. “However, we are going to visit the surgeon while his wife is at a spa in Italy.”
Her pulse jumped. “I’m going too?”
“You went toe-to-toe with Dupont, so you can intimidate a mere surgeon.”
Thirty minutes of strategizing later, Quinn sat in her office, staring at her phone. Nothing from Pete.
She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out the key chain Dupont had tossed at her. The brass coin dangled at the end in its plastic case, showing first a horse, then a harp as it spun in slow circles. Her father had often twirled it like that, asking her which side she liked the best. She dropped it on the desk.
Taking a deep breath, she swiped to her father’s contact information and typed, Checking in to make sure you and Uncle Pete are okay. LMK.
Her finger hovered over the Send button.
When she’d left the United States, she had told her father not to contact her except in an emergency. Nor would she contact him unless she deemed it necessary. Caleva offered her a fresh start after the shame of being convicted and serving time in prison. She didn’t want her past throwing murky shadows over her bright, shiny future.
She had reached for happiness once—just a normal job with a normal life—and it had been smacked away from her. You would think she would learn her lesson. But no, she had to go and fall in love with a royal duke.
