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Kat whirled around. “Yes. My children. And I need to get to them now. If a killer came after me, he could go after them, too.”
Kat grabbed her Ropers and stuffed one foot in, then the other. She ignored her shaking hands. She had to get to Lanie and Hayden. She needed to see her kids, hug them, hold them, make sure they were okay. They were her family. Her only family.
Her eyes stung. She didn’t need some father who didn’t bother coming around until she was full grown, bringing danger into her life. She didn’t need anyone.
She chanced a glance at Logan. His expression had turned stone still. She wouldn’t have been able to recognize how badly her words had shocked him if she hadn’t watched his index finger scratching against his thumb. She recognized the sign. She’d seen it the last time while she’d hidden from him. He’d come to her house right after she’d run. He’d cursed the empty building, then left. Kat had wanted to move, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t let herself hope.
A few months later she’d learned the hard way that she’d been right. Logan didn’t really want her.
The king interrupted her thoughts.
“Your offspring. Do you have a son?” A small smile tilted his lips.
She didn’t like the predatory gleam in his eye. “What does it matter? This facade is over. Go back where you came from, and leave me and mine alone.”
She stalked to the door, grateful the sedative had worn off so she didn’t resemble a drunk on a Friday night bar crawl.
“Stop her,” the king ordered his flunky.
Sergei lunged at Kat. She stumbled away from him.
Logan stepped between them, cutting the man off. “I don’t think so.”
“You dare—”
“I dare a lot,” Logan said. “Move away. Now.”
Sergei didn’t stop coming. Kat braced herself. She’d fight. For her kids. With a single swipe Logan laid the man on the ground with a Taekwondo move. Logan pressed his arm against the man’s windpipe. “Don’t think about crossing me. You won’t win.”
Sergei’s eyes bugged out. He coughed and nodded his head.
Kat had never seen Logan this way. He was swift and deadly. She had no doubt he could maim or kill Sergei if he wanted to. The muscles in Logan’s arms tensed as he pressed against Sergei’s neck once more, then let him go with a warning glare.
“You’ve made your point,” the king announced. “Which is why I didn’t fire you when my son was murdered on your watch.”
Kat gasped.
“Yes, young woman. Both of your half brothers were assassinated. Now do you see why you need protection?”
Kat’s body went numb. “Logan?” She looked toward him, wanting nothing more than reassurance, but seeing none in his gaze.
“I’m sorry. You do need protection. This morning proves it.”
She couldn’t listen any longer. “We have to get my kids now.”
“As my heir, you are coming with me,” King Leopold commanded, his face and voice stubborn. “Logan, retrieve the children and meet me at the plane. We’ll leave for Bellevaux at the earliest opportunity.”
“No!” She’d fought too hard to take control of her life—for her and her children. She raced across the suite, yanked the door open and bolted down the hall.
“Kat!” Logan bolted after her, jamming the door to the suite. A spew of curses rose as Sergei and his men slammed against the wood. She didn’t know how long it would hold.
Kat threw open the door to the stairwell. She had to get away. She’d go home, grab the twins and disappear. Someway, somehow. She’d never let her children around the man who claimed to be her father.
Heavy footsteps pounded after her, getting closer and closer. Within two flights Logan caught her by the arm and pulled her against him.
She shoved at his chest. “Let me go.”
He pressed her to the wall. “Calm down. I just want to talk for one second. We need a quick plan.”
She stilled. “We?”
“Yeah,” he said, touching her cheek. “We.”
“I’m not going with the king.”
“We’ll work something out, but you need to listen to me.”
She gritted her teeth. “Why should I trust you? You drugged me.”
“I didn’t know about your children. If I had, I would have done things differently. I would have taken you to get them first.” Logan dropped his forehead against hers. “Please, Kat. I won’t let anything happen to you or them. I promise.”
She took a deep breath. “You’ll get me out of here?”
Logan lifted his head and met her gaze. “I’ll find a safe place for you and your kids.”
The truth of his words hung in the air between them.
She finally nodded. She needed help.
He kept his Glock ready. “Let’s go. We have to keep moving.”
They raced down the stairs. “If the king finds us, you won’t just hand over my kids?”
Logan stiffened beside her. “How could you ask me that?”
“I knew you for one week three years ago and you said you were a rancher, but you work for a king now.”
“I am a rancher. One who’s done some jobs for King Leopold over the years,” Logan conceded. At the next level, he checked the small window to the hallway, before moving on. “I own a private investigation and security firm.”
Kat’s breaths came harder, but a flicker of hope glimmered. “Can you take us where I don’t have to worry about him coming after us?” She grabbed his wool sweater. “I won’t take any chances. Not with my children.”
“I understand needing to protect your family, Kat.” He helped her round the next level. “We’ll have to make preparations. How old are your kids?”
Kat hesitated. She’d never thought to face this moment. Not after he’d had his ranch hands turn her away. “They’re two and a half,” she whispered softly, not wanting to meet his gaze, but knowing she had no choice.
Comprehension flashed across his face, and he tightened his grip on her arm. “They’re mine?”
“I tried to tell—”
Above them, a door slammed open, and he cursed. “Save it. We need to get you out of here.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the stairs before she could argue. She’d tried to tell him when she’d found out. He was the one who hadn’t wanted her.
When they reached the second to the last landing, a masked figure, pistol in hand, rammed through the door beside them. He aimed directly at Kat.
Logan tackled her and twisted his body to shield her. Both men’s guns went off.
Logan sucked in a sharp breath. “Stay back,” he snapped.
Faster than she could comprehend, he twisted his legs into a scissor lock around the assailant’s knees and ankles and tripped him. The man tumbled down the stairs and slammed into the wall headfirst. Logan raced to follow, then stopped.
“Damn,” he muttered.
The attacker stared sightlessly back, his neck at an unnatural angle.
Logan bent down and removed the balaclava that masked the man’s features, then swore. “This is one of Leopold’s guards. I warned him he’d been infiltrated. If you’d gone with the king …”
“What if he’d gotten near the children?” She couldn’t stop her voice from shaking.
Logan grabbed Kat’s hand and pulled her to him. Kat huddled against Logan’s chest, unable to stop trembling. Please let this be a nightmare. Please let me wake up. Please let my babies be all right.
Logan looked as if he wanted to say something, but he sighed and tapped his phone.
“Meet me at the back entrance. We’re going to Plan B.” A Russian curse sounded above them. “Sergei.”
They hurried out the stairwell and around the corner.
“I’m late,” Kat said. “I need to call my kids.”
“You mean our kids?”
Kat nodded, a feeling of dread spreading inside her. “Yes. Our kids.”
“You have one minute.” He slipped a small metal tool into a locked maintenance closet door, closed them in and handed the phone over. She fumbled so many times he finally took the cell back.
“What’s the number?”
Kat told him, then waited as he held the phone to his ear for a long time.
He hit a button and waited again.
“What’s going on?”
Logan frowned. “It just keeps ringing. Do you have an answering machine?”
Her heart stopped. “Yes, but Paulina should have picked up by now. She’s the babysitter and she wasn’t planning on taking the kids out today.”
“Well, the machine didn’t answer and neither did anyone else.”
THE THRONE ROOM WAS EMPTY.
It wouldn’t be for long.
The double doors whispered open and cautious footsteps crossed the marble floors toward the spot where the duke stood admiring the way the gold-plated walls glistened.
He ignored the simpering fool behind him and continued his perusal.
After the redecoration in the wake of the recent massacre, this was now a room befitting his future plans for Bellevaux. No longer would it simply be a tourist destination wallowing in a glorious past. Countries would be courting Bellevaux’s resources for the first time in a half century.
Rare earth metals were prized on the black market for weapon development. All he needed to take his place in Bellevaux’s history were the right partners. The man who could parlay the metals into money had landed in his lap. His greater dilemma—a princess with a royal bloodline accepted by the people. Leopold’s daughter was perfect, no matter how common. Once he had an heir off her, the American cowgirl could be disposed of. Everything was falling into place. As long as he maintained control.
“We have a problem, Your Grace.”
The Duke of Sarbonne turned. “Did I grant you permission to speak, Niko?”
His advisor swallowed. “I beg your pardon.”
“Very well.” The duke nodded. “I’m beginning to believe our friends in America are not as competent as they claimed. Too many mistakes. Too long to gather information. Perhaps they have no stomach for what is required.”
“There is news,” Niko’s voice rushed out. “The princess has children. One is rumored to be a boy.”
The duke stilled.
“Your Grace?”
“Leave me,” he snapped.
“As you wish.” Niko bowed, his entire body shaking.
The doors whispered shut. The duke placed his hands behind his back and studied the exquisite tapestry from the Middle Ages depicting his ancestor in ruthless battle as that duke defeated his brother and seized the crown of Bellevaux. The sword the man had used hung prominently behind the throne now. Luminal would probably still reveal the ancient blood of those fools who sought to challenge.
Modern-day warfare required a different manner of weapon, but the duke intended the present outcome to be no less lethal. He retrieved his cell phone from his pocket.
“I assume you’ve heard about the … complications?”
“Yes, Your Grace. Or should I say Your Majesty.”
“Soon.” He liked the way the title sounded. Before too long, the entire country would embrace him as such. “Eliminate them, but the princess must live.”
“Your Grace—”
“I told you, Victor, I need a princess. Take care of her illegitimate litter and you’ll have all the rare earth metals you can mine.”
“Then it will be done … Your Majesty.”
“Victor, I’m not finished. Any mistakes, and I will be … disappointed.” Sarbonne smiled at the memory of his morning’s activities. “A state which has proved … most unhealthy … for others in the past.”
Chapter Two
