“Katia.” He ground out her name through his clenched jaw. “So help me God, if you’ve done anything to hurt her.”
Katia’s neck snapped back in shock as she glared at Aléx. “I’m pushy and I might go too far sometimes, but I’m not violent, Aléx. I wouldn’t try to physically harm a pregnant woman.”
Her eyes misted over as they moved from side to side in an anxious fashion. As if she were trying to tell him he should know better.
He put space between them, letting some of the tension bleed out of him. “I’m sorry, Katia. Please, go and enjoy the rest of the party.”
When Katia was gone, he traced Regina’s steps to the kitchen and back upstairs to their living quarters. He took the steps two at a time to get there. Considering the last thing they’d said to each other, her being out of his sight made him uneasy. He needed to fix things.
He called out for Regina once he made it inside their quarters. The rooms were silent, too silent. Fear ricocheted through him as all sorts of imagined scenarios ran through his head. He shook his head, trying to free himself from the dark thoughts that would paralyze him if he allowed them to.
And that’s when he saw it: the soft light coming from that room at the end of the hall. To his horror, Charlie’s room door was open. A shift in the air behind him made him aware he wasn’t alone. He turned to find his sister standing there with worry written into the lines of her face.
“I swear I didn’t think she would react this way, Aléx.”
“React what way?”
“I didn’t think she would leave when I…”
His mind filled in the blanks, coming to the only conclusion he could. “Eliana, you gave her the key?”
“She was hurting, and you refused to tell her the truth and stop her pain.”
His sister had always pushed the boundaries of respectability, but never anything like this.
“It wasn’t your place. It wasn’t your truth to reveal.”
“I’m sorry, Aléx. I was trying to help the both of you. I can’t watch you hurt anymore, and I won’t watch you hurt Regina in the process. Hate me, banish me if you must. I just couldn’t stand by and watch you destroy the best thing that’s ever happened to you. I was there when you lost it all before. I can never watch you go through that again.”
He could see the hurt in his sister’s watery gaze and her trembling lips. His pain had impacted so many people, and he’d selfishly only concerned himself with his own. He grabbed his sister in a hug. He’d deal with his anger later. Right now, he just needed her to feel the love he had for her. After sacrificing so much for him, that’s the least she deserved.
“Go find her and bring her back where she belongs, Aléx.”
He locked gazes with his sister and nodded.
“I promise I will.”
“Your Majesty, this is the head of security. The queen is at the docks. She’s on the ferry to Nyeusi. We’re holding clearance until you get there.”
“Is my helicopter ready?”
The docks were a thirty-minute drive from the palace. The helicopter would cut that down to ten minutes.
“The pilot has been notified and is making his way to the helipad. However, King Jasiri’s helicopter is ready to take flight immediately. He says he’s waiting for you.”
Aléx ended the call and headed toward the car in the courtyard. Jasiri didn’t say a word to him once he’d boarded. Instead, he instructed his pilot to take off. Before Aléx knew it, they were landing atop the roof of the ferry depot directly across from the docks.
He went to step off the helicopter, but he stopped. He grabbed Jasiri into a tight hug and yelled, “Thank you, Cousin,” hoping he could hear Aléx among the whirring of the helicopter blades.
He jumped out of the helicopter and quickly made it to the docks. Just as Regina was about to walk inside to the seating area, he grabbed her arm and said, “Not like this. Please, don’t go like this.”
His grip on her arm was tight. She was about to pull away from him until she looked into his stricken face and saw his pale skin and his pinpoint pupils that were locked on to her.
He’s scared. No, he’s terrified.
She didn’t understand this. She had expected concern, possibly anger that she’d dared to leave him, but not fear.
And then he spoke words that doused any anger she’d harbored.
