Bad things wavered at the edges of Flicka’s mind, reasons she should stay quiet, reasons she should hide.
The urge torunseized her.
Her heart hammered.
Dieter rubbed his face and asked, “Did she make it back to his suite last night?”
His suite?
Thingstumbled into her head.
Images emerged from her troubled mind first.
Chandeliers floating far above, hovering near the vaulted ceiling like flying crystal palaces.
Guests wearing white tie and tails or sumptuous evening dresses, trimmed with the glittering diamond stars and bright sashes of royal honors.
Tiaras in women’s hair.
That was the wedding and reception for her brother Wulfram von Hannover and his new wife, Rae Stone-von Hannover. After months of planning and a postponement, it had finally happened yesterday.
She remembered Dieter, looking down at her, a crease of concern between his eyebrows, worry clouding his dove gray eyes. The warmth of his body radiated through his clothes, brushing her bare shoulders and arms as the crowd waltzed around them. Flicka had danced with Dieter, held safely in his arms in the darkened ballroom while music drifted through the air, and he had shielded her with his body when Alexandre Grimaldi had nearly brutally murdered someone again.
The images of large pictures scattered over a coffee table came to her, depicting Flicka’s husband, Pierre Grimaldi, Prince of Monaco, with another woman and their four children. The woman wasAbigai Caillemotte. Pierre had married her before God and her family. He was in love with her. He had danced with Abigai at his wedding to Flicka, and he had spent Flicka’s wedding night in Abigai’s arms. Cramps creased Flicka’s chest, all the breath rushing out of her again, like a baseball bat swung hard.
She had trusted Pierre. She had loved him. Humiliation and grief sliced at her.
And then afterward, Pierre had told his Secret Service colonel, Quentin Sault, to grab her. They had held her, held herdown,and Pierre had shouted that he would force Flicka to have babies because he had married her to produce heirs for Monaco and because he had wanted her Hannover title. And then—
And then—
And then her throat had deep bruises, and her shoulders felt wrenched, and she hurt between her legs because Pierre had stabbed himself into her.
Beside the bed, Dieter said,“Scheisse.And he waited this long to call us?”
She looked up at Dieter’s back.
And when Pierre had fallen drunkenly asleep, she had run to Dieter Schwarz because he was the only person on Earth she could imagine running to. Pierre had said he would kill Flicka’s brother Wulfram and his new wife if she went to them. He said he had someone on their security team who would do it.
But Dieter, he was an avenging archangel of fury. No one could hurt him, and no one could hurt her while she was with him.
Dieter stood, and the bed rose under Flicka. “Did you try tracing her phone?”
And now he was lying to Wulfram for her. The two men had been closest friends for so long, over a decade. Dieter Schwarz might be sarcastic and grumpy, but he was loyal to Wulfram before anything else. Lying must be killing him.
Dieter spoke into his phone. “Did they check the surveillance footage? Did she leave the hotel?”
Flicka dragged the blankets up farther around her shoulders, trying to hide the bruises that must be around her neck and to stop her head from spinning so hard. Her shoulders creaked with strain.
He said,“Scheisse!Do they have any actual information for us?”
Flicka waited, trying to breathe through her nose, just in case her brother could somehow hear her. Her heart slammed in her chest, and her temples throbbed.
Dieter said, “I’ll be right there,Durchlaucht.Keep Sault and Grimaldi there. I’ll need to talk to them.” He paused. “We’ll find her, Wulfram. Don’t worry. Keep Rae from worrying. I’ll find her.”
Memories assailed Flicka, growing in vividness and horror as her brain sparked through the sleepiness: Pierre’s rage, her own terror, and the vastness of her relief when Dieter had opened his door and she had tumbled inside.
Dieter said, “Suze Meier, one of the nannies, is keeping Alina. I’ll call and see if I can spend a few more days here. In the meantime, I’ll organize Rogue Security to trace where Flicka went. I’m sure we’ll have everything taken care of in a few days.”
