Revelations
Flicka von Hannover
It’s true that he never lied to me,
but he did break my heart.
Dieter combed his fingers through his military-style, blond hair until even that short brush stood up in spikes. “You can’t. You have to stay in the hotel room until I get back. Order room service and put it on the tab. Watch some television. I’m going to make contact withsome Rogue personnel while I’m down there. Between that and the four thousand that you got, we’ll be all right for six weeks.”
“Plus court filing fees,” Flicka said. She was lounging on the bed in their hotel room, reading a magazine meant for Las Vegas tourists. Ads for casinos, restaurants, shops, and out-of-town sex ranches filled the pages in riots of color.
Dieter rolled a pair of slacksinto a tight tube and stuffed it in the duffel bag that sat on the bedspread just beyond her magazine. “The court costs won’t be much.”
“First of all, it won’t be just six weeks.” She waggled her new phone at him, one of the phones that she had procured by negotiating with the pawn shop owner. “After the six weeks to establish residency in the state of Nevada, I have to serve Pierre with legaldivorce papers, no matter what the prenup says.”
Dieter muttered, “I’llservethat royal jerk right in his—”
“The divorce papers must be served by a ‘disinterested party,’” Flicka said right over him. “It sounds like you don’t qualify. The best way is to hire a process server, so that will cost quite a bit to send one to Monaco.”
“I’ll get the money. I’ll take care of you.”
“And then we haveto wait for his response at least twenty more days, so that’s three more weeks. We’ll have to stay here at least nine weeks.”
“Those damn French lawyers were overpaid. If I ever see Joachim Blanchard again, I’ll punch him, too.”
“And then the court might set a trial date, and God only knows how long that might be. If they do, I have to stay here the whole time or else I won’t be considered aresident anymore. And that would mean that we’d have to start the whole process all over again.”
“This is infuriating.” Dieter paced, his long, strong legs taking just a few steps on the thin carpet before he reached the wall and had to turn around. “My divorce was less painful than this, and she stole all my business’s moneyandthere was a kid to consider. Isn’t there some sort of rule youcan invoke for a quick and dirty divorce because he tried to kill you?”
“Sadly, no,” Flicka said. “It’s a lot easier to get into a marriage than to get out of one.”
“Ridiculous,” Dieter snarled as he paced. “I swear to God, I will punch that son of a bitch if I ever see him again.”
“Then you should duck,” Flicka said, paging through the magazine, “or else Monegasque Secret Security will shootyou again.”
“Again?”Dieter’s head whipped around, and he touched his rounded biceps where a bullet had creased him just months ago, after Flicka’s Parisian wedding to Pierre. “I thought someone was gunning for Wulfram that day.”
“I don’t know for sure,” Flicka said, flipping the magazine page to a new one with more steaks and slot machines on it, “but the Monegasque Secret Service was supposedto have secured the rear of the church. Somehow, a guy with a gun was waiting there. When the guy started shooting, they all leaped on Pierre and carried him off, almost as if they were expecting it. I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Pierre wouldn’t try to kill you right after he married you, though,” Dieter said. “You didn’t know about his other wife yet. No motive. No reason.You guys were newlyweds and lovebirds.”
“As much as we ever were,” she agreed. “But his uncle was surprised as hell when I walked into the hotel suite afterward.”
“But you’re the prize,” Dieter said. “You’re the only Hannover princess in your generation. The Grimaldi have been trying to marry into the House of Hannover ever since they took Monaco. His uncle was ecstatic about it.”
“You havebeen listening to my brother when he talks. I’ll be sure to tell him, but I’m not sure that’s how Rainer-Four saw it at all.” Flicka rolled over and scooted up to sit against the headboard. “Did you see Pierre’s uncle at the wedding?”
“I was busy scanning for lone gunmen and watching your father, to make sure he behaved. Wulfram was ready to deck him, but I had orders to take him out the sidedoor if he opened his mouth.”
“I saw Rainier. He wasn’t happy,” Flicka said. “I looked at everyone while I walked down the aisle with Wulf, and everyone looked back at me, the princess bride walking down the middle of the royal wedding. Everyone looked, everyone except Pierre’s uncle, Prince Rainier of Monaco, and his face was all twisted up like he was mad as hell. And then, when I walked intothe suite after you were shot, Rainier was startled. I thought slamming the door open had surprised him, or maybe it was that I had blood all over my dress. I’m not sure it wasn’t just the fact that I wasn’t dead.”
“My blood,” Dieter said.
“Yes,Lieblingwächter,your blood.”
Dieter zipped the duffel and reached for her hand. “Certainly not the blood of any of those good-for-nothings from hisSecret Service.”
“They obviously had orders, didn’t they?”
