I’d just had another nasty run-in with my brother. At least our choice of lab location had made it easy to pretend we were there on hospital business. As members of the royal family, we sat on the hospital’s board, giving us every reason to be here on a regular basis.
But all of that seemed so minor compared to this setback.
Months? We couldn’t wait months. My brother was moving forward at a rapid pace with his plans to strip the crown from me.
I thought we’d have this settled but it didn’t seem like we would now.
Nadia’s words rang in my mind. “We have a major problem.”
I twisted to face my sister, my features pinching with concern. My lips parted as I tried to come up with some solution, but I couldn’t.
Instead, I spun back to Kyle, searching his face for any signs of a different answer. “Are you certain? There’s nothing you can do to speed the process?”
He swallowed hard, a slight pout forming on his lips. With a shrug, he crossed his arms, rubbing his chin. “Well, maybe. I mean, if I had help.”
“Impossible,” Nadia said from behind me. “You are a stretch to trust, doctor. Do you really believe we would bring more staff here?”
Kyle eyed her for a moment before he shifted his gaze back to me. “I just meant like Alex and Ava. I mean, he’s a genius, and she’s pretty darn close to one, too. They may be able to help expedite this process.”
I nodded, my mind vetting through the risks and rewards of this plan. I’d considered Alex as a viable option for this role as well. He didn’t have the medical degree, but he did have a special ability with technology.
Perhaps combining their skill sets would help push us forward to the ending we wanted.
My sister stalked closer, her heels echoing off the thick walls of the office. “And with Alex Stone and his wife’s help, would that push the timeline up into our requirement?”
Kyle’s eyebrows raised as she spoke, his features turning a little surprised. “Uhh, you mean like in the next day or two?”
“Seventy-two hours, doctor. Can you and your compatriots pull this off in the next three days?”
Kyle fluttered his eyelashes, his gaze flicking to me before his jaw flexed. “Uhh, I don’t think so, no. Even with Alex and Ava’s help, I think we’re still looking at weeks.”
Nadia scoffed, her eyes sliding closed. From the tension in her posture, I knew her mind was vetting the next steps we’d need to take to avoid a disaster.
“Nattie, I’m sorry. I wish I had a better answer. But…this is your dad we’re talking about. One slip, one mistake, one wrong setting, and we could lose him. I don’t want to take that chance.”
His voice sounded pleading as he grabbed my hand, squeezing it.
“I understand, darling. No one wants that to happen.”
“Unfortunately,” Nadia said, “this leaves us in a bad position. We need to discuss options while the good doctor works on Papa’s resurrection.”
My heart sank. I knew what had to be done. We hadn’t let on earlier when we’d seen Nikolai that we knew his plan. We had only three days before we petitioned for my father’s death to be declared, then used the marriage clause to force them to crown him instead of me.
We could still fix this, but not in any way that I was happy with.
“Doctor, I will have your fellow Americans brought to the lab. I do expect you to work diligently to complete this as quickly as you can. Is that understood?” Nadia said.
“Yeah,” Kyle answered with a bob of his head. “I mean, I’ll do my best. I’ll work night and day–“
“Please,” I said, laying a hand gently on his forearm, “you need rest, too. No one expects you to push that hard.”
He cupped my face in his hands, making my heart break a little more. “I will push that hard, Nattie. This is important to you. I want to be the one who gives you your father back.”
I bit into my lower lip. What was coming was only going to be made harder by his zeal to help me.
“Come, Natasha, we need to discuss the next steps for you.”
“Wait,” Kyle said, his hands closing around mine.”
