“Never mind,” she muttered as she picked up her dress and hurried out. Huge tears dripped down her stalwart cheeks. She hadn’t understood what it meant to be a real princess. It wasn’t about getting people to do what you wanted—it was about caring more for people than you did for yourself. With every step, her heart was worn smooth by the ocean of pain washing wave after wave over the top. Her rough edges were being worn away, and it was a beautiful agony.
Chapter Nineteen
Tatum did his best to fill in the police and voiced his desire to press charges against everyone—except members of royal families—to ensure they would land in a cell as soon as possible. When it was all said and done, he was standing in the middle of the room, looking for Neese and feeling lost.
“Excuse me.” He tapped an officer who was taking pictures of the bloodstain on the floor. Marius’s blood. The prince had risked his life for Neese, and for that Tatum would always be thankful. “Can you tell me where they took Neese?”
“Neese?”
“The woman with the long brown hair.”
“The princess? They’re putting her on a charter plane to some island.”
“No.” He staggered back. They were taking her away?
“She said something about her family needing her.”
“Double no.” He pressed his hand to his forehead. Dang it all. She was the toughest princess he’d ever met, rushing off to save her family from an assassination attempt the likes of which the world hadn’t seen since the Romanovs. “Who took her?”
The officer shrugged. “It was the navy, I believe. The Secretary of Defense was on the phone with the princess for five minutes before she left.” He leaned closer. “She insisted on an escort.”
“Of course she did.” He would expect nothing less from the woman who had become a princess right before his very eyes. He needed to get to her. Who knew what kind of situation she was running into? Heading for the door, his only thoughts of Neese and being there for her, he was stopped by the officer before he cleared the hall.
“Hey now, where’re you going?” asked the short man with a bumpy bald head.
“I need to find Neese—I need to tell her—”
“You are going to the station to file a report. We’ll need ID and a phone number where we can reach you.”
“But—”
“Hey, the only reason you’re not in a cruiser right now is because that princess said you were one of the good guys. But that doesn’t mean you can run out on us. We need your help to make sure these guys are put away for a very long time.”
Tatum cursed.
Chapter Twenty
Nyssa ran through the palace, the warm breeze tugging at her loose hair and the tile stinging her bare feet.
While she was relieved and even joyful to be home, she had left a piece of her heart in DC. Pushing thoughts of Tatum aside for the moment, for they were never far away, she burst into the family room, where she could see her father on the patio, staring out at the sea. A strangled cry of relief surged forth and Father shot to his feet, his arms open wide to receive her crushing hug.
Nyssa fell into his familiar embrace and released the tears she’d battled with for the entire flight, the bumpy landing on the grass airstrip, and the boat ride in the middle of the night to the secret dock.
The US hadn’t been able to make contact with the palace. Nyssa made the call to go around the island instead of fighting through the blockade. The fight would have taken time—time she did not have. And she didn’t want anyone to die, traitor or not—they were Zimradians first, her brothers. She would extend mercy—for now. A royal had hard decisions to make.
Father cupped the back of her head, holding her against him. “I am so glad you are safe.”
“Me?” she laughed, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “You were the ones who were in real trouble.”I had Tatum.He would have died to protect her. She knew all the way through her island roots.
“My cousin is a coward. He left others to do his evil deeds and attacked the lone sheep.”
“I wasn’t alone.” She smiled, thinking of the relief on Tatum’s face when she’d climbed out from under the table.
“Marius was there for you?” Father let her go and stepped back, drinking in the sight of her.
“And another.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Marius was injured. He will recover in time.”
“He is a good man.”
