Lucio waited until Amy’s parents left the bedroom. His parents’ discussion was still fresh in his mind anyhow, but Amy seemed quiet and more pensive. He guided her by hand to sit on the balcony again. He’d have a cup of tea and give her time to unwind and open up again. She slid back into her seat and he took the seat beside her.

Amy poured him a cup. "Your parents found you quickly."

"Evie is here." She said by way of answer as she placed the tea pot in the middle of the table without looking at him.

Her sister wasn't half as interesting as she was to him. Clearly his teenaged brain was soaked with misplaced hormones. He covered her hand with his and leaned closer. "I told you I went to see her before you—I felt nothing. Evie shouldn't be a problem."

"She isn’t." Her gaze went up toward him and she blinked, "Lucio, what's the matter? I can tell something is wrong."

The subject change seemed dramatic. Perhaps he wasn't the only one who was shell-shocked from this morning’s adventures. He took a deep breath and decided to share with her. "I told you that Marco dismantled the bombs in the old guard house."

She leaned closer and their shoulders touched. "Yes, so what happened?"

To explain, she needed a little history. He sat straight, released her hand and stared into his tea cup. "My brothers and I used that guard house as a retreat away from our parents, where we'd unwind without supervision."

She picked up her tea and sipped. "That's interesting, but shouldn't be upsetting."

He steeled his body against a possible threat, which was extremely unlikely considering the heightened security. "Whoever set up the bombs torched our living room. Yes, it's just furniture, but it was personal to us. And," he shrugged, "they left a note."

Her face drained of color and her voice softened. "What did the note say?"

"The royal family and all their progeny will be destroyed and gone from this land just like this chair." The words were etched in his mind and nothing would change that. He needed to protect his family and ensure the foreign anarchists left their kingdom.

She sucked in her breath, but then she crossed her arms and stared at him like she was thinking everything through. "Are you getting the note analyzed for finger prints and handwriting samples?"

After Marco had shot the leader dead when the man had attempted to kidnap Renee, his bride, Lucio had searched for more of the group but couldn’t find any legitimate remains so he thought the anarchists finally dissipated. Clearly, he'd been wrong. "It must be the work of the anarchist movement."

She gulped her tea and placed the empty cup into the saucer on the table and rose. "Okay, so let me do some research."

"I don't want you involved." He pushed aside his tea and stood next to her.

She paced the room before returning to him, arms dropped to her sides and stared at him with those big brown eyes of hers. "I'm not going into the line of fire, but I've been analyzing countries and potential problems as my career for years. I won't leave the castle grounds while I run my computer programs."

Of course, Lucio thought, she was an analyst. Running computer background checks was not his favorite task, and it was something she could easily do well while being perfectly safe and guarded. He reached out and brushed the hair out of her face. "Amy, even if I lose every penny here and my family was no longer royal, which will never happen, but you need to know that I'll keep you safe and protected no matter what. On that you have my undying word."

She held his hand next to her cheek and gave him a saucy smile. "Undying sounds like a long time and we don't need to be dramatic. I just need my laptop to help."

Her practical attitude helped him relax as he realized she wasn't going to look for danger. "Thank you." He opened the door to the bedroom for her and placed his hand on her back to bring her inside. "And I swore to my mother we'd pick a wedding date."

She waited until they were in and he began to close the door behind him. The moment it clicked, she stood near him, like she had something else to say, but she stayed on topic as she said, "She likes fast. Does the day after tomorrow work for her or does she need an extra day? I know for both of the other weddings she planned, it seemed overnight."

The air around her sizzled electric or maybe it was his reaction to her. Sleeping next to her last night had been torture—she’d been so close but he couldn't touch. This time he kept the space between them at least a foot. "She prefers overnight, and fast so the world press doesn't descend on our small country and cause problems for the royal nuptials."

Her eyes widened and she nodded. "Then I'm in for tomorrow or the day after with no notice. I just want my friend, Suzie, here."

"Good." He let his shoulders slouch as he sat back in his chair. Suzie was already planned for. "She'll be here today."

"Perfect." She twirled one of her pearls, her gray slacks and fitted blue shirt just right for late afternoon in the castle. Part of why he’d initially asked Amy was because she would be a perfect princess. Right now, she seemed ready for the many tasks that the rank required.

She pursed her lips.

Curious. Did she want to talk about something else? He untied his shoes and intended to place them in his closet. "Both of my sisters-in-law complained slightly at the overwhelming amount of wedding dresses my mother provided them to choose from."

She slipped off her leather flats. "I'll handle it."

"Thank you." He placed her shoes in the closet next to his.

She leaned against the closet frame. "Hey, I know the princes are all taken but are there any nobles in your country that are available for me to set Suzie up with? She’s single, always working, but in need of a good date."

Perhaps her friend was what she wanted to discuss. Light filtered from outside to the bedroom. "There are some families of Dukas, Marchesi, Earls which can also be called Conte, and Visconte and a few of them are single men near my age."

She placed her hand on his biceps and caught his full attention. "Sounds great. Suzie’s terrific and hasn’t found a nice-looking man to go out with in months. So I want to ensure Suzie meets a few at our wedding so she can meet someone half as cute as you."

Rambling. Something else was clearly on her mind. She smelled like vanilla cupcakes he remembered tasting as a boy. "Glad you're agreeable today."

She traced his shoulders and collar. "Treat me right and I'll always be agreeable."

"Sounds good to me." He leaned down to kiss her. Her lips puckered for him and she closed her eyes.

A loud bang on the door interrupted their kiss. He moved in front of her between the door and his bed. The vision of her in his bed snuggled next to him like she had last night knocked him for a loop. He ignored the fantasy and went to the door.

Amy fixed her pearls and pouted. "Who’s knocking at the door now?"

"I'll leave instructions that we aren’t to be disturbed." He opened the door and felt the cold air hit his skin from the note his staff handed him that read Evie was requesting an audience. Her sister was not welcome here at the moment and he whispered they were not to be disturbed. The staff looked faint, but he'd straighten it out with them later. They had no clue and he didn't blame the servant. He then closed the door and turned toward Amy.

"Lucio, who is it?" She stayed so still it seemed like she might be hurt.

He took her hand in his. "I told your sister, Evie, you'd see her after lunch."

Amy looked down at her bare feet. "I suppose I should go and see her and thank her for coming."

"Wait. I want you to myself for a few hours." He held both of her hands until she looked up at him.

An entirely different smile came on her face while she tugged on his arms and led him toward the bed. "Are we to talk about your taste in bedspreads?" She picked up the comforter. "This one is awful man-ish."

Was she flirting with him? "Put that on your list of things of things to do." Whatever made her happy. "Change whatever you want."

She sat on the bed and brought him down next to her. "I'd like to change our relationship status now."

He stared into her huge brown eyes that reminded him of the vast forest around the palace. He didn't dare move. "How is that?"

She swallowed, held still for a moment but scooted a leg on the bed. "I want to try and see how we fit... together."

Confusion mixed with hope. She didn't move her leg, so he brushed the bottom of her foot. "Fit together" sounded like sex. "You're saying you want me to touch you?"

"Yes." She crashed her lips against his and his heart beat faster. Amy was all he wanted and she tasted better than those cupcakes of his youth. She was real and he'd have to show her just how good they were together because he never wanted to let her go.