Lucio's hand trembled as he gripped his phone. Following instinct, he’d noticed the car racing away from the hotel. He’d started running, eyeing clues until his brother drove next to him, picked him up and gave him the car. Tire tracks, an angry man lucky to be alive, and a knocked-over street sign. Less than a quarter mile away, a farmer flagged down help from the side of the road. Lucio, breathing hard, pressed a grateful hand on the man’s arm and he led him right to Amy lying in his field.

He knelt beside her but texted Antonio his location to send help. His stomach churned with fear as he checked her vitals.

She had a pulse.

Two minutes later, his brothers were next to him. Every cell in his body rushed with adrenaline while he checked her arms and legs.

She still wore the light blue dress from her interview, which clearly showed the right leg at an odd angle. Bloody scrapes were across her knees and hands.

Worst was how pale and lifeless her face was.

His brother, Antonio, slapped him on the back gently. "Don't touch her anymore. She’s alive. Now let’s wait for the paramedics."

She was probably thrown from a moving car, and she must have crawled if she made it this far into the wheat field. He leaned closer and heard the soft intake of air from her nose.

Tears threatened but he held them back. "She's still breathing, but not regularly. Where is the ambulance?"

Marco hung up his phone, and knelt beside him as Lucio said, "Her leg is probably broken. She’s too pale. She might have some internal damage."

If she was conscious, the pain would be too much, but he kept the thought to himself. Where was help? He tried to control his racing heart. "I need the ambulance..."

"It's here." Antonio waved an ambulance into the field.

The ambulance team parked and two of them were out with a stretcher, but Lucio's hand never left Amy's arm. She could die and it would be his fault for not protecting her. He let her go so the paramedics could put her on the stretcher.

Antonio patted his shoulder to get up. "Lucio, go with her."

"I should never have left her alone." He stood.

The paramedics were checking her vitals as they lifted her into the ambulance.

Marco brushed the dirt off Lucio's arm. "Let them get her to the hospital. Ensure she gets the best care."

He nodded, walked toward the ambulance, but turned to his brothers. "I will fly in whoever we might need."

"The plane is on standby." Antonio nodded. "Let's hope it's just a broken bone."

The female paramedic said, "It's time."

Lucio stepped inside.

The door slammed closed. Lucio sat opposite Amy whose breathing was measured on a small screen. The female paramedic came beside him with bandages. "We're cleaning her injuries, Your Highness."

The ride was bumpy. Lucio held onto his seat and saw that despite how the ambulance jostled through the field, Amy seemed immobile and white as snow.

He missed the pinkness of her flesh and the spark in his body when she held his hand. The paramedic moved away from her. He leaned closer and kissed her cheek. "Amy, I'm here now."

She didn't move at all.

The paramedic said, "Keep talking to her. Her heartbeat is strong."

He nodded and held her hand in his without squeezing too hard. He'd never hurt her. "Good. Whoever did this to my love is going to pay."

"I understand. Her left side seems better," the paramedic said. "We immobilized the right."

She must have hit the dirt on one side. His insides all twisted at the idea that someone had thrown her out of a moving car and left her like this. He brushed her clammy skin. "She's cold."

The paramedic gave him a small smile while she typed in her computer. "She's been out in that field, but her temperature falls within normal parameters."

What if it had been the middle of winter? His heart couldn't take that. He pressed his free hand to his knees.

For a few minutes no one said anything, but as they neared the hospital, the paramedic looked over his shoulder and tensed. "The doctors are waiting outside for you, and the press."

The last thing Amy needed was anyone getting in her way for help. He told the driver, "Get us closest to the door."

"Yes, sire."

The paramedic braced the door until they arrived as close as possible to the entrance.

Lucio kissed Amy’s cheek as everyone else worked to unhook her safely. "Amy, you have to be okay."

The paramedics worked lightning fast to get her inside the hospital. One of the doctors in a white coat pointed down a hall. "This way. We have the prep room ready for her and an operating room cleared."

His pulse dropped to zero. Amy might need surgery? He had truly failed her.

Another doctor, an older man, gave orders to a female nurse, "Get the X-ray machine and prep the CT scan."

"On it." She rushed out the door.

Lucio's head swam, but no one dared asked him to move from Amy’s side. He leaned closer and told her, "Amy, I need you to be okay for me."

He’d never forgive himself for putting her in this situation. This was his fault.

Another nurse came over and kept her head down. "Your Highness, we need you to step back. She’ll be run through the CT machine so we get a full analysis of what happened to her."

He stepped back and nodded. "Go."

The nurse went behind the small bed and pushed Amy out of the room.

He stood silent, waiting as doctors milled around in the room. No one said anything as they waited and time blurred.

Once the door opened and Amy wheeled back inside, the entire room brightened and he was alert. The older doctor he recognized from earlier came in and spoke to him and the team of other doctors. "She has broken bones and a small internal bleeding tear. We're bringing her to the operating room."

Three of the doctors filed out and followed down the hall.

Lucio stared at the doctor who seemed in charge. He knew he couldn't go in there. He held his shoulders tight, hanging on. "Will she live?"

The doctor returned his gaze without blinking. "If we stop the bleeding, and nothing else happened. We'll know more once the doctors start."

Without another word, he left and Lucio was all alone in the empty room.

For the first time in his life, he put his hands together and prayed for God to help her. Amy had his heart and he couldn’t live without her, not now.

His mother came into the room and broke the heavy silence. "Son." She took his hands, like he was still six years old.

"Mom." He wished somehow that Anna Camilla really had the power to make everything better.

She squeezed, as if sharing her strength. "Amy's parents are in the waiting room. What happened?"

The tears that threatened earlier burned the back of his eyes. He kept his head down and swallowed the ache in his throat. "I followed the speeding car from the hotel. When I made it to a field, a farmer flagged me into his field and brought me to her. I have no idea how she got there."

She kissed the sides of his face and gently tugged him toward the door. "Come. Please talk to her mother and sister. They are both worried."

Lucio's feet felt like lead as he followed his mother to the hall. No press had made it to the waiting room—just family. His gaze met Evie's who stood next to her fiancé and he told the four of them, "They brought her in for surgery."

Her parents hugged each other and cried.

"Mom, Dad, everything will be okay." Evie broke eye contact with him to console her parents.

Amy’s mother was very pale. He wished he had better news, but his stomach was in knots. "The doctors found broken bones and internal bleeding. They rushed her into surgery."

"Is she going to be okay?" Her mom rocked on her feet. Amy's father held her until she quieted.

Lucio dropped his head, but was thankful his own mother was here for him. "I don't know any more."

Evie reached for Michael’s hand. "Internal bleeding—how did this happen?"

How was a great question—but he had no answer. Once he knew Amy was okay, he'd devote every second to bringing whoever did this to justice. "The last thing I know is she left your room, Evie."

Evie's face flushed red and she clung to her fiancé. "We talked but she said she was going to you."

Again, this was on him. His own face felt hot. "She never made it there."

Evie turned toward her parents. "I swear I'd never do anything to harm Amy. I apologized to her earlier for being a horrible sister when we were younger. She accepted."

Amy had gone to see Evie, and the clip showed a smiling Amy at the end of the conversation. Lucio lifted his head. "Evie, I watched the video feed. No one is accusing you, but someone inside the palace must have kidnapped her—someone with the ability to adjust the security footage."

A stone-faced nurse entered the waiting room and Lucio tried to make out if she was relieved, happy, or heartbroken. Anything that might prepare him, but she gave nothing away. "What's happened?"

Her words answered the silent pleas of his heart. "The surgery to stop the bleeding was successful. The doctors are setting her broken bones. We suspect she’ll be awake soon."

Amy would be okay. He felt like he could breathe for the first time. "What did she break?"

The nurse took a folder from the nearby desk at the nurse’s station and returned to talk to them. "Her right leg has a spiral fracture in her tibia and the ulna has a straight line fracture in her lower right arm."

Amy’s mother spoke in between her tears. "Thank goodness, she's a leftie. In recovery, she'll be able to flip a page of a book or type."

Evie laughed. "Now that sounds like Amy."

All Lucio could think about was seeing her again. His heart was in his throat when he asked, "When can I see her?"

The nurse stepped aside and lowered her head. "She's still unconscious, Your Highness. The doctors are working on her."

He turned toward her family in the waiting area. They'd all want to see her too. "If you don’t mind, I want to be there when she wakes."

They nodded.

The nurse said, "I will take you to her private room to wait."

Lucio turned toward his mother and Amy's sister. "I'll call the second anything changes."

Evie walked to her mother's side. "Keep us posted!"

Lucio placed his hand on his heart. "And I will find out how she landed there. You have my word."

He followed the nurse down the linoleum hall lit with bright lights. She pointed to room 112 and he entered. "Oh, she’s here already."

Amy lay on her bed, unmoving. No color was in her face. He pulled up the seat behind her and took her left hand in his. Once she woke up, he'd tell her how sorry he was that he let this happen. He swore he'd never let any hair on her head be harmed. He couldn't lose her, ever again.