Eight Weeks Earlier….

Tracy’s heart hammered like thunder against her ribs as the crowd in Aegiria’s massive arena burst into cheers and applause.

“Okay, Aegiria. Let’s congratulate Queen Viktoria and Dr. Hayes with a song,” Emma, as Fuchsia, called to the crowd as her band blasted into one of Fuchsia’s top hits. Prince Arne had joined her on stage. The two had been caught kissing, but now he’d shuffled back to the side of the stage to watch the show.

Tracy leaned back against the wall in the stage wings, letting out a breath. Thank God the power had come back and the lights had turned on. Emma had been doing the best she could out there, but Tracy wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep it up. She hadn’t felt so nervous about how things might turn out herself since her father’s mess when she was a kid. It looked as though now everything would be okay.

“I’m gonna kill her.”

Tracy stood straight at the sound of Hoss’s growl.

“I’m gonna wring her neck,” Hoss went on, stomping to the wings. He spotted Tracy and narrowed his eyes. “Did you have anything to do with this? I know you two are thick as thieves.”

“To do with what? The power going out?” Tracy asked, dripping with loathing for Fuchsia’s garish manager.

“With her going out there like that,” Hoss spat.

“She didn’t have any other choice. All her costumes and make-up were destroyed.”

“I’ll have her head for this.” Hoss went on, turning to glare at Emma as she performed.

“It wasn’t Emma’s fault,” Tracy said, stepping toward him.

Hoss turned to her, looking down his fat nose at her like she was a bug, and said, “You’re fired.”

“What? You can’t fire me. I work for Emma.”

“And she works for me, though not for much longer. You’re fired,” Hoss repeated.

Tracy’s jaw dropped. Indignation twisted up her spine, making her hands numb and her heart pound all over again. She hated being blamed for something that wasn’t her fault. It hit way too close to home and the tattered shreds of her childhood.

She did the one thing she knew would chase off the feeling of being a victim. She took control of the situation. With a huff and a shake of her head, she said, “Whatever,” marching away from the jerk. She was a journalist before she was a rock star’s assistant. She had skills she could use. Marketable skills. It was about time she put those skills to use.

She wound her way through equipment and debris left over from the destruction of the stage to leave the backstage area, but instead of leaving the arena entirely, she paused, glancing up and down the hall, and wondering how someone would be able to cut the power to an entire stadium.

She set off in the direction of the electrical room she must have passed a dozen times in the past few days of rehearsals without paying attention to it. If there was some sort of main circuit to cut power to the entire arena, it would be either there or outside. If there were any clues about who had done the damage, they would be—

Her thoughts were cut short as she rounded a corner and ran smack into a broad, hard chest. She let out an uff as both she and the guy were thrown off balance. Before she could fall over, a pair of strong arms closed around her, steadying her. She glanced up and into the most gorgeous pair of blue-grey eyes she’d ever seen.

“Careful,” the guy said, taking a half step back as she regained her balance and straightened. She kinda wished he would stay right where he was, up close and personal. He smelled like lemons and spice. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. How ’bout you?” She sent him a flirty smile that said she knew he was more than fine.

He smiled, his perfect, white teeth matching the sparkle in his eyes. “Never better,” he answered.

Three seconds later, Tracy realized who she was flirting with. “Oh my gosh, Prince Johannes,” she gasped. “I’m sorry, should I be curtsying to you? Or wait. Are you Johannes or Viggo? You two look so much alike.”

He laughed, his manner easier than ever. “Johannes. But please, call me Johan.”

“Johan,” she repeated, liking the sound of it. But instead of settling in to the sparks that flashed between the two of them, she rested her weight on one hip and studied him with a slight frown. “What are you doing back here? Shouldn’t you be up in the royal box with the rest of your family?”

His warm expression hardened to business as well. “I came down to see what happened with the power.”

“That’s why I’m here too.” Her heart jerked in her chest. It was like she’d swallowed a frog. Not that she was complaining. She liked a man who took charge, who wanted to set things right. Precious few men in her life had done that. With a nod, she set into motion, pointing ahead of them as Johan walked by her side. “I think the electrical room is up here. We might be able to figure something out based on what we find there.”

“It’s more likely that power was cut from the outside,” Johan said. “Less security.”

She glanced around, then raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t see a lot of security right here, do you?”

“Good point.” His frown deepened, and they picked up their pace.

They reached the door to the electrical room only to find the entire doorknob had been removed. The pieces and screws lay scattered on the floor, and the door was slightly ajar.

“Well, that answers that,” Tracy said, reaching to pull the door open wider.

Prince Johan thrust out a hand to hold her back. It landed square on her boob.

“Hey!” she shouted, not sure whether to slap him away or laugh.

Johan instantly turned an alluring shade of bright pink. “Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “But you can’t just go rushing into a room when we know it’s been tampered with.”

Any thought of laughter vanished. “My guess is that whoever did this is long gone. Why would they hang out, waiting to be caught? We’re not in some kind of spy thriller movie. I doubt there are boobie traps in there.” She paused, then burst into giggles. Boobie.

Johan relaxed into a sheepish expression. “All right. But we’ll go in together.”

“Into a dark room, alone with a prince?” Tracy said, teasing. She edged past Johan to step through the doorway first. “But we just met.”

His return smile was so tempting that she had to force herself to turn away from him in order to keep on track with their investigation. Who would have thought that a prince could be so…yummy?

The electrical room was dark, and Tracy was ready to backtrack and find a flashlight when Johan flicked a switch. The lights went on. She twisted to glance at him over her shoulder.

“Might be a good idea to turn on the lights before conducting a spy movie-like investigation,” he said with more than a little sarcasm.

“Minor details,” Tracy shrugged. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, even though the matter in front of them was serious.

“Someone’s definitely been in here,” Johan said. He started toward the side of the room.

Tracy turned, seeing what he must have noticed right away. The door to the main electrical box was open, exposing all the switches and breakers. She caught up to Johan as he reached it, and peered over his shoulder, resting her hand on his back as she did. His muscles were firm and warm, and that scent of spicy lemon would forever remind her of him.

“Nothing seems to be broken,” Johan said, studying the panel.

“It wouldn’t be.” She had to use all of her powers of focus not to overtly sniff him. “Whoever did this only needed to get into the room and flip some switches.”

“Then flip them back on again?” He glanced at her over his shoulder.

The bottom dropped out of Tracy’s stomach. Damn, the man was hot. And the chemistry was totally there between them, even though they were basically strangers. But she had to focus.

“Why would someone come in, turn off the power, then turn it back on again?” she asked.

“Whoever turned it off obviously wanted to stop the wedding announcement,” he said, pivoting to face her. “Someone else could have turned it back on again.”

“But if it was someone else, wouldn’t they still be here?”

He shrugged. “Not if they moved on to take care of other things.”

“Then why are we the first people here? Why were the lights out when we got here? If someone other than the culprit turned the lights back on, why didn’t they leave these lights on and set up guards or something?”

No sooner were the questions out of her mouth than footsteps sounded from the hallway. Half a second later, a pair of men in arena security uniforms pushed the door open fully and rushed inside.

“Prince Johannes,” one of them said. “What’s going on here?”

“Miss—” Johan turned to Tracy with a surprised look that said he didn’t know her name.

“Minhall,” she filled in for him. “Tracy Minhall. I’m Fuchsia’s personal assistant. I came down here to find out what happened with the power.”

“So did I,” Johan added. His posture straightened as he stepped forward to address the guards. “Someone broke into this room to shut the power off. We think the same person must have turned it back on again, because they flicked these lights off and left the door mostly closed after the fact.”

A smile spread across Tracy’s face. He’d gone along with her theory, which meant he took her seriously, even though he didn’t know her. That was even sexier than gorgeous eyes.

“Did you touch anything?” the second guard asked. “We’ll need to know in case we pick up your fingerprints once the police get here.”

“Only the door and the light switch,” Johan said. He touched Tracy’s arm and nodded to the door. “We’ll get out of the way and let you do your job.”

Tracy went with him, feeling far giddier than she should have in the middle of a criminal investigation. When they were in the hall she turned to Johan.

“Should we check outside? Do you think whoever did this is still here?”

His face pinched in thought. “Probably not. They’d want to get in and out before any of us noticed.”

The statement was a let-down. It meant that he would go his way and she would go hers.

She was just bracing for the inevitable parting when he smiled and said, “So. Tracy Minhall. Fuchsia’s personal assistant?”

“Until about twenty minutes ago,” she said.

His brow creased. “What happened twenty minutes ago?”

Tracy blew out a breath. “Long story, but I think I just got fired.”

“I’m sorry.” He looked genuinely upset for her.

Tracy laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not really rock star assistant material anyhow. I’m a journalist.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Em—I mean, Fuchsia, is an old friend of mine, and she gave me the job so that I could get an inside look into the music industry for some freelance stories.”

He either completely missed the second half of what she’d said or instantly bounced back to the first part. His brow rose and he said, “That was Emma on stage. I couldn’t quite tell from a distance. Emma is Fuchsia?”

Tracy winced. “Well now I’m extra fired. It’s supposed to be a massive secret.”

“We just met, and now you’re telling me massive secrets?” Johan’s grin turned downright sultry.

It felt as though the temperature in the hall went up by ten degrees. “Do people often tell you their secrets?”

To her surprise, a look of dead seriousness came into his eyes. “Yes. Well, my brother sure does.”

“Interesting.” Her heart felt like a frog jumping around in her chest. She dared herself to make a move. “Do you have any secrets?” she said, taking a step closer to him and tracing a finger along the lapel of his suit jacket.

“Loads of them,” he answered, his voice low and sultry.

He leaned in, his heat and scent surrounding her. A tiny voice in the back of her head scolded her for rushing to kiss a man she’d only just met. But he was a prince, for gosh sakes, and a delicious one at that. She felt herself go all rubbery as his hand rested on her waist, and she tilted her head up, lips soft.

“Johan. There you are.”

The two of them snapped apart as Prince Arne marched around the corner and found them. Arne paused, glancing between the two of them, before clearing his throat and saying, “Mother wants us out front in the lobby to answer questions. There’s a gang of reporters closing in.”

“Right.” Johan sighed. The steamy hunk faded into the figure of the responsible prince. He nodded to his brother—who promptly left the two of them alone—then turned back to Tracy. “I guess I’ll have to take a rain-check on this.”

Tracy’s insides shivered over the thought of what ‘this’ meant. “I guess so.”

“Can I see you again?” he asked. “Are you free for dinner Monday?”

“I’d love—no, I can’t.” The tragedy of the situation hit her straight in the sternum. “We head back to America tomorrow morning, first thing.”

Johan looked downright stricken. He inched toward her and opened his mouth, but around the corner, his brother called, “Johan! Now!”

Johan rubbed a hand over his face and growled in frustration. “What’s your phone number?” he asked. “And do you mind if I call you or text.”

“Go right ahead,” Tracy said, smiling again.

He whipped out his phone and she gave him her number. As soon as he typed it in, he took a step back, glancing to the corner. “Thanks. I wish we had more time.”

“Me too,” she called as he took a few sideways steps, then burst into a jog as he disappeared around the corner. Tracy let out a breath. “Hell, that settles it. I’m definitely coming back to Aegiria.”

Present Day….

The royal yacht docked amidst fanfare and cheering. Even though marina security was out in full force, throngs of Aegirians lined the boundaries and the streets to wave and throw flowers at the queen and Dr. Hayes as they stepped off the boat and headed to the limousine waiting to take them to the palace. The royal princes, along with their girlfriends—or fiancée in Toni’s case—waved and played the part of happy sons perfectly as they climbed into their own limo.

Tracy was dreading the confrontation she knew she’d have with her producer. He’d demand to know all sorts of things about why the camera hadn’t worked and why he’d been cheated out of what was supposed to be ratings gold for him. She hated making up those sorts of stories and was terrified she’d let something slip and mess the whole thing up.

Just about the time she was thinking of diving into the bay and swimming away to avoid everything, Johan marched up beside her and took her hand.

“You’re coming with us,” he said, pulling her along to the princes’ limo. “I’ve had a word with your cameraman. He’s going to explain things to your boss.”

“Thank God,” Tracy sighed. That was what she loved about Johan. He was reliable, steady, he took charge, and he included her while doing it.

She followed Johan to the limo, and as soon as they were all inside and the door was closed, tension doubled back on her.

“If Marina is at the palace, it won’t take long to find her,” Alek said.

“I’ll keep an eye out at the reception,” Arne offered immediately. “If she tries to blend in like nothing happened, I’ll take her aside and get her version of the story.”

Tracy sent Arne a sideways glance. It was nice that someone was still defending Princess Marina, but so far she herself hadn’t seen anything defensible.

“Tracy and I will check Marina’s private quarters,” Johan said. “To see if she’s sulking there.”

“Good idea,” Kristoff nodded. “Cass and I can comb the rest of the palace.”

“She might be hiding somewhere she thinks people won’t look,” Cass said.

“Someone’s got to actually go to the reception,” Alek said. “People will know something is up if most of us aren’t there.”

“Good point,” Mack said. He glanced to Gloria. “How about we take turns searching and schmoozing? Once Johan and Tracy get back from searching Aunt Marina’s quarters, then Kristoff and Cass can head out to look elsewhere.”

“It’s not ideal,” Alek said with a frown, “but it’ll have to do.”

More crowds lined the streets between the marina and the palace, but the royal limos slipped through the gates and into a secluded courtyard to let everyone out. They all smiled and waved to the people on the other side of the gates, but as soon as they were inside the palace, all smiles dropped.

“This shouldn’t take long,” Johan said, gesturing for Tracy to head down one of the side halls that split off the entry hall. “Either Marina is there or she’s not.”

“I hope you find her,” the queen said, a look of deep worry etching her face. “I’d like a word with that sister of mine.”

“It will be all right, Mother,” Alek assured her as Johan and Tracy set off.

The palace was bigger than any fancy hotel Tracy had ever been in, but the family quarters were just as grand. Everything was gilded and ancient, with that stately elegance that could only be found in the homes of European nobility. It filled Tracy with awe, but also made her feel as though she were walking through a movie set.

“This sure beats creeping into darkened electrical rooms, doesn’t it?” she said with a grin as she and Johan hurried down the hall and turned a corner.

Johan laughed. “I don’t think Aunt Marina’s quarters are going to be as easy to get into.”

“What, no one will have removed the doorknob for us in advance?” she joked.

“Nope,” he said. “But maybe this time we’ll get a chance to finish what we started.”

Tracy’s insides wobbled in all the best ways as they came to a stop in front of an unmarked door near the end of the hall. Johan arched one brow, looking at her lips. The heat of his look was a delicious distraction from the mission they were on, and it reminded her that, in spite of the fact that she’d been back in Aegiria for more than six weeks, longer even than Emma, they still hadn’t done more than make out a few times. She found herself wondering if there was a big, royal bed on the other side of the door where they stood, staring at each other.

Which was ridiculous. She shook herself, taking a breath to force herself to concentrate. “What do we do, knock?”

Johan shrugged, looking as though he was shaking himself into focus too.

“It’s worth a try,” he said, knocking. “I called Viggo on the way back to shore and he said he hadn’t seen her around the palace, but that could be because she’s holed up in here.”

But no reply came.

Johan knocked again, calling, “Aunt Marina,” but they were met with more silence.

“Should we find someone to unlock the door?” Tracy asked. “Or should we try to break it down.”

“We can’t go breaking down doors,” Johan said with a hint of scolding as Tracy reached for the doorknob. “Ivan would kill us over the damage.”

Before he could finish, Tracy had turned the doorknob. To her shock, it opened. “It’s not locked,” she said.

They exchanged a surprised look. Excitement zipped through her as she pushed the door all the way open. Why would someone of Princess Marina’s status leave the door to her private quarters unlocked? There was no telling what they’d find inside.