Tracy’s mind buzzed with information and emotion as she and Johan made their way back down to the family parking garage. She really needed to change out of her formal sundress and into jeans and a t-shirt. She only had one fancy dress, and although she hadn’t had time to check it thoroughly, she had already spotted a couple of rips from climbing through the window at Lindqvist’s house. At least she’d worn flats to the wedding. Her clothing was the least of her worries, though.

“Okay, so let’s review what we know so far,” she said as they reached the garage and climbed back into Johan’s BMW. She wouldn’t need to go to the gym for a week after the night she was having. “Marina broke Lindqvist out of jail. The two of them have been together far longer than anyone thought.”

She glanced to Johan, but he remained stone-faced as he started the engine and pulled the car out of its space. A tickle of alarm swirled through her gut. She knew when a man was mad at her. Johan had the same kind of look her dad always had when she’d done something he didn’t approve of. But unlike her dad, when Johan looked at her that way, it wasn’t hypocritical.

She cleared her throat and went on. “Marina and Lindqvist were in Côte D’Ivoire just a few months ago. Storm Holdings was selling its illegal oil through Côte D’Ivoire, and possibly other ports of entry in Africa. Marina and Lindqvist both have connections to Storm Holdings, and personally, I don’t believe for a second that those connections are pure.”

She glanced to Johan again, waiting for him to add something. He continued to stare straight forward, driving through Solrighavn’s streets, which had even less traffic now after dark. His jaw was set, and the flint in his expression had mellowed out to something that looked almost like guilt.

“Are you upset because you don’t want to think your aunt is involved in illegal activity?” she asked softly, sympathetic for his sake, even if she didn’t have the same reverence for royalty that Aegirians had.

“If she’s guilty, she’s guilty,” he said. It was a relief to hear his voice at last.

“I think she’s very guilty.” She reached across to touch his leg, but the muscle tensed under her hand. The car sped up. She pulled back. “My theory? She’s getting a kickback from Storm Holdings. She must be. I bet they treated her and Lindqvist to that vacation too. She has to be using her position in the government to cover up Storm Holdings’ illegal activity.”

Her thoughts spun instantly in a whole different direction, and she blinked.

“You don’t suppose the reason she was trying to stop the wedding was because she didn’t want to lose her position as your mom’s chief advisor to Dr. Hayes, do you?”

Johan’s face switched from the hardness of thought to the strain of surprise. He swore in Aegirian. “I hate to think it, but you might be right.”

“Dr. Hayes is deeply involved in environmental causes, after all,” Tracy went on. “Not only would he stop her from protecting Storm Holdings, he might be able to root out their illegal activity and shut them down altogether.”

Johan made a frustrated sound. “I can’t believe she’d do that.” He paused. “Except that it makes perfect sense. Especially if the money she’s making by keeping Storm Holdings under the radar is enough to buy all that jewelry and whatever else she wants.”

Tracy reached for his thigh again. “I’m sorry. No one wants to believe their family is capable of something so horrible.”

A lump formed in her throat. It quickly spread, until it felt like a rock in her stomach, holding her down. She knew a little too well what it felt like to find out a family member wasn’t who they said they were. Everything had been so normal and sunny in her life. Her family had been happy and whole. Until the night the cops knocked on their door.

She swallowed, pushing her old, painful memories aside in favor of the problems that faced them in the present. “So let’s assume Marina did try to stop the wedding in order to protect her interests where Storm Holdings was concerned.” She took a breath, finding it harder to think now that she’d opened the dusty old closet of her memories. “People will do horrible things for money.”

“Kidnapping and attempted murder go beyond horrible,” Johan muttered. “If she really is a part of everything Lindqvist is guilty of, beyond just springing him out of jail, she’ll go to prison for a very long time.”

He didn’t say it, but Tracy had a feeling he was also well aware of the national scandal the incident would cause.

“Good thing the police gave us until tomorrow to figure the whole thing out,” she said, attempting a smile that never quite materialized. It was more than her family got all those years ago. Not that they’d been in a position to do any sort of damage control when her father was arrested. “It all comes down to money, doesn’t it?”

“Money and oil,” Johan said. His voice was oddly quiet as he made a turn.

For the first time since setting out from the palace, Tracy focused on the road and where they were going. “Wait, aren’t we supposed to be going to the marina to see if they’ve tried to leave the country by sea?”

Johan flexed his jaw but said nothing. They’d pulled onto the street where Tracy’s apartment stood.

“Where are we going?” she asked, an edge to her voice. She sat up suddenly when Johan pulled into the parking lot of her building. “What are we doing here?”

Johan remained silent as he pulled into a free space, cut the engine, and got out of the car. Part of Tracy wanted to stay right where she was until he explained things, but the rest of her was too anxious to sit still. She leapt out of the car, slamming the door behind her, and whirled to face Johan as he circled the car and walked up to her. He grabbed her hand without a word and marched her up the path to her apartment door.

“If we are here for any reason at all other than giving me five minutes to change into something more comfortable, then I’m not having it,” she said, fishing for her keys and opening her door.

“You’re not coming with me,” Johan said once they were inside.

“Like hell I’m not,” she said, rounding on him and glaring.

Johan let out a harsh breath, his shoulders sagging. “You take too many risks, Tracy. This is something that requires delicacy and thought.”

“I’m not just charging off like a madwoman,” she argued. “I think hard about everything I’m doing before I do it.”

“Like jumping through windows to break into people’s houses?”

She glared at him, her face turning red with embarrassed fury.

He winced, rubbing a hand over his face. “Okay, I’ll admit, you usually do. I misspoke. But I still can’t have you running around all night taking unnecessary risks. It’s too dangerous.”

Tracy threw out her hands. “This whole thing is going to be dangerous one way or another. We’re dealing with criminals here. Criminals who have kept things secret for a long, long time. They’ve already tried to kill people.”

“Exactly,” he said with renewed energy. “And I won’t put you in danger that way.”

“But you’ll put yourself in danger?” She crossed her arms and raised her brow in challenge.

“Marina won’t hurt me or any of my brothers,” he insisted. “She might be a criminal, but she’s still family.”

Tracy laughed out loud. “Family bonds mean nothing when you’re dealing with people like that.”

“You don’t know Marina like I do.” Johan raised his voice, taking a half step toward her.

“Yeah? And you don’t know my father.”

She had come close to shouting, and as a result, the air crackled with tension.

Johan frowned. “What about your father? What does he have to do with anything?”

Tracy let out a defeated breath and turned away. She marched deeper into the apartment’s small, front room. The last thing she wanted to think about that night—or ever again—was her past. But it was clear to her that Johan was never going to see her side of things if she didn’t spill the beans.

“My father was arrested for drug trafficking when I was eleven years old,” she muttered, facing away from him, half hoping he wouldn’t hear and they could forget the whole thing.

She felt him take a step toward her. “You never said anything about him before. I thought you were from a normal, middle-class, suburban family back in the States.”

She let out an ironic laugh and turned to him. “I am from a middle-class, suburban family. But after all that happened, I found out just how far from normal we were.”

He didn’t say anything, merely studied her with concern.

“None of us knew anything about what he was doing,” she said with a sigh. “He told us he was in a bowling league. I think he picked bowling because he knew it was the last thing Mom would be interested in going to watch. But it turned out that instead of going to the bowling alley on Tuesday nights, he headed over to his buddy Griff’s place in the next county, where they made meth.”

Johan let out a tight breath, shaking his head. At least he looked sympathetic for her sake.

“None of us ever questioned where the money came from because he had a good job. He worked for a pharmaceutical company, ironically enough. We had a great house, nice cars, family vacations every summer. I always got the latest, trendy toys for my birthday and Christmas. And he put aside a huge amount for my college fund and funds for my siblings. But after his conviction….” She shrugged, the pain of those days weighing heavily on her heart. “The Feds seized it all. Everything. Even the house and our cars.”

“I’m sorry,” Johan said, moving closer to her.

She wanted so badly to fall into the comfort of his arms, but not when he was trying to take away what little power she had by leaving her behind in the present investigation.

“We struggled,” she went on. “I struggled. I became obsessed with uncovering the truth of what happened, to see if I could prove that the cops were wrong and Dad was innocent so that we could get our life back. That’s what led me into investigative journalism. But all I found was that everything the cops said was right. Dad was as guilty as they accused him of being.”

“But you survived,” Johan said. “You got that job with Fuchsia, and you’re here now.”

“By taking risks,” she said with renewed energy. “By not sitting casually by and accepting the way things were. I busted my ass to get top grades and win a scholarship to college. I worked part-time jobs to pay for extras even after getting that scholarship. People told me that was a risk and that I would lose my scholarship if I didn’t focus on studies, but I didn’t. I graduated with honors. I’ve won awards for investigative reporting by taking risks other journalists wouldn’t. I owe everything I am to the risks I take.”

In the course of her explanation, her temper rose, and as it did, Johan’s body language hinted that he’d gone back on the defensive.

“I admire you for everything you’ve accomplished,” he said. “But that doesn’t change what’s going on right now. Lindqvist’s dogs are the least of what we might run into tonight. I’m not willing to put you in danger if I know you’ll only make the danger worse.”

“It’s not up to you to say what I can or can’t do,” she argued.

“It is,” he insisted. “I don’t want you in danger, and I don’t want you to get hurt, because I love you too much. It would kill me if something happened to you.”

Tracy’s mouth was already open to protest, but she snapped it shut and blinked. He loved her? She had felt it on a visceral level for a while, but to hear him say it was something else.

The first flush of warmth at his declaration quickly melted to indignation, though.

“What a crappy time to tell me something like that,” she snapped at him. “You can’t just throw love around as a way to convince me to sit on my ass and do nothing when you need my help.”

“Tracy—”

“Because I love you too, you asshole. You’re stable and you’re brave and noble. Why else do you think I’m taking all these risks?”

He gaped at her, indignation flaring in his expression. At least now he understood how rotten it was to tell someone you loved them for the first time in the middle of an argument.

“This whole thing is family business,” he said. “The family will take care of it. I won’t let you get hurt for our sake.”

She planted her hands on her hips. “Did you not hear me say I love you three seconds ago?”

“I did.”

“Your family is the kind of family I want to have,” she insisted. “I want to help you.”

He rubbed his forehead. “I know, but—”

“No buts. I’m going to help you in this. You can’t stop me.”

“I can and I will.”

His face was a mask of stubbornness. In a strange way, it warmed Tracy’s heart and sent unwelcome swirls of desire through her. With everything she’d been through, she’d never really felt like anyone had her back in quite the way Johan did. But what should have felt great left her cold.

“For the last time, I am going to help you get to the bottom of this,” she said.

“And for the last time, I love you too much to let you risk your neck. So until you can rein it in and play it safe—” He finished his sentence by moving in, slipping his arms around her, and kissing her thoroughly.

There was something in the command of his embrace that left her weak in the knees. Johan was an amazing kisser, and his skills didn’t diminish at all in the middle of a fight. Her body flared to life, craving more of him in spite of her brain’s objections. She broke out in aches and tingles, breathless and wanton. Her mouth melded with his, and she kissed him as hungrily as he kissed her.

Until he stepped back, his face hardening to a frown. “Stay here,” he said. “I promise, I’ll keep in touch with you and let you know everything that’s going on.” He turned and marched toward the door.

“No,” she protested, following him. “I’m not letting you do this without me.”

He pivoted at the door to face her. “You don’t have a choice. You’re not coming with me.”

He pulled open the door and stepped out into the dark. The only way she could have stopped him was to grab hold of him and physically drag him back inside, but she wasn’t willing to resort to theatrics like that. Instead, she watched him march back to his car and get in. Within seconds, he had started the engine and peeled out of the parking lot.

Frustrated, Tracy slammed the door and stomped into the center of her front room, growling. One, brief moment of helplessness threatened her before she took a deep breath.

“You’re not getting away with this,” she hissed, then turned to march into her bedroom.

She plugged in her phone to charge while she changed clothes. There was more than one way to skin a cat. If Johan wouldn’t let her help him directly, she’d find another way, risk or no risk. She’d made more than a few contacts in the journalistic world of Aegiria, and even though they were all new connections, she wasn’t afraid to call on them. She’d get to the bottom of things, find out what she could about Storm Holdings, oil rigs, and Earl Lindqvist. Someone had to know something. And when she found out what her contacts knew, she’d set off on her own to find Marina if she had to.