There was a lot to catch up on. So much, in fact, she almost kicked herself for taking so many days off.

But they really had been amazing days.

When the jet landed at San José airport, Angelica was already showered and changed and had been apprised of the current situation in Aragon by Celipa Alfarro, her bodyguard.

“You will need to keep vigilant,” Celipa was saying as the plane taxied to its designated spot.

Angelica looked out the window, her chin in her hand. She was nervous about what she might find, what was waiting for her when she arrived at the palace. “Has it gotten that bad?”

Celipa adjusted the cuffs of her white shirt, her dark glasses hiding any emotion in her eyes. “You need to be concerned about your safety at all times, Ma’am. The graffiti on the walls coupled with the constant picket lines in front of the palace has caused us to heighten our security.”

Angelica could not picture these things that Celipa was describing. Her palace, her family, her people, this was not real.

“And Señor Gutiérrez is back.”

The jet shuddered to a stop as she looked at her bodyguard, ice running through her veins. “No.”

Her solemn nod was all Angelica needed for confirmation. Oh, well. That will have to wait.…

She had just a few moments before the paparazzi swamped her. She sent her brother a text.

It didn’t take long for his text to come back.

The plane came to a stop and runway workers immediately moved a rolling staircase to the plane. Before Celipa opened the door for her, she gave herself a cursory look.

She’d opted for a Chanel pale yellow dress, with a short white jacket to set it off, and a Miu-Miu pair of white pumps and matching handbag. With her round pearl earrings and necklace and her hair pulled away to the sides of her face by silver clips which had been gifted to her great-grandmother by the Queen of England, she looked the part of the proper princess she had always been. Yet, she longed for the Romani dress, sandals, and flowing hair.

They’ll never know how changed I am, how naughty I’ve been. She nodded to Celipa to open the door, pasted a gentle smile on her lips, and climbed down the stairs. “Princess! What do you think about the uprising?” shouted one thin man, thrusting a cell phone in front of her just to have Celipa brush him aside.

“Are you concerned for your safety?” asked another reporter, who was immediately joined by another, “Do you think these people will overthrow your family?”

Reminding herself to keep that gentle smile on her face, Angelica held up her hand and the crowd of reporters quieted. She had to look calm about what was happening in her country, even if she was a chaotic mess on the inside. “I have no fears for my safety. Our security will ensure that not only my family, but also that our staff in the palace and their families are well taken care of and protected at all times.”

“What about this uprising?” another asked, shouting over the noise of the camera lenses as they took her picture. “What’s going to be the response of the King?”

Angelica wet her lips, anticipating this question and other difficult ones. After a few press conferences, she had learned to have the right reaction. “I cannot speak for my brother, but my family will be discussing the matter, I assure you. We will not stand for any harm to come to our people.”

“But it’s your people that are threatening to overthrow you,” a young reporter stated loudly, a familiar smile on her face.

Angelica narrowed her eyes on the reporter.

Emma Borell was the face of Aragon’s biggest news channel and newspaper, Global, and a bloodthirsty reporter when it came to a story. She had been the one to hound Angelica for an exclusive story after she was left at the altar and when Angelica had refused to do so, had smeared her reputation in the form of daily updates, saying that the princess was unstable and in need of medical and psychological treatment.

Angelica hated the reporter. “I assure you, we will find those that are responsible for this disturbance. My family has served this country faithfully for more than eleven generations and our people are our top priority.”

Emma smirked. “Is that why you chose to fly separately from your family then?”

“I do not see how that is any of your business, but I had matters to attend to. I am here now and am ready to find a solution to all of this.” Angelica gave the woman her best regal stare, not appreciating that she was dragging her personal life into this. “I must excuse myself. I am needed at the palace. My family will release information as soon as we are able.”

“Sources say you are in the market for a husband,” Emma continued, a gleam in her eyes.

Angelica’s blood boiled inside. She wasn’t going to be baited nor was she was going to stir up any trouble when they had plenty already. “I am not.”

No one would ever know the size of the sacrifice she was making for her people.

Ludwig had been unable to go back to sleep after he returned home. He’d walked into his bedroom, took one look at the rumpled bed fresh from their last love-making session, and turned around and walked back out. He couldn’t stay there.

So instead, he’d gathered his briefcase and drove himself to work.

The tasks he set himself did a magnificent job of keeping his mind otherwise occupied. After almost a week without putting his feet in his workplace and with Angus away on his honeymoon, there were clients to talk to, contracts to finalize, budgets and billing reviews, and more, along with the reports on his latest projects in the neighborhood he was fixing up.

But after plowing through the list of things that needed his attention, he finally sat back and stared into space.

How many women have I left in bed? It was almost humiliating to be the one left behind, to be given the cold shoulder. Is it possible that she felt as little for me as I did for those I’d walked out on?

It can’t be. We were just getting started with something really good.

He had never taken another woman seriously before. He had never tried to date a woman, or to get to know her. The only thing he had ever successfully accomplished was being able to get women into his bed. Sometimes multiple women at the same time.

But Angelica shook his world. He actually liked her and wanted to continue seeing her. He didn’t want anyone else, and as odd as that was, he admitted to himself it was true. And the thought of her leaving him without a note? His heart hurt.

Have I ever felt this way for another woman before this?

The answer was a simple one. No.

He’d waited a few days, letting it all sink in for both of them. But he was not sure what he was going to do.

A knock sounded at the door.

He looked over, startled to find Egon standing there. The office area outside his window was starting to fill up as employees trickled in.

Egon leaned against the doorframe, with a raised eyebrow. “Got a moment?”

I…have all the time in the world. It was like staring down a very deep well of emptiness. “Of course. Come in and take a seat.”

Taking in a deep breath, Egon stepped into the office, closing the door behind him before sitting down.

“I’ve gone over the reports of the resort project.” Ludwig pulled them up on his computer. This was the single largest project his bank had at the moment. “I’m worried they’re overbilled.”

“Of course they are,” Egon said with a snort. “They need to float a little for proper cash flow.”

“I’m aware of all of that, Dicky.” Ludwig called him by the nickname he’d called him when they were younger, knowing it would irk the man. “But I fear they’re over-floating.”

“Over-floating.” Egon folded his hands in his lap and gave Ludwig a level look. “What’s really going on? You normally come back from a long weekend with a pretty woman and you’re in a much better frame of mind. But this time?” He shook his head.

No words came immediately. “I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about it.”

“Too bad.” Egon gave him a bland smile. “You need to face the fact that your player days are at an end, Wiggy.”

Ludwig gave Egon a dark look but couldn’t reprimand his friend. He was only paying back in kind. Egon was right, of course. He didn’t even want to think about another woman. Not after he’d had Angelica. He turned away from his computer. “What if she will not have me?”

“You think she will not?”

“She’s a princess, Egon.” Those simple words opened the door to the doubts and uncertainties he’d been feeling whenever he considered the chances of their fling expanding into something more serious. “We live in two different countries and have two highly demanding jobs and responsibilities. I cannot tell her she has to move here and she cannot inform me I will move there.”

“Well,” Egon said dryly, “she could order you to move there. I believe her job trumps yours.”

Which was another thing that didn’t sit well with him. He was the type of man who enjoyed having the control in the relationship. “And what would I do?”

“Start another bank, of course.”

“Angus is the mind behind Lekten Royal Bank.” Ludwig snorted. “I don’t enjoy the numbers as much as the people.”

“I know that, but don’t you think that perhaps the people of Aragon need a banker who cares for them? The people of Lektenstaten have enjoyed the privilege of your insight and protection. I have a feeling they could grow to share you.”

He hadn’t even dared to think that. To relocate when his life was here.

But that was what a life with Angelica would be like for him. Unless the political theatre shifted drastically. She had warned him that things might be going badly. She had left him to go back to a country in upheaval, and he’d let her?

Egon’s face split in a grin. “So, I take it you’ll be leaving again.”

He shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t but the thought that Angelica might be in danger did things to him he didn’t appreciate. A dark anger filled him, and he didn’t know where to focus it. “Would you be terribly inconvenienced?”

“Of course not.” Egon leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’ve been waiting for this day for so many years.”

Ludwig wanted to ask him what day, but he knew. Egon had always told Ludwig he would have to settle down one day, that he’d find a woman that would make him want to, but he’d never believed it, had refused to listen.

“Go. Find your heart and make it happy.”

Ludwig shook his head. “Always the dreamer.”

Egon chuckled as he straightened. “One of us has to be. I’ll take care of things while you’re away. You know I will.”

“If anything major comes up…”

“I’ll call you.”

That was the only thing Ludwig needed to hear. A large weight was lifted just knowing he was going to see her again.

Though no one was nearby to see or hear, he laughed under his breath. He had laughed a great deal these last several days, but he couldn’t laugh the truth away.

He’d known she was trouble—had to be, as every female was. He’d wanted her, yes, but this was hardly the first time a woman stirred his lust. He lusted but he was always aware of the trap they were laying for him.

And the truth was, this time, the woman was perfect, and she hadn’t laid a trap for him. But he had walked straight into a pit deep enough, a mire thick enough to hold him.

With a grim smile, Ludwig rose and walked to the window to look at the snowy mountain peaks of his beloved country. He couldn’t stop what twisted and ached inside him. Her lips clinging to his; her hands holding him fast. Her soft cries of pleasure. She was soft and warm and tasted of apples and innocence, unbearably sweet.

He was trapped, yes. But he had been trapped before. He’d stood aching and lonely like this once before. But he’d made his schoolboy tormentors respect and envy him. He’d shown his father tenfold of what stuff he was made of.

Meine Kätzchen, I am coming for you.

Ludwig was determined to have what he wanted. And he wanted her like no other.