Rachelle nearly fainted with relief, but she held herself steady. This was her one chance to find him, and she couldn’t blow it by being obvious. As the woman watched Rachelle cry, her shoulders slumped.

“All right,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. “I can tell you that there is a man who matches Darian’s description living in a safe house north of here, and that he is safe. That is the only lead we have, though, ma’am. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”

Her words were loaded with secret meaning. She was trying to tell Rachelle that Darian was alive and well, and she didn’t need to worry about him. It was still very clear that she wouldn’t release his whereabouts, and Rachelle couldn’t totally blame her for that—she was doing what she needed to in order to protect the royal family. While Rachelle wanted to wring her neck for keeping this information from her, the rational part of her hidden away somewhere still understood.

She sniffed, and the woman handed her a tissue through the glass. Rachelle shifted, working to get a better angle of the desk as she stealthily pulled out her cell phone. She accepted the tissue with a nod of gratitude.

“Thank you. I just needed to know that he was okay, you know? Obviously, he means a lot to me.”

There was no pretending that the children weren’t Darian’s. Rachelle didn’t want to pretend otherwise, anyway. The more sympathy she could get from the woman, the more likely she was to get some answers.

“I understand. Really, I do. I wish I could do more.”

Rachelle bestowed her most gracious smile on the woman.

“I understand. You’re doing your best to protect…”

Rachelle made a lurching sound, like she was going to vomit. She widened her eyes in panic as she looked up at the woman.

“Morning sickness. It’s been so terrible with so many babies. I’m so sorry, but I’m about to…”

She began making a series of sick noises. Panicked, the woman dashed out from behind the counter to go retrieve a trashcan. The moment she was out of sight, Rachelle pressed her phone against the glass and snapped a picture of the return address on the envelope Darian had written on. She quickly pocketed her phone just before the woman came out with a trashcan.

“Here you go!”

Rachelle straightened and cleared her throat, smiling as sheepishly as possible at the woman. She didn’t want to look too triumphant, but after months and months of searching for answers, the fact that she had a lead to Darian’s whereabouts was too much not to grin about.

“Must have been a false alarm. Thank you again for your help. It is most appreciated.”

She turned and made her exit then, not looking back at the gaping mouth of the attaché. She walked as fast as her body would allow, not stopping until she was in her car with the doors locked, clutching her phone.

She stared at the picture, zooming in on Darian’s script. It was definitely him, and thank goodness for how distinguishable his handwriting was, with its elegant loops and swirls. Eying the address, she saw it came from Vermont.

Vermont!

She would never have guessed he would be there! Then, of course, that was likely the entire point. Vermont was rural and out of the way. Obviously, they had chosen his safe house very wisely.

Glancing at the clock, Rachelle realized that if she left then and there, she could likely reach his safe house by dusk, depending on where in Vermont that actually was. Pulling out her navigation system, she typed in the address, realizing that there was yet another long drive ahead of her.

Rachelle’s legs were aching, her lower back shouting in agony at sitting in one position for so long. She didn’t think twice about it. She had been waiting far too long to see Darian again, and her heart fluttered at the chance to actually find him. She drove back to her hotel, where she checked out and grabbed her bag, tossing it into the back seat of her car before heading back out onto the road.

To her annoyance, Rachelle still had to make several stops along the way. Her whole body was aching, but it didn’t matter. Her heart was soaring, her stomach was filled with baby kicks and butterflies. What would she say to him when she saw him again? What would he say to her?

A cloud of doubt cast over her joy. She remembered just how curt he had been the last time they had seen each other. He had told her it was best if she moved on, left him out of her life. Did he really mean it? Over the past long, lonely months, she had convinced herself that he hadn’t, that he had simply been saying that to save her from heartbreak in case anything happened to him.

Regardless of his feelings, he still deserved to know that he would be a father in the very near future. As Rachelle drove on, the populated streets of New York gave way to long stretches of rural highway, encased on either side by a forest of greenery. Rachelle’s navigation system led her into the mountain range, and she drove on windy country roads until the system told her she had arrived. She passed by the opening of the driveway three times before she finally saw it, her car rumbling on the dirt road as she turned in.

After driving for some time, she finally caught sight of a secluded cottage, and she felt a moment of hesitation. She was a heavily pregnant woman in the middle of nowhere. Her cell phone signal was patchy at best. Was she putting herself in too much danger in this search? Was Darian even there?

Steeling her resolve, she pulled the car up to the front of the cottage. There was a plume of smoke drifting lazily up from the brick chimney, and she shivered as she turned off her car and stepped outside. There was another car poking out from the back of the cottage, like someone had attempted to be sneaky and failed at it. Rachelle’s babies went quiet as her heart trembled.

She stared at the door for a moment, finding her courage. After looking for so long, she might finally have her answer. Whether or not it would be one she liked, well, she would only know if she knocked on that door.

Taking the steps carefully, she reached the door, and knocked.