The sunlight warmed me face and I rolled over to avoid it, dragging the pillow over my head. How dare it wake me from my Lucas dream. It was one of the best yet. We’d made love, then slept and woken to make love again. Then we’d talked and laughed and made love again. A perfect—

I woke with a start, the sunlight nearly blinding me. Not a dream. It had been real. But was he still here? Fear lacing through me I patted the bed, too afraid to look. Empty. Son. Of. A. Bitch.

I was going to kill him. He’d left me. Again. After all of that? After the promises and the pain and the fighting and the hate fucking and the — A shadow on the balcony stopped the runaway train of my thoughts.

I dragged the sheet around me and padded out to the balcony, the cold stone making me stand on tiptoe. “You’re here?”

He frowned. “You’re up? You’re not supposed to be up.” Then my words sunk in and his shoulders slumped.

Damn. “I’m sorry. This will take getting used to. It’s just I woke up and you weren’t—”

He stalked over and took my hands. “Bryna stop. I deserve your wariness. I haven’t earned your full trust yet. But I swear to God I will. I will do everything in my power to make you feel as secure as possible. If I could take back that morning I would. I need to earn your forgiveness. So just know that I’m working on that every day.”

I blinked away the tears. When had I become an emotional wreck? The moment you fell in love silly. “I’m sorry. You have nothing to make up for. We’re in this together. We’ve both made mistakes.”

“If you say so. But if you don’t mind, I’m going to go ahead and spoil you rotten with so much extra attention you beg for me to leave you alone so you can put on clothes just once.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Why is it I need to be naked?”

His brow lifted. “I didn’t mention the sexual slavery thing? Sorry. But it’s too late now. You came to me so I’m going to go ahead and chain you to me now. Now, where did I put those handcuffs.” He glanced around. “I swear they were here somewhere.”

As I giggled, I peered around his shoulder. “What’s all this?” A massive breakfast spread sat out on the table.

He sighed. “I was trying to surprise you with a little breakfast.” His lips tipped into a lopsided, sheepish grin. “I never got to spoil you that first time. I had plans. So many plans. So. I’m making up for it now.”

I clutched the sheet to me one handed, and looped my free hand around his neck. “Plans, huh? What kind of plans? So far they look like the most delicious kind of plans. I see scones. Is that clotted cream? I swear, you can chain me up and do the freakiest thing you have ever dreamed of if I can have fresh scones with clotted cream.”

He chuckled low as his lips fluttered over mine, then along to my jaw and down my throat. “I know the way to your orgasm. And I warn you, I can think of a lot of freaky shit.”

I giggled when he nipped the hollow between my neck and shoulder. “Bring it on Your Highness.”

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. I’ve got a butt plug around here somewhere too.”

I pulled back and blinked several times. “I uh…”

His chuckle was low. “Don't worry. I’ll make it feel good. Just think about the scones.”

Hmmm, I did love scones. I swallowed hard. “You know what, I’ll do anything for scones.”

Lucas’s crack of laughter made my head spin. It was good to see him so happy. “Tell you what, why don't we start with how I was going to wake you this morning. Then you’ll eat. And then we can talk handcuffs and all the other fun things.”

I lifted a brow. “Just how were you planning on waking me?”

“Let me show you princess.”

I snorted a laugh. “I’m no princess.”

“Not yet, but you will be.”

My stupid heart fluttered. Like a sappy girl who’d dreamt of Prince Charming. But Lucas was so much better than any Prince Charming. He was real…dirtier too. He lifted me easily and carried me over to the ledge of the stone balcony. Then he parted the sheet around my legs. “Open up, Lady Bryna, I plan on eating first.”

My grin broke free. “Oh…well of course Your Highness.”

“You just sit there and enjoy.”

He lapped at me with a firm stroke of his tongue and my eyes rolled back in my head. Jesus lord, the man was oh so skilled with his tongue. “Well if you insist.”

“Come in.”

There had been far too much excitement over the last week or so. First Robert, then Marcus. It was all a mess. So far, we’d managed to keep most of the details out of the press, except for Lucas’s coronation, and obviously, the murder of Robert. The media outlets kept pestering our press office for statements.

As his murder took place in the courthouse is was the purview of the police force and not under royal jurisdiction. Either way, no way we would have commented on an official investigation. So publicly, all we could do was offer condolences to his family and utter some bullshit about how we were cooperating with the police. And while horrified at the turn of events we were looking forward to putting this part of our history behind us. But we all knew the truth. There was a larger conspiracy at play.

Weller strolled in. “Oskar and I are headed back to New York this morning.”

I nodded. “Thank you for everything. Especially for what you did with Lucas. I know he can be a pain in the ass, but I appreciate you stepping up and looking out for him.”

“Of course. If you need us again, please call us.”

“Will do.” Hiring Blake Security was probably one of the best things my father ever did.

“There is one more thing.”

I lifted a brow. “Yeah?”

“We’ve done it. We found your sister. But considering she’s changed her name and her identity, that girl obviously didn’t want to be found. I’ll leave that information with you, so you can do with it whatever you want.”

I stared at him. “You found her?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It wasn’t easy. Seems like her old man moved a lot after her mother died. He changed her name three times when she was in school. Legally, mind you. No false IDs, but he was definitely making it more difficult to follow them.”

Oh my God. “Do you have her folder?”

He pulled out a flash drive and placed it on the table. “That’s it. Everything you’ll need to know. As always, call us if you need anything.”

I stood and shook his hand then stared down at the flash drive. If she’d spent her whole life hiding, there was no easy way to approach this. Which meant I was going to have to make a decision that I’m sure my father had considered not that long ago. I was going to have to send her a guard. One she wouldn’t see coming.

“Well look who’s been rescued from the prince’s bed.”

Jinx snickered as I rolled my eyes. “Laugh all you want. It’s a real thing. I had to create a diversion, find my clothes… It was very taxing.”

She grinned. “You look so happy. This makes my day. My whole life even. And most of all, I’m looking forward to spending a little time with my bestie.”

“I know, things have gotten crazy. I didn’t realize that I’d get swept up in all the royal shenanigans so completely.”

She nodded and handed me a bowl of popcorn and the largest glass of wine I’d ever seen. I said, “Popcorn and wine?”

She shrugged. “In honor of our Scandal marathon.”

I grinned. “Oh, it’s been a while since we did that. But aren’t we’re all caught up?”

“It doesn’t mean we can’t start from the beginning and marvel in the brilliance of the show again.”

“Good call.” I took my wine gratefully and took a sip.

“So, tell me what’s going on with work. And what happened to that guy you were sort-of seeing? Aiden?”

Jinx shrugged. “Aiden has gone AWOL. It’s bizarre. I see him, he’s very friendly, always wants to grab a coffee after class, but, when it’s time to actually rack-up and make a date, I find myself just standing there, waiting on him, you know? I’d be standing there with my coffee like, ‘Okay, well, this was fun. We should do it again.’ And there he is, not taking the hint. It’s irritating, honestly. So, I don’t really know what to do there.”

“Seriously? Aren’t you the same girl who just rolled up to Tom Shankston and said, ‘You need to tell me, do you like me or not? If you don’t, fine. I’ll find someone else.’”

“Yes, that was me. But you know what? It would be nice to be chased for once. You know, to have someone run after me and tell me how awesome I am. Because, oh, what a hardship.”

I had to agree with her. To have someone who was completely into me was actually kind of amazing. It was a high I didn’t think I’d recover from. Yeah, that was a wonder. After last night, Jesus, I just wasn’t that stretchy. I was going to have to talk to Lucas and figure something out, because if he kept that up, I wouldn’t be able to get out of the bed. Maybe that’s his nefarious plan. I chuckled to myself and took up my usual spot on the couch.

“Come on Jinx, let’s get this party started.” I didn’t know how long it would be before Lucas realized that I wasn’t coming back to the palace that night. I’d told him that I’d be hanging out with Jinx, but I just hadn’t told him that I’d be sleeping at my own place, too. And given our long separation, I didn’t think he’d take well to that. So I gave myself maybe two hours before he came looking for me. Not that he would make me leave with him, but he’d make that face. The one that was sexy and just a little pouty. And there I would be, dropping my panties.

I’d officially become that girl I used to tease him about, but that smile, those eyes, and those abs… For once, I actually had a guy who wanted to be with me. Not the idea of me or the ‘me’ they wanted to mold. Me, just me. And that was awesome.

Jinx came around the kitchen partition with a fresh bottle of wine and another bowl of popcorn under the other arm. “I have been waiting for this—"

There was a knock at the door, and I groaned. “My God, I thought I had longer than this.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll bet you five bucks that’s Lucas. I told him I was coming. He said, ‘have fun,’ but he probably just caught on that I wasn’t planning on coming back to the palace tonight.”

Jinx rolled her eyes. “My God, way to make a girl jealous. I’ll get it.” She handed me the wine and popcorn and jogged to the door. When she swung it open, the door banged, which startled me, and I whipped around. It wasn’t Lucas on the other side, but a man who looked vaguely familiar. Where did I know him from?

He was almost as tall as Lucas, with dark hair and messed-up teeth, and he had Jinx by the throat. “Two for the price of one. Even better.”

I put up my hands. “Let her go. You can have whatever you want.”

“What this is about, sweetheart, is your boyfriend. He thought he was slick leaving New York, thinking he could trick me. I know what he did. And, I’m here to get what’s mine. He owes me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please just leave. We have nothing to do with any of that.”

He grinned then. “Oh, no. I’ve been sitting on this house for a week. I’ve seen the Royal Guard coming in and out here, and I know they guard the monarchy. And I have seen Lucas. So, it looks like I’m in the exact right place.”

Jinx struggled against his hold, but he only tightened it. “Oh my God, let her go.” He shoved Jinx so hard she landed with a thud on the kitchen floor, knocking her elbow. She winced as he grasped her again. “Look, if you want Lucas, go get him. Leave us out of it.”

“What, you think I can just roll in the palace and get a prince? Even I am not that good.”

“We don’t have what you want. And those two, they’ve been fighting it out. She’s not his girlfriend.”

I shook my head at Jinx. I knew she was trying to help, but it was certainly not helping. This guy was clearly a psychopath. And something told me she wasn’t getting through to him anyway.

“I’m the one you want. You don’t want her. For me, Lucas would do anything.”

She stared at me then back at the intruder. “Why limit yourself? Like you said, you’ve got two for the price of one.”

“Jinx, stop.” When he’d shoved her and she fell in the kitchen, she’d pulled a cutlery tray down with her, and I could see that she’d palmed a small paring knife.

I shook my head at her. She was not made for combat. And technically, neither was I. I’d had rudimentary self-defense training, but honestly, I wasn’t like Penny or Ariel. I couldn’t kick butt. Neither could Jinx.

“No.” The guy frowned. “Neither one of you is going anywhere. But what you’re going to do,” he indicated me, “is you’re going to call your boyfriend and tell him to come running because Tony has got his girl.”

I shook my head. “I’m not doing it, so you might as well kill me now.”

He reached down for Jinx and grabbed her by the hair. She squealed, kicking and screaming. “No, I’ll kill her.”

My eyes went wide, and I put up my hands. “Okay, okay. I’ll call him.”

Jinx winced when he released her, and she clamored to her feet. “You’re an asshole.”

“Fair enough,” he scowled. “You’re not the first one to tell me that.” He turned his attention back to me. “Make the call.”