Above All Else: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Easy Team Book 2) (13 page)

Chapter
Thirteen
Sofia

              “There are international demands for the princess to return to Europe,” Commander Wolffe said.

              Xander adjusted the computer screen so that the camera landed on us more squarely. Judging by the background, the commander was in his bare office in L.A.

              “But she can’t go now,” Xander said firmly. “This is a classic tactic to draw her out. She’d be in incredible danger the minute she made herself public.”

              Commander Wolffe nodded, his lips pressed into a flat line. “I agree,” he said. “But at the same time, we cannot ignore the UN or other sovereign nations. We are not part of any government.” Commander Wolffe shook his head. “If we resist them too long, I wouldn’t be surprised if they accused us of kidnapping.”

              Xander made a snort of frustration and derision but I made no reaction. Instead, I looked directly into the laptop camera so that I knew Commander Wolffe was seeing me look directly at him.

              “Commander,” I said, “you need to send me.” I saw Xander jerk his head towards me but I ignored him. “I
want
to go. I understand the dangers. Believe me, as a princess you get very accustomed to kidnapping threats and dangers. But if there’s even an iota of a chance of saving my uncle, I
need
to go.”

              I tried my best not to let my emotions through as I spoke but my voice broke on the word ‘uncle.’ The image of Uncle Gregory’s gaunt and beaten face haunted my mind. I had hardly been able to speak let alone think without wanting to burst into tears.

              Almost immediately after the news report, Commander Wolffe had called, asking us to join him on a secured video conference.

              By the time the laptop had been set up and Commander Wolffe appeared, I was in such a state of detachment, I could hardly feel my own face. I was physically numb and emotionally drained. All I had left was my own conviction of getting back to Loranza as soon as possible.

              Commander Wolffe pressed the tips of his hands to his lips, as if considering my plea.

              “Princess Sofia,” he said, startling me a bit. It had been awhile since I had heard anyone dress me so formally. I was getting used to the idea of just being Sofia. But, I realized with a heavy heart, seeing images like that of Uncle Gregory reminded me just how much I wasn’t a simple Sofia. I was Crown Princess Sofia Reynaldo of Loranza, the heir to the throne. And I had to return to the real world.

              “I understand where you are coming from,” Commander Wolffe continued. “But this isn’t a simple matter of kidnapping and ransoming. Minister Pryto, it is now widely believed, is organizing a very clever coup. He is shouting that he wants a fair trial and for your abdication but he is encouraging and even funding groups that plan to capture and kill you.” Commander Wolffe eyed me sharply, and his gaze was no less diminished by being portrayed through a computer screen. “You will be killed in Loranza, your highness. And there is absolutely no doubt in that.”

              So someone had said it.

              Someone had finally laid it all out. No more tiptoeing around or speculating. We now all saw the truth. Minister Pryto was done babysitting the princess from abroad. He was done patronizing the prince. And he was ready to have a scapegoat for the complete disaster he had made of Loranza’s economy. And all of this would be fixed by the simple solution of killing me.

              “I don’t care,” I finally said.

              “Well I do,” Xander retorted, his eyes narrowed at me. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you throw yourself to the wolves like that.”

              I pressed my lips, not wanting to lose it but feeling the whirling tornado of heartbreak beating inside me. “This isn’t your decision!” I cried. “It’s my country, my people. And as their princess, I have the right to make my own decisions.”

              Xander matched my heated gaze, inch for inch, not backing down. His throat muscles tightened as his square jaw grew sterner. “Well, you’re my woman, my girl,” he said, not breaking his gaze. “And as your man, I have the right to protect you, even from your own decisions.”

              I glared at him evenly before our stare off was broken by a small gravelly cough from the screen.

              “Well,” Commander Wolffe said, clearly understanding that there was more to the picture than he had thought, “either way, I made an agreement with your uncle to keep you safe and protected for as long as possible. And I doubt, wherever he may be, that he has changed his mind about that.”

              I stared at the screen. Although Commander Wolffe spoke with a firm, gravelly deep voice that seemed to never carry more that one tone, I could see the pressing meaning in his eyes.

             
Your uncle flew you across the globe to keep you safe and even in the face of torture and kidnap, has worked to keep your location hidden. Don’t undermine what he has done for you.

              Tears stung my eyes. But that was exactly
why
I had to go help him. He had done so much for me, sacrificed so much, how could I not work just as hard for
him?

              “But you said there has been international pressure,” I persisted. “You can’t keep me for too much longer. Eventually, for the sake of Loranza, I must come out of hiding. There’s a time limit, remember?”

              Commander Wolffe nodded. “True, we can’t keep you hidden forever. This Pryto seems hell bent on destroying everything in his path till he can get his hands on you.” I shuddered at his very apt description of the minister and Xander squeezed my thigh, reminding me that anything that wanted to get his hands on me would have to first go through him.

              “But we have some time before we’re pressed for a decision,” Commander Wolffe continued. “So we should use it wisely. We need to map out exactly what our best strategy is and how to best utilize your position once you come out of hiding. That way we don’t just throw ourselves at the mercy of the enemy.”

              There was something reassuring about hearing the Commander say ‘we,’ even though I very well knew it would be just ‘me’ in the end.

              “I agree,” Xander said. “We should think of where her best allies might be so that she could perhaps set up a safe house there.”

              “Prince Gregory initially had gone to France before meeting with Pryto,” Commander Wolffe said. There was a subtle misgiving tone in his voice that told me that Commander Wolffe had not approved of Uncle Gregory’s decision to meet with Pryto on his own. And clearly, it
had
been a bad decision. “Perhaps there are French sympathizers who would house Princess Sofia while….”

              The words washed over me. I heard Xander and Commander Wolffe discuss possible plans for me and my future. They clearly wanted to keep me hidden for as long as possible and wanted my eventual reveal to be done in a way that would still keep me safe and away from Loranza.

              But didn’t they know? Couldn’t they see?

              There was no way that any of this would end without Pryto and I meeting for one last time. Who knew when, where, or how but that’s how I knew it would end. Pryto and me.

              It had always been that way. From growing up in a desolate palace to the exclusive parties of America, all I had known was Pryto as the center anchor in my life. He was the one that had reared me, exiled me, and now he was the one who was calling for my head.

              No, Xander and the commander might have an understanding of battlefields that is beyond me.

              But I understood Argus Pryto better than they did. I understood that what he wanted was me.

              And he would do anything to make sure he got me.

***

              “Are you sure?” Xander asked, standing at the bottom of the porch. Even with him standing at the bottom and me standing at the top, we were just barely eye level. The man was physically overwhelming.

              I nodded and leaned my head against one of the porch posts, trying to look drained, which wasn’t hard to do.

              “I think I want to lie down for a bit,” I said. “I just…I just need to close my eyes.”

              Xander’s eyes swept over me. I could see concern and worry laced through his expression but my act must’ve been convincing enough since he nodded. “Alright,” he said. “It’s probably better you stay and get some rest instead. Try and sleep if you can. I shouldn’t be more than two hours.”

              He gave me a quick kiss and I held myself in check and tried not to hold him closer.

              I nodded and waved him off as he drove down the drive.

              Jeannie had called Xander, letting him know that some of the men from town were going to the river to put up some temporary fencing so no more children would be tempted to play in the river. She had asked him to come down and give some expert advice and help. He couldn’t refuse and I had made sure he didn’t.

              Since being put under Xander’s care, this was the first time I was truly and really on my own. Even during the Simone Retreat, when I was teaching separate classes from him, I was still near enough to Xander that he could find me easily. After all, he had been close enough to be able to run to my rescue when I had fallen into the river.

              But this time, he would be miles away while I was at the ranch. Alone.

              A sudden gust of independence hit my chest and made me a little dizzy by the overwhelming power I suddenly found myself with again. But oddly, instead of emboldened, I felt frightened. Xander had been such a protective constant in my life recently that losing his presence, felt unsettling.

              But I firmed my jaw as I headed back into the house.
Better get used to it,
I told myself. After all, this will be the last time you see the man.

              I took in a shaky breath.

              That's right. That short conversation, that quick kiss, and that little wave goodbye was it. That was how this relationship with the one man I truly loved would end.

But that was how it had to end. If I had given any rise to suspicion, I couldn’t carry out my plans. And I had to carry out my plans. Uncle Gregory’s life depended on it.

48 hours.

That goon on the video message and Pryto had given me 48 hours to show myself. We had wasted an entire day talking with Commander Wolffe about what to do. And now, another day was nearly finished. I needed to get moving.

I ran upstairs and quickly packed a few essentials into a bag. I threw on one of Xander’s large jackets and cap and ran out the back door of the house. I had noticed a small sedan near the shed one day. I had asked Xander about the car and he said that sometimes some of the men would bring their cars to him when the town garage was busy so he could take a look at it.

The sedan was fixed and all that needed to be done was to have the owner come pick it up. But the owner didn’t seem to be in a particular hurry and the car remained there behind the shed.

             
Well if your owner doesn’t have immediate need for you
, I thought as I switched on the ignition, I
do.

              And with my hands shaking from adrenaline, I drove down the drive, not looking back as I bid farewell to the only place that had ever felt like home with the only man who I had ever wanted to come home to.

***

             
Just like I thought.

              The closest airport hardly had any international flights and most of them had unbelievably ridiculous layovers. I stood in the main terminal of the airport, studying the screens that held their paltry flight schedule.

              I pulled out my phone and looked up the flights in L.A. I realized it would actually be faster to fly back to L.A. and to catch a flight from there to France than to fly out from Wyoming itself.

              Fine. Then the next step was to buy my ticket to L.A.

              I stood in line at the small ticketing booth where an elderly couple stood before me in line. It was a small airport but it was surprisingly busy. There were several people walking up and down the terminal as they searched for their gates and there were several people lining up to either check in or to purchase a ticket.

              I pulled my cap down lower to shield my face.

              Although I wasn’t too worried. I had spent weeks inside Simone and no one seemed to even be remotely aware of the situation in Loranza or their missing princess. I doubted it’d be any different at this small airport.

              That was until the TVs were interrupted with a breaking news report.

              It was that same blonde anchorwoman, Miranda, again.

              “It is now over 36 hours since the kidnapping video of Prince Gregory of Loranza has been released,” Miranda reported. “The video demanded the missing Princess Sofia return to Loranza at once to stand trial after abdicating her title. So far, no sign of the princess has been made yet and the international community is beginning to wonder if perhaps the princess is even alive.”