Page 24 of Royal Caleva: Luis

Her gaze skimmed over the braided rug of faded blues and greens, the brick fireplace filled with neatly laid logs, and the framed landscapes painted by her great-uncle, an amateur artist. The Victorian oak coffee table gleamed with furniture polish and held a nosegay of red roses and yellow gerbera daisies in a teal glass vase, a combination that paid tribute to the colors of Caleva’s flag. She had not included lilies, the Calevan national flower, because they were deadly poisonous to cats. She didn’t want to take the chance that one of her not-so-bright kitties would eat the flowers before she tossed them out. A matching bouquet was ready to go on the dining room table.

She snorted as she compared her old Iowa farmhouse with the online photos of Castillo Draconago’s grand salóns. Last night, before they lay down to sleep, Grace had brought her laptop to the bed to search the internet for information about her biological father, his family, and the land he ruled.

Caleva was a dramatically beautiful country with its spine of soaring volcanic mountains and miles of glittering white and black sand beaches. Brilliantly colored flowering vines climbed the dark gray basalt walls of historic houses and churches. She and Grace had oohed and aahed over the fields of deep red medicinal lilies shrouded in mists of geothermal steam and the giant teal lizards called Calevan dragons.

The royal family was equally dramatic, strikingly handsome like Luis, with the features and coloring that spoke of their descent from a Spanish pirate king. Evidently, the pirate had stumbled upon the island eight hundred miles off the coast of Spain when his galleon had been blown there in a storm. He had returned to declare himself king and take the last name of Dragón.

As she had sat beside Grace, Eve had made appropriately interested comments, even as she had agonized about what the future held for her daughter and herself.

Why couldn’t Luis Dragón have been a doctor…or a chef…or a taxi driver? Even a CEO of a multinational corporation would have been easier to deal with than a frickin’ king.

And now she had to cook for him. Her early morning had been spent racing around to the limited selection of food stores in Ames. After Mikel finished his inspection, she would plunge into cooking the menu of Iowan specialties and Spanish tapas she had cobbled together, in the forlorn hope that something would appeal to Luis’s royal taste buds.

The doorbell rang, and she marched to the front door, bracing herself in case a battalion of heavily armed guards was about to invade her home.

When she opened the door, Mikel stood on the porch, flanked by the pleasant young woman who had played receptionist and DNA collector yesterday and a tall, muscular man with short brown hair and no expression on his face. They all wore jeans and T-shirts in various subdued solid colors and carried black duffel bags.

Only three people. That wasn’t so intimidating. Her tension eased a little.

“Good afternoon, Señora Howard,” Mikel said. “Bridget and Ivan will be assisting me today.”

“Please call me Eve,” she said to all three.

Bridget smiled. Ivan nodded.

“Come in,” Eve said. “I should warn you that my cats are confined in a bedroom upstairs.”

“We will make sure not to allow them to escape,” Mikel said.

“The dogs are out in the yard,” Eve said, closing the door. “I can leash them, if you prefer.”

“Only if they’re likely to bite us,” Mikel said with a half smile.

She shook her head. “They might bark at you, but then they’ll sniff your pockets for treats.”

“In that case, would you provide us with some treats to offer them?” Mikel’s eyes held a disarming glint of humor. “Making friends with the locals is always a good idea.”

Maybe he wasn’t as scary as she had thought. “Follow me.”

The security team trailed behind her to the kitchen, waiting as she pulled the tin out of the cabinet. When she turned to hand them the canine goodies, she caught them looking around the room with focused intensity. So Mikel’s charm was just a façade.

Mikel distributed the treats to his team. “With your permission, Ivan and I will begin inside, while Bridget introduces herself to your dogs.”

“Whatever you need to do. I’ve never had a king visit before.” Eve gave them a nervous smile. “Shall I show you around?”

“I am sure you are very busy, so we are happy to work on our own,” Mikel said.

And keep her out of their way while they did their top secret stuff. “That’s fine with me.” She needed to start food prep, anyway.

“First, I need to ask you a couple of questions,” Mikel said. “Please be honest. We have no intention of reporting anything you say to the authorities.”

Eve frowned in utter bafflement. “Go ahead.”

“This is standard procedure,” Mikel said before fixing his gaze on her face like a laser. “Do you have any firearms in the house, whether modern or antique?”

“I don’t think so,” Eve said, still confused. “Unless there’s one in the old trunks in the attic.”

“We will check there,” Mikel said. “Do you have any controlled substances in the house?”

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