Page 52 of Forbidden Royal Vows

Not even his sister had done that. Not when her own neck was on the line.

In his family, it was always every man for himself.

The plane landed while it was still dark. Caius had slept very little, preferring to rewatch that video of Mila again and again. This time, he didn’t read reactions or comments—because he didn’t care.

He cared about what she had said. He kept rewinding, looking for more nuance. Basking in her voice. Wishing that he could have reached through the screen to curve his hand over the elegant line of her neck. To feel the strength in her even as she spoke so softly, yet so resolutely.

Once in Las Sosegadas, he headed directly for the palace, prepared to charm his way in. One way or another.

Or cause a scene.

He wasn’t picky.

Caius presented himself at the gates, expecting to be turned away. He was already formulating plans for that—

But it was unnecessary.

They made him wait, but after a while he was let in and ushered through the battlements, until he found himself in the palace’s architectural wonder of the forecourt.

Where the woman waiting there, arms crossed, smiled when she saw him.

It took him only a moment.

“Noemí,” he said, with genuine pleasure. “It’s been a long time.”

“Too long,” the woman agreed. She still held herself like the guard she’d been pretending not to be when he’d known her. He’d instantly assessed her as someone with martial arts training and perhaps a military background, which was why he’d taken a closer look at Mila. And realized he knew exactly who she was.

Then hadn’t looked away again.

“I never had a chance to thank you,” he said now. “Those were magical days.”

“They were,” the other woman agreed. “And between you and me, I think we could all do with a little more magic, don’t you think?”

Caius found himself grinning ear to ear. “I do,” he said. “I really do.”

Noemí grinned back, then nodded toward the path that wound around the palace and into the gardens.

“Her Majesty is enjoying an early-morning walk in her maze,” she said. “I believe you know the way.”

Caius started to walk, but something occurred to him. He stopped, looking back over his shoulder. “There were no paparazzi here at the Garden Gala. There were only official photographers.” The older woman only gazed back at him. “And you are the Minister of Security, are you not?”

“I am.”

“I would have thought that you would know of a photograph like that. That you would have seen to it that it did not slip out into the wrong hands.”

Noemí smiled. She seemed to take her time with it. “Sometimes,” she said after a moment, “magic needs a little help.”

With every step he took, Caius couldn’t help but feel the portent of it all. Back in the maze but this time, he knew where he was going. Back at the palace but this time, he wasn’t pretending to himself that he was here for any reason at all save this one.

It was time to do what was right in the soul he’d always claimed he didn’t have, and maybe he hadn’t until five years ago. Nor since, as he was fairly certain he’d handed it over into her keeping.

But the good news about that was that he knew exactly where it was.

The maze was a blur of high, imposing hedges and his own impatience. Until, unerringly, he stepped out into the grove at the center the way he had once before.

Though it was changed now.

Summer had turned to fall. The flowering trees were bare. The pool looked cold and uninviting.

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