Page 72 of Ruthless

As they continued down the hallway, Eve’s mind grappled with a thousand different questions. How had her attackers entered the passageway? How had they known she would be using it at that exact time? What had been their goal—to kill or abduct, or maybe even just to scare? But why?

And the number one question that made the other questions minuscule by comparison: How had the one man she believed she would never see again been able to come inside the castle and attack her?

How the hell had Dirk Bennett escaped prison?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Fury bubbled within Gideon, and he ground his teeth to keep from letting it spew out of him. Eve had been lured out of her apartment and attacked in her own home. If she wasn’t so well trained and savvy, she might have been abducted or killed. Whoever attacked her had underestimated her. Only a select few knew of Eve’s martial arts abilities. She wasn’t even one hundred percent recovered, and she had defended herself against two attackers.

He glanced at her pale, bruised face. Even though he knew she was in pain, the worry in her eyes told him her mind was focused elsewhere. Had her father actually collapsed, or had that news been merely to get her out of her apartment? If so, her uncle was going to have a very hard time explaining himself.

Gideon opened the door to the main hallway and stopped. To the left led to her father’s apartment. He had never been inside the king’s private dwelling, but he had studied the castle extensively and knew it as well as he knew his own home. To the right were rooms that had once belonged to the queen but were now used infrequently for Nicolas and his family.

Gideon glanced right and left, ensuring no one was waiting to attack again. “Okay, let’s go.”

With a shaky breath, Eve stepped out into the hallway. The door to her father’s apartment opened, and her uncle stood there, waiting for them. “What took you so long? And what happened to you?”

Ignoring his questions, Eve said, “What happened? How’s Papa?”

“You need to come inside.” Jacques backed up, leaving the door open for them to enter. “We need to talk.”

Keeping one arm around Eve, Gideon put his other hand on the only weapon he carried within the castle, his knife. If this was a setup, he needed to be ready.

The instant they entered the king’s quarters, Gideon noted three things. Every light in the large apartment seemed to be blazing. Voices were coming from another room, some of them sounding agitated. Most notable was the frazzled-looking Jacques. The man known for his calm, even temper looked as if he were on the brink of a major meltdown. Was that because his plan hadn’t worked? Had he believed Eve would be either dead or missing at this point?

“What’s happened, Jacques? How is Papa?”

“Your father had some kind of an attack after dinner. The doctors are with him now.”

“But how is he? Is he conscious?”

“On and off. He’s not making much sense.”

She took a step forward. “I need to see him.”

“You might want to clean up first, Lina. You look as though you’ve been in a brawl, and there’s blood on your face. What on earth happened?”

Gideon squeezed Eve’s shoulders. Now might not be the best time to confront her uncle.

“Why don’t you go freshen up?” Gideon said to Eve. “I’ll stay here and talk with your uncle.”

Gideon waited for her to disappear around the corner before he spoke. If he hadn’t, she would’ve turned and come back, demanding answers. She needed a few minutes to herself, and he wanted some alone time with her uncle. They’d never had a lot of interaction, but he’d always gotten the impression that Jacques disapproved of him. Not that it mattered. Being liked had never been one of his life’s goals.

“Eve was attacked on her way here.”

Eyes wide with horror, her uncle looked convincingly shocked. “Within the castle? What happened? Who was it?”

“Yes, within the castle. She fought off two men, but I don’t know who they were. I’m just wondering how anyone would know that Eve would be coming down the passageway at that exact time. They were waiting for her.”

“I don’t know. There were a few people around when I called her. But I also called Nicolas and Alexandre.”

“Have they arrived yet?”

“No. I didn’t realize that Nicolas was moving his family to another location today. And Alexandre is appearing in his brother’s place at a charity event. I left voice messages for both of them, but I don’t anticipate either of them will be available for a while.”

This ambush had to have been orchestrated. Eve had told him that the instant she’d talked to her uncle, she’d hurried out the door. Her attackers had been waiting for her.

“Who else knows about the king’s collapse?”

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