“Several thousand,” the librarian replied. “The Nazis didn’t find us a comfortable country to occupy.” She gave Anna a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, without a full name and a date of birth, it would be almost impossible to identify which family she came from and if there are any left.”
“Well, she did tell me a story about a lost treasure which sounded awfully fanciful,” Anna said slowly. “Maybe there were holes in her memory?”
The librarian smiled at her. “I wish I could help you, but if you discover any more information, or another Lerasian surname, please give me a call or send me an email.” She gave Anna a business card.
“Thank you for your time.” Zar took Anna’s hand, and they left the old stone building.
“Well, that was disappointing.” Anna frowned. “Why would my grandmother lie about her last name being Schwitz once she was in America? And then keep lying about it to my mom and me?”
“It was a very traumatic time of her life. Your grandfather was killed, and she may have been a witness to his murder. Maybe other family members were murdered?”
“I know she was pregnant and terrified out of her mind.” Anna sighed and rested her head against his arm. “It’s a wonder she told me anything about that time of her life.”
“She would have had to been very brave to hide an American pilot for...how long did she say?”
“Weeks. Almost three months. They almost got caught a couple of times before they did catch him. I think he may have led them away from her.”
“He might have known she was pregnant.”
Anna smiled, but it was a little sad. “He was brave, too.”
Zar met her gaze, then stopped them outside the car, cupped her cheek, and kissed her. “What better legacy for your grandparents to have left you than that of bravery?”
“I was hoping for people, too.”
“There is a way to solve that problem.”
“Oh?”
He leaned down and kissed her the tip of her nose. “Create a family of your own.”
She winced. “I’m short a few things for that.”
Like a husband? Zar imagined her pregnant and married to someone else and wanted to punch the unknown male in the face. Stupid, to be angry at a man who didn’t exist, but Anna was a woman who’d be worth fighting for.
One side of his mouth tilted upward. She’d make the perfect wife for him. Intelligent, beautiful, funny, courageous, selfless. He found her endlessly fascinating and incredibly sexy.
Wait. Could he make it happen? He wasn’t in line for the throne; that was for his sisters.
“What are you plotting, Your Highness?” she asked, narrowing her eyes as she studied him.
“Who me?”
“You have that sneaky look on your face right before you spring another shopping spree on me.”
He laughed and kissed her full on the lips.
The sound of a police siren intruded, getting louder and louder. He broke the kiss and looked up to find two police cars racing toward them. The cars came to a stop right next to his car, and uniformed officers jumped out.
“Your Highness,” one of them shouted. “Please step back from your vehicle.”
“What?” Anna gasped.
Zar put an arm around her and drew her away from the car. “What’s wrong?”
The officer reached them and gestured for them to retreat several more steps. “A bomb was found under one of the cars in the staff-accessible garage. When it was discovered you’d taken one of those cars, we were asked to check it.”
One of the other officers was on his belly, looking under the car with a flashlight. He crawled a couple of feet and checked again.