Page 1 of The Spy

Chapter 1

Lucan Valdez, Prince of Torren, couldn’t find the only woman he would ever love. He lost her on her last flight to the Middle East.

At his desk in the security offices of the palace, he clicked image after image on his computer screen. Still no sign of her in most Middle Eastern countries. His heart rate quickened even though he told himself she was probably safe. As a last resort, he checked the airport’s live feed in Egypt, the last remaining country on his list. Scanning every person who walked by, he lost hope she would appear. Then he stopped scrolling. He zoomed in, and her face filled the screen. She looked right at the camera, just long enough, her mouth quirked in acknowledgment. And Lucan’s heart went to his throat.

Sammy.

He scanned the surrounding crowd. No one noticed her. Her head covered, a veil across her face, dressed in the flowy clothes of the Egyptians around her. By appearance, she could have been raised in that country. Lucan couldn’t tell if her blonde hair was dyed dark like the last time he had caught her on surveillance, but it wouldn’t matter. He could spot her in a crowd no matter how she tried to conceal herself.

Not because she wasn’t an expert in international espionage. She could hide anywhere, had gone undercover in so many different cultures he’d lost count. No one as yet, could claim a photo of her, not as her spy identity.

“Checking out Egyptian women now?” Trane stood in the doorway and Lucan wanted to slug him.

“Go bother someone else.”

“No, really, what is this?” His concern was legitimate. Trane took his job as Duke of Torren seriously and ever since he had married, the amount of attention he paid to security had exponentially increased.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, everything seems quiet. This is just standard.”Because I always look for Sammy.

Trane sat across from Lucan at his office desk. “All you do is stare at strangers on screens all day. When are you going to have a conversation with a real person? Date someone?”

Lucan bit back his sharp response. “You been talking to our mother?”

“I admit she sent me, but I’m concerned also. You can assign all this security to someone else. We have a great team, who you personally trained. Give the reins to one of them, relax.”

Lucan admitted to himself that he had been considering just that for a long time. But retiring was much more complicated than any of them realized and had far more repercussions than they would ever know.

He took one last look at Sammy and then shut his laptop. “I’ll come to something social. What’s the next big event mother is planning?”

Trane laughed. “Oh, you are going to regret asking that question.”

Lucan considered his statement and then groaned. “I may be out of the country if we are talking about the Torren Royal Gala.”

“You should have known better than to even ask.”

“I wasn’t thinking.” He groaned. “So I have one month to find a date I can enjoy for one evening.”

“A royal.”

Lucan pulled up the page of royals. Trane came around to join him. “What are your options?”

Trane cleared his throat and pointed. “What about Spain?”

Lucan’s blood rushed faster, eyeing the stunning blonde in the picture. He felt Trane’s eyes on him as he controlled his mask of indifference. “They never come anymore.”

“But they might.”

Lucan closed his laptop again. “I’m not counting on it.”

Trane searched his face long enough that Lucan added, “She’s made her preference clear enough.”

He paused as though about to say something, but then nodded his head in response. Trane put his hands in his pockets. “I hear Thad and Sage are talking marriage.”

Lucan nodded. Every brother in their family was married except for Thad and him now. “True. I could put off my re-entrance to society until their wedding.”

As he closed up his office and he and Trane headed toward the private family side of the palace. He enjoyed the quiet dark at this late hour. “Where’s Seraphina tonight?”

“On assignment.” Trane’s tone, his smile, the rise of his head when he spoke told Lucan how proud Trane was of his wife.

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