Page 78 of Sweet Royal Romance Suspense

Steffan laughed, but Aliya cocked her head to the side as if not sure what he meant.

“You two head out.” Steffan gestured to the off-road vehicles, interrupting the moment. “I’ll go settle the family and keep in touch with any information.” He shook Aliya’s hand. “Get some rest and have this guy let me know if you need anything. I’ll check in tomorrow.”

“Bless you for all ya’ve done.” Her eyes widened, and she cried out, “Wait! I didn’t even pay you for doctoring me.”

“We have a firm policy against charging our friends.” Steffan smiled and then admitted, “Our country has been very blessed; all healthcare is free of charge.” He gave a jaunty wave and hurried into the door connecting the lower levels of the castle with the spacious two-story garage.

“But a helicopter evac and an emergency room visit ...” Aliya’s lip trembled as she stared at Curt. “Somebody has to pay for those kind of luxuries, and I’m not a resident of your country.”

“I don’t think either was too luxurious, and the mission was great training for Chad and his men.” Curt smiled and directed Aliya through the spacious garage, his hand on her lower back.

This was all new, and truthfully kind of terrifying. He was bringing a beautiful, single, and appealing woman to his cabin to stay. They wouldn’t be alone with guards close at hand, and he had hosted numerous hikers at his cabin. He always offered food and drink to adventurers, and if they were there at nighttime and he felt comfortable around them, he’d offer a bed and shower as well. He could usually instinctively tell if someone was trustworthy or not. Aliya definitely was, and thankfully Steffan’s evaluation of her had backed that up. He hadn’t talked to Ray yet, but his brother sending the troops to investigate and help him protect Aliya boded well.

Curt got her door and loaded her into a two-person Razor, the best all-terrain vehicle in his and his dad’s opinion. Tristan preferred the Can-Am because he liked speed. Ray liked the Kawasaki Teryx. They loved to tease Ray that he should stick to his military expertise because his taste in vehicles was terrible.

Hurrying around, Curt climbed in and turned the key. The engine fired up. He eased the vehicle out of its space, through the garage, and out into the perfect evening air. The temperature was already dropping from the almost too-warm summer weather to a beautiful, cool summer night in the mountains. The guards on the four-wheelers followed them.

Curt lifted a hand to the guards patrolling the castle gate as they exited. Even though he knew Hal personally, the men both respectfully saluted. Curt didn’t like formality, but it had been part of his life and he wouldn’t single-handedly tear down the walls between royals and staff. Even as warm as both his parents were, his dad had asserted that their family should earn their people’s respect and love and treat everyone kindly, but boundaries were part of their lives.

He took the paved road around the castle. They made it back down to town and past the sentries there, then headed the opposite direction, using a well-maintained dirt road along the east side of the lake. Within a quarter of a mile, he turned off on another path that narrowed and got rougher, heading east and north up the mountain through thick pine, birch, and oak trees. Curt kept their speed low so the ride was as smooth as possible.

“Are you doing all right?” he asked Aliya. She’d been very quiet.

“Just admirin’ the epic scenery and hoping I don’t hurt my brain more with sensory overload.” She smiled at him. “Will we make it before dark?”

“For sure. The cabin’s about five miles up this road.”

“You call this a road? Maybe you would fit in down South.”

He smiled and down-shifted for a steep, rocky section.

“Do you always drive a fancy vehicle to your cabin?”

“Sometimes, but I like to hike.” Fancy vehicle? Had she not noticed the Aston Martins, Maseratis, Bugattis, and McLarens in their garage? This Polaris was a hundredth the price tag of most of their vehicles. “There’s a quicker hiking trail, about three miles, that leads almost directly to the castle.”

“I bet the guards watch that like a hawk.”

“They have cameras and patrols check it, but my brothers and I are the only ones who use it, and we cover the access to it from the mountainside with branches and logs. Nobody’s bothered the castle from that approach. Yet.”

If there was one thing they’d learned this year, it was that they weren’t safe and sound in their beautiful castle. Somehow, their mum had drowned in an icy lake and a twenty-year-old kid had scaled the castle walls and planted a homemade bomb under Tristan’s bed.

“I see.” Aliya laid her head against the seat and stared out at the mountains flowing around them.

Curt knew the scenery was insanely beautiful. He wanted to tell her she was more beautiful, but that wouldn’t be him. Ever. Even with Suzanne, who he’d dated off and on for a year, he’d never been gushy like that.

The slow drive seemed to take forever, and he worried whether Aliya was comfortable with him. Should he start a conversation to make her feel at ease or did her brain need to rest and not stress about keeping up her end of a conversation? Then he worried if she was chilled or if he was jostling her at all, so he slowed his speed. Then he worried why he was worrying so much. He wasn’t a worrier—at least, he hadn’t been before Suzanne had died.

He focused on driving and finally they rounded the last bend and the trees thinned and then opened up to frame his cabin.

The sun was hiding behind the thick trees and mountainside, but it was still light enough to see the two-story, timbered cedar-wood cabin. He loved it. His mum had helped him draw it up when he was fourteen and declared he’d be a wildland firefighter and live in the woods. The construction finished two years ago and he had moved up here, hiking, snowshoeing, or using an all-terrain vehicle to get to the castle, then driving to the wildland headquarters in Traverse for his forty-eight hour shifts. Even then, he’d planned ahead and built it big enough to host a myriad of adventurers from around the globe.

Then he lost Suzanne and quit climbing. Two months later, his mum was gone. Firefighting changed for him—some sort of mental trauma he didn’t care to unpack and reconcile. So he had quit and stayed here full time, patrolled his woods, hosted travelers, and felt more lost than ever.

“This is picture perfect,” Aliya exclaimed. She hurried out of the vehicle before he could get her door.

The guards pulled their four-wheelers to a stop and slid off.

The older of the two, Jacob, approached him. “My instructions from the General are to secure the interior and arm your security. Brad will stay with you. We’ll patrol the interior and exterior of the cabin while you and the lady get some rest.”

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