While I sat still and allowed the doctor to stitch my head, I took inventory of those gathered within the panic room. Natalie huddled with her three children, trying to soothe them. Princess Adelaide cried softly in a corner as Amy attempted to comfort her. King Victor, Prince Adrian, and Liam spoke in hushed tones, but given the way their hands gestured wildly, their conversation was anything but calm.
This was a side of the family I never wanted to see.
A heavy blanket of despair fell over the room, and it was unsettling, especially when Lucy was the only one not safely held within these secure walls.
What could I have done differently this morning that would have kept her safe? Should I have asked for identification fromthe guards before placing Lucy inside the car when I didn’t recognize them? Why didn’t Myles’s absence raise a red flag?
I could play the what-if game all day long, but it didn’t change the fact that someone took Lucy, and I wasn’t enough to protect her.
I’d failed her.
The doctor finished with the stitches, placing a bandage on my head, instructing, “Try to keep this area dry for a few days.” I mumbled my acknowledgment as he assessed me carefully. “Did you lose consciousness?”
Here we go. I had better things to worry about right now than myself, but I placated him. “Yes.”
“How long were you unconscious?”
I couldn’t keep the snark from my voice. “I don’t know. I didn’t exactly ask my assailant to mark the time before he knocked me out.”
The doctor frowned but continued his line of questioning. “Any nausea, dizziness, memory loss?”
My patience was already stretched thin, and I snapped at the balding man. “Are you blind? Did you not see me being propped up on the way in here? Yes, I’m fucking dizzy. As for nausea, I’m sure the palace staff is hosing down the mess in the drive as we speak.”
“Preston . . .” Liam warned.
“What?” I snapped at him next. “Am I supposed to sit here and act like this is okay? That my needs come before Lucy’s safety? We need to do something to help her!”
Liam took the seat opposite where I sat. “I get it. You feel helpless right now. I do, too.”
“Easy to say when your wife is within arm’s reach, and you know she’s safe,” I shot back.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to Lucy,” he countered.
“You can’t promise that!” I shouted, despite how it shot lightning bolts of pain through my skull.
Liam was gearing up to respond when his phone dinged. Frantically, he dug into his pocket to retrieve it, but my heart sank when I saw him clutch it so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“What is it? Is it Lucy?” I begged.
Standing, Liam walked toward his grandfather and father, but I could hear him even from a distance, the terror in his voice sending a trickle of fear down my spine. “It’s Leo.”
“Leo?” I asked, confused. What about Leo?
Liam’s eyes shot to mine. “He has Lucy.”
Pandemonium erupted inside the room, everyone talking over each other at this shocking development. The panic was palpable, but I didn’t understand. Why would Leo take Lucy? It seemed everyone, excluding me, knew the answer but wasn’t willing to clue me in.
“What does it say?” I asked, needing to raise my voice loud enough to be heard above the others.
Liam still held his phone in a vise grip. “There’s a picture of her gagged and bound to a chair. He wants me and is using Lucy as collateral—that’s the gist of it, anyway. I’m expected to meet him alone in an hour, and if I don’t . . .” Liam’s face contorted in way that made it look like he was about to be sick.
“If you don’t, then what?” I needed to hear the words.
“Then he’ll kill her.”
Princess Adelaide’s wails increased in volume as she said on repeat, “This is all my fault.”
Liam was methodical. I could see his mind racing, trying to find hidden clues in Leo’s message. Finally, he remarked, “I recognize where she is.”
