“I won’t go any farther until I know everything.” Brie turned, her white dress a slash of light in the shadows. And Bennett saw the gleam of the gun.

“Oh, my God.” He covered Eve’s mouth with his hand even as she drew the breath to speak. “Listen to me,” he whispered, watching his sister. “Go back to the ballroom and get my father or Alex or Reeve MacGee. Get all three if you can. Don’t make a sound, just go.”

She didn’t have to be told twice. She’d seen the gun, as well. Eve nodded so that Bennett would remove his hand. Thinking quickly, she stepped out of her shoes and ran barefoot and silent along the dark side of the building until she came to a set of doors.

“If I have to kill you here,” Janet said coolly, “it’ll be unpleasant for both of us.”

“I want to know why.” Brie braced herself against the wall. She didn’t know how she’d escape, but she had escaped before.

“Deboque is my lover. I want him back. For you, your father would exchange the devil himself.”

Brie narrowed her eyes. Janet Smithers kept her passion well concealed. “How did you get past the security checks? Anyone who’s hired to work for my family is—” She stopped herself. The answer was easy. “Loubet, of course.”

For the first time, Janet smiled genuinely. “Of course. Deboque knew of Loubet, of the men Loubet bribed to work for him as well as your father. A little pressure, the threat of exposure, and the eminent minister of state was very cooperative. It helped, too, that he hated your father and looked at the kidnapping as a means of revenge.”

“Revenge? Revenge for what?”

“The accident. You remember it now. Your father was driving. He was young, a bit reckless. He and the diplomat suffered only minor injuries, but Loubet …”

“He still limps,” Brie murmured.

“Oh, more. Loubet has no children, nor will he ever, even with his young wife. He has yet to tell her, you know. He’s afraid she’ll leave him. The doctors assure him his problem has nothing to do with the accident. He chooses to believe otherwise.”

“So he helped arrange the kidnapping to punish my father? That’s mad.”

“Hate will make you so. I, on the other hand, hate no one. I simply want my lover back.” Janet held the gun so that it caught the moonlight. “I’m quite sane, Your Highness. I’ll kill you only if I must.”

“And if you do, your lover stays where he is.” Brie straightened and called her bluff. “You can’t kill me, because I’d be of no use to you dead.”

“Quite right.” But she aimed the gun again. “Do you know how painful a bullet can be, though it hits no vital organ?”

“No!” Infuriated, terrified, impulsive, Bennett leaped out of the shadows. He caught both Brie and Janet off guard. Both women froze as he lunged toward the gun. He nearly had it before Janet got off the first shot. The young prince fell without a sound.