“Maybe. Or maybe he didn’t trust you as much as you believed.”

“What do you want?” Theo asked. “You know as well as I do that if you kill any of the heirs, you will lose your claim.”

“That’s not what the agreement says,” Julien said. “It says if a member of the Escobar family kills any of the sons in line for the throne, the agreement will be invalid.”

“The law was changed to allow female succession in the royal house thirty years ago.”

“The law in Sereno was changed, but the agreement never was.” Julien sneered. “As long as I don’t kill King Alejandro, I don’t have anyone standing in my way. Except you, that is.”

“I told you I abdicated my claim to the throne.”

“So you say, but I’m not taking any chances.” Julien took aim. “It was good seeing you again, Raymond.”

Julien squeezed the trigger at the same time his half brother dove for cover.

Raymond cried out as he dropped to the ground behind a stable door. Not taking any chances, Julien rushed forward. He was within a meter of Raymond when his brother kicked the stable door open into Julien. Julien stumbled backward, and his weapon fell from his hand.

Footsteps approached, along with a shout. “Theo!”

His heartbeat quickening, Julien searched the ground for his pistol as the shout repeated and the footsteps grew closer. He found the gun beneath a wheelbarrow and scooped it up.

The stable doors behind him burst open, and sunlight spilled in. Julien took off, sprinting for the far doors.

“Freeze!” a man called out.

Julien ignored him. No one was going to stop him.

* * *

The last thing Levi expected when he rushed into the stables was to find Theo on the ground and a man running out the other door. Levi hurried to Theo’s side; the man was holding his shoulder, blood seeping between his fingers.

“What happened?” Levi asked. “Who was that?”

“He’s after Princess Cassandra. You have to stop him.”

“I thought you were after her.”

“No.”

“But after the Rossi family, you’re next in line for the throne,” Levi said, his confusion rising.

“I never wanted the throne. My brother did.” Theo moaned in pain as he tried to sit up.

“Brother?”

“There’s no time to explain. The princess rode off a few minutes ago. If Julien finds her, he’ll kill her.” Theo motioned to the saddled horse tethered outside. “You need to find her.”

“I will.” Levi pulled out his phone and called the guard office. “This is Levi Marin. You have a man down in the stables, and we have a perimeter breach. At least one man is on the grounds.”

“We’ll take care of it, but you need to come back to the palace,” the man on the other end said.

“Not until I’m sure Cassandra is safe.” Levi hung up and pocketed his phone. He untied the horse and swung himself into the saddle. He circled the barn and immediately spotted a horse and rider on the slope of ground leading to the wooded area where the gazebo was. The brown ponytail left no doubt as to who it was.