Cassie turned her head toward his voice and opened her eyes. “I thought you already left.”

“I couldn’t go when you might be in danger.” The realization that this could be the last time he would ever see her hit him hard. A hollow sensation started in his center and spread outward. “I never meant to mislead you.”

“But you did.”

“I’ve spent the past seven years living parallel lives. Every time I was with you, I was Levi Marin, head of security at the chateau. I wasn’t a CIA agent.”

“Ever?” Cassie asked. “What about the tracking device on my computer?”

Once again, Levi found himself perched on the edge of a cliff, only this one had him wavering on whether to protect his agency or trust the woman he loved. The debate lasted only a second. “I admit I was asked to plant a snooper program on your computer, but I didn’t. Instead, I ignored my orders and did what I thought would protect you instead.”

“It didn’t work out very well for you.”

“No, it didn’t, but if someone at Satori Oil had been after you, your laptop could have been a target,” Levi said. “I had to prepare for any threats that might arise.”

Cassie’s gaze strayed from his. She tensed when she took in the cliffs. “Can we go somewhere else?”

“Let me see if the guards have completed their search.” Levi pulled his phone from his pocket and called Darius.

Darius answered on the first ring. “We can’t find Princess Cassandra. Is she with you?”

“Yes. I have her,” Levi said. “What’s the situation? Have your men cleared the woods?”

“They’re doing that now,” Darius said.

“Call me when they’re done, and I’ll bring her back to the palace.”

“I’ll come to you.”

“After you clear the woods,” Levi insisted. “If someone else is on the grounds, they’ll be watching for you or your men to lead them to the princess.”

“I want her inside, away from danger.”

“That makes two of us, but we have to identify the danger before we can accomplish that,” Levi said. “Call me when you’re done.”

Cassie closed her eyes again and blew out a breath. “I can’t go out there yet, can I?”

“Not quite yet.” Levi put his hand on hers. “Close your eyes. It will only be a little longer.”

“A little longer,” she repeated. Her hand turned over and gripped his, a remnant of the trust they had once shared.

Levi stared at her profile: the dark eyelashes against flawless skin, the line of concentration on her brow, the strand of hair that caught in the breeze.

Cassie’s father was right. She was beautiful. Levi had no doubt that her face would haunt him when he left here, because he couldn’t imagine ever finding anyone who touched his heart the way she had for as long as he lived.

* * *

Julien never liked hide-and-seek. He especially didn’t like it now when the people looking for him were armed.