“I’ll be okay, but thank you.” As soon as he was left alone with his nurse, he said, “I’ve never had a private nurse before. How does this work?”

“Accommodations have been made for me in the staff quarters,” Ivan said. “Another nurse will relieve me for the night shift.”

“And who arranged for me to have such personalized care?”

“That would be me.” Dr. Marois emerged from the kitchen. “Let me take a look at your leg.”

“I think I’ve been poked and prodded enough for one day.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but indulge me anyway.”

Levi remained in the wheelchair while the doctor examined his leg.

“I understand you also injured your shoulder,” Dr. Marois said.

“It’s just bruised. Nothing some rest can’t fix.”

Again, the doctor poked and prodded. Once he completed his examination, the nurse rebandaged Levi’s leg.

“Ivan, I think our patient will be okay for a few minutes without us,” Dr. Marois said. “Come with me, and we can discuss his treatment plan.”

The two men left, and the door closed behind them. Movement sounded in the kitchen, and Levi turned toward it.

Cassie appeared in the opening between the living and dining areas, a pair of crutches assisting her forward progress. Levi’s heart squeezed in his chest at the mere sight of her. She was the future he could never have and would always regret.

The bandage on her ankle reminded him how close they had both come to dying today. He shuddered at the thought.

Cassie held her position beneath the archway. “Thank you.”

Levi wasn’t sure what he’d expected her to say, but that wasn’t it. “If you’re thanking me for saving your life, I think we’re even. I wouldn’t still be here if it weren’t for you.”

“You never would have been on that cliff had you not come after me,” Cassie countered. “Truly, I owe you my life. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

“You can forgive me.”

Cassie used her crutches and closed the distance between them. She lowered herself onto the couch, facing where Levi still sat in his wheelchair. “I hope you don’t mind staying here instead of the hospital.”

“As long as you and your father aren’t planning on throwing me in the dungeon, there’s no place I’d rather be.”

“We don’t have a dungeon.”

“Good.” Levi glanced around the empty room. “I assume you know one of the shooters was the man after the throne.”

“Yes. Julien Escobar, although he was going by a different last name,” Cassie said. “Interpol already traced him back to where he had rented an apartment in Copenhagen. An agent recovered the missing founding jewels and the twenty-two missing pieces of the succession agreement.”

“That’s quite a find.”

“Yes. Jeremy and Noelle are going to work with my father to get the pieces returned to where they belong.”

“I’m glad.”

“Me too,” Cassie said. “I think I’ve had enough trauma in the past few months to last a lifetime.”