“I paid you to plan for every contingency.” He looked at the clock on his wall to see it was almost nine in the morning. “Why am I only hearing about this now?”

“You didn’t want any electronic connection between us. I got here as soon as I could.”

His temper boiled inside him. It was too late to stop the second stage of his plans. His people were already mobilizing. “I was counting on you.”

“I know, sir.” Pratt retrieved a cloth pouch from his pocket and offered it to Julien. “We were successful in retrieving these.”

“The founding jewels.” Julien took the cloth bag and opened the drawstring. He retrieved a glass breakfast tray from the buffet and set it on his desk. He then gently emptied the bag into the tray. A half dozen jewels sparkled in the light. Diamond, emerald, sapphire, garnet, topaz, and amber, each with impressive size and uniquely shaped.

Julien did a quick count. “Where are the rest of them?”

“This is all we found.”

Suspicion surfaced. “This is all you found,” Julien repeated.

“I promise you, sir, this is all there was,” he insisted. “We searched the vault for another container, but nothing else was there.”

“There should be four times this many.”

“Perhaps King Alejandro split them up in case of a theft.”

“If he did, he’s more clever than I gave him credit for,” Julien said. “What about the other item I sent you after?”

“It wasn’t there either.”

A new wave of frustration rose within him, and he fought to keep it in check. “Tell me what happened last night.”

Pratt set a flash drive on Julien’s desk. “The video from my men’s body cameras is on here. I have some of my staff searching now for Princess Cassandra’s whereabouts.”

“She isn’t at the palace?”

“We aren’t certain, but she hasn’t been seen since being rescued from the shooting.”

“Find her,” Julien demanded, slamming a fist on his desk. “And finish the job.”

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

Levi waited in the hall outside Cassie’s rooms. Dinner would be her first test in close proximity to the staff.

After their walk in the gardens, Levi had escorted her back to her room, where they had eaten a late breakfast together and made dinner plans. Levi hadn’t heard from her since.

Her door opened, and Levi struggled to keep his mouth from dropping open. Gone were her sunglasses. Her eyes were no longer blue but were a vibrant green. Her hair, now heavily streaked with blonde, hung in a loose braid.

Her regal posture remained, but with the simple cotton dress she wore, Levi hoped the staff wouldn’t look beyond the clothing to see her true identity. He noted the way the ties at her waist accented her slender figure and reminded himself that their relationship was based on fiction.

“What do you think?” Cassie touched her braid. “Girlfriend material?”

“Absolutely.” Levi offered his arm, and she tucked her hand through the crook of his elbow. “How did you . . . ?”