Patrice appeared in the doorway behind him, a covered serving dish in her hands. “You tell me if this gets cold, and I’ll heat it up.”

“Patrice, we’ll be fine. You’ve already gone well above the call of duty.”

“She’s special, your Cassie.”

“Yes, she is.”

Patrice straightened a salad fork as though the fraction of an inch might make a difference in how the food tasted.

“Thank you, Patrice,” he said, finding her attention to detail endearing. “I appreciate your going to all this trouble.”

She patted his hand. “You enjoy your evening.”

“Thanks. You too.” Levi poured water into the crystal goblets on the table and sat to wait for his “date.”

In the distance beyond the gardens, he could see two boats on the water, a sailboat and what appeared to be a small yacht. He wondered if Cassie had time for such pursuits when people weren’t trying to kill her. He knew Garrett had to fight to make time for leisurely activities.

Admittedly, Janessa had been good for him in that regard. The two worked well as a team, and shouldering the burden of royalty together often allowed them to steal a few hours or even a few days to themselves when they needed it most.

Levi thought of Cassie’s insistence on letting go of the day’s stresses for a little while. He leaned back and stared out at the Mediterranean as the evening sunlight splashed over the waves and white foam rolled over the sand.

Clicking heels against stone broke into the soothing rhythm of water meeting land.

Levi stood as Cassie approached, his gaze lowering to the file she held. “I thought you said you didn’t want to work through dinner.”

“The bank robbers stole from safe-deposit boxes.” Cassie held up the folder. “Every one of them.”

“That’s right.” Levi pulled her chair out for her, amused that etiquette was so ingrained in her that even when she was upset, she still sat obediently.

Levi sat back down. “Do you have a theory as to why?”

“I can’t be sure without talking to my father.”

“Humor me with your best guess.”

Cassie hesitated, and Levi could almost see her debating about how much she should reveal.

“I can’t help if I only have half the facts.”

“We’re talking about national security here—my family’s security.”

Levi put his hand on hers and waited for her eyes to meet his. “You can trust me.”

When she didn’t speak, Levi pulled his hand away and picked up the bread basket. “Maybe we should eat dinner before we talk about this.”

Cassie took a roll and put it on her plate. “It’s not that I don’t want to confide in you. I’m sworn to secrecy.”

“Cassie, if you have suspicions that your family secrets have been violated, keeping them to yourself isn’t going to help anyone except the criminals who already understand them.”

Levi waited for Cassie to absorb the truth. He removed the lid from the serving dish.