A new thought surfaced. Julien moved to his bookshelf and retrieved the book that contained the governing documents for Sereno. For the next hour, he scoured the constitution and the various amendments. It wasn’t until he reached the changes made after his family was exiled that he found what he was looking for.

A slow smile crossed his face. Apparently, his family’s belief that they couldn’t be involved in a royal assassination wasn’t entirely true. If he was correct, he was perfectly justified in taking matters into his own hands.

* * *

Levi kept Cassie’s hand in his as they ascended the spiral staircase to the guest quarters. Their conversation in the garden replayed through his mind, and he mentally kicked himself for letting his guard down. He knew better than to let his friendship with Janessa show, and yet, when they had all been sitting together, he had seen Cassie as part of the team, not as an assignment with a beginning and an end.

He wondered if it would have been easier had they stuck with his original plan to have her pose as a security officer, but he was also having a hard time regretting where their relationship had gone. Thoughts of a future together threaded through his mind only to be pushed aside into a messy knot that had ceased to follow reason.

“Thanks for walking me back to my room,” Cassie said, interrupting his thoughts.

“My pleasure.” He kissed her good night, her hold on his heart tightening with the simple contact. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Reality crashed over him. Cassie was a princess. He was an intelligence operative from a country she didn’t trust. His next thought was that those details didn’t matter. He needed to focus on the here and now without letting his nationality and social status get in the way.

Then, reminding himself he had a job to do, he went to the security office, where he found Franco at his desk.

“You’re working late,” Levi said.

“Still trying to get the updates on the bank robberies,” Franco said. “I emailed you the latest a few minutes ago.”

Levi sat at an open computer. He reviewed the intel reports Franco had sent, his frustration rising. He had yet to gain an inventory of what had been stolen from the various safe-deposit boxes.

“Franco, doesn’t Interpol have anything else on the safe-deposit boxes?” Levi asked.

“Not yet. They have to interview all of the people who rented them to find out what was taken, and even then, the police have to rely on what the customers say.”

“Get me a list of who rented those boxes,” Levi said. “Interpol has to have that much by now. It’s been two days.”

“I’ll make a call.”

“Thanks.” Levi waved at another stack of files beside Franco. “Anything new on the investigation in Sereno?”

“Sereno’s captain of the guard had the same concern about an inside source at the palace helping plan the attack.”