With some effort, he pushed aside the fact that he had invaded Cassie’s privacy earlier. He mentally filed his CIA persona away and headed for the door. Time to forget about loyalties for one night and to trust his heart.

* * *

Cassie couldn’t put a finger on what had changed. Levi had put up a wall between them, a glass wall, but a wall nonetheless. This wasn’t like the professionalism she had experienced when working beside him earlier today. He had distanced himself. He was in plain sight but different somehow.

Cassie didn’t know what had caused the change, and she didn’t like it.

She reached the spot Levi had shown her. His favorite spot.

Her chest tightened as she thought of the man and the many complexities in their evolving relationship. She had believed him this morning when he had talked about making it work between them in the future. She wasn’t naive enough to assume that meant they would get a happily ever after, but she had hoped to explore the possibility. Now she wondered if she would ever see him again once this threat against Sereno was over.

He was changing jobs soon. So was she.

The truth of that fact swept over her, along with the reasons she would soon become the first female ruler of Sereno.

The turmoil of grief swept over her. She lowered herself onto the bench and let the first tears fall. Her father was dying. Her king was dying.

How many more days would they have together? Would they spend his last days as father and daughter? Or would necessity force her to focus on learning how to rule Sereno?

She swiped at her eyes and sniffled.

“Here.”

Cassie startled and looked up. Levi stood beside her, handkerchief in hand. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but she accepted the offering.

Levi sat beside her. “Thinking about your dad?”

She nodded. She used the handkerchief to wipe her eyes, struck by the oddity that Levi had produced one so readily. “I didn’t realize you were the type to carry a handkerchief.”

“I work at a royal residence. It became a necessity a long time ago.”

“Do you often come across weepy females?”

“More often than I care to admit,” Levi said. “Besides, Patrice told me years ago it was my duty to carry one.”

The mention of the cook’s name brought a smile to her lips. “Sometimes I think she’s the one running the chateau.”

“Oh, she is, and we all know it.”

“Even Garrett?”

“Especially Garrett,” Levi said. “She threatened to put him on dish duty only last week when he forgot to tell her about a change of plans.”

“Sounds pretty harsh for a minor miscommunication.”

“That minor miscommunication was Garrett forgetting to tell Patrice about a state dinner.”

“Not so minor, then.”

“No.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s been bothering you today?” Cassie asked.

“Nothing is bothering me.”

Cassie shifted away from him so she could see his face. “I know better than that. This morning you were talking about how to make time to see each other when all of these threats are behind me, and tonight at dinner, you couldn’t wait to get away from me.”