Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Epilogue

       Chapter One

       L ieutenant Commander Adam Sinclair hated waiting.

      He glanced at his watch and frowned, staring at the door that would eventually open to allow him entry into her office.

      Her. Isabel Stanbury. Not only a Princess of Edenbourg, but also a cabinet member and on the staff of the Ministry of Defense, and the woman who never seemed to drift far from his thoughts…a woman he could never, ever have as his own except in the forbidden dreams he had far too frequently.

      Although he’d only been waiting a little over ten minutes, this wait seemed longer, more difficult than usual as he remembered her voice on the phone when she’d set up this appointment.

      She’d sounded agitated, excited, and that worried him. Isabel was a strong woman who rarely gave in to her emotions, but she’d definitely sounded emotional on the phone.

      His frown deepened, and he fought the impulse to rise and pace the small confines of the waiting room. Isabel’s secretary looked up, as if sensing his impatience, but she offered no reassuring smile.

      Smiles were in short supply in Edenbourg these days. Three months ago King Michael had been kidnapped, throwing the entire small country into chaos. Since that time, Michael’s son, Crown Prince Nicholas was in hiding but presumed dead by the country as part of the royal plan, and Edward Stanbury, Michael’s estranged brother, had become King of Edenbourg. In other words, things in the country were in a royal mess.

      Adam had been away at the time of the king’s kidnapping, working on a mission of his own…trying to clear his father’s name. But, he’d put his personal goals on hold when Isabel had called him home to aid in the search for the missing King Michael.

      And that’s what they’d been doing for the past two months…following leads, investigating friends and family…and hitting the eventual dead ends.

      “Lieutenant Sinclair,” the secretary called to him. “You can go in now.”

      Adam nodded, stood and straightened his uniform jacket. He knew he was the epitome of a well-groomed officer. No errant pieces of lint spotted his pristine uniform, nor did a single dark hair stray from his close-cropped style. He knew what was expected from a high-ranking member of the Royal Edenbourg Navy, and Adam worked double-time to see that he not only met but surpassed expectations.

      He had to work double time. He had to overcome the whispered rumors, the veiled innuendoes about his father. He shoved this painful thought aside as he opened the door to the office.

      Isabel rose from behind her desk as he walked in. He stopped in the doorway and offered her a crisp salute.

      “Lieutenant Sinclair,” she greeted him in that deep, low voice that he’d always found far too attractive. “Please, close the door behind you and have a seat.” She gestured to the chair in front of her desk.

      He closed the door, then sat, trying not to notice how lovely she looked. As usual she was dressed in a smart blue business suit, the ornate family crest decorating one breast pocket.

      What was unusual was the careless disarray of her shoulder-length dark brown hair and the bruise-like smudges of dark circles beneath her gorgeous green eyes. Both gave her an uncharacteristic vulnerability.

      She looked tired and edgy, and an answering edginess stirred inside him.

      He knew the past three months had been difficult on her. Although she and her father had often not seen eye to eye on her place in the royal family, he knew of her enormous love for King Michael.

      She didn’t sit, but rather moved to the front of the desk and leaned back against it, displaying to him the perfect slender shapeliness of her long legs beneath the short, pencil-thin skirt. The thought of those legs of hers had given Adam many a sleepless night.

      Princess Isabel Stanbury was not pretty in the traditional sense although there was beauty in her strong, bold features. Dark brows arched above the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. Her nose was narrow and straight…the Stanbury nose. Her mouth was generous, slightly too big for her face until she smiled, then it seemed to fit perfectly well.

      “Thank you for coming,” she said. As always the air crackled with tension between them. “There have been some new developments.”

      He leaned forward, intrigued by any news that might help in their search. “What kind of new developments?”