Royal Rescue. Tammy Johnson
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didn’t have to wait long.
“I don’t know for sure how much you know of your brother. But he has become a man with a huge heart. He tends to follow it into places he probably shouldn’t.”
Thea smiled. She pulled her hand back and relaxed into the passenger seat. His words brought back images and memories of the teenage boy Leo had been before their lives had changed. The few occasions she had seen him since had hardly been enough time to judge the man he had become.
“He has hidden himself away the last year or so working in a homeless shelter in Chicago,” Ronin continued. “He’s made quite a few friends there. He considers himself one of them.”
“Because he understands what it’s like to be without a place to call home,” Thea remarked. It made perfect sense to her. Leo would experience a bond with those who didn’t feel as if they belonged.
“Yes,” Ronin agreed. “That’s the way he explained it, as well.”
“But how did he end up being shot?” Thea urged him to continue.
“One of his friends at the shelter went missing. Leo started investigating.”
“On his own?” she asked.
“That surprises you?”
“No, not really.” She sighed. “I probably would have done the same thing.”
“I had just made contact with your brother. Leo had already been at it a few weeks. He was close to a breakthrough, I imagine.”
“And that’s what got him shot?”
“We think so.”
“So it wasn’t the same people who are after me?” It seemed bizarre that so much danger had come into their lives at the same time but for different reasons.
“As far as we can tell.” Ronin paused for a few moments and gripped the steering wheel tightly as an eighteen-wheeler attempted to pass them on the slick road. “He has people with him looking into it to be sure.”
“Could you have done anything to stop it?” she questioned.
“I did all that I could.”
“Then you have your answer. It’s not my place to judge what you could or couldn’t have done.”
“How can you be so forgiving?”
Thea didn’t have to think long. The answer was easy. She’d learned holding on to bitterness and blame brought only pain. The only way to truly live a happy life was to forgive.
“How can I not?”
* * *
Forgiveness was not something he was accustomed to.
Especially not so quickly and easily. He had done all that he could to protect Leo, but he’d been just that much too slow. He had been busy watching for an attack from those in power in their country; he hadn’t expected it from some random source. But still, he’d failed and he did blame himself for that.
He would not fail a second time.
He glanced over at the woman next to him. Thea truly was special. At first glance she might seem rather ordinary if you didn’t know of her heritage. A tiny jagged scar high on her forehead was the only feature keeping her face from being perfect. If you took the time to look deeper than surface impressions, you could see true beauty.
Wavy locks of deep chestnut hair framed a lightly freckled face. He knew from his research that she hated the freckles. But they gave her character. She was beautiful, but it was her inner beauty that shone through more than anything.
She had her father’s faith, as well. When she’d asked him if he believed in God, he hadn’t been sure what to say. He believed. He knew there was a God, but his faith had wavered so much since the day they’d come for his father. His friends and his country had turned their backs not only on him, but on his brothers also. He couldn’t help but think perhaps God had turned His back, too.
He glanced over at Thea and she smiled at him. She might still have her doubts and questions, but he could sense her trust. She was her father’s daughter in every aspect. The king had been a wise man. King Donovan had ruled his people not with an iron fist, but with love. His kindness and faith had made the small country the prosperous land it was. When it was believed that the king and his son and daughters had been killed, his people had mourned the loss greatly.
It was perhaps that state of mourning that had allowed the king’s second cousin, Marcus Wendell, to step in and take over the throne. During these past fourteen years, their country had been under King Marcus’s rule, and the nation had very slowly been on a downward spiral. That spiral was attributed mostly to the fact that the king was weak-minded. For the past few years he’d taken to finding a bride. That endeavor had led him to his engagement with a woman of questionable character, Lucia Delmont.
At first Lucia had fooled them all. Mostly because during the first months of the engagement, she’d wisely kept in the background. But recently, he’d given her more and more power despite the fact they were not even wed yet. It was then that her true colors had begun to show to those who were wise enough to see her for what she was. It was almost to the point now that the bitter woman was ruling the country through the king. When word had leaked to the people that the prince and princess might be alive, an outcry to discover the truth had begun.
Unfortunately, the rumor also gave the real killer of their father motive to find them first and see that they never made it back to their country. The people might think the king’s murderer was in prison. But it was not the truth—Ronin knew it in his heart. He also knew the real killer would see the need to finish the job that had been started all those years ago. Leo would be a target as part of the royal bloodline. But Thea held the truths that could see the assassin brought to justice. She had seen the killer, and whether she remembered who it was or not, she would be hunted with a vengeance. That hunt had already begun. For now there were only rumors that the prince and princess were alive. Someone out there would go to any means to squelch those rumors and see that the heirs remained dead to their people.
Only this time their deaths would be of a much more permanent nature.
“How much do you know of what is happening in our country?” he asked. He’d thought she’d be kept up-to-date on most of the current affairs, but he wasn’t sure.
“Not much. I was barely ten when I was taken away. Those I had contact with seemed to think it was best I only knew that my father, sister and brother had perished.” She paused as if needing an extra boost of fortitude to continue. “It was only when I overheard them planning on moving my brother that I learned he was still alive.”
“That must have been difficult for you.” His mother had died when he’d been young, as well. His father and brothers meant the world to him. He would do anything for them. The realization gave him a new respect for her and what she had overcome.
“It was.” She sighed. “But I had my faith. I’ve always believed that good can come from the most difficult times. I had God with me through it all, and as Leo and I grew older, we also grew smarter. We found ways to work around the plans to keep us apart.”
“By having your annual meeting?”
“Yes.” Her voice broke. Ronin resisted the urge to reach out and lay his hand over hers. “It wasn’t much, but it was better than never seeing my brother again.”
“You will see him again.” He hoped his words would give her the added courage to continue telling him what she knew. There was so much buried in her mind somewhere. She had been there when the king had been shot. No one knew for sure how much she’d witnessed, but anything at all would be better than the nothing he had now. He needed to know if she held any memory of his father from the night her family had died, if she remembered who had attacked her and left her for dead.
“I know.” She sounded sure, more sure than he was at this moment. Where the