Brandishing a Crown

by Rita Herron

  “I cannot marry Daria when my heart is with someone else,” Stefan said between clenched teeth.

  Jane gasped, and Stefan suddenly glanced up as if he realized she was there. Their gazes locked, and the anguish and grief of his brother’s betrayal gleamed in his eyes, nearly bringing her to her knees.

  “AND WHO IS THIS in your heart?” Thaddeus yelled. “Some American whore you have bedded while you are there selling out our country?”

  Stefan jerked his gaze from Jane. He wanted to take her in his arms, promise her forever, apologize for the way she’d learned about Daria, shield her from this scene with his brother. And he wanted to beat his brother himself for his vile words.

  But he had to maintain control.

  Still, if he had a chance for a future with Jane, she had to see him for who he was.

  For the kind of man it took to be the leader he was born to be.

  He would not back down from a fight.

  So he straightened and forced his voice to a commanding tone, reining in his emotions. “Who I marry is not your concern,” Stefan said. “I am the leader of Kyros now, and I will rule as I choose just as I will marry whom I choose.”

  “You selfish—”

  “Your feelings about me do not matter, brother. The only thing that does is that you have betrayed me. You ordered that bomb that destroyed the limo carrying Amir—”

  “I did not order the bomb,” Thaddeus shouted. “That was not me.”

  Stefan swallowed hard. “But the Russian sniper, Hector’s family?”

  Thaddeus clammed up, then spit again. “Go to hell, Stefan.”

  One of the soldiers glanced at Stefan, and he nodded, giving a silent order. The soldier swung his baton back and hit Thaddeus across the chest, then his face. Thaddeus cried out, his head jerking as blood spewed from his nose.

  Jane wavered beside him, and he shot her an apologetic look, but he couldn’t stop now. Hector had been like family and Thaddeus had caused him great suffering.

  “Where is Hector’s family?” Stefan asked in a lethal tone.

  Thaddeus groaned. “Agree not to press charges against me and I will tell you.”

  “Oh, you will tell me anyway,” Stefan said. “And, brother, do not expect to get off after what you have done.”

  Thaddeus gave Stefan a hate-filled look, and Stefan again gestured to the guard. This time he picked up a hypodermic and waved it in front of Thaddeus’ face.

  “You know what is in that,” Stefan said. “It is the substance we have been experimenting with. Would you like to know what happens to your body once it is injected?”

  Jane laid a hand on his shoulder, and he tensed, then glanced at her, expecting to see disgust, but a myriad of emotions swirled in her eyes. Fear was there. But also understanding. Compassion.

  And a strength that reminded him of who Jane was. A brave woman who fought for what was right as well. They would make a dynamic pair.

  If only Jane could see that.

  Another strike and Thaddeus’s shout jerked Stefan back to the immediate matter at hand. His lying, despicable brother.

  Thaddeus trembled, sweat streaming down his face and neck. “You would not do that to your own brother. You cannot, Stefan. What would Father think?”

  Stefan released a weary sigh. “Ah, what will he think when he learns you tried to have me killed? That you hired a sniper who murdered one of our security agents? That you have Hector’s family under siege terrorizing them?”

  Panic flashed in Thaddeus’s eyes, and he jerked at the bindings, but the soldier played his part well and lowered the needle toward Thaddeus’ neck.

  “Where are they?” Stefan ordered.

  “Stop!” Thaddeus cried as the soldier pressed the needle to his throat. “Stop. I will tell you. Hector’s family is alive.”

  The soldier hesitated, waiting on Stefan’s orders. “Where are they, Thaddeus?”

  Thaddeus was half crying now, tears mingling with the blood on his cheeks. “Two men are holding them in an abandoned warehouse nearby.”

  Stefan’s voice held an icy edge, “Give Julius the location.”

  Thaddeus nodded, his breath raspy as he gave Julius an address, then Julius ordered his team to check out the information.

  Julius addressed Stefan. “What do you want us to do with your brother?”

  “Hold him until we verify that Hector’s family is released, and that they are all unharmed. And keep pumping him about what happened to Amir. If he ordered that bomb, we need to know.”

  “And your father?” Julius asked.

  Stefan’s chest ached. “Please make sure that news of this is not leaked to the press or that it reaches him. His health is too delicate now. When I am finished here, I will fly home and relay the news myself.”

  Julius nodded obediently and rushed from the room. Thaddeus dropped his head forward in defeat while the soldiers stood with guns aimed at him if he attempted an escape.

  One of the soldiers punched Thaddeus again, pressing him for information on Amir.

  “I swear,” Thaddeus cried. “I had nothing to do with that bomb. You can beat me to death, but I cannot tell you what I do not know.”

  They spent another ten minutes interrogating him, but Thaddeus still insisted that he had not orchestrated the bombing.

  Jane’s breath sounded choppy next to Stefan, yet she refrained from speaking, and so did he.

  Finally Stefan gave the order to halt the interrogation. His brother had admitted to several crimes already. If he knew about Amir, he would have broken by now.

  Tension vibrated through the room as they waited on Julius to see if Thaddeus had been truthful, if the rescue of the Perros was successful or not.

  Sickened by his brother, Stefan paced to the window and stared out. He had come to America to do what he thought was right for Kyros.

  Was he making a mistake in defying his father’s wishes about marriage? In pushing for the oil mining on Kyros instead of leaving the country as a resort?

  Blast it. He wanted it all. Had thought when he’d come to the U.S. with his friends that he could have it all.

  He glanced at Jane, but she sank into a chair, hands folded, looking at them, at anything but at him. She must hate him now she’d seen what kind of man lurked below the surface.

  But he loved her so.

  Was it wrong for him to desire a life with a woman who held his heart instead of a woman who did not love him, a woman who was being forced to marry him for business?

  JANE STARED at her hands, willing herself to be strong. She ached to go to Stefan and comfort him, but she didn’t think he would welcome it in front of his men.

  He was obviously distraught over using physical violence against his brother, and although the images disturbed her, she understood that he had been forced to do so.

  His brother was a liar, a man who had ordered Stefan’s death. A man who had caused the death of Benito and ordered Hector’s family to be held hostage.

  Stefan was a good leader, a man of courage, of intelligence, a man who made sacrifices for his own people yet he had values she admired as well.

  How could she not have fallen in love with him?

  He’s not marrying Princess Daria. He’d said his heart belonged to someone else.

  Her heart skittered, and she tore her gaze from her fingers and glanced up at him. He was watching her with hooded eyes.

  What was he thinking? Was there someone else he’d given his heart to, someone in Kyros?

  Or could he possibly love her?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Minutes stretched into hours as Stefan waited on news about the Perros. Stefan paced, constantly glaring at his brother who was sweating profusely. When had his brother grown so bitter and selfish? When had he changed into a man who would hurt family and friends?

  Finally Julius phoned.

  Stefan gritted his teeth. “Did you find them?”

  “Yes,” Julius said. “The Perros were frightened,
but they are all alive and unharmed, and my men have arrested the men watching them.”

  Stefan dropped his head into his hands, trembling in relief. “Thank God. Assign guards to watch the family until the situation here is resolved, and you receive word from me. I want them to rest assured that they are no longer in danger.”

  He turned to Edilio. “Please go inform Hector. And let him talk to his family.”

  He glanced at Jane and saw the relief on her face as well. But he still had to deal with Thaddeus.

  He addressed the soldiers standing guard over his brother. “The Perros are safe.”

  “Now you can let me go,” Thaddeus pleaded.

  “No, brother. It causes me great suffering to do this, but you have destroyed lives, even taken lives. You must pay for your crimes.” Stefan’s heart ached as he gestured toward the soldiers. “Arrest him and place him in solitary confinement. But secrecy is of utmost importance. No details of this are to be announced until I speak with my father and Amir is found.”

  Thaddeus pleaded and begged like a coward, but Stefan did not change his mind. He watched as the soldiers handcuffed his brother and dragged him from the room.

  Dread filled his chest as he contemplated how to tell his father. But he still had matters to take care of here first. Locating Amir ranked at the top of the list.

  Jane stood and faced him, her expression troubled. “I know that was difficult for you, Prince Stefan.”

  Hurt mushroomed inside him. “I am no longer Stefan to you?”

  Jane blushed as if his words resurrected the intimacy they had once shared.

  “You heard me say that I am not to marry Princess Daria,” Stefan said. “That that news release was a mistake.”

  Jane’s expression softened. “Yes. But even so, Stefan, we both know that what we had was…just because of the situation, the danger here. That you are a prince. You belong in Kyros leading your people, and I have no place by your side.”

  Anger threatened to surface. Why must she be so obstinate? “Do you not think that I should have some choice in this matter? That I know best who should stand by my side?”

  Jane closed her eyes as if battling her emotions, and he realized she was. For all of her independence and tough veneer, she was afraid of getting hurt. Afraid he would desert her as her mother’s lover had.

  When she opened her eyes, sadness and resignation darkened the depths. How would he ever convince her he was an honorable man she could trust with her heart?

  He could not. Not as long as she saw him as a prince.

  Jane cleared her throat. “Stefan, there’s something else. The reason I came here. It’s important.”

  Disappointment hit him like a blow. Obviously it was not to confess her undying love for him. “Yes, Jane?”

  “It has to do with your friends as well. Perhaps I could tell you all at once.”

  That was Jane. Always doing her job. How could he love and admire her so much and want to shake her at the same time?

  “Very well,” he said. “Let us go join the others. They are waiting in the conference room.”

  He started to take her arm, but Jane avoided his touch and plowed ahead of him, leading the way. He watched her delicious hips sway and feared that any closeness they had shared was now lost forever.

  A hollowness filled him.

  Then fear. Did Jane have bad news about Amir?

  JANE RUSHED to the conference room, determined to finish this investigation with her heart intact.

  Fahad approached Stefan, his expression stern. “What happened, Prince Stefan?”

  Somber, Stefan relayed the latest development, and revealed his brother’s involvement.

  “Did Thaddeus have information about Amir?” Efraim asked.

  Stefan’s signet ring bearing the crown twinkled in the light as he scrubbed a hand through his hair, reminding Jane of his position.

  “No,” Stefan said. “He denies any involvement in the bombing.”

  “And you believe him?” Prince Antoine asked.

  Stefan nodded, then gestured toward Jane. “But Miss Cameron has something of importance to speak with us about.”

  Jane cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this—”

  “Amir is dead?” Efraim staggered backward.

  “No,” Jane said, realizing his panic. “I don’t know where he is, nor do I have any information regarding him in particular.”

  Stefan narrowed his eyes, obviously confused. “Then what is it, Jane?”

  She handed him a printout. “We found a text on CSI Osgood’s phone. We haven’t determined the source yet, but the message is alarming.”

  “What does it say?” Efraim asked.

  Stefan’s face twisted with worry. “That the bomb was intended for all of us, but failed. That it is time for Plan B.”

  Worried sighs and murmurs rumbled through the room.

  “What is Plan B?” Prince Sebastian asked.

  Jane shook her head. “I don’t know. When we trace the source of the message, maybe we can find out the answer to that question.”

  Fahad stepped to the front of the room. “Until then, it is best that each of you remain sequestered inside the resort. I will make your security teams aware of this danger and that you should be monitored around the clock.”

  “I do not like this,” Efraim complained. “We must do something to find Amir ourselves.”

  “I agree,” Prince Antoine said firmly.

  Prince Sebastian mumbled agreement. “Each day Amir is missing lessens the chances that we find him alive.”

  Stefan nodded. “The betrayal by my brother and the local police proves we cannot trust anyone. And I agree that we must find our friend.” He glanced at Jane. “But for tonight, Fahad is right. We must lie low and consider our list of enemies, then meet to strategize tomorrow.”

  The men shook hands in agreement and filed out. Jane turned to leave, but Stefan caught her arm.

  “I do not wish you to go just yet.”

  “You can’t order me around,” Jane said, although her voice cracked with emotions. The thought of Stefan still being in danger made her shake in her shoes. She wanted to stay to protect him.

  She wanted to run to protect her own heart.

  But she couldn’t leave him now, not until she knew every threat was resolved. Not until they had found Amir and the person who’d orchestrated the bomb attack.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Stefan studied his beautiful, stubborn woman. He needed to get her alone, in his arms, in his bed again where he could convince her that she belonged with him. That he loved her and he intended to make her his bride.

  A plan struck him, and he made up his mind. “It is not an order, but a request,” he said gruffly.

  Jane’s heart softened. “I will stay to protect you, Stefan, and to finish the investigation.”

  His mouth thinned. “Very well then. But I meant what I said. Tonight is for rest and regrouping.”

  “Then you should rest, Stefan. I’ll wait here.”

  “No, meet me in the stables. I have not seen this resort and tonight I wish to.”

  Jane looked so puzzled that he almost chuckled. “Okay,” she said warily. “But I’m just going as your bodyguard.”

  “My body is yours to do with as you wish,” he said with a hint of a smile.

  Jane’s cheeks pinkened, but she patted her shoulder bag. “All right. I’ll follow you to your quarters.”

  He glanced at his dress clothes. “No, I wish to change first. Edilio will escort me to the stables. Meet me there at dusk.”

  She gave him a suspicious look, and he bit his lip to keep from laughing aloud. He had perplexed his Jane.

  Just wait until she found him in the stables.

  He made quick work of enlisting Edilio to help him carry out his plan. His security agent was not pleased, but Stefan reminded him that his job was to safeguard him, not to interfere with how he chose to live his life.

 
; With the help of the Wind River Ranch and Resort staff, his plan came together, and shortly before dusk, Edilio escorted him to the stables to execute his plan. If this did not work, he would have to consult someone who knew more about the complexity of the American woman’s mind than himself.

  Dreaming of Jane on his arm when he returned to Kyros, with the COIN compact signed, Amir safe and alive, his environmental plan in effect, his country financially sound, and the woman he loved by his side, he stepped into the stable to choose the perfect horses for him and Jane to ride.

  After all, he had fantasized about Jane straddling a horse, and this was one fantasy he intended to fulfill tonight.

  JANE POKED HER HEAD in to the stables door, her nerves ping-ponging back and forth. Stefan had acted strangely those last few minutes, as if he had something up his sleeve.

  What was he up to?

  He’s not your prince, Jane.

  It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim interior of the barn, and she realized that some of the lights were turned off. Instantly her suspicions rose, and she removed her gun, moving cautiously inside.

  “Stefan?”

  No reply.

  Perspiration beaded on her neck. “Stefan, are you in here? Are you all right?” She took another step, then heard one of the horses bray.

  Then a gruff, low voice. “Back here, Jane.”

  Frowning, she inched past the first stall, stopping to pat the horse who poked his head out for her attention. The mare across the way kicked, wanted petting as well, but she had to reach Stefan and make sure someone hadn’t set a trap.

  “Stefan, are you okay?”

  “Yes, Jane, now come to the last stall.”

  Sawdust skidded below her feet as she passed the next few stalls, then she halted when she spotted a cowboy mucking the last stall. “Excuse me, sir, where’s Prince Stefan?”

  She aimed the gun, ready to shoot in case he attacked.

  But the cowboy slowly turned around and reality dawned. The cowboy was Stefan.

  A black Stetson shadowed his chiseled face, making him look rugged and mysterious, and so damn sexy that her throat went dry. And that black Western shirt emphasized his broad chest just as the pair of well-worn jeans hugging his lean muscular hips stirred images of the raw man beneath.