Grace banged her head hard against the door as Elle landed on her, moaning in agonizing pain. The smell of gasoline filled the air. Grace’s heart sank when she saw the reason behind Elle’s distress. Her coat had been shredded on the left side. A long, thin piece of metal had been lodged into stomach, just above her hip. Blood was oozing out of the deep gash. Grace reached back for the door handle, feeling a tremendous amount of pain on the back of her head. The world around her darkened, as Elle’s heartbreaking image began to fade. Her friend’s faint voice filled her ears, as she slowly closed her eyes, nothingness holding her close like a warm blanket…
Chapter Sixteen
Luca was notified of car accident by the city police, but they wouldn’t tell him anything about the circumstances surrounding it. They also told him that his driver, Grace, and Elle had been injured and were being airlifted to the university hospital at Bryce, but they couldn’t give him any other information over the phone. The last thing they informed him was that whoever had crashed into them had fled the scene. The police had only found the mangled limo.
Luca jumped into his fastest car and took off for Bryce, his heart pounding for the entire drive. It was one of the few times he wished he could have used his helicopter, but the helipad on the roof of the hospital was reserved for medical use only. The drive to the beautiful, mountain city would not take the usual two hours; unwilling to stop for anything or anyone, he pressed his foot down hard on the gas of his sports car, and didn’t stop for anyone or anything until he got to the hospital.
Leaving his car at the curb, Luca stormed into the hospital and inquired about their status at the reception desk. An elderly woman who appeared to have been sitting in the same chair for decades wouldn’t give him any information on their status, but she did say where to find them. He was so upset, he didn’t wait for the elevator; Luca took the stairs up to the sixth floor two-at-a-time and ran to Grace’s room without stopping. He found Grace sleeping, with a series of IVs in her arm and a bandage wrapped around her head. A young doctor was standing over her, scanning through notes on a digital chart.
“Doctor…” he panted as he walked into the room. “How is she?”
“She was lucky,” the doctor said as she looked up at him. He saw the surprise in her eyes when she realized the King of Moreno had just ran into the room, but she quickly adjusted her expression to one of professionalism. “She has a severe concussion, some major bruising on her legs and torso, but no fractures. Monsieur Louie Arden is in the next room. He has a fractured leg and four cracked ribs. He’s in pain and we had to sedate him, but his life is not in danger. Unfortunately, the third passenger was not so lucky as these two.”
“What happened to Elle?” Luca asked, fear clouding his voice.
“She’s currently in the OR with our top surgeons. She lost a lot of blood on the scene, and there may have been damage to her internal organs. The surgeon will be able to tell you more.”
“Thank you,” he said, staring down at Grace’s tranquil face as the doctor brushed past him.
“She will have to stay here for a while,” the doctor confirmed. “We need to monitor her concussion and make sure she doesn’t have any injuries we may have missed. I’ll be back to check up on her later.”
Luca tried to assess Grace’s condition as he approached her bedside. He pulled a chair up next to her and sat down with a long, sad sigh, taking Grace’s hand in his own. He gently caressed her palm and at the feel of his touch, her eyes slowly opened. At first, she looked merely sleepy. But then… there was a hint of panic in her expression.
“Hi…” she managed to say in a soft, almost inaudible whisper. “Luca, where am I?”
“University Hospital of Bryce,” he responded, lifting his other hand to her face. “You scared me.”
“Elle…” Grace breathed. “Where is she?”
“She’s going to be fine,” Luca assured.
“Ever the optimist,” Bax interjected, knocking on the open door. “I’m happy to say you’re right this time, old friend. A doctor just came out of the OR to give me an update. They had to remove one of her kidneys, and she has a long road ahead of her, but she will be okay.”
“Thank God,” Grace sighed with relief.
“How did the accident happen?” Luca asked, his voice calm and steady, as his friend approached. “Do you remember anything?”
“Yeah…” Grace sucked in a deep breath. “It wasn’t an accident.”
“What?” Luca furrowed his brow. “What are you talking about?”
“There was this…” Her voice broke, as she blinked back tears. “Huge truck. I thought he was going to brake, but he didn’t. He rammed us. God…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I can still hear that horrible noise.”
“Why in the hell would anyone try to do that?” Luca growled, unable to keep his voice low. “Why would someone want to hurt you?”
“Luca, may I have a word with you?” Bax requested, making his way towards the door.
Luca gave Grace a gentle kiss and followed Bax into the hallway. Once they were outside the room where Grace couldn’t hear them, Bax checked to make sure no one else was listening before he continued.
“Did the police find the truck?” Luca inquired.
“No, but I’m sure they will, eventually. Luca, there is something you need to know. This morning, Elle said that there was something off with Grace. On the day they spent in Paris, she looked very upset. Whenever her phone rang, she would excuse herself and go outside. Clearly, she didn’t want Elle to hear anything she had to say.”
“Bax, someone just tried to kill that girl,” Luca snapped, frustration setting in. “And you’re telling me she’s been keeping secrets from Elle? What does that have to do with anything?”
“In your car, Luca!” Bax answered emphatically. “They tried to kill them in your car! They were not after them! Whoever was behind this, they wanted to kill you!”
“So, you think she orchestrated this?” Luca was struggling to maintain his composure. His friend’s words had made his blood boil. “First of all, if she had anything to do with it, she wouldn’t be anywhere near that limo. Secondly…”
“I didn’t say she’s involved in this,” Bax interrupted, equally frustrated. “Luca, you’re thirty-years-old. No one has ever tried to kill you. Don’t you think it’s a bit of a coincidence that a reporter was here when they did?”
“Okay. Let’s say they were after me. Who would want me dead, Bax? Can you think of someone? Because I can’t.”
“Oh, Luca,” Bax sighed, running his hand through his hair. “You seem to be forgetting the fact that you are one of the most powerful men in Europe. You are the head of one of the last real monarchies in the world. And, for some dumbass reason, you refuse to travel with security. If someone wanted to make a point, political or otherwise, you are a very easy target, friend.”
Bax’s conclusion made perfect sense. He knew he got his share of death threats, like any world leader, but he had never taken any of them seriously. In fact, he’d made a rule to never even look them. But just when he was about to ask Bax to provide some names, Luca noticed a tall, middle-aged man coming their way, flanked by two younger men. They were obviously from the Bryce Police Department. The older officer stopped next to Bax, whereas his colleagues stepped inside Grace’s room.
“Your majesty,” he said, bowing before him. “My name is Philip Ross, and I’m Captain of the Bryce Police Department. If you could come with me to the police station, I need to ask you a few questions.”
Chapter Seventeen
Luca was still struggling to wrap his head around what had transpired as he and Bax waited for Captain Ross at the police station. No one had ever made an attempt on his life in all of the years he had been king, and as far as he knew, no one had tried to kill his father either. He thought Bax might have been overreacting in trying to place some of the blame of on Grace, but it wasn’t unusual for his friend to jump to the worst possible c
onclusion. It didn’t matter what Bax thought; there was no way he could ever believe that Grace was involved in the accident.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” Captain Ross said, closing the door to his office behind him and interrupting Luca’s thoughts. “My men just found the truck involved in the crash in a field, six miles east of Venicia.”
“Have you recovered anything from it?” Bax asked, his voice filled with anxiety.
“It’s been completely destroyed,” the captain answered, sitting down at his desk. “They burnt it, but I was informed that there were traces of black paint on the bumper.”
“What about the owner?” Luca asked.
“The license plate was a fake, and the serial number had been scraped off,” Captain Ross replied, frustration written all over his face. “I’m sorry but right now, we have no leads.”
“Damn it…” a whisper of despair left Luca’s lips.
“Captain Ross, the king is well-known for his aversion to the press,” Bax interjected. “I invited a reporter from the US here a few days ago. I doubt they were targeting my fiancé and that reporter. In fact, I believe they were after his majesty. I think it might have been an attempt at a political statement, or something worse.”
“I agree,” Captain Ross nodded. “Did anyone else know that those two were going to Bryce this morning?”
“No,” Luca uttered. “Just me and my driver.”
“Then the odds are solid that the truck driver thought you were in the car, your majesty.” In an instant, Luca was consumed with guilt, remembering how weak Grace looked in the hospital bed.
“How could they have located my limo?” he inquired, his voice faint as he tried to hide his fear.
“It’s easy enough, unfortunately,” the officer said. “They likely used the GPS tracker in your car. I know it is not my place to ask, but it is necessary if I am to make any headway on this investigation. Have you made or are you planning to make any major policy decisions in the future, sir?”
“No, everything has been moving smoothly for the most part,” Luca sighed.
“And we don’t have major political issues on the horizon,” Bax said. “In terms of Moreno alone, there has been little to cause the kind of discord that usually leads to situations like this.”
“In that case, I don’t believe we are dealing with a stranger here,” Captain Ross theorized. “It could be someone you know. A friend, an ex-girlfriend, a family member…?”
“I don’t have any family,” Luca muttered. “My mom died when I was three, my father died six years ago. My list of ex-girlfriends is quite long, I’m afraid, but I highly doubt any of them would have the mental acuity for anything like this.”
“Well, I’m going to need a list just the same. We are going to need to check out every lead, every alibi, just to be sure nothing seems suspicious. In the meantime, if there is anything you can tell me in terms of your upcoming travel, meetings, etcetera, I need to know everything possible. No lead is too small. When we have nothing to chase down, anything seems like a possibility.”
Luca shook his head, suddenly exhausted and desperate to see Grace. “We will give you any information we can, Captain Ross. I will have Bax here send over lists as soon as he gets back to his office. Right, Bax?”
Bax scowled at Luca, but nodded. “Yes, of course. Now, if you don’t mind, Captain Ross, we’d like to get back to the hospital.”
The captain nodded and waved them away. “Thank you for your time, your majesty.”
As Bax and Luca walked out of the police station, Bax turned and smacked Luca across the arm.
“What is the matter with you? We just can’t hand over state secrets to the police. Are you insane?”
Luca shoved Bax, hard, and he fell back into the brick wall of the station with a groan, muttering “asshole” as he regained his footing.
“Don’t ever hit me again. And while I fully intend to try and figure out what happened on my own, it doesn’t hurt to have the police on the case as well. Or would you rather never know who tried to kill our… I mean… your girlfriend?”
Bax shook his head with a knowing smile. “I knew you would do this, man. I knew it. How deep in have you gotten with that woman?”
As they walked back to Luca’s car, he answered, “Deep enough, Bax. Deep enough.”
Chapter Eighteen
Luca stopped at a nearby florist and bought a large bouquet of the same roses that were growing in the garden on his castle grounds. He hoped Grace would love them as much as she had on her first day in Moreno. More than anything though, he was trying to overcome his guilt. He could buy her all the flowers in the world and he would still not feel any better. Luca had inadvertently put her in harm’s way and he could not forgive himself for that.
When he got to her room, he found Grace still hooked up to the IVs. But this time, she looked a little better than before. She didn’t seem as drowsy or disoriented, and she even smiled at him as he walked into her room.
“Welcome back,” she said, trying to hide how tired she was. Her head was throbbing, and all she wanted to do was sleep, but while Luca had been gone, the doctor had come back and encouraged her to stay awake as long as possible, so they could run some more tests. It had been difficult with Luca away, so she had tried watching TV, but everything was in French. When Luca returned, she was watching an old detective show in a language she didn’t understand and drifting in and out of sleep. But now that he was back, she hoped he might come up with some way to keep her engaged and awake. “Are those flowers for me?” Grace asked with a smile.
“Well, the nurse I bought them for seems to have gone home for the night, so I guess you can have them,” he joked, bending down to kiss her. “How are you feeling?”
“Jerk. I’m still a little dizzy,” Grace said. “What about you? How did it go with the police?”
“It didn’t,” Luca grumbled as he sat down next to her. “They don’t have a clue what happened. I think it’s going to take a long time to sort this out.”
“Those two officers who came in here were relentless,” she complained. “They kept asking me the same questions over and over.”
“I’m really sorry, Grace,” Luca said, his voice overcome with sadness. “This entire thing was my fault.”
“How do you figure?”
“I was their target. Not you or Elle.”
“Okay, you lost me,” Grace confessed. “Someone crashed into your car and you’re saying you’re sorry? For real?”
“I mean, yes.”
“Come here.”
Grace gestured for him to come closer. Before he knew it, her hands were on his face. Grace closed her eyes and gave him as passionate a kiss as she could muster in her state. Even if only for a moment, it provided her with a rush of energy, and the memory of how wonderful it felt to be close to him. When she finally pulled away, suddenly exhausted, she lay her head back down on the pillow and opened her eyes, her happy smile sending waves of bliss up and down his spine. “You shouldn’t feel sorry,” she whispered. “You were not driving that damn truck.”
“Still…” Luca pursed his lips.
“It happened,” Grace added. “I’m okay. Elle and Louie are going to be alright. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“I’ll try,” he assured, leaning back. “What are you going to do now? Are you still going to Bryce?”
“I kind of have to, don’t I?” she smiled. “The interview’s not done yet. I have a small issue, though.”
“What’s that?”
“The doctors won’t release me until Sunday morning,” Grace elaborated. “The paper rescheduled my flight, but they couldn’t find another one until Monday. I don’t want to spend my last free night here typing.”
“I can help you with that,” Luca said, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
“You and I in the same room?” she laughed. “I doubt we’ll be doing much typing.”
Lost in her warm, penetrating eyes, he thoug
ht about what she had said. There were a million things he wanted to express to her, but he could not seem to verbalize any of them. Nevertheless, the thought that their relationship would soon become a memory made him feel a painful emptiness. Grace Brewster had upended his world, and she was less than three days away from going back to New York City. He scanned her face, biting his lower lip, in a clear attempt to prevent himself from speaking.
“Luca, what’s wrong?” she asked with a hint of tension in her voice.
“I, uh…” he sighed, staring down at the floor. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too, your majesty.” When he looked back up, her smile had vanished, and her eyes had darkened with sorrow.
“Maybe I can call your editor,” Luca said, trying to hide his sadness. “I’ll ask him to give you another week here to recover.”
Grace felt a pain deep in her chest, but it had nothing to do with the accident. She couldn’t keep lying to him. She just couldn’t.
“Luca, work isn’t the only reason I can’t stay,” she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. He didn’t understand what she meant, but he didn’t have time to ask. There was a sudden commotion in the corridor outside that drew both of their attention. Luca turned around as two doctors sped by Grace’s room. A sliver of fear sliced through him as they turned into Louie’s room. Without wasting any time, he stormed out of Grace’s room just as another doctor passed by him.
He didn’t have a chance to speak to any of them. As soon as he reached the door to Louie’s room, a nurse slammed it behind her and rushed to his bed. Luca’s heart sank as he looked through the window. The man he had known all his life, his trusted driver and one of his father’s best friends, was having a massive seizure. Two doctors were hurrying in and grabbing medications, while the third had a needle in his hand.
“No…” a whisper of utter despair escaped Luca’s lips.
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