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Prologue

Rile

When I close h the jet’s white noise and settles on one before I can make sense of the words you so desperately want ain, beg like I always do, for you to stay with me and never leave

I wait for the pain as it claws its way back into my soul There’s co My eyes fill with unshed tears, and I murmur your name Celestina More than uiding light Without you, I’m lost So lost

Forcing in our descent to Mallorca, the island that has become my home because it’s where you rest and will, for all eternity

I stayed in my seat while the Boar it shared with the er planes the DeLéons kept at their disposal Part of me wished I could tell the pilot to turn around and take me back to Italy

I stood, stretched s, and peered out another hen I saw my valet pull the black 1963 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL out of the saar the plane would soon be stored in I smiled when he lowered the top; it was perfect convertible weather—sunny, but not too hot May truly was the best month on the island

I took one step down the plane’s raale, yet the air was still I gripped the railing with one hand while I rubbed h, loud and clear

Kensington is in danger

1

Rile

Seven Months Ago

London

“Thank you for agreeing to seeboy and whom I still bowed to when in her presence

“Of course, Your Majesty”

“Please be seated, Cortez As you know, one of randdaughter so?”

“Yes, ma’am”

“Kensington is a darling girl, but I fear her lack of parental guidance has resulted in her rather…irresponsible approach to life”

While I didn’t know all the details, I’d heard enough to wonder why the Queen didn’t siton had taken up with the great-great-great-grandson of the last of Austria-Hungary’s monarchs, Emperor Karl I

“I’ve received so news, Cortez,” said the wo to me now not as a former officer of MI6, but as my second cousin, once removed “Given the delicacy of the situation, I’ve o to the prime minister”

“What’s happened, ma’am?”

She looked over her shoulder as if anyone would’ve dared interrupt us and then leaned closer to me “She’s been kidnapped,” she whispered

“May I ask the source of this information?”

“I believe it’s coirl’s mother, my nephew’s ex-wife, Kendra”

“May I also ask if she’s been contacted by the kidnappers?”