Page 206

The realization made Stevie wish they’d just leave her to die in the snow.
CHAPTER SIX
Intruth,Adonis could remember very little about the rescue. Once he had been taken to the nearest medical facility approved of by his father’s team, they had determined that he was significantly more unwell than he had originally imagined. He had thought that because he was conscious, able to eat and able to communicate that he was more or less fine. He had lost a significant amount of blood, and the wound had been dangerously close to going septic.
And all the while, he wondered about Stevie. What had happened to her? If she was well.
Stevie…
She hadn’t just kept him alive.
Their night together had been extraordinary. If anything had given him the will to live it had been that.
But he’d had no contact with her since and he didn’t like it. The media had been in a frenzy. For two days he’d been missing, without a trace, and while there had been rumors he was off on a bender before his wedding, there had also been some concern for his safety.
And in the time since…
The media had been frenzied.
He’d been stranded in the woods with a female pilot who had saved his life. Stevie’s name had been printed, along with a photo that had clearly been taken of her from across a street in some Montana town. Which meant she wasn’t in the hospital but it also meant she was wandering around unprotected.
Hefelt protective. Angry.
And outraged at his inability to do anything because his body was choosing to be so…mortal about it all.
He came to the end of his tether two weeks into his recovery.
He wrenched out his IVs, disconnected every monitor and stormed into his father’s office in the palace with the aid of his shiny black cane.
“I need to get out of here.”
“Do you?” his father asked, not raising his head.
“I promised Stevie a reward.”
“Ah yes,” said the old man, looking quite spry for someone supposedly knocking at death’s door. “Stevie Parker. Twenty-five, of Bozeman, Montana, pilot. A poor pilot, at that.”
“You’ve done your research.”
The King nodded. “Of course I have, Adonis, you were alone with her for days and I needed to know who she was. Especially with the media so enraptured by the story.”
“Have you offered her protection?”
“Protection?” his father asked, sounding incredulous. “It’s you who might need protecting. She’s going to be able to sell her story.”
“What makes you think there’s a story?” His father stared at him. Hard. “Father, I am injured,” he said, gesturing to his leg.
“So you’re saying you did not have sexual relations with the girl?”
He cleared his throat. “I didn’t say that.”
Damn his father for knowing him. Damnhimselffor being so predictable.
“You know the media has decided there is a potential romance between you.”
“Yes. But doesn’t the media always?”
“Hmm. But not always when you have a fiancée.”