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“You didn’t have to stop and talk to her, you know,” Josiah told her. “Security would usually rather you didn’t work a rope line without clearing it with them first.”

Great. She’d screwed up by having a conversation with a little girl. Staring out the window, she struggled to keep tears from filling her eyes. That was stupid. Why should that upset her?

“It doesn’t have to be a big discussion ahead of time or anything, just kind of give them a look and wait for a nod.”

That was a bit better. At least she wasn’t going to be in some kind of real trouble.

“What you did was great. You let the little girl know that you appreciated her gift, and it meant a lot to you, while at the same time not taking something she clearly loved. She’s doing you a favor by taking care of her bear.”

The tears managed to stay put and even retreat some. “I couldn’t take it from her. She likely takes it everywhere and can’t sleep without it.” She stared at the passing urban scenery. “There’s probably going to be some talking head on a gossip show saying I rejected the gift and broke the girl’s heart in the process, isn’t there?”

“It’s possible.” He flipped on the blinker to turn into palace grounds.

“Someone is going to misinterpret everything I do from now on, aren’t they?” She leaned her head back against the head rest.

“It’s possible,” Josiah acquiesced again. “Not everyone. Not most people. But there are always a few.”

The car came to a stop under the portico. They entered the palace together but weren’t greeted by anyone other than a staff member who happened to be walking through and paused to let them go by first, giving a deferential nod as they did.

The whole thing made Bekah uncomfortable, and a thought started to roll around in her head.

If given a real choice, would she have chosen this life?

Or, no matter what happened between her and Josiah, now that she’d been married to a prince and having a child who would be legally his, would she be stuck with it for eternity?

CHAPTER 15

When Josiah walked into Benjamin’s office, he immediately knew something was off.

His eldest brother sat behind his desk with Thor on the other side, along with the king’s Head of Security.

“What is it?”

Benjamin motioned to one of the chairs. “Have a seat. We’ve had confirmation of the information about why the government in Athmetis is so keen on talking to the two of you.”

Josiah looked from one man to the other. “Why? It was an accident. Tragic, but an accident.”

“We know that. We believe they even know that. But there’s more to it.” Benjamin picked up a tablet and handed it to Josiah. “Do you know any of those people?”

After carefully studying the six faces, Josiah shook his head. “I don’t know any of them. I don’t think so, anyway. I could have run into one of them somewhere, but if so, I don’t remember.” He handed the tablet back to his brother. “Who are they?”

Benjamin glanced at their stepfather and gave a slight nod.

Thor took over the meeting. “They’re agents of a separatist group in Øyanord. We believe they were trying to find the lost princess, but they didn’t have enough information to go on. Years ago, they sent surveillance teams to scout a number of ex-pat families then sent operatives to the ones who had children the right age. They infiltrated the inner circles of these families as much as they could. One of them even went so far as to become engaged to the target.”

Josiah could almost feel the wheels turning in his head. “So Steve was a part of this group, wasn’t he? He’d been trying to get close to Ginny this whole time?” The sinking feeling in his stomach intensified.

“We believe so,” Thor confirmed.

“He used me?” Josiah tried to remember how he met the other man. “I didn’t do anything to out her, did I? I didn’t even know.” He’d learned about Ginny’s claim to the Øyanordian throne at the same time the rest of the world did, more or less. He thought he’d heard about it shortly before, but only a day or two at most - whenever the article came out saying she looked a lot like a young version of the crown princess of Øyanord.

“No.” Thor was emphatic.

That relieved Josiah a little bit.

His stepfather went on. “We believe he had to have known for quite some time, given the physical resemblance between the mother and daughter. The separatists have probably known that for a long time, but weren’t ready to make a move just yet. They likely had a kidnapping plan in place, but she disappeared before they had a chance to execute it. We don’t know what they might have been waiting for. An official search maybe? But her disappearance almost certainly saved her a lot of pain and heartache and, quite possibly, her life.”

“I’m glad to hear it wasn’t me, but I am a bit concerned that someone with that background and intention was able to get so close to any of us without at least one of the security teams figuring it out long before this.” Josiah leaned back in his seat. “Does that bother anyone else?”