Page 106 of Happily Ever After

Pierre nodded to the commandos who still stood by the windows, their rifles slung over their backs with straps. “Men, out of the castle and off the grounds. Have the vehicles rendezvous in Hildesheim,” the nearest town, about ten miles away, “and wait forQuentin and myself there.”

Behind Pierre, Quentin Sault nodded sharply at the Monegasque soldiers.

The men arranged themselves in lines and filed past Pierre and her father, glancing at the situation and the gilded crown moulding of the sitting room as they left.

Flicka said, “All right, Friedhelm, Luca, you guys can leave, too.”

Dieter said, “I don’t think that’s advisable.”

Flicka pivotedunder his arm to face him. “You’ll stay. You and Quentin will stay. Pierre and I will have this conversation so that he will leave me alone, so you and I can live our lives in peace.”

Dieter’s thumb caressed the side of her neck.“Durchlauchtig,you need more protection.”

She turned her head to look at her ex-husband, standing over by the door, rocking back on his heels like this was just adamn game to him. “This is how we want it, right, Pierre? Just the two of us, with one person each for back-up, and we’ll talk. I knew you’d try something, so I had to defend myself, but let’s do this the right way: quietly, like adults.”

Pierre nodded. “Like adults.”

Without looking away from her, Dieter turned his chin to speak to theWelfenlegionand Rogues. “Exit the room but remain outside.Standard communication channels.”

Her bodyguards filed out, leaving just Flicka, Pierre, Quentin and Dieter, and the police officers.

Flicka said, “Pierre, don’t you have something to say to the police?”

Pierre said to the officers, “Monaco officially withdraws the arrest warrants for Flicka von Hannover and all accomplices. This is now a private matter.”

The police officer said to him, “Thisis using law enforcement in bad faith. We will lodge a complaint.”

“You do that,” he told her.

The police officer turned and asked Flicka, “Do you feel unsafe? Would you like us to escort you to another place or a shelter?”

“No, thank you,” Flicka said, smiling at the woman. She had a private army, after all. She probably didn’t need a women’s shelter, but she was glad it existed.

The policeofficer cocked her head and looked at Flicka. “I’ve been a police officer for twenty years and I thought I’d seen every kind of domestic abuse on the planet, but this guy is a new level. Don’t go back to him. He will kill you in the end. They always do. It doesn’t matter if you’re a princess or a waitress, they always do.”

A chill settled over Flicka’s back.

The police officers left the room,slowly, the last one watching Flicka as she exited.

Only one person left to go.

Flicka said to Phillipp von Hannover, “Father, please wait outside. I’ll speak with you afterward.”

Her father walked over and occupied one of the silver chairs beside the coffee table. “This ismy castle,and I’ll stay wherever I damn well want to.”

There was no use arguing with him. Flicka had learned this.

They might as well begin. “Pierre, say what you came here to tell me.”

He drew a deep breath and touched his chest. “Flicka, I love you—”

She didn’t even have to listen for the growl coming from Dieter, who stood behind her. The anger rising in him charged the hairs on the back of her neck.

“—and I am begging you to come home with me.” Pierre continued. “I’ll give up Abigai. I’ll never see heror contact her again. I’ll be faithful. I will never touch another woman or man as long as I live. I’ll be a perfect, model husband and father to our children. I am begging you to come home and be my wife and my princess.”

Flicka didn’t want to be Pierre’s princess.

She was already Dieter’sDurchlauchtig,and he’d never betrayed her.