Page 39 of Happily Ever After

The other tall, blond man was—

“Wulfie!”Flicka shrilled and leaped off the dais, running toward him.

Yes, the other man was Wulfram von Hannover, Flicka’s older brother who had raisedher from the time she had been six and he had been fifteen.

She slammed into him, and he caught her under her arms and whipped her into the air like he used to do when she was little. He crushed her in his arms, holding her against his chest, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

She wouldn’t cry. It would give everything away, and there would be too much explaining to do.

Flicka held herbreath and squeezed her eyes shut.

Her brother’s deep voice near her ear whispered, “I was so worried.”

“I couldn’t,” she said. “There’s someone in theWelfenlegion.They might have hurt you or Rae.”

“I know all about it. It’s almost over. I promise.”

“Is Rae here?”

“No. She’s at home. She had the baby. They’re both well. Victoria Augusta.”

Victoria Augusta because, of course, Wulfie hadgiven his baby a name suitable for a monarch. Flicka squeezed him more tightly and whispered, “Did Raphael send you?”

“Who?” he asked.

Oops.

She pushed back from his shoulders. “I mean,Dieter.DidDietersend you?”

His sapphire blue eyes narrowed. “You don’t make mistakes like that.”

“It was just a silly mistake,silly.But did he?”

He set her back from him and held out his hand, palm up,to Alexandre.

Alexandre Grimaldi dumped a folder of paperwork in his outstretched hand. Wulf must have slapped it at Alex’s chest to hand it off when he’d seen Flicka sprinting at him, full tilt.

Wulf lifted his head and announced to the room, “I am here to take possession of Alina Schwarz. As her father has been out of communication for over a week, I am designated as the child’s legal guardianfor any absence, temporary or permanent.”

This was why Raphael had said that Wulfram was in France. First, they would liberate Alina, which was just fine with Flicka. With a legal ambush, Wulfie would walk out of the Prince’s Palace with Alina without a shot fired.

She turned to leave. “I’ll get Alina. I’ll be back in one minute.”

“No,”Pierre said, and he stared between the two of them. “We’llneed lawyers to review those documents. I can’t just hand a child over to you because you have some legal papers—”

Wulf’s angry glare at Pierre should have ignited the air between them. “I have a platoon of lawyers in one of the receiving rooms, though your Secret Service wouldn’t allow them through. I assure you, if you want to drag this out, I’ll litigate in France, Switzerland, the US, andMonaco simultaneously. We have papers ready to file in all four jurisdictions. I can have court dates on your schedule every day, two or three times a day, on different continents, for as long it takes. You don’t want to beheld in contemptfor not appearing in court. Do you, Pierre?”

Flicka tried not to cackle at Wulfie’s reference to Pierre’s traumatizing twenty-four hours in a Las Vegas holdingcell, and she looked between the two of them.

As children, her brother Wulfram and Pierre Grimaldi had lived together in their boarding school’s dormitory for years, until Wulf had taken custody of Flicka and moved into a house off-campus. Even afterward, Pierre had been at their house often, studying with Wulf and eating supper with them, until he’d been driven back to the dorms at night. Evenafter school and college, they’d done business deals together. Wulfram had stayed in the Prince’s Palace with Pierre for weeks when he’d done his annual vacations through Europe to maintain contacts and settle matters. They’d been best friends.

Now, Wulfram’s jaw was set hard, though Pierre’s lowered eyebrows and shoulders looked ashamed and resigned.

Wulfram turned to Flicka and growled, “Doyou want to leave Monaco, too?”

Pierre and all the Secret Service agents stepped forward, a wall of dark suits encroaching on her, ready to pull her under and away if she told Wulf she wanted to leave with him.

Wulfram and Alexandre had certainly been frisked for weapons before they’d been allowed past the antechambers, and Pierre’s Secret Service agents must be heavily armed. Carrying weaponsand defending the prince were their entire job descriptions. Wulfie and Alex wouldn’t win any sort of a fight in this room.