Page 49 of Once Upon A Time

She was smiling broadly now. “That’s great, Dieter.”

Her smile at him was as bright and genuine as sunlight, he thought. Hehoped.You never knew with the Hannovers. If they had been actors instead of kings and queens, they would have swept the Oscars every year. “Thanks.”

“You’ve been working toward it for so long. That’s what the M.B.A. was for, right?”

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s why I got the M.B.A.”

“I’m happy for you,” she said. “And I’m sure the security for Wulfram’s wedding will be impeccable. You’ve always been so professional and so perfect at it.”

He warmed at her praise.

A line gathered between her eyes for just an instant. “I never worried about security at all when you were there.”

Oh, Dieter didn’t like that in the least. “Are the Monegasques still not providing you adequate security?”

“I think they will, now. After the first attack in Paris, Pierre fired about half of them, and he punched at least two of them while he did it.”

Yes, but it’s easy to punch security men when one is slated to be a sovereign prince. They can’t fight back. “And in Monaco?”

“Well, the Prince’s Palace is an actual fortress,” she said. “Inside, there won’t be a problem short of an ICBM coming across the Mediterranean, and I don’t think anyone cares enough about Monaco to lob a nuke at us. Once I arrived here, I let the Secret Service guys go home because theWelfenlegionis better.”

“How were they while you were scouting wedding sites?” he asked.

Flicka shrugged. “It’s a good thing you nagged me about operational security my whole life.”

He frowned. “I don’t like that.”

“No one is aftermeanymore. I’m just a footnote, now, and happy to be a footnote.”

“You’re sure?” he asked.

“Oh, of course. That guy at the church was shooting at Wulf, right?”

The angle had been wrong, and Dieter had been hit when he was down on the ground, shielding Flicka. “It’s possible.”

“And the other guy, the one after the civil ceremony at the George V, he was some drug dealer who was after one of the guests, not us at all. It’s a little pompous to think that every bullet is meant for us, don’t you think?”

“It’s better to be paranoid and safe—”

“—than to be overconfident and dead. Yes, I remember, and that’s why I’m glad you’re running Wulfie’s and Rae’s wedding. It’ll be the third weekend in June in Montreux, Switzerland.”

“That’s what I heard.”

“At the Le Montreux Palace Hotel.”

“I hadn’t heard that, yet.”

“We just decided this morning. Rae is concerned about security. Can you secure it?”

“I remember that place. It overlooks the water, so one side will be easier to secure unless a lone gunman decides to become a lone frogman. It’s close to the city center, which I don’t like, but we’ll deal with it. The church?”

“Still under consideration. Wulf is dead-set on Lutheran, and finding a Lutheran church that’s big enough and near Montreux is insane. Finding a big Catholic cathedral in Paris was easy. I could have just thrown a dart at a map and been done with it. Luckily, Rae has totally ceased caring about denominations. I may have to put a bug in her ear that any church is a good church and get her to convince Wulf that bigger is better.”

“As soon as you figure it out, let me know.”

“Okay.”

“You could text me with any details about their wedding that firm up.”