Page 58 of Once Upon A Time

“How fine?On ventilators,fine?Had surgery and is recovering,fine?”

“Demanding her textbooks. Watching movies on her tablet because she is bored.”

Flicka turned away from her admins and whispered into the phone, “And the baby?”

“So far, also fine.”

Flicka listened, her heart pounding in her ears, while her brother explainedplacenta previa,a condition where the pregnancy was riding too low in the uterus and might rupture.

Rupture.

Her hands shook. “Wulf, what are they going to do?”

Another pause. “So far, bed rest.”

“You sound unconvinced.”

“I can’t lose her, Flicka, no more than I could lose you.”

The pounding in Flicka’s ears thudded louder. “Is there a danger of that?”

“It appears so.”

Flicka slapped her computer shut and stacked her tablets on top of it. “Is Dieter there with you?”

“He is in town. I haven’t called him. We’ve had a staff problem here, and I need to change the security schedule for this weekend. One of our security personnel quit suddenly. With Rae in the hospital, we need extra security, and now we’re down a man.”

“Call Dieter.I’ll be there as soon as I can get to Geneva and have them gas up Pierre’s plane.”

“You don’t need to—”

“Of course, I do. I’ll be there soon, Wulfie. Hang on until I get there.”

“Have you spoken to our father recently?”

“Why would I want to do that?” she asked.

“In the last two weeks, he has attempted twice to sabotage my wedding.”

“What the hell?”She froze, a tablet flickering in her hands.

“Once by sending three young women to try to lure me away from Rae, including Josephine Alexandrovna.”

Josephine Alexandrovna had been one of Flicka’s bridesmaids and one of her best friends for years. “She wouldn’t do that.”

“I assure you that Josephine Alexandrovna, Kira Augusta, and Marie-Therese were there and had been told that I had already broken the engagement and was actively looking for another bride.”

Flicka rubbed her forehead, trying to forestall a migraine from their idiocy. “And they werethatstupid.”

“Shocking, but it seems that they had it on excellent authority.”

“Father.”Her distaste for the word almost made her sneer it.

“Absolutely.”

“I can’t believe Josephine fell for that.” Josephine Alexandrovna was one of Flicka’s closest friends. They were supposed to have a vacation together when Wulf’s wedding was over.

He said, “I’m afraid so.”