Broken Ties (17 page)

The screen door shut behind him, and in a few minutes Levi heard the sound of a car pulling out of the drive.

“You owe me one, bro!” Teddy called from the kitchen window.

“Got it, Ted,” he answered. “And thanks!”

“So she left you at the altar?” Sidra asked.

“No. We weren’t anywhere near the altar.”

“But you were engaged?”

“Yes, but we were going to get through college before we got married. She left for Gainesville, and I went to Atlanta. By December of our freshman year, she had met her first husband. They got married that summer.”

“Wow. That had to hurt.”

“I guess so, but I don’t think it took either of us long to figure out we weren’t really getting married.” He looked at her. “It was foolish to think we were in love enough to marry if we were willing to be apart for four years. That old saying about absence making the heart grow fonder is a bunch of bull.”

“So have you ever come close to marrying anyone else?”

“No. How about you? Any serious relationships in your past?”

“No. I had a boyfriend in high school, but I transferred to another school when I had to move to another home, and we lost touch.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I lived with a guy for a little while in college, but it turned out we weren’t as compatible as we thought we’d be. Since then, I’ve gone out with a few guys, but nothing serious. In the last few years, I haven’t seen anyone.”

“Are you lonely?”

She shook her head, her arms tightening around her waist. “I have my job, Carlotta and the others at the nursing home, and my books to keep my company.”

He was sure she didn’t know how hollow her words rang. There was no way any of that filled the very human need for intimacy. He remained silent, however, as he thought of her hungry, passionate responses to their lovemaking.

“I never knew what I was missing until a few days ago.” Her voice was so quiet he wouldn’t have heard her had there been another noise anywhere around them. “If we had never made love, I would still think that was enough.”

“But now?”

“Now I know it isn’t.”

Before he could respond to her softly spoken admission, she was up from her seat, rushing around the corner of the house. The screen door squeaked open, then closed with a soft thud.

He wanted to run after her, but he held himself still, sensing she needed time to come to terms with her admission and the truth of it. The moment he’d followed her from the office three nights ago, their lives had irrevocably changed, and nothing between them would ever be the same.

****

Sidra knocked on Philippe’s door and waited for him to call out to her before she went in and closed it softly behind her. He was sitting up in bed watching television and turned it off when she entered.

“How are your ribs?”

“Sore, but fine.”

She sat at the foot of his bed.

“Miriam and Gabriel are returning to Medelia the day after tomorrow. Will you be returning soon as well?”

“I will return only when you do.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I will be leaving with them.”

“And Levi Tanner? Will he be accompanying you?”

“No,” she said quietly. “I will be alone.”

“I know it is a frightening prospect to return to a place you don’t remember with people you don’t know, but Medelia is where you belong.”

“How can you be so sure? What if I no longer belong there?”

“It is where you will find your history and face your destiny, my princess. It is where we will marry and where we will raise our children in the bosom of the royal family.”

An image of the house she and Levi had visited earlier flitted through her mind, along with his words about her future, but she pushed both away.

“You will not regret leaving this world behind,” Philippe assured her. “The people of Medelia need you, and you will never be lonely there. We will marry soon after our arrival, and once we are married and your grandmother has given up the throne, we will begin our reign.”

“Why would my grandmother give up the throne?” she asked, trying to ignore the panic that welled within her at his mention of their expected marriage.

“She is old, Sidra, and may want to spend the last few years of her life at her leisure. I’m certain she will step down and allow you to take over once you have settled in.”

“How could I be queen when I know nothing of Medelia?”

“You will have me, my love, and I will guide you in every way.”

She shivered as she met his icy green gaze. What kind of husband would he be? What kind of king? She shivered as one word whispered through her mind.
Cruel.

She stood quickly, ready to flee, but he caught her hand in his. “You are mine, Sidra. Regardless of what you feel for Levi Tanner or what you dream of here in America. Your rightful place is in Medelia, and you were promised to me long ago. I will not rest until you return.”

She jerked her hand away from his, curling her fingers into a fist to keep from wiping the feel of his touch from her skin.

“I will return to Medelia, Philippe, but it remains to be seen if I will become queen.” She didn’t know what made her goad him by adding, “or if you will be my king.”

Chapter Nineteen

“I spoke to Gabriel this morning, and he’s made the travel arrangements. Our flight leaves Jacksonville at two tomorrow afternoon,” Levi informed her when she came into the kitchen the next morning. He was standing in front of the sink, a steaming coffee cup in his hand. “We fly to Paris, where we board another flight to Toulon. From Toulon we can take a ferry or a seaplane to Medelia the next morning.”

“We?” He hadn’t come to her bed last night, and she hadn’t gone to his. Instead, she had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but woke missing his warm masculine body next to hers. Fear he was already letting go had chased her down the stairs, and she breathed a sigh of relief at his words.

“You aren’t going there alone, Sid,” he said, dark eyes meeting hers, daring her to argue. “I won’t stay behind and risk you being hurt.”

“Thank you,” she breathed as she pressed her trembling lips to his. He gave a hungry groan, and pulled her into his arms.

Desire curled through her, pushed through her veins by the uncertainty of their future, bursting into flame as his hands traced the contours of her body and his mouth left hers to press against the soft pulse at the base of her neck. Through the haze of desire, she felt his hands cup her waist and lift her to the countertop. He pushed her robe open so his fingers could tease her breast through the soft cotton of her gown. She groaned as his mouth followed his hands, the thin white fabric no barrier against his gentle onslaught.

The sound of Teddy’s canes in the hall registered just before the kitchen door opened and he walked in with Philippe just behind him. Although she and Levi separated as the men entered, Sidra knew by Philippe’s look of icy disapproval and Teddy’s knowing smirk that they were both aware of what had been going on seconds before their entry.

She slid from the counter, Levi’s hand still at her waist, and turned to face them. She tightened the belt of her robe as Philippe’s eyes roamed over her suggestively.

“You are much like your mother, Princess,” Philippe said, disgust thick in his voice. “Before her death, she too found it necessary to whore herself out to a commoner who could never be king. There are some who say that is what cost her life.”

Levi said nothing as he stepped toward her, coming up behind so that she fit snugly against him. His arm came around her, holding her there as he spoke in a voice gone deathly quiet.

“Talk to her like that again, and I won’t hesitate to beat you to a pulp,” he vowed.

They were so engrossed in the little tableau of drama none of them heard the car in the yard until it was too late. At the first shot, Levi took Sidra to the ground, covering her body with his own. When the gunfire stopped, he lifted his head to ascertain Teddy and Philippe’s safety. It was quiet only a moment before something crashed through the window behind the table, sending the remainder of the glass raining down on them.

“Run!” Teddy yelled as the car rushed away from the house.

Levi heard the hiss of fire before they stumbled to their feet, pulling and prodding Sidra out the back door. They cleared the porch seconds before one side of the kitchen exploded into flames.

He quickly assured himself that Sidra was frightened but uninjured before he dashed back inside. Luckily the explosion didn’t do as much damage as the bad guys had expected, and the fire was confined to the small breakfast nook that jutted off from the main kitchen. He grabbed his mom’s mop bucket and began filling it with water, which he tossed on the flames.

Within seconds, Teddy was beside him, a fire extinguisher in his hands, and finished putting out the fire. They both leaned back against the counter, and Teddy shot him a teasing grin.

“Dad’s kept an extinguisher behind the back door ever since Mom nearly set the kitchen on fire when she went out to break up a tussle between Annie’s boys, got caught up in a water balloon fight, and forgot she was frying chicken.”

Levi laughed as he pictured the scene, then sobered as he surveyed the damage the explosion had caused. It was enough to cause concern, but not enough to burn down the house. Obviously destroying the house, or even killing everyone inside, had not been the purpose of the explosive. So what had it been?

His stomach dropped and he rushed out the door, his eyes scanning the yard for the woman he knew wouldn’t be there.

“Get in the car,” he yelled, breaking into a run to the front yard. He pulled the car around, meeting Teddy halfway around the house. His brother was a whole hell of a lot slower than he had been, but it was still good to have him riding shotgun.

He prayed he would catch the car before it reached the main road, where it would have to turn right or left. Once it did that, he would have no idea which direction to go, and he would have lost her completely.

****

Sidra stared at Philippe in horror as he directed the men to drive faster and farther from the Tanner house.

“You could have killed us!” she cried.

“No, the explosive wasn’t that powerful. I only needed time to make our escape. I fear you will never be queen if you continue to play the harlot with your barbaric American.”

Her hand connected with his cheek before she could stop it. His eyes turned cold as an ugly red welt spread across his face. He grabbed her arm. For a moment, she feared he would strike her back, but instead he dropped her arm and leaned toward her.

His voice was serious and concerned as he took her hands.

“I have received word that makes me suspect that Miriam and Gabriel were responsible for your abduction as well as for the recent attempts on your life,” he said. “I cannot risk you returning with them.”

“Levi intended to go with me. He would have kept me safe.”

“I have no desire to hurt you, Princess, but you must face the truth. Your family hired Tanner and Tanner, and they have the loyalty of the men you consider your friends. You are only a part of their job, and when the time has come, they will turn you over to your relatives and leave you to fend for yourself.”

“That’s not true,” she said.

“How can you know? Because Levi Tanner saved you from the men who tried to kill you? He was trying to do his job. Because he made love to you? He needed you to trust him, to follow him to Gulfview without question. Haven’t you asked yourself how Miriam and Gabriel knew you were there? Teddy claims not to have heard from them in months, yet they contacted him the very day you came to stay in his home. Someone must have told them you were there, and there were only two people who could have done that.”

The words were like blows to her heart. She pulled her hands from his and sat back. As if sensing her need for silence, he retreated to his corner of the car and left her to contemplate what he’d said.

She desperately wished she could deny what he claimed, but his words had watered the seeds of doubt planted by her cousin’s assurance that Teddy would be compensated for a job well done. She was that job, and the Tanner men had done exactly what Teddy had promised they would. They had kept her safe for the last four years and were now about to see the job to completion. Was Levi’s plan to accompany her to Medelia really his way of making sure they delivered the excellent customer service he was so proud of, so the job could be deemed a success?

She shook her head in disbelief. There was no way Levi had made love to her only to ensure she would come to Gulfview. Just last night he had asked her to return with him to the cottage with the rose-covered entrance. There was no reason in the world he would have done that if he didn’t care for her.

“Levi couldn’t have known about Miriam and Gabriel’s involvement in my abduction,” she said, turning to Philippe.

“It is natural you should feel that way. You are young and fancy yourself in love with him.”

“I want to go back, Philippe. You need to have the driver turn around.”

“I can’t do that, Princess,” he said quietly.

“What? Why?” She felt the color bleed from her face, leaving her chilled. “Take me back to Levi and Teddy. I will return to Medelia with my cousins, and we will make plans there.”

“I’m sorry, love, but that isn’t going to happen.”

****

“Sidra’s been kidnapped. Philippe’s taken her.”

Levi listened to Teddy’s call to Gabriel, wondering what the man thought about that fact.

The car carrying Sidra was a black dot ahead of him, obviously heading for open road and the faster speeds of the highway. He had to catch him before he reached it, or he might never do so.

“Where could he be taking her?” He couldn’t imagine where Philippe intended to go. Did he intend to take her home to Medelia? Levi prayed that was his intention, but he had a sinking suspicion that Sidra was in more danger now than ever.

“Gabriel and Miriam are on their way. They were already heading to the house, but now they’ve turned on Sawmill Road and will try to head Philippe off or, at least, get nearer to him than we are.”