Broken Ties (20 page)

She breathed a sigh of relief as the doors slid open, but within seconds she was engulfed in the chaos of glaring lights and microphones as reporters swarmed them.

“Is it true you’re the long-lost princess of Medelia?” a woman called.

“What can you tell us about the man who died here today?”

“Have you spoken to your family since you were found?”

Rendered mute by surprise, Sidra stopped and stared at them.

“Come on, Sid,” Teddy urged, guiding her forward with a hand at her waist.

“Sir, are you one of the men who rescued her? How did it happen?”

“We have no comment at the moment,” Teddy told them, and with an authority that belied his limping swagger, he pushed through the crowd to the parking garage.

“Good grief,” she muttered when they pulled out of the darkened interior and were greeted by more flashing cameras and reporters. “They’re like a swarm of bees.”

“You can’t blame them, can you? How often does a long-lost princess surface?” He grinned at her. “Not that anyone would guess you were a princess right now.”

She chuckled as she looked down at her exposed knees. She could almost hear Carlotta’s voice telling her how a lady should dress.

“When you stand, your knees should be covered, Sidra,” Carlotta had told her many years ago. She had demonstrated with her own dark polyester skirt. “Sitting will naturally raise the hem, and you must never expose more than the proper amount of flesh.”

The lessons had continued as Carlotta taught her the necessity of hose and the proper way to cross her legs.

“Are you okay, Sid?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “But I’m sure I will be. I just can’t believe Carlotta’s dead. She taught me so much. It never occurred to me that she could be more than just a caseworker. Looking back, I guess I should have realized it.”

“Levi told us on our drive down how special she was to you. It seems like she worked hard to keep both your identities a secret.”

“I never questioned how she found me,” she said now. “I wonder if she would have told me if I had. Her sister died trying to protect me, yet she was willing to take me on anyway. Do you think she minded carrying the secret of my identity alone all these years?”

“If she hadn’t cared, or if she had wanted to be rid of you, she could have just put you somewhere and left you. Instead, she moved you each year, or whenever she felt it necessary, to make sure no one got close enough to find out your secret. She put herself at risk every day she remained in your life.”

The tears Sidra had been battling spilled over her cheeks, and she nodded her head in agreement. “I just wish she hadn’t died that way. She deserved a more dignified, painless passing. But because of me, her death was violent and frightening.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Sidra.”

She tried to tell herself he was right, maybe it wasn’t, but that didn’t change the fact that Carlotta had died because of her.

They rode the last few blocks in silence, and when they pulled to a stop in the hospital parking lot, Sidra practically ran to the elevator, pushing the button and holding the doors open while Teddy caught up. The closer she got to Levi, the faster her heart beat, until she came to the door of his room, where she stopped to catch her breath.

Teddy was coming down the hall at a slower pace, a smile on his handsome face.

“Don’t let me stop you,” he said with a chuckle. “Go ahead in.”

She didn’t hesitate for another minute. With a soft rap on the door, she entered, nearly running into a middle-aged nurse coming out of the room with a small tray caring a hypodermic needle and a glass vial.

“I hope you’re Sidra,” the woman said. “If you’re not, don’t expect a warm welcome.”

“I am,” she said, soliciting a soft cluck of sympathy and a pat on the back.

“You’ve got your hands full with that one,” the nurse said. “But he has just been shot, and you don’t look much better than he does, so maybe he’s worth the hassle on a good day.”

“Maybe,” Sidra answered with a grin. If he was well enough to give the nurse a hard time, he was going to be fine.

The nurse closed the door behind her, leaving Sidra standing beside it. Levi was sitting up in bed wearing a pale blue hospital gown, an intravenous drip in his arm and a monitor flashing his vitals behind him. He looked a bit pale but quite healthy for a man who had just been shot. He also looked mad as hell.

“Get over here,” he ordered, and she obeyed without a thought.

When she was close enough, his hand reached to catch her around the waist and pull her to him.

“I thought you’d never get here,” he said as he caught her mouth with his. He kissed her hungrily, as if he couldn’t get enough of her lips.

“Me either. I was about to go crazy before they finally let us go.” She cupped his face in her hands, trying to look angry but knowing she failed miserably. How could she possibly frown when he was here, alive and looking as good as ever? “Oh, Levi, you could have been killed.”

“Not with that little peashooter he was carrying.” He kissed each of her wrists. His eyes searched her face, darkening noticeably when they fell on the cuts and bruises Vincente had left there. “I wish they hadn’t killed the bastard. I’d have liked a few minutes alone with him myself.”

“No, don’t even think it. He wasn’t the kind of man who would fight fair. He would have killed you without batting an eye.”

She tried to come to terms with the fact that she was glad a man was dead. Did that make her a horrible person?

“Good to see you looking so happy to be alive, bro,” Teddy joked from the doorway. “How long are you in for?”

“I can leave tomorrow, barring any complications. They removed the bullet, and I’m getting antibiotics right now.” He lifted the arm with the I.V. “The bullet didn’t do much damage, but the doctor was worried it could get infected. He decided we should err on the side of caution.”

“Well, with that kind of good news, it seems like you could be a little happier.”

“Go to hell, Ted,” Levi shot back. “I’m happy.”

Teddy laughed and sat in the chair near the window.

“What the hell do you think he was he thinking, using a miniature gun like that in a kidnapping?” Teddy asked casually, although Levi sensed a bigger question behind his words.

“He was thinking he only had to use it to get two women to do what he told them. He relied on the threat more than how he’d carry it out.”

“He killed Carlotta, and you’re in the hospital,” Sidra reminded them. “So it wasn’t completely harmless.”

“I’m sorry about Carlotta, sweetheart,” Levi said softly.

“Me too.” She sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand. “But I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Tears sprang to her eyes, and she bent her head, studying his hands in hers, following the lines of his fingers and veins. The gentle stroke of her fingers across his hand sent tiny whirls of electricity through his body.

“Are your cousins leaving for Medelia as planned?” He tried not to sound as affected by her touch as he felt.

“Yes.” She lifted her forlorn face to his, and his heart tightened with dread. This was it. She was about to tell him she was leaving.

“And you?”

“No. Not yet. I have things I need to do for Carlotta, and I want to make sure my house is taken care of before I leave.”

“So what are we looking at? A few weeks?” he asked hopefully.

“More like a few days. My neighbor will look after the house, and the funeral should be over by the end of the week.”

“So we have what? Six days?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe I should wait a while, take some classes or something.”

“What kind of classes?”

“The kind a princess needs.” She looked positively terrified. “I have no idea how to be a princess. My grandmother may be horrified.”

He turned his hand up and caught hers in it. “Your grandmother will be too overjoyed to see you to be worried about how princess-like you are or aren’t.”

He prayed that was true. He still couldn’t imagine her father willingly sending her away. Even if he hadn’t expected her to be gone twenty years, it certainly wasn’t as if he expected her to be gone only a few days. He had to have known she would be gone for months, possibly even years. How had he decided that was a good plan? And had he or his wife ever once considered giving up their claim on the throne so that her arranged marriage could be forfeited?

His mind raced with questions, but his heart filled with dread. She had to know her father sent her here, and it would be better if he told her now so she had time to get used to the idea before returning to Medelia.

“Sidra,” he began, but something in his voice must have frightened her, because she shook her head vehemently.

“No more tonight.”

His willpower was no match for the earnest plea in her voice.

“No more for tonight,” he murmured in agreement, brushing her hair out of her face. “Go to the hotel and get a good night’s sleep. We’ll talk about it all in the morning.”

“That is the best idea I’ve heard all day,” Teddy agreed with false joviality. His eyes met Levi’s over Sidra’s shoulder in an unspoken message of solidarity.

They might still have their differences, but they were together on this. Sidra was their number-one priority, and neither of them was convinced she was completely out of danger. He would have to trust Teddy to keep her safe for tonight, but tomorrow he’d be back at her side, and he’d be damned if she was going anywhere alone, including Medelia.

****

Sidra flipped on the hotel television as she went toward the bathroom. She and Teddy had stopped at a small variety store on the way to the hotel to purchase overnight necessities, and the smell of the rose-chamomile bubble bath scented the air of her room. She could hardly wait to soak in the tub and let the warm, aromatic water ease the ache from her body and soul.

She gave a sigh of relief as she sank into the water. She hurt from head to toe, but she was alive, and for that she was grateful. Although both Levi and Teddy had assured her he wasn’t ever in danger from dying, she didn’t believe for a minute that he couldn’t have been more seriously injured, and just the thought of him dying for her was more than she could bear.

She closed her eyes and replayed the day, everything she’d learned, and the things she still didn’t understand. For a few moments following Vincente’s death, she’d believed the questions were answered. But as the shock wore off and the hours passed, she realized she had more questions than ever.

Her questions all centered on the things Carlotta had said. Things she wasn’t even sure were true. Had a man told her to watch for Sidra and to keep her safe? If so, who in the world could he have been? Were the Mateos the reason she had moved from one home to the next so often? Had they really tried to find her all those years?

If they had known where to look, why on earth hadn’t her parents been able to find her? To be fair, Gabriel and Miriam had found her four years ago, but why had it taken them so long?

She tried to remember anything new about her childhood. Anything besides a cruel ride on a carousel, a man’s body, and Nanny’s murder, but she hit a wall, and even those memories seemed fuzzy and unreachable.

Exhaustion weighted her limbs and made her head fuzzy as she climbed out of the tub, slipped on a nightgown, and staggered toward the bed. Through the cotton in her head, she heard a familiar voice, and she turned to stare at the television, where Gabriel was standing in front of the airport, talking to a news crew in an uncharacteristically emotional voice.

Her eyes fell to the newsfeed at the bottom of the screen, and she felt as if the floor had dropped out from under her.

Gabriel De Leone, Husband of Woman Killed.

She sank onto the end of the bed as a reporter recapped the story of her cousin’s murder.

“As you heard, Mr. De Leone and his wife were robbed and Mrs. De Leone was killed this morning outside their hotel room. Ironically, their cousin, Princess Sidra of Medelia, was involved in a fatal shootout here at the Jacksonville International Airport last night. The two incidents are not thought to be related. The suspects were last seen traveling north on I-95 in a silver pickup truck. Miriam Carbone De Leone was shot and killed when she refused to give the robbers her jewelry. The suspects are described as white men in their early thirties, with tattoos on their arms and necks. Please notify the police if you see anyone matching the suspects’ description.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Levi flipped the television off, praying Sidra was asleep and not watching the news. If she didn’t know already, she would soon enough, and he needed to be with her either way. He hit the call button again, and the nurse’s irritated voice came over the speaker.

“Mr. Tanner, the doctor has signed the discharge papers, and your nurse will be down as soon as possible to remove your IV line. Please have a little patience.”

He grabbed the phone and punched in Teddy’s cell phone number.

“Damn it, Teddy, answer the phone.” He slammed it back down and hit the call button again.

“Mr. Tanner—” The nurse’s voice held a heated warning, but Levi interrupted her.

“I need the name of the nearest hotel.”

She sighed heavily but gave him one that was only a couple of blocks away, on the river.

“Do you have the phone number?”

Dead, angry silence filled his ear.

“Give it to me, and I promise I’ll quit calling you.”

“Fine. I’m looking it up.”

After he had the number, he called the hotel and asked to be connected to Teddy’s room. The phone rang five times before Teddy finally picked up.

“Hello?” His voice was groggy from sleep, but Levi paid little heed to that.

“Where’s Sidra?”

“In the room next door. I made her leave the door between us cracked so I could hear her if she needed me.” His voice sharpened. “God almighty, Levi, you aren’t back to suspecting her and me of being lovers, are you?”

“No. Have you watched the news?”

“I haven’t watched anything. I think I was asleep before we got here. Getting into bed was just a formality.”