登入TARA“My kidnapping?” I looked at them. I felt ambushed, and I felt like the dark clouds of uncertainty and dread loomed around us. “What about it?”Agent Montgomery showed the papers. “We came through a legal attache that allows us to conduct an investigation—”“Provided you have permission from our government. I’m aware of it, but you don’t have the authority to arrest on foreign soil, but as a liaison.”“Yes, ma’am. We abide by the treaties and cooperate with local enforcement.”“And where are they?” I didn’t want to be an uncooperative bitch, but I knew my right as a Serevian citizen.”“We’re not here to—”“Accuse me?” I cut off Special Agent Thornton. “Arrest me? You’re here to ask me questions which I can refuse without my lawyers around.”“You know your rights, ma’am.”I glared at Mad, who remained silent on the chair. “I’ll cooperate. What do you wanna know?”“I hope you can tell us about your stay and identify who is involved.”“Were.”They looked surprised.“There are five o
TARAWith a teary eye, I spun before Olive and Ali, wearing my bridal trousseau. The gown was exactly what I envisioned wearing on my wedding day.“Holy fucking shit!” Olive had wide eyes as she stared at me, particularly at the gown.“Oh, my God.” Ali was genuinely surprised as she looked at me from head to toe. “Wow. I don’t know what to say.”“Babe.” Olive blinked her teary eyes. “You look ethereal, surreal, stunning. You look like an angel just fell from the sky. I don’t even know what I’m saying.”“Me, too, Your Royal Highness.” Ali shrugged with a dreamy look on her face. “I’m literally speechless.”“Did I do justice, Your Highness?” Jessie Ra asked me with a great pride glittering in her eyes.“Are you kidding me?” I gestured with my hand for her to come close because I was on the platform. I was still relishing this moment. “Come here.”Smiling, she stepped closer. I took her hands. “I never doubted even for a second that’s why I picked you. We have the same vision, and I kno
MADIt had been two days since we got back from Everstorm, and I still hadn’t heard back from Linden or the hachet man. This plan, my plan, had started to get futile each day as the wedding was approaching. I was expecting our lives to get back to normal as we got ourselves busy with the wedding preparation. Instead, here I was, trying to find the needle in the haystack, scrolling down through Sawyer’s social media accounts. “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as I shut down my laptop. I began to feel a slight hypersensitivity to the light. I rubbed my eyes, and I wasn’t aware that Seth was already standing at the door. “I knocked twice.” Seth was actually friendly, dependable, and smart. “Sorry. Please, come in.” “Thank you.” He looked around as he entered. “You haven’t hired someone to decorate your office?”“Yeah. I’ll keep it like this until I get back from the honeymoon.” I watched his reaction. All I got was his smile— a genuine smile. “I can hire an interior designer for y
MAD“I already talked to him, and he admitted it.”Tara was beyond angry, but I wouldn’t let Valentine ruin her day. “Let’s go outside. Since I can’t ski, we’ll use the snowmobile.”“Where?”I smiled. “I don’t know, Your Highness. This is your place, it’s time you show me around.”Her anger dissipated slowly as we put our coats on. Damian had already brought out one showmobile for us. “Thanks, man,” I said, putting on my gloves.“Be careful out there,” he told Tara. “I got my panic button and our phones,” I told him to assure that he didn’t have to worry.He nodded and headed towards the door.“Hey,” Tara called him. “Lori is waiting.”I chuckled as I hopped onto the mobile, turning the engine on.“For what?” He looked confused.“Chat with her, duh. She likes you. Time for you to have fun, old man. And she called you Serevian bear. Isn’t that cute?”I watched Damian enter the house before I put the helmet on her head. “What are you doing, baby? Playing matchmaker again?”“Yeah. Lori
TARA“Who? What friend?”His jaw flexed. “Baby—”“No.” My voice was low but firm. “Don’t treat me like a child, Mad. I’m the Crown Princess, for God’s sake, who is to be your wife.”“That’s exactly the point, baby.” He faced me, dark eyebrows pulled low over his eyes. “This man I’m talking about is—”“Italian mafia don. I know.” I reached a decision a long time ago. “We’re not doing that again. And the less you know, the better it doesn’t work on me anymore. I’m as much involved as you in this situation. I’m a victim as much as you do.”“Okay,” he said softly, but his face was hard as he turned to Damian. “Who’s his pro friend?”“Pro?” I looked at them, puzzled.Damian’s eyebrows rose. His gaze was inscrutable. “You’re—”Mad shrugged. “I heard his good. I wanna clean this mess before we get married.”“What are you two talking about?” I gripped onto Mad’s arm. “Well, his hatchet man is a woman.” Damian briefly looked at me. “But I’m not sure your friend is easy to find.”“Oh, wow. A w
MAD“His pictures and profile are already in the royal intelligence. He won’t risk his life coming to Serevia,” Damian affirmed.“Not if he already changed his look, or he’s already here. Sawyer is also a chameleon. My family and I did not suspect he was a bad guy who had been manipulating me and fooling me for years.” I sat back, holding Tara’s hand to sit with me.Valentine stared at me. “So, there’s a possibility that he’s not Sawyer anymore? Do you think he underwent reconstructive facial surgery?”“I really don’t know, but he’s wanted by your government. Osmium has been looking for him, and they can’t seem to find him. I told Linden to grab him or tip the police, but he said, Sawyer might go to jail but would still plan for payback once he’s done his jail time.”“He hasn’t been caught on CCTV. It’s possible.” I wished Damian hadn’t agreed with me. I wished I was wrong on this because if Sawyer had changed his face, then even if we may have already encountered him, we still wouldn
MAD“You don’t know?” Tara asked, surprised, bouncing her gaze between Olive and me.“Hell, no! How could you keep something like this from me?” Olive glared at me.I glared back. “The very same reason why I didn’t tell Tara. Why are you even questioning me about whom I should share this informatio
MAD“What are you doing here?” Nites joined me as he spotted me pouring a drink.“Tara officially hates me.” I let the bourbon burn down my throat. Right now, burning was nothing compared to what I felt. By the look in her eyes, the hatred and anger at me were so deep, penetrating her soul, and I c
TARA“It’s your brother.” Those words repeatedly echoed in my head with his voice, which was nothing like the warm, thoughtful, and passionate one I once loved.I couldn’t shake off the look on his face— determination, rage-filled with revenge, as he told me that my brother was involved in my kidna
MADI had to lie to preserve their friendship. I would take all the fall, but not Olive. “And when would that be?” Her chin trembled. “God, you’re a monster.” “I never lied to you, Tara. I hid the truth from you because he’s your family. I took matters into my own hands rather than letting the au







