Chapter 40
Courtney
I slept for about five hours but at five in the morning my eyes popped open and that was the end of it.
I have the headache to end all headaches, my stitches are throbbing, and my stomach is queasy, but I somehow get myself together enough to make it to the conference room by eight.
Without greeting anyone, I pour myself a cup of coffee and grab a bagel.
Food is the last thing I want, but I have to eat something or I won’t make it through the day. It’s bad enough that I’m dizzy and lightheaded, so being hungry would just exacerbate a group of already miserable symptoms.
“Courtney.” Erik’s deep voice penetrates my thoughts, and I turn, hoping for a modicum of respect.
“Your Majesty.”
He lifts his brows just a smidge. “Come on—don’t do that. We’re family. It’s Erik.”
“Technically, we’re not,” I respond. “My son is family but not me.”
He searches my face intently but doesn’t contradict me. “How’s your head?”
“Hurts like a motherfucker.”
“Please let someone know if you start having any of the symptoms the doctors warned you about.”
“I will.”
He squeezes my arm and moves away, leaving me to dump cream and sugar into my coffee. Normally, I drink it black, but my stomach is sour today. Maybe the cream and sugar will make it more palatable.
There are voices around me, everyone talking quietly, essentially walking on eggshells, but I’m oblivious. All I care about is information.
With my coffee and bagel in front of me, I sink into a chair at the far end of the conference table. Erik is at the other end with Sandor on his right and Daniil on his left, but I can’t sit close to them. I don’t know why but it makes my skin crawl.
My phone buzzes and I see a text from Landon.
LANDON: Just landed, on the way to the palace.
COURTNEY: About to interrogate someone who might have information, but come find me as soon as you get here.
LANDON: Will do.
Thank fuck for my brother and his friends. I’ve known Elliott for over a decade, and though I haven’t known Chris as long, he’s a good guy.
A middle-aged woman with a short blond bob and large tortoise-shell glasses comes into the room looking confused.
“Your Majesty.” She dips into a curtsy.
“Ms. Mendal. Please.” He motions for her to take the seat Daniil has just vacated.
“I’m sorry if I’m not prepared,” she says, looking around. “I wasn’t told what this meeting is about.”
“That’s because it’s confidential,” Erik says in a conspiratorial tone.
“What can I help with?” she asks automatically, leaning forward.
“We’d like to know what you know about the resistance to the pipeline bill,” Erik says. “And please note, this isn’t about changing your vote—it’s about a potential coup in the works. Which is far more serious.”
“A coup!” Her eyes widen. “Your Majesty, you have my word, I know nothing about anything like that! As I told Elen, er, the Princess, there has been some concern about the terms of the bill, and the loss of revenue to Turkiye, but nothing about a coup!”
“I appreciate that, but can you tell us who’s been spearheading the talks behind the scenes?” Erik presses.
“As I told Princess Elen, it’s been a small group.
Senators Milacek and Reinhold are leading the way, but the talk has simply been about holding out, stalling the vote to pressure you into reducing their cut from forty to thirty or thirty-five percent.
That’s all. I swear to you, I’ve heard nothing else. ”
This is bullshit that’s going nowhere.
And I don’t have the patience—I’m not a politician.
It’s completely out of line, but I get up and walk to the head of the table anyway. “Ms.…Mendal, is it?”
What are they going to do? Kick me out? Good luck with that.
I have zero fucks to give at this point. I’ll be respectful but I’m beyond game-playing at this point.
“Yes…and you are?” She looks at me curiously.
“Major Courtney Grimshaw, United States Marines.” I pause, looking her right in the eye. “Do you have children, Ms. Mendal?”
“I…do.” She frowns. “Three. They’re teenagers.”
“How would you feel if someone tried to use your children to impact how you vote in Parliament?”
“I would be angry,” she says automatically, a tic pulsing in her jaw.
“Well, someone is using my child for that very reason. But the problem is that we believe it’s a case of mistaken identity.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” The woman looks genuinely confused.
“You may have heard that Prince Daniil and I are dating, and we believe word somehow got out that my son, Micah, who’s only six months old, is his son.
But that’s not the case. Micah’s father left me when I told him I was pregnant, and Daniil and I have been friends for several years.
We only recently decided to start dating, but now someone took my child in what we believe is an attempt to manipulate him into giving up on the bill. ”
“Oh, dear.” She looks distraught. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you.” I glance over at Erik and see the note of approval in his eyes.
“But my problem is that the king is trying to be diplomatic. I have no such inclination. I just want my baby back. If you know anything about who might be behind the movement to stall the bill, you need to tell me. Because I promise you, no one will be safe when I find out who took my son.” My voice is quiet but there’s no mistaking the threat in my tone.
“Are you threatening…my children?” she squeaks in alarm.
“Courtney—” Daniil starts to say something but Erik silences him with his hand.
“You have nothing to worry about if you’re not involved in the kidnapping of my son,” I say bluntly. “But if you are, then yes, I am absolutely threatening you, your children, and everyone you’ve ever cared about. Do you understand that? Mother to mother?”
Her eyes are wide, worried, but there’s no fear.
Which means she probably wasn’t involved except—
“There’s one thing I heard,” she says after a brief hesitation.
“I didn’t think much of it until just now.
Senator Reinhold mentioned that he has a direct line to what’s going on at the palace, and that he believed there was going to be a turning point soon that would encourage Prince Daniil to fold sooner rather than later.
I thought he was talking about political pressure, not…
kidnapping! I swear to you, I had no idea. ”
Erik picks up a nearby phone and speaks quietly. “Get Senator Reinhold to the palace now—I don’t care where he is.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I see a text from Landon, announcing his arrival at the palace.
Without a word, I turn and head out, almost running for the elevators that come up from the garage.
The moment I see my brother, I throw myself into his arms and he hugs me tightly.
“What the hell happened?” he demands, taking in my bandaged head and the growing bruise on my temple.
“I got a few stitches,” I mutter, hanging on to him for dear life.
“She has a skull fracture,” Natalia interjects, giving me a dirty look. “Don’t let her minimize the injury—she should be in bed.”
“Jesus, Court.” Elliott stares at me. “Why aren’t you in bed?”
“Because someone took my kid. I won’t rest until we find him.”
“Come.” Natalia motions for us to follow her. “Sandor wanted to meet with you as soon as you arrived.”
“What do we know?” Landon asks me as we walk.
I shake my head and immediately wince from the pain.
Fuck, I’m already tired of this, but I have no choice but to keep on keeping on.
“Very little. The Bojovnik Brat is involved, and we just found out something else that’s interesting, but we can talk about it when we meet with Sandor and the king. ”
“Sis, you need to lie down,” Landon says, narrowing his eyes slightly as I stumble and grab his arm. “You look like I could knock you over with a feather.”
“I dare you to try!” I snap. Then I sigh, shaking my head ever so slightly. “I’m sorry. My nerves are shot. I have a headache. I’m barely keeping it together.”
“I know. But I’m here now. We’re going to find him.
If Sandor and the others have to follow protocol, that’s fine, but we don’t.
And we’re ready, willing, and able to go rogue.
By the way, Chains is on the way as well.
He’ll be here in a few hours. He was in Anchorage, so it’s taking him a little longer to get here. ”
“Thank you. I really appreciate this.”
“We’re talking about my nephew!” he replies on a low growl. “Did you think I wouldn’t do anything and everything in my power to help?”
“You’re the best.”
“I just came because I’ve never been to Limaj,” Chris quips. “Now I can knock it off my list of European countries I’ve visited. Only four left.”
“Only four?” I ask, glancing at him. “Which four?”
“Andorra, San Marino, Kosovo, and Azerbaijan.”
“That’s random,” I say. “My list is a bit longer, but I’ve been to Kosovo.”
The guys are trying to distract me, so I let them. We chat about European countries as we walk, and I realize we’re going back to the same conference room I left. Nicola is gone now but Erik, Sandor, and Daniil are still there, talking quietly.
They all get up when we walk in, welcoming Landon, Elliott, and Chris.
“I appreciate your coming,” Daniil says to them. “We can use as many feet on the ground as possible.”
“Tell us what you legally can’t do,” Landon says to Erik. “That’s where we’ll start.”
“We’re not there yet,” he replies, “but we’ll talk about that. Are you hungry? We’re waiting for our next…guest.”
“I could eat,” Chris says, walking over to the sideboard where the bagels and pastries are set out. He loads up a plate, fills a cup with coffee and settles down like he hangs out with royalty every day.
Natalia hears something in her headset and looks up. “General Reinhold has arrived—he didn’t want to come willingly so he was arrested.”
“Good.” Daniil has an evil glimmer in his eye I’ve never seen before as he turns to Erik. “And I’m going to be the one to interrogate him.”