Chapter 12

Stefan cut communications with Cyril, then swiveled toward Nicki. Her gaze lifted from the flask.

"Do you think it's possible he's out there, somewhere?" she asked. "Still alive after all this time?"

He realized with a start that he didn't have to lie to her or couch his words in any way, and the awareness was remarkably…refreshing. Nicki didn't want an answer she could use as a shield or a tool. She simply wanted information to act more intelligently. Information to her was power, but not for playing diplomatic games.

"No," he said, honestly. "It's most likely that he made it to the mainland and was ambushed in his weakened state, robbed and killed, his body dumped or buried. The fact that he survived the crash is a victory for the royal family. The fact that his mind was probably damaged will be a source of endless despair for Queen Catherine. So, it's a trade-off, and not necessarily a good trade-off."

Nicki nodded. "She'll want to know though."

"She'll want to know. And then she'll be furious that she knows and isn't doing more to get all the other answers she so desperately desires. So Cyril will hold off on telling King Jasen for as long as possible, at least that part of it. Once the king knows, it's inevitable that Catherine will find out."

Nicki's expression was wry, and he found himself wondering about her parents, back in the US. The dossier on them had been scant—they were both alive, and there was a brother, too, he was almost certain.

He decided to press the point. "You smile as if you know the type," he said. "Do your parents have a similar relationship?"

"My parents?" she blinked at him. "Ah—no. They're good people, but they're both a little too wrapped up in their own separate worlds to pay too much attention to each other's."

She spoke the words without heat, or even much sadness. When she noted his surprise, she shrugged. "That's probably unfair. I haven't been home for months, between work and the travel for work. But either way, for Mom to see through Dad would involve them talking, and they don't do a lot of that—or they didn't used to. With my brother out of the house finally, maybe they do."

So he'd been right about the brother. "He's graduated college?"

"Not yet, but he's at least in the dorm building there." She grimaced. "He couldn't imagine leaving home to go to school, while I couldn't wait to get out. I guess it's part of being a girl."

"A girl who likes to climb mountains and enter windsurfing competitions."

"A very specialized girl, then." Nicki laughed, and Stefan felt a surge of awareness shiver through him. He stood. Tomorrow they'd be in Ala?ati, no matter what the stopover at the coastal park would net them. They'd be surrounded by people. Today remained bright and full, filled with possibility, and there was the smallest chance that a man the whole country had mourned was alive and healthy. For this moment, the entire ocean was at their feet.

"Come," he said. "We'll be setting off soon, but there's time for another swim."

"Can't," she said ruefully. She pointed to the camera. "I need to cut that video into some vlogs and prepare posts with the images from the camera." She hesitated. "You could—help, if you wanted?" she asked. "If you're not too busy?"

He let his own smile break open wide, the expression still foreign on his face. "I'd like that very much."

The video editing and social media posting process took longer than he anticipated they would. The yacht was prepared for departure and well underway to the parklands outside of Ala?ati before Nicki finally sat back from her computer screen. They had half a dozen posts uploaded to what seemed an enthusiastic response, and more prepared for uploading overnight and the next day. Others were nearly finished should they have a need for more filler shots of a "generic deserted island getaway."

Now Nicki's stomach growled audibly, and she smacked her hand over her belly. "Sorry," she said, but he shook his head.

"You've more than earned a meal. While you were busy ensuring that we have done all that we need to shore up our bona fides, I've arranged to have dinner sent to my stateroom. There's a private deck there with an excellent view."

She lifted her brows. "You're inviting me back to your room? It's only six o'clock."

He smiled back, more than willing to put her at ease. "We do things differently in this part of the world."

Dinner was served less than an hour later, accompanied by white wine in sturdy glasses. The yacht had cut its speed to bare cruising level, and the wind curled deliciously over the deck as they neared the lush green coastline of Turkey. "How close can we get?" Nicki asked. "Are there laws for that I assume?"

"There are. The Turkish Coast Guard has been notified of our arrival and our guest manifest. We've provided links to your posts in the spirit of full cooperation. That and the fact that the online response has been positive has served us well."

"Yeah?" she brightened. "I haven't really been paying attention to the traffic. It's been good?"

"It's been good, and it's been expressive of the beauty of the Turkish seaside. The comments of surprise have been met with tourists speaking up, those who have visited before all the current unrest, sharing their travel stories about the country. Cyril has been in touch with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and they're taking note. It's an excellent way to strengthen our cover." He lifted his glass to her. "I was wrong to make light of your work," he said. "You're good at it, and it's proven very valuable."

"Oh," Nicki said. "Thanks." She smoothed her fingers over her napkin for about the fifteenth time, creating a crease in the perfectly folded fabric.

"What will you do next, when all this is done and you return home?" he asked, eyeing her. She seemed unreasonably nervous around him, more so than when they'd been on the mainland together.

"Yeah, well, I really don't know. I'm starting to see good money for my adventure articles and from advertising on my channel. Not change-your-life money, but at least something that makes me think it will be worthwhile to pursue for a little bit. My parents want me to come back to Indianapolis—" Her lip curled. "But that doesn't interest me at all. There's too much of the world left to see, you know?" As soon as she said the words, she looked like she wanted to take them back. "Well, of course you know. You may be living in the middle of a fairy tale kingdom, but I bet you travel all over the place—and probably have for over a hundred years. Jeez, the things you must have seen in all that time."

Stefan nodded, warmed despite himself at the admiration in her eyes. It had been a long time since he'd spoken so freely about his nature to anyone. "I frequently travel with the royal family, or serve as an envoy if they're not able to attend certain functions," he said. "And yes, I've traveled to just about every major nation in the world over the years. There's a certain luxury in having a place to call home, though."

"I guess so." Nicki shrugged, playing with the glass of wine. "Maybe if I travel around for a few more years, maybe I'll get tired of it. Then I'll think about settling down." She made a face. "As long as it's not Indianapolis. My mom's bad enough with asking me every other week if I've found someone nice. If I lived across the city from her, she'd be on my doorstep."

He considered her statement, and the opportunity it provided him. Had she deliberately opened that door? He couldn't help walking through it. "And you haven't found someone nice, I take it."

"Yeah, no. I don't really attract nice," Nicki said with a quick smile. She took another drink of her wine. "The men I tend to attract are hunting for a climbing buddy, not a girlfriend. And I can climb plenty of mountains with other people. Those who do say they want to settle down mean mainly that they want someone else to be the adult while they go off and still play." She shrugged. "And I'm every bit as bad. This job of travel blogger isn't exactly upwardly mobile. The moment I have an accident or get tired, there's someone else out there who can do it every bit as well, and at a lower price. So I think I'll find a real job before I worry too much about finding a real boyfriend, you know?"

Stefan watched her as she spoke, turning all the information around in his mind. She was single in every sense of the word, unmoored from either place or person. He already had the sense that she would rather fling herself off a cliff than build a house on one, and the image amused him. He suspected she wasn't telling him everything, but that was okay. First off, he didn't truly need to know. Secondly, they had time.

In fact, if he had any say in the matter, they would have lots of time during the remainder of this trip to get to know each other…starting now.