Sandor was calmly eating a piece of bread as he waited for us to update him.
“Looks like they’re not pleased there’s a new crew in town moving in on their turf,” Xander said with a grin.
“They don’t know it’s us?” Sandor asked, arching his brows.
“Apparently not.”
“They think we’re new in town.” I picked up a piece of bread and took a bite. “This isn’t as good as your mom’s,” I told Solange.
“Did they say what they want?” Sandor asked.
“It sounds like things are escalating,” I replied. “We need to figure out who’s in charge and nip the whole organization in the bud.”
“Do we know where they’re from?”
“Turkey, I think,” I said. “They were speaking Turkish among themselves before they started talking to me in Limaji.”
“I thought you don’t speak Limaji,” Solange said dryly, hands on her hips.
“I know enough to fake it, but once too many people start talking or they’re talking too fast, I get lost. I caught enough to know the big man is in Ankara. No name, though. The good news is that they’re tied up and we can take them somewhere a little more private to find out what we need to know.”
Sandor sighed and looked at Xander. “Get them out of here. I don’t want this to blow back on Solange or her family.”
“The compound up in Braksa,” I suggested quietly. “Get them up there and see what you can find out.”
“I’m on it.” Xander grabbed a slice of bread on his way out the door.
“I’m going wait until tonight when I can talk to the townspeople,” Sandor said. “I think I’ve got a little surprise for them too.” He looked like a kid in a candy store. I was used to his bombshells, though, so I left him to it and looked over at Solange.
She was getting ready for the lunch crowd and had dug out several serving spoons for the stew. It was going to be interesting to see what her mother had put into motion for lunch since they had limited supplies.
Sandor was on the phone now and I watched Solange rummage around in the refrigerator, pulling out butter for the bread. She cut it up into little pats and dropped a few into each basket of bread.
“Sounds like the lunch crowd is arriving,” she said as voices started filtering in from the dining room, and she grabbed the baskets of bread. “Let’s see who’s hungry.”
To my surprise, when we got into the dining room, people from the neighboring shops had arrived and set up folding chairs and tables. There was a stack of paper plates, plastic cups and plastic cutlery on the counter.
“Solange! Is lunch ready?” I recognized Mrs. Freela, who owned a bakery down the street, and she was smiling as she waved to us.
“Yes, everything is ready.” Solange smiled back. “I’ll bring the pots of stew down here and the men can line up.”
“Excellent.”
I followed Solange upstairs, watching her lift one of the massive pots of stew that had been warming on the stove.
“I’ve got it.” I took it from her carefully, surprised at how heavy it was. “Where do you want it?”
“I’ll show you.”
She grabbed several heavy-duty pot holders and went back down to the dining room to put them on the counter. I set the first pot on one and turned in time to see Sandor carrying out the second pot and settling it on the second pot holder.
“Thank you.” Solange smiled at him.
“No problem.” He nodded.
There was a squeal from Mrs. Freela as she turned, her gaze landed on Sandor, and recognition dawned. She appeared to be trying to talk, but nothing came out. And then she fainted.
5
Solange
By the time we revived Mrs. Freela, introduced everyone to Prince Sandor, fed the lunch crowd and cleaned up, I was ready for a nap. I was operating on autopilot at this point, putting one foot in front of the other until I was in a position to process everything that had happened. I needed to check on Kostya and my parents, see what the plan was for dinner, and take a shower, but I was suddenly exhausted.
“What can I do?” Axel asked me. “You look ready to drop.”
“I’m so tired.” I sank onto a stool and absently ran a hand through my hair. How long had it been since I’d washed it? Yesterday? The day before? I honestly couldn’t remember. I was starting to crash emotionally and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
I’d hidden in a closet last night, but I was so tired of fear, of being a victim.
“Solange?” Axel was watching me intently.
“I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”
“Why don’t you go take a nap and I’ll keep an eye on things around here?” he suggested gently. “I’ll talk to your parents to find out what the plan is for dinner and get an update on your brother. If anything comes up, I’ll wake you. Go rest, honey. You’ll feel better.”
“You’re…” My voice trailed off as I looked into his rugged face. He wasn’t handsome. Not in a traditional way. His eyes were dark and deep-set beneath what seemed like a perpetually furrowed brow. He had far more beard than I normally found attractive, but somehow it worked on him. “You’re very kind,” I said when I finally stopped staring. “Truly. Thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome.” He looked like he might say something else, but he didn’t and I slowly headed upstairs.
I really wanted a bath but the water heater was old and there wouldn’t be enough to fill it, so I stepped under the warm spray and let it wash away a day’s worth of grime. I squeezed my eyes shut and let the tears that had been threatening all day find their way out. I was so damn tired and scared. Still. Even with a member of the royal family helping us and a badass member of the Royal Protectors keeping an eye on everything.
I’d tried for the last five years to get my parents to sell the shop and move to a bigger city, either Hiskale or at least Ferdinbrag, which was the southernmost city in the northern half of the country. But my parents had refused, determined to hold on to the family legacy that had been passed on for several generations. They were devoted to the town, their neighbors, our extended family. It infuriated me because it felt like they were devoted to everything except Kostya and me. We had no future here—neither of us wanted to run a café that barely supported us—but we were stuck because we couldn’t abandon our parents.
I’d thought about leaving a thousand times but I couldn’t walk away from my family. We all worked so hard, seven days a week, and without Kostya and me, they couldn’t manage. If we moved to a big city like Hiskale, we’d have enough business to hire enough help so we could all have some semblance of a life, but that would never happen, and in the last year I’d begun to get bitter. After last night, I was angry now too.
I slept soundly and the next thing I knew my mother was waking me.
“Solange, Prince Sandor’s meeting will start in half an hour. You should get dressed.”
“It’s evening?” I asked in surprise, sitting up.
“It’s all right. You were tired. I’ll see you downstairs.”