Running from Royalty

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Kathleen

"Holy shit." I stared at the screen, unable to look away. No one had come to interrupt me—Lily's threat had held true with the staff. Which left me along with a single thought on my mind.

Theo.

Teddy.

I opened up multiple tabs on the laptop, going from site to site in an attempt to try and find out more about the explosion—the media feed had turned into reruns of the initial coverage, the news anchors straining to keep old news fresh while waiting for updates.

The basic facts were not in dispute.

The theater had been the site of a charity event, the entire Ansulenia Royal Family in attendance for a stage performance of the popular musical "Hamilton", put on by a local group. It'd been a big draw for the rich and powerful, to see and be seen. Some international visitors, but mostly the Ansulenian upper class, taking the opportunity to show off their wealth while helping the various charities that would benefit from the show.

No one had claimed responsibility yet, but suspicion was falling on a known group of protesters who wanted the monarchy gone. But despite death threats and warning, they'd never resorted to violence, usually going no further than flying banners from construction cranes and getting arrested for chaining themselves to the palace gates during national holidays.

A knock came at the door. Unbidden, Lily walked in holding a sheaf of papers. "Meeting went well. Got the papers here for you to sign and then we'll courier them back, seal the deal." Her gaze went to the laptop screen. What's the latest?"

"The what?" I blinked, unable to process the information. A glance at the digital clock verified it'd been three, almost four hours since Lily had burst into my office.

I glanced out the window into the kitchen to see the afternoon rush just ending, the empty trays of pastries and sweets returning to their racks. Rosa was at her station, preparing another batch for the after-work crowd.

"Oh, God." I stood up, muscles stiff and aching from the action. "The bank..."

"It went fine. Sit down." She came around to stand behind me.

I did so, gasping as the leg cramps choked my voice.

"Stretch your arms out to each side, then up over your head. That's it." Lily put her hand on my shoulder. "Let me guess—you haven't moved since I left. No wonder you're tangled up. Muscles hard as rock." She paused. "Any updates?"

I rubbed my temples in an attempt to fight off the throbbing headache growing behind my eyes. "Nothing about Teddy. The entire family was supposed to be there at the theater, all of them..." The words caught in my throat.

"Don't worry—if Josef is with him, he's fine." Lily squeezed lightly through the white blouse. "He wouldn't let anything happen to Theo." She placed the wad of pages in front of me. "Sorry to bother you, but we need to finish this. I checked it all, we got what we wanted—building owner was eager to sell the property, been on the market just long enough to warrant a price drop. Sign where you see the purple tags."

She watched me turn the pages, stopping to scrawl my signature.

"Remember the first time you met Teddy's parents?" Lily said. "I took your shift that night so you could go out to dinner."

I shook my head.

"They flew into Toronto to give out some award, a charity event at the Ansulenian consulate. Theo told me it was nothing to worry about, he just wanted me to meet them and have dinner. I was so nervous, I almost threw up on the way to the restaurant." I coughed and laughed at the same time, flipping through more pages in search of the purple tags. "We were all sitting in the fancy, expensive Italian restaurant in a secured section, trying to act casual while the paparazzi went crazy at the windows."

His mother, Anastasia, was welcoming and cheerful, chatting to me about the weather and my studies, asking about my own parents and how they started the café. She had been visibly impressed when I told her about the charity work incorporated into the running of the business—it'd been a rule instituted when my father opened the business up, determined to pass on his own good fortune to others. At the beginning, it'd only been the over-cooked bread, too singed to sell and an affordable loss for the day. But then it'd evolved to a tray here, a tray there, of whatever we had a surplus of. Now it was a daily thing, an automatic deduction from the day's products going straight to the nearby soup kitchen.

"It's not much," I said, "But we do what we can."

She nodded in agreement. "Giving something they can enjoy, something they can relish, is good. Bring them up, don't push them down because they're at a low point in their lives. I'm sure that pastry or croissant is a welcome change from plain, white bread."

"And we make sure to send over specials for every holiday," I added, relaxing with every word. "For example—Paczki, before Lent."

Her eyes brightened, smile widening. "My goodness... been years since I had one of those."

The conversation veered into baking and recipes, with my promising to have my mother send over our recipe for the delicious donuts. I doubted the Dubrienne's private chef needed one, but it was a nice gesture.

Nathaniel, the ruling King and Theo's father, had been a bit cold, but I couldn't blame him—even though they didn't rank as one of the most famous royal families, they worried about gold diggers as much as anyone else. He had become friendlier as the night went on, picking up on his wife's approval and even hugged me on the way out.

A cold shiver crept up my spine at the memory.

Now—they could be all gone.

"Right. That's it." Lily scooped up the papers, plucking the pen from my numb fingers. "Give me a minute to pack this up for the courier and we'll go home. I already cleared it with Alex. He and Grace are cool locking up."

"Alex's never keen on staying late. What did you do?"

"Cashed in a favor." She snagged my suit jacket off the back of my chair, forcing me onto my feet. "Let's go. I'll order in some Chinese, and we can wait for updates." Her tone changed. "You're not going to be able to do any more work today, Kick."

"I guess so." It took an effort to tap the mouse, shut away the media images burning themselves into my retina. "I can't believe..."

"Don't." Lily handed me my purse. "Don't make any decisions until we hear the full story. We don't know squat right now." She glanced at the silent screen. "They'll send out updates as they investigate what happened. Time to go home."

All I could do was nod as she sealed up the bank documents in the envelope.

"I've already called the courier—he'll pick it up at the front. Done and done," Lily said.

Rosa looked up from behind the counter as we exited my office. The coffee shop was full with the afternoon crowd, the smell of freshly-brewed coffee mixing with the newest batch of chocolate chip cookies. She gave me a nod and a sympathetic smile, the older woman a hold-over from when my parents were in charge.

"You take care." She pointed at Lily. "Make sure she calls her momma. They'll want to know how she's doing."

"You got it." Lily helped me sidestep the hungry crowd waiting in line.

It hadn't been the best-kept story that Teddy and I had dated, five years ago. The paparazzi stalked us for a few days, until they figured out no one really cared about one of the smallest royal families still in existence, much less about the third in line to the throne in a stable and boring kingdom. The news slipped to the back pages within a week, outdone by the latest Hollywood news.

There'd been a few updates on Teddy's activities once he returned home, business degree in one hand and a champagne bottle in the other. After a short stint in the Ansulenian military, he'd taken on the diplomatic circuit, rotating between private parties and nightclubs where Teddy would hook up with some film star or pop idol, beaming at the camera as they drove off into the night. He never got caught in any compromising positions, but the rumors kept floating around the gossip pages about this woman or that, the newest flavor of the month.

Our relationship was now little more than a trivia question, something you might win a drink over in a bar.

Once we got out onto the street, she flagged down a taxi and we were off to home.

Lily was my rock, my oldest friend—we had met in Kindergarten and had bonded immediately. We'd stayed friends and roommates through high school and then college, comfortable with sharing costs and enjoying the safety of having a wing woman around. First working the cash at the café, Lily had graduated to shop manager when I succeeded my parents, and took over the business as sole owner. After Mom and Dad retired to Florida, I moved into the family home and Lily came right along—there was no question about leaving her behind.

She never failed to know what I needed.

Within the hour, she had me swaddled on the couch in my favorite afghan, wearing my jammies, a bottle of red wine open and Chinese food on the way.

"You're a miracle worker." I sipped the wine as she raised the television remote and pointed it at the screen.

"No problem. You did the same for me when Simon dumped me for that cheerleader's mother and I only found out when he sent me the wrong text." She grimaced. "Not enough bleach in the world to clear that image out of my mind."

I laughed. "Oh, God—that was horrible."

"Worse for Gwen, her mother cougaring the hell out of Simon, but... yeah. Drink up." She curled up next to me, propping her giant T-Rex slippers up on the coffee table. "We've got dumplings coming and a whole lot of sweet and sour pork. Doing dinner in style!"

The news channel flashed through pictures of the royals, family images over the years in a rolling montage. My throat closed up as I recognized Teddy—the photographs rotating through his younger days to the most recent one, taken a month ago as he exited a Paris nightclub with twin pop stars, one on each side of his wide grin.

My phone rang.

Lily snatched it up before I could react, putting her hand up as she studied the caller ID.

"Don't recognize it. Probably damned reporters asking you for a sound bite. Let me handle this." She scowled. "Last thing we need right now is for these assholes to start harassing you for a quote." Lily tapped the screen and put the phone to her ear.

"If you're looking for Kathleen Kiski, she's not available. Leave a..." She froze in place, color draining from her cheeks as she listened.

"What?"

She tapped the speakerphone button.

"Kathleen?" Josef's voice boomed from the outlet. "Is that you?"