Page 7 of A Fierce Princess

Under Maybe, I write:

King Edvard is likely Logan’s father.

Edvard and Leah secretly married?

His mother, Leah, somehow met Edvard while living in Europe, although how and when is unclear.

Under Questions, I write:

Why did she go to the Bahamas?

Why is there a bounty on Logan?

Who put the bounty on Logan?

Why does Edvard not look for him, if Logan is his son?

Does Edvard know he has a son?

And under Lies, I write:

Logan’s real name is not Winters.

I look at my program that is scanning still. I see some answering of the bounty on Logan and my heart sinks. These are professionals. These are assassins bidding on a chance at fifty million dollars. Now, that number is high, but it’s also low. It’s quite frankly a curious amount. I have seen some bounties online before. I typically get them in front of a guy at Interpol, codename Beavis (yeah, it’s what you think), and he handles it. Beavis is also a hacker, but I found out through my hacking skills who he actually works for. We have never met, but I trust him after he warned me about a possible attempt on my father’s life three years ago. An eye for an eye as they say, so I have thrown him bits and pieces when I see something suspect. However, something is stopping me from doing that this time. Is it boredom? Is it because this guy could be a prince and the next heir to the throne of Montelandia?

It’s when I see the messages go offline to a new chat that my heart sinks farther. The winning bid is from Martin Mayhem, or that’s his online name, M for short. I’ve seen him bid on a lot of bounties for taking out bad guys, cartel thugs, coup leaders, and the like, but this is unlike his norm and that concerns me even more.

I’m so sucked into everything that I almost miss my text from my secretary, Shannon.

Shannon: Breakfast and then we have a meeting with the head of Fostering Love for Foster Children.

I groan. I want to stay and see what happens next, but I also know I can’t do anything out of the ordinary, or I’ll get caught.

I head downstairs after resetting my search. Everyone is already seated at the breakfast table, which means, I’m in trouble.

I sit, and my father clears his throat. “Susanna,” he begins. I lose focus after that because he drones on about my duties and being on time and my head is always in the clouds. At some point, I notice Mia Edgewater, Chris’s secretary, enter the room, curtsy toward my dad, and then discreetly whisper something in Chris’s ear.

“Father, if you’ll excuse me, I’m afraid my next appointment arrived early,” he says, nodding toward our father and placing his napkin on the table.

My father tosses his hand toward him, essentially excusing him from the table.

I watch Chris leave right behind Mia. I have suspected for some time now that those two are having an affair. Chris refuses to let on, but as he places his hand on her lower back as they exit, I notice his hand slides down toward her ass. I fight every natural urge to roll my eyes and instead focus back on my dad, who is now asking me what I have left to do for my degree. I sigh. I swear we just chatted about this.

“I have two papers left to turn in, and I’m done,” I say to him. I’m actually done, I just need to hit send, but the longer I wait, the more time I buy myself to keep being a student with no responsibilities.

“Very good. Will there be a graduation ceremony? You’ll need Shannon to work with Marcus to coordinate the logistics,” my father reminds me. I nod. My graduation is scheduled for a month from now. That means security concerns, pomp and circumstance issues, and the like because the king will be there. I hold out hope that something will come up so that I don’t have to attend it. Although I’m not overly worried because Shannon and Marcus have been coordinating this since I started the damned degree.

Marcus enters the dining room and clears his throat. My dad nods toward him. He gives the most imperceptible bow and walks back out.

“I have a meeting with the prime minister. Auggie, please make sure you don’t get in trouble on your trip. Remember, you are there in an official capacity,” he says to my brother with a raised eyebrow.

My brother looks a little sheepish and nods. Auggie’s last official visit was to Spain. He ended up making the tabloids when he was spotted partying all night in Ibiza with some tourists. Needless to say, Dad was not pleased.

I turn to Auggie, trying desperately to remember what trip he is going on. My brothers are much more in the public eye than I am, especially since I’ve been at school.

“Where are you going?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “Bahamas, some sort of charity thing. Chris was supposed to go, but he apparently has something more important to do.” Auggie trails off and looks toward the door.

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