Chapter 71

FELIX

It was Mila’s idea to return to Fresonia.

The morning after the banquet, she woke me up with a hand around my length and a sultry little smile.

“I think we should go back to Fresonia today,” she said.

It was impossible to think when she had me in this position.

“Talk later,” I managed. She grinned and lowered her head.

A few hours later, we were on the jet.

Mila stared out the window as the United States disappeared below her. I reached over and grabbed her hand, and she smiled at me thinly.

“I imagine it must be difficult to say goodbye,” I said softly. “Especially knowing that your home is now elsewhere.”

Mila’s voice was shaky. “It was harder the first time I left. Now it’s just a reminder that there is no longer anything for me there. Not a job, not a house, not a family.”

We had not been able to talk in-depth about her decision to cut her family off completely, although Nadine’s behavior the night before had been the final straw.

“Are you upset about that?” I asked finally.

Mila shook her head vigorously. “No. They made it clear that they never saw me as anything more than an accident.”

“Do you ever wonder about trying to find your biological family?” I asked. It was a question that had been weighing on my mind for a while.

Mila paused for a moment, considering.

“I used to think that they would be out there, waiting for me,” she said thoughtfully. “But they gave me up. I don’t know if I can survive another rejection.”

I nodded and pulled her close to me. She slept the rest of the plane ride.

To be fair, it had been a late night…

We were greeted on the tarmac of the royal airfield with heightened security. Joseph was waiting for us in the car to take us to the castle.

“What’s with all the guards?” Mila asked as we settled into the backseat.

Joseph gave me a long, meaningful glance. “We are concerned about Charles striking again, especially now that your engagement is public. He knows that he is running out of time before Felix’s birthday.

I shot Joseph a warning glance at the mention of my birthday, but thankfully, Mila did not seem to notice.

“Do you really think he’d try something again?” she asked. Her innocent little question almost broke my heart.

“Mila, he tried to have you killed,” I reminded her. “He’s capable of anything.”

Mila nodded, thinking.

“There is… something else,” Joseph said, his eyes darting between me and Mila. “We managed to track down two of Mila’s kidnappers.”

She went pale at that. I grabbed her hand.

“They were the only two survivors,” Joseph said. I could tell by his expression that that night in the mountains still haunted him, still reminded him of what could have been a catastrophic failure.

“Where are they?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

“The royal dungeons,” Joseph said. “We’re going to drop Mila off at the apartment and then you and I will go interrogate the prisoners.”

Mila frowned. “Do I want to know what you mean by interrogate?”

“No,” Joseph and I said in unison.

As Joseph and I made our way into the depths of the dungeons, I tried to steady my breathing. These were the men who attempted to kill the love of my life. They did not deserve my mercy.

“You doing alright, boss?” Joseph asked, glancing at me.

“They deserve the rack. No–they deserve to hang,” I spat.

Joseph paused, turning to me.

“I understand your urge to punish these men,” he said quietly. “Believe me, I am still torn up over that night myself. But we cannot come in too violently. They could have useful information.”

My hands balled into fists. “Useful in what way?”

Joseph leaned in closer. “We still don’t know what Charles is planning. They might know something that would aid us in our search to find him.”

I sighed. “They’re monsters, Joseph.”

He nodded. “I know. I will never forgive them for what they did to you and Mila. But we need to be smart about this if we want to learn what they know. And once we have what we need, you can beat them to a bloody pulp for all I care.”

The men were lurking in the corners of their cells when Joseph and I approached. They scowled at our faces when they saw us.

“Look alive, gents,” I boomed, hoping my voice sounded intimidating. “We’ve come to have a little chat.”

Joseph said nothing, opting for the strong, silent approach.

One of the gang members–I recognized him as the man who had almost killed Joseph–sneered at me. “What could we possibly have to talk about, Prince?”

“The fact that you kidnapped my fiancée,” I said calmly. “And what you might know that would prevent me and my colleague here from killing you.”

The thugs exchanged a glance.

“We don’t know much of anything,” the second one offered up. “We’re not even sure who hired us.”

“Is that so?” I asked, walking over to one of the torture devices strapped to the wall. “It’s been ages since these were used, but I’m sure they still work.”

“I swear!” the man now sounded suitably frightened. “He only met with our boss, and he kept his face hidden.”

“Did he pay you?” I asked. The men nodded quickly.

“Lots of gold,” the first one admitted. “Looked like royal gold.”

Joseph gave me a quick nod. Now we were getting somewhere.

We stayed in that dungeon for hours. In the end, all we managed to learn was that none of the men knew it was Charles who had hired them, and he hadn’t tried to reach out to any of them in the following weeks.

It wasn’t anything useful.

When I returned to my apartment, I was pleased to see that Mila was still up, pulling a sheet of cookies from the oven. She greeted me with a kiss.

“How was your top-secret royal business?” she asked teasingly.

“Very boring,” I lied. “What did you make?”

“Caramel chocolate chip cookies,” she said absentmindedly. “They’re what I make when I need to think.”

“What did you need to think about?” I asked nervously, grabbing a still-warm cookie from the pan.

Mila stared off into space for a moment, lost in thought.

“Your 30th birthday is in two weeks,” Mila said finally.

I looked at her, surprised. I had avoided bringing up my upcoming birthday and the baggage that came along with it. I was afraid of pressuring her into making a decision

“Next week is my restaurant opening,” Mila continued. “And I was thinking the wedding could be the week after that? Give us a few days before your birthday?”

I took both her hands in mine. “Are you sure? We don’t have to rush into this.”

Mila looked at me, her gaze serious. “We won’t have a happily ever after if you aren’t alive to see it, Felix.”

I smiled at her, my heart cracking open. This wonderful, wonderful woman had no idea just how much she had saved me.

“Then we shall be married in two weeks’ time,” I said, picking her up and spinning her around. “And then we shall have our happily ever after.”