Page 42 of Her Royal Cowboy Billionaire

“It probably won’t be a pretense. I’m sure I will be homesick, but once the horses are here, I’ll be fine. They’re like family to me.”

“I know. As King Gregor is to me.”

Her stomach knotted as she thought of her precious daughter in that monster’s hands. “He won’t hurt her, will he? I know he’s an evil man.”

“He will not hurt Erin. He needs her to get me. I am the one he wants. I believe Nicolai thinks by killing me, the rest of the family will be no problem, and he can be king, but he seems to have forgotten he will have to murder the rest of the family or more likely, he does not care. Mother did her best to make sure he would never be king. I am not completely sure what happened, but I can surmise it and if it is true, Mother is trying to make his life miserable. I would say she’s succeeding.”

“Will he really let Erin and me go?”

Alex watched the surrounding forest. “Yes, but he might have men he will send with you. Those men are just as dangerous as Nicolai, perhaps more so, because they have nothing to lose. Whereas Nicolai has everything to lose.”

“What about Erin? Will his cohorts hurt her?”

“No. I do not believe so. Nicolai won’t want them to hurt her because he wants to trade her for me.”

She nodded. “I’m glad I’m armed. I want to know what happened to Sergei. He was guarding Erin. Did he throw in with Nicolai?”

Wrinkles formed between his eyebrows, and he narrowed his eyes. “I cannot believe that. He has been the head of my security, and my friend, for many years. I simply do not believe he has turned to Nicolai.”

Frustration laced her words, and they came out harsher than she meant. “Then where is he? How did Nicolai get my daughter?”

Alex shook his head. “I do not know, but we will have answers before you leave the cottage.”

They quieted as a house came into view.

Michele’s eyes widened. This was what he called a cottage? The two-story house before her was made of large, round stones that looked like river rock and were cemented together on all two stories. She’d never seen a home like it. She’d seen them with maybe half of the first story, and on rare occasions the entire first floor, but both stories of a home in river rock. Never.

The roof was red clay shingles, and a chimney jutted up, also made from the river rock.

“This is magnificent. It would be an amazing home back in Montana. This was your playhouse?”

“I guess you could say that. I would come here on my horse and hunt for rabbits. Then the servants would prepare them for dinner, and I would go home the next day.”

She pointed at the structure. “That’s not a playhouse. It’s a hunting lodge.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. Right now, it is a jail and its precious prisoner is Erin.”

“Do we just go inside?” She turned toward Alex. “What if you’re wrong? What if he’s hurt her?”

“Michele, my darling, I’m not wrong. I know you’re scared and worried, but trust me.”

She looked at him, wanting to scream that he didn’t understand. He wasn’t a parent, but she knew he loved Erin. “How can I trust you when a maniac has my baby?”

“I understand you are distraught, but please trust me one more time. I am sure someone will be out to greet us. Perhaps even Nicolai himself.”

They rode forward across a clearing the house sat in the middle of. As they approached the hitching rail out front, the door opened. A man strode forward.

Sergei.

“I guess you were wrong about him. He went to Nicolai’s side.”

Alex sighed. “It looks like I was.”

They dismounted, tied their horses to the hitching rail and walked forward to greet Sergei.

As soon as Michele was close enough, she connected a right hook to his jaw. “How could you? How could you trade my daughter for money?”

Sergei braced himself and rubbed his jaw. “Would you like to do it again?”