Page 32 of Her Royal Cowboy Billionaire

He screamed and pulled back. A hand at his mouth, he used the other to pull a silk cloth from his pants pocket and soothe his tongue. It came away bloody.

“That’s what you’ll get every time you kiss me.” Her heart pounded as she stood, her feet apart, hands fisted at her sides.

“You witch.” He took a hand, fisted it, and slammed it into her jaw.

Reina hit the floor and didn’t get up. She watched Nicolai leave her chambers without checking to see how much damage he’d done.

Her jaw hurt on the left side and her head hurt on the right from hitting the marble floor. She lay there for a few minutes and closed her eyes against the pain.

When she woke, it was dark outside, and Catherine sat by her side. She was on one of the sofas, looking up at Airk.

“Did you put me here? The last I remember, I was on the floor.”

He nodded, his hands on his hips. “I did. Who did this to you?”

Reina let out a sigh. “Nicolai, who else? But leave him be. He will go to his home in the hills while he heals. I want Alex home during that time. I would rather Nicolai did not know of Alex’s arrival, but that hardly seems likely.”

Airk shook his head. “Probably not, since his plane is arriving as we speak. He will see that you have been injured. You have a bruise on your jaw.”

Reina’s left hand flew to her jaw. “We must cover it. Catherine, come with me. I do not want Alex to know about it…yet. I must talk to him first. Make sure none of you are anywhere you can be kidnapped. Stay together in the palace. Do not be alone.” She stood and hurried to her bathroom, followed by Catherine.

Together, they used concealer and foundation to cover the bruises and make Reina look as normal as possible.

They returned to the sitting room.

“Now, remember what I said.” She sat on the sofa.

Airk sat on one side of Reina.

Catherine sat on the other side. She held her mother’s right hand. “All right, Mother. I will not present myself as a target. I will stay in this wing of the palace.”

Airk frowned. “I will have only my most loyal, trusted men as the palace guard. Alex has his own guard that will greet his plane. He will be quite safe, I believe.”

“Good. Thank you. Make sure your sisters do the same. Gregory’s rooms are still here in my suite. It is one thing off my mind not to worry about my children.”

A knock sounded on the door.

“Enter.”

It was Harlow, the queen’s butler.

“Forgive me, Your Highness for interrupting, but King Alexander’s plane has landed, and he has disembarked. He has a woman and child with him.”

She lifted her brows and then smiled. “Oh, that is unusual.”I wonder if she’s the one?

* * *

Michele descendedthe stairs in front of Alex and Erin. She turned and waited for them on the tarmac.

Alex set Erin down at the bottom of the movable staircase and greeted one of the armed men.

“Sergei. Thank you for meeting me.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“I would like you to meet my fiancée, Miss Michele Williams, and her daughter, Erin. They are under my protection, and I want you to oversee their security personally.”

The tall, blond man, with a scar running down one side of his face from above his eye to his chin, slapped a fist on his chest. “I am honored to protect your fiancée and her daughter.”