The Princess Finds Her Match

“Lexie! What are you doing here?” Stefan said, none too pleased. He quickly stood up from his seat behind his desk. He shut the lid of the laptop on the table, the screen facing Julian and Theia, who were seated in front of him.

But Lexie was too fast for him. The picture had been grainy, but she was able to make out a figure of a man lying supine on the ground. Heart in her throat, she asked, “Was that Nic?”

No one seemed inclined to talk. Julian’s face was carefully blank. Theia was avoiding her gaze. Stefan pushed a lock of hair off his forehead.

Her voice grew firmer, the edge of hysteria creeping in. “I said, was that Nic?” She felt cold all over. I have never betrayed your trust.

“Lexie, this doesn’t concern you−“

Growing agitated by the minute, she didn’t let Stefan finish and slipped into the native dialect. “Blair texted me. She said there were rumors going around the polo club that Nic was hurt.” Her voice broke. ”That he was beaten badly. And that Butler was responsible.” She turned to the Duke and said in English, “Is it true? Is Nic hurt?”

“I think you’d better have a seat, Lexie.” Julian rose, offering her his seat and stood with his hands deep in his pockets. Lexie sat on the chair, holding on to the armrest shakily like one who had lost her sense of balance. The Duke started pacing, his face grim.

“I do not think it is a good idea to involve her in this,” Stefan addressed his best friend, his tone forbidding.

“She is already involved,” Julian replied, with a hint of reproof, “whether you want her to be or not.”

Lexie could not bear not knowing any second longer. “Please,” she pleaded, “can somebody tell me what is going on?”

Stefan’s face was like stone. “Mr. Fernandez called a few days ago to warn me of Rupert Butler’s threat about making trouble for the royal family in order to secure the alledramite contract. He wanted you to leave Los Angeles immediately,” Stefan continued. “I had Mr. Fernandez and Butler both followed by our security team even before you left California to monitor their movements. Yesterday, Mr. Fernandez went to the clubhouse to confront Butler. Our security had some trouble getting into the clubhouse at first. When they were finally able to locate Mr. Fernandez in the tack room,“ Stefan paused, his grey eyes locking into Lexie’s, “Butler and his bodyguards were gone.”

A hand flew to cover her gasp. “Oh my God! What have they done to him?” Why had Nic gone to see Butler?

Stefan’s eyes flicked to Julian’s, and this time it was the Duke who spoke. “Our security team brought him to the hospital. Reports say he had been badly beaten and his arm and hand were broken.”

“Broken? Which ones?” To anyone other than the two men present in the room, her question would seem odd. Somehow, Lexie knew even before Julian replied what the answer was going to be.

“The right.”

Lexie was going to be sick. The patron made sure he had hurt Nic on his playing arm and hand. But what Julian said after leached all the color from her face.

“Nic gave our security team his mobile phone. A file of a recording he made of Butler admitting he got possession of Nic’s mobile to download your photos without consent was transmitted to us a while ago. Together with the CCTV footage we have from the polo club, we have enough evidence to make sure Butler won’t be able to make good on his threat.”

I will make it right. His words were a refrain in her mind. I will make it right. Amidst her jumbled thoughts, Lexie’s mind took her to the night of the party when they were about to leave and Nic was looking for his mobile. She recalled seeing Butler and Tansy a few feet away from her and seeing a subdued Tansy handing Nic his phone.

Lexie had been about to ask Nic how Tansy had gotten possession of his phone, but his somber mood made her apprehensive then. She didn’t give him a chance to explain and chose to believe the worst. Now he was hurt and broken and lying in a hospital bed, and she was a continent away and couldn’t do anything about it.

“He is stable and will undergo surgery tomorrow,” Theia, almost forgotten, spoke. She received a quelling glance from the Prince. She ignored him at her own peril and gave Lexie a sympathetic look.