His gut tightened, squeezing something cold and undeniable.
‘Bring her to the palace,’ he said curtly.
‘Sir?’
‘I want her brought to the palace. Immediately.’
The words were out before he could stop them. And they felt good.
I want her—
Fury swamped him. No. That wasn’t why.
Elsie Wynter wouldn’t escape the emotional harm she’d caused. She’d explain. He wanted to hear it from her damnably beautiful mouth. Why she’d vanished, why she’d let down his vulnerable stepsister, why she’d lied.
Felipe loathed liars as much as he loathed people who turned their backs on their responsibilities and left. Invariably those who did one, did both. Both his parents had. He wasn’t having Amalia’s life blighted by the same even on this minor level. She’d lost enough.
‘Your Majesty—’
‘High security. No drama. No witnesses,’ Felipe added uncompromisingly. ‘Put Ortiz on it. Understood?’
He’d look into Elsie Wynter’s cool eyes again, but he’d not be blinded by their beauty this time. It was his job to protect his young stepsister. Because of this woman, he’d failed.
For that, she would pay.