The following morning's activities had started before the crack of dawn. We were up and down, welcoming the heads of state who had been invited to the wake. The service had started shortly after 10 am. The three-hour program went on without a hitch. A grand luncheon followed which carried on into the late afternoon. Finally, a gala dinner. By the time my speech at the gala was over, I was spent. I had been holding back on showing my real emotions through the day but I couldn't anymore. As I descended the podium, I found Mario waiting for me at the last step. One look at my face and I found myself being dragged through multitudes of people into a bathroom. The few women therein made themselves scarce after receiving the blunt end of a Mario stare.

The lump in my throat rose with a vengeance once the last woman left. "I hate this job at times," I said as Mario enveloped me in his arms.

"Shhh, it's okay. You can let it out." And I did, his tuxedo coat soaking in a bucket load of tears. Since we came back from our honeymoon, most of my time was spent with either Mario or my friends. Mother had asked to meet me only once. The other times, I was left alone to my thoughts. Alone to grieve my father and think things through. Today, everyone forgot of my place as a grieving daughter as soon as the wake was over. I was instantly turned into hostess and future queen. By the time the gala started, I had been bombarded with more business and merger proposal than I could count. All they saw was a new young leader they couldn't wait to exploit.

The only one who seemed to understand my misery was the man whose tux I was ruining with snot. He hadn't left my side once. He had even pulled me from several unbearable situations. At that moment, all my reservations about him weathered away. I felt safe. I shifted slightly in his hold but his hands tightened, caging me further. I gave in to his warmth, getting lost in his scent.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked finally. I gently pulled away, walked to the sink where I cleaned my tear-streaked face, getting rid of all the makeup in the process. I picked a few pieces of tissue and turned to wipe down his tux.

"You don't have to do that." He said.

"Yes I do, I ruined it and the night isn't over yet."

"You can't possibly be thinking of going back out there, can you?"

"Well, I don't have much of a choice do I?"

"Yes," he reached out his hands and gripped mine. "You do, you have done your part as the dutiful daughter and princess but now, you are just my wife. Come with me". He led me out of the bathroom, down the corridor and to the parking lot. Once outside, he led me to our private parking lot, pulled out his keys and unlocked his car. "Get in, I'll take you wherever you want to go. You just name it..." The chiming of his phone cut him off. Taking it out, he read through a text, his face constricting. "Princess I'm so sorry. I have to settle something. It might be a while. Take these keys, go anywhere. I'll call you when I finish this. Then we can go wherever you want." He brushed his lips lightly on mine, pushed the keys in my hand and was gone before I could protest. I stood there glaring at the keys handed to me, then to the car beside me.

With my limited knowledge in cars, I knew the sleek white Porsche would pose a problem. I pulled open the door and froze once I saw the gear shift. "Manual! Oh, come on!" I almost slammed the door shut when a steady set of approaching footsteps filled the air. Looking up I saw Gordon, my head of security, appear from the shadows.

"Need help?"

"Yeah, only if you know how to drive a stick!"

"Where are you headed?" He moved to the passenger side and pulled open the door.

"Wait, so you do know how to drive one of these?"

"Positive! Now, where would you like to go?"

"Away from here. Preferably Ryan and Halima's house, I need to be with friends tonight." I moved to the open door.
My comment was not lost on him but true to his nature, Gordon didn't pry. He closed my door, sauntered to his side and slid in the leather seat.

Of all the houses that papa had offered to give Ryan, the man had chosen a cottage, an hours worth of drive from the palace. The mansion in the woods as I liked to call it, provided the peace and tranquillity I needed at the moment. I pulled out my cell and was about to dial Ryan's number when I noticed Gordon's unease. He was checking into the rearview mirror every five seconds. I followed his gaze and noticed an approaching truck. Under the cover of darkness, all you could see were its glaring headlights. They were closing in on us before Gordon could hit the accelerate peddle, the now visible semi truck swerved and went to the right side of the Porsche, seemingly intending to overtake. A sigh of relief had hardly left my lips when said truck rammed into us, sending the Porsche flying off a slight cliff.

Screeching tires filled the air, then silence, next thing I heard was the restart of an engine as the semi drove away then more silence, before darkness settled.

******

Throbbing pain flooded through my head as I ripped my eye lids open. I quickly took in my surroundings. A hospital room. Efforts to sit up only sent severe pain through my body. The head of raven black hair resting on the space to my right jerked awake. Sleep, worry, and relief all flooding through Mario's face as our eyes locked.

"You are awake." He stood up, leaned in and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"What...what happened?"

He sat with a heavy sigh. "You were attacked, I found the Porsche overturned in a ditch. Your phone was going straight to voicemail so I asked the gate personnel which direction the Porsche had taken. I found you lying by the roadside, the Porsche on fire, with bullet holes on its side and in Gordon's forehead!"

"What?"

"Yeah, looks like someone was after you, honey. The police are here, they wanted to question you."

My mind was going a mile a minute as I processed the information. Everything flooded back in one swoop. Soon I could remember every detail. The semi, its glaring headlights, it's pretense to overtake then finally, the Porsche flying in the air. He had however mentioned bullets.

"I didn't hear any gunshots!"

"What?"

"I remember hearing the semi driving away but no gunshots!"

"Oh, maybe they came back to finish the job."

"Then left me alive?"

"Maybe, you probably weren't the target honey, it was my car after all..." He looked up as a nurse walked into the room.

***************************

Double update? Huh!

Yes, there is a new chapter before this one. This bonus update is courtesy to two new readers who are really kind and supportive...KateArkins and sharrie16 thanks, guys. This one's for you...😘😘😘😘💞

God bless you all...

Always,

June.