Page 40 of Her Spanish Scandal

“When will you be sure?”

“Shortly. Will you be at your residence?”

“Yes. I will be at my residence.” He took a long breath. “Where was the accident?”

“Outside of Paris. The royal family’s jet has crashed.”

“Survivors?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“What do you know?”

“Only what I’ve told you. We wanted to get word to the family before you heard it on the television.”

“Thank you, Montoyes. Call me as soon as you hear something.”

“Of course, I will.”

He hung up the phone and realized he was shaking. He couldn’t imagine a world without his older brother in it. Goddamn. He pulled back into the slow-moving traffic, then maneuvered his car off the motorway and found a quiet side street on which to stop the car.

He took several deep breaths and tried to figure out something he could do. But nothing immediately came to mind. He dialed Kara’s cell phone number.

“Gui?”

“Si.”

“Did the Palace reach you?”

“Si.”

“Oh, my. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s going on, but I have a call in to Katie, who has an office in Paris. And I’ve got every TV in the house tuned to a different news channel. The Americans aren’t covering it yet, but the French channel is, as is Skye TV in the UK.”

“What are they saying?”

“Just that a jet carrying the Enfanta and her entourage has crashed. That’s it. They don’t even know right now if there are survivors.”

He tightened his grip on the phone. He breathed through his nose, refusing to give in to the emotions that were threatening. He wasn’t a man given to tears, but to lose his brother and sister-in-law would be a hard blow.

“Where are you?”

He glanced up and down the street. “I have no idea.”

“Do you have your GPS on?”

“What? Yes, I do.”

“Give me the address and I’ll send Vincent for you. I don’t think you should drive right now.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I can drive. I’ll be home in—” he glanced down at the GPS directional unit and saw that he was very close to his house “—in a few minutes. I’m going to need to get on the phone when I get there.”

“I know. I’ll help you in any way I can.”

“Have my parents been notified?”

“Yes. I spoke to Anika a few minutes ago. Everyone is gathering at your parents’ house if you want to go there.”

“Thank you, Kara.”