Heir Untamed - By Danielle Bourdon Page 0,20

an entire corner, with a mantle stretching across the front. To the left sat a dining area leading into a well equipped kitchen. The open floor plan made it seem like there was more square footage than there actually was, though the cabin was not small by a long shot. A hallway divided the cabin down the middle with a handful of doors leading left or right.

Sander closed both doors and engaged two dead bolts on the latter.

“We're going to stay holed up here while the military sweeps the grounds, all right? This is bullet proof, the whole thing, even the windows, so you don't need to worry about anyone taking pot shots at us from the trees.” He thumbed in another message on the screen of his phone before sliding it away into his pocket.

“What's going on? Why would someone be shooting?” Chey stood near the back of one of the sofas, tearing her eyes off the warm décor to glance at Sander. He seemed to fill the cabin with his presence.

“Don't know yet, sweetheart.” Sander passed her for a closet in the hall where he took out a handgun and a fresh magazine. After sliding the clip into place, he checked the safety, closed the closet door, and tucked the weapon into the back of his pants.

Chey watched him retrieve the gun and wondered why he hadn't had one on him already. Distracted by the circumstances, she asked, “Were they shooting at the castle, trying to pick off one of the Royals?”

“The castle would be an almost impossible target to hit from where we were. Too many trees. None of the Royal family are out on the property, so it's unlikely any of them were the target.” He stepped past her into the kitchen, pulling two bottles of water from the fridge. Sander offered one out when he returned.

“Thanks. But I don't understand,” she said, taking the bottle and cracking the lid. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was until she saw the bottle.

“It could be any number of things. A new maintenance member foregoing the rules about guns and shooting game in the woods. Someone who entered the property overland, from the back, making a statement.” He drank from his bottle, gaze cutting to the windows every so often, on guard despite the military sweep or the bullet proof cabin.

“But don't they have the whole perimeter monitored? How could someone just walk onto the property?” Chey couldn't get comfortable. She paced a few feet one way and then another. Already a quarter of her water was gone. An askew coaster sitting on a side table was re-centered as she passed by. Somehow, she resisted the urge to fluff and straighten the pillows on the sofas.

Sander chuckled. A deep, resonant sound that shook his chest. “Chey, the family seat sits on more than two thousand acres of land. Do you realize how many miles of terrain that is to monitor? Not to mention it backs up to a preserve that is totally rugged, almost impassable unless you're a climber or a hiking enthusiast. We save the strict monitoring for the immediate acreage surrounding the castle. It's easier to catch someone coming in for a direct strike that way than to waste manpower prowling every inch of the property markers. Don't get me wrong—we have measures in place in the woods, but nothing like what we have closer to the castle itself.”

“I guess that makes sense.” She had another swallow of water, then glanced at his eyes to find him following her progress with his own. “So you don't think we were the target, do you?”

“'We'? No. We weren't. You might have been, but not we,” he said.

Shocked, Chey stopped pacing. “What? Why would anyone want to shoot at me? I just arrived yesterday. I don't even know anyone that well yet for crying out loud.”

“Simple deduction, sweetheart. No one knew I was going to check the lake today to see if you were going to come back like you said you were, so they couldn't have known I'd be there. Not to mention that whoever it was, if they were shooting at you, had to have followed you into the woods from the castle. It was a preplanned event, and I am not a part of that equation.” He sounded matter of fact.

Chey frowned. What he said made perfect sense. All except the why of it. Could Natalia have been so angry over Chey seeing her drunk that

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