Royal Line

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  “I don’t know why anyone would want to kill me. I’m hardly important enough for anyone to want me dead.” She still couldn’t grasp it. I could see her panic rising.

  “I don’t believe that. But look, you’re safe now. And always remember, if you’re ever in the car again and someone attacks you, there’s a gun in the glove box.”

  Her brows furrowed. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Probably because it hasn’t been ingrained in your head. But this only leads me to the conclusion that you are absolutely being followed. We’re going to get another car, and you’re going to dump everything, all of your belongings.”

  “What?”

  “Dump everything.”

  “But my camera.”

  The fear in her voice was palpable. “I had Sparrow check it this morning. It’s clean. The camera and lenses are clear. Let’s kill everything else to be safe.”

  “But I don’t have anything else on me.”

  I laughed at that. “You’re still wearing earrings, a necklace, a watch, and probably a few things I might have missed. If that’s what you left home in, a tracking device could have been sewn into the collar of your jacket or planted in anything you have on. And you’ve got a lot on. And I’m sorry, but Lité is out.”

  I thought she was going to argue. I thought she’d fight me. But all she did was nod quickly. Her eyes though… The normally vibrant baby blues were clouded with unshed tears.

  Christ, she’d been run off a road, people had shot at her, and some idiot had just tried to drag her out of a car. She was holding up remarkably well, considering.

  I found the one shopping center I’d seen on the map. I picked a spot in the far corner, just out of range of the cameras. I hated the idea of leaving my car here, but we didn’t really have any other options. I scanned the lot’s numerous other inhabitants and spotted a vehicle that was just the ticket. A red Peugeot, an older model before all the updates to computer systems, and I knew it would be easy to steal.

  I grabbed our gear as soon as I parked. “Start stripping.”

  “I’m sorry, what? No. I will not be stripping in front of you, especially when I don’t have anything to change into. You might have saved my body, but you don’t get to see it.”

  My gaze slipped over her slender frame and paused just long enough at her breasts. It made me want to kick myself. “I’ll give you a shirt. Make it fast. We’re leaving all of that here.”

  I transferred my gear between cars quickly. Lucky for me, the Peugeot was easy to hotwire. Perfection. Hopefully, her friend had a car available. One that no one had seen us in before.

  London had done as she was told. She’d stripped. Down to her bra and panties.

  “I said all of it.”

  She blinked. “The hell I will.”

  I sighed, grabbed one of my shirts out of my duffel, and handed it to her. It would certainly be long enough to cover her to nearly her knees. “I was serious too. Bra as well. It’s easy to hide something in the underwire.”

  “Will you at least leave me the dignity of my panties?”

  I did my best, trying not to think of her panties. It didn’t work. Now all I could imagine were her curves in microscopic lace, and my dick ached. “Fine. Make it fast. We’ve got to go.”

  She was fast. When she buttoned up the last couple of buttons of my shirt, I couldn’t help but stare at her. She was like a walking, talking model come to life with her silky hair cascading over her shoulders, her bright blue eyes, and those thick, dark lashes looking up at me. All I could think about was how she tasted and how I was not going to think about that anymore.

  Sure.

  Once we made the car switch, I made a mental note to tell Olly to come and retrieve my BMW. If I was lucky, he’d be able to find someone to fix the scrape I got in our crash a couple nights ago. Not to mention the bullet holes.

  During the rest of the drive to her friend’s, London was solemn, quiet. She didn’t say a word.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Of course. Other than being followed and men with guns running me off the road and trying to kill me at rest stops. However, it’s not as if I have a choice. So let me put on a pretty smile and pretend if that suits you.”

  Fuck. “I promise you this situation will get better.”

  “Let’s not make promises we can’t keep, shall we?”

  She had a point. She didn’t know me. She didn’t know that if I promised to keep her safe that was my intention. But I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that’s what happened.

  Are you going to keep her safe just like Phoebe?

  Even from my subconscious, that was dickish. “Just relax. We’re almost there.”

  When we switched cars, I’d switched to GPS on my phone. The thing about GPS devices was that they never told you exactly what to expect about the location you were traveling to, with the exception of Google, maybe. You could get a street view, or a satellite view if you had one. But when we pulled up to London’s friend’s place, I felt like I was at the Guggenheim Museum.

  Ultra-modern, weird, funky architecture. A large metal sculpture sat at the top. It looked like a metal wonton. What in the world?

  The house itself was all white and chrome and steel. “This is your friend’s place? Rian?”

  She stared up at the building as if she wanted to smile but it couldn’t quite reach her face. “Yep. Rian Drake.”

  I frowned. Why was that name familiar?

  “She was one of People magazine’s most beautiful last year. The cover, actually. And she won an Oscar two years ago. A Tony, too. Oh, and a Grammy for her movie, The Wild Children.”

  I paused at the entrance of the driveway. “What? Rian Drake? The actress?”

  “Yes, she’s an actress.”

  I blinked at her. “So the last two hours we’ve been driving, you didn’t think to mention that your friend with the ridiculous security is a world-famous actress?”

  “Her place is private, secluded. No one knows about it. And it’s secure to the hilt.”

  “Way to bury the lead.” London rattled off the security code, and I punched it in and drove us into the long drive. Once the gate receded behind us, it rolled back out, and I noticed the electrical panels at the security gate. “What you’re telling me is those things go hot when you say they should?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know everything about her security, but she told me I’d be able to stay here and feel safe.”

  Interesting. Had she known she’d need to feel safe before the bullets had flown? “I hope she has a manual for this place.”

  Chapter 9

  London

  The princess and the protector

  * * *

  I had never been so relieved to reach a destination in my life. I knew I wasn’t being dramatic. Being locked in the car with Kannon for two solid hours only made me relive every second of that kiss. Pure torture.

  Especially as he hadn’t said a word about it. Not one. I kept waiting for him to say something, anything. Instead, he was perfectly comfortable not addressing what had happened.

  If he could pretend nothing had happened, well, so could I.

  It helped that I had more important things to worry about. Someone had tried to kill me. Twice. They tried once and then came back around to make sure that I was dead. At least that’s the best I could come up with. I needed to talk to Roman again. Maybe he’d found out something that could explain what the hell was going on.

  Aunt Rebecca had said there were people who were looking to take the crown from him, from us, but would they resort to murder? And hello, I was hardly in line to rule. Roman would eventually recover from the loss of Kissa, and he would marry. It would just take time. And then both Breck and Wilder were ahead of me. I was basically a commoner. Why anyone would care what the hell I did or if I had a child was beyond me.

  You heard it with your own ears. You have a year to have a baby, or the royal line changes.
>
  I hoped to God my aunt was being dramatic, but she’d had real fear in her eyes. My father’s sister had looked out for us since our parents died. She’d always been there. Always guiding.

  Roman had been so young. Only twenty-two. When most men his age were sowing their wild oats and making mistakes, he’d been left to run a country. And the rest of us, well the rest of us were just unruly. The boys were the worst, of course. No one wanted me to be like Princess Stephanie of Monaco, so I had been reared with firmer hands. But I was still independent as hell.

  If there was real danger, Breck would have been all over it. He would have been the first to warn me. No, my brothers didn’t know when they helped me escape. As soon as we were settled, I needed to find a phone and call them.

  As we pulled up to Rian’s house, even my jaw went slack. I was used to her Paris flat. While well-equipped and gorgeous, and spacious for Paris, it was still Paris. Comfortable, but not overly roomy. Not like this. This was like something you’d see out of a James Bond film or some Malibu estate.

  There was a piece of architectural art on top of the roof. It looked like a giant platinum wonton. I remember her telling me that when she’d built this place, she wanted a serene yoga retreat. Was it up there? I was a sucker for green spaces, but I couldn’t see anything outside of the gate really. But that giant wonton, that was visible. As was the whole top floor of the home.

  When I told Kannon the code Rian had given me, he typed it in, and the massive metal gate swung inwards. Inch by inch, as the gate revealed more of the yard, more of the property, I gasped. Kannon just cursed under his breath and gave a low whistle. “Wow. This is…something else.”

  “I have to say even I’m surprised. When Rian said she had a place outside of the city too, if I preferred, I didn’t realize it would be something like this. I really thought I’d stay with her in Paris.”

  Nothing was going as I’d thought, but it wasn’t as if I had a real plan. Only to run from royal decrees I had no part of until my brother could figure it out. I hated the fact that I couldn’t do it myself. But I’d find a way. I could be my own savior.

  I refused to look at Kannon.

  He’s saved me. More than once.

  I hated that I couldn’t do it myself.

  The gates opened to a sprawling massive green that was perfectly maintained and cut. There were patterns cut into the grass. I couldn’t tell what they were from our vantage point, but there was clearly a pattern there. The drive was long and wound up to the house. And as we drove, I could see that there were several structures behind the main house.

  We parked outside the garage, and then Kannon took a call. When I stepped out of the car, eager to grab a bag, I frowned. I had no bag. I had on Kannon’s shirt and a pair of panties. And my shoes. At least, I had my bloody shoes. I hadn’t thought to ask if I should ditch them or not. But surely, they were fine. They were just a pair of ballet flats. Completely innocuous.

  With nothing to grab or carry, I strolled up to the front entrance, marveling at the bougainvillea and the roses scenting the air. They were gorgeous. Her landscapers were impeccable and amazing. I could see on the side of the house that there were massively large hedges leading farther along the property. Maybe there was a maze garden of some sort?

  Kannon’s voice behind me was low. Gruff. “My team will be here in thirty minutes.”

  I jumped. “How do you not make a single sound when you walk behind me?”

  “I’m not that quiet. You were just lost in thought. You need to be more aware of your surroundings. Situational awareness is important.”

  I rolled my eyes, though I knew he was right. Damn him. “Of course. Make sure you take every opportunity to put me down.”

  He frowned. “I’m not putting you down. I’m just making a point. You know the situation is already stressful.”

  The house was all steel and chrome and white. The front wall was mostly windows. Floor to ceiling. The place had amazing natural light. I punched in the key code I’d been given for the front door, and something clicked. Then I pushed the heavy door in.

  Despite the chrome and steel, Rian was still Rian. The floors were gorgeous. The rich acacia wood instantly warmed the space. The foyer was brightly lit with a massive chandelier hanging above. Crystal probably. Swarovski? To the right was a massive sunken living room. The walls were an eggshell color, and Rian had paintings and photographs on every inch of them. The furniture was a massive white sectional, but there were a couple of fun throws on it that looked like an African print as well as brightly colored pillows that matched the colors from the throws. Just being in the space, I missed her. Everything about the place screamed, ‘Hey, Rian designed me painstakingly.’

  On the left, there was a library, and I couldn’t help but grin. I remembered in college that Rian always squirrelled books away. She insisted she needed them. Even several copies of some books because she said you never knew when you were going to need a story to carry you away. I was disappointed that she wasn’t here. When I’d used Kannon’s phone to send her a message that I was in Paris and delayed even more than her, I told her I wasn’t going to make it to her flat and was wondering if I could stay in her house in the country. She’d said, ‘Absolutely.’

  “London? I’m going to leave you alone here for a moment and check on the security. Okay?”

  I searched his gaze for a moment. He looked like maybe he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. He was so close I could feel his heat. The fire and energy that crackled between us was dangerously overwhelming, but he stepped away.

  I nodded, not sure what to say.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  I was left with nothing to do but explore. Walking down the hallway, I finally found the kitchen and dining room. It was a massive open space. And from the dining room, there was an archway into another living space. The kitchen was something a chef would dream about. It had all kinds of pots and pans I didn’t know the names for. There was also a massive island with what looked like a marble countertop, but Rian was practical. She liked red wine too much to have marble because it was porous and stained too easily. I figured it was probably granite or something, but it was gorgeous, no matter the material.

  In the kitchen, nestled on its charging dock, I saw an iPad. From staying with Rian before, I knew she kept devices around everywhere, making sure everyone had access to the internet. I logged in with the familiar passcode from her Paris flat, and sure enough, it worked. Immediately, I called her on FaceTime. It rang several times, but then she finally answered. “London, is that you?”

  Oh, my God, I hadn’t even realized how much I needed to see her face. The relief flooded my veins. There she was, Rian. Something about Rian’s broad smile always made me feel better. Her smile always lit up the entire space. When I saw her on Broadway the previous year, her presence had commanded the whole theater just by walking out on the stage and beaming that smile. “Hey, gorgeous. Yep. It’s me. In the flesh.”

  “Oh good. I’m glad you’re settled in the house. The guest rooms are open and available thanks to the caretakers. You can use the guest houses too, if you want. A little privacy from each other, of course. You said you’re travelling with a friend?”

  I cleared my throat. “Um, something like that.”

  She lifted a perfectly arched brow. Her warm cocoa skin was perfection, as usual. High cheekbones, completely without any blush or makeup, yet she looked flawless. I looked like a bedraggled swallow that had fallen out of her nest. “It’s a long story, but I needed to get out of Alden for a minute. You know how the brothers are so overbearing. For my birthday, I decided to come visit.”

  “Oh, love. I’m sorry I’m not there. Filming ran long on this shoot. But I’ll be back in a week. When I’m back we will drink wine, talk men, and discuss projects. I remember you saying there was a company you were waiting on to see if they’d hire you to do a photo series on the Amazon bush fires, right?”

  This was wh
y I loved Rian. Despite having all the world often focused on her, despite being surrounded by a gaggle of men, she always remembered and made sure to ask about the real things that mattered. “I’m waiting to hear from them. I mean, it’s kind of a long shot. I don’t have that much experience or a huge portfolio, but I’m hoping.”

  “Obviously, I’m sure your family could make some calls, but we don’t want that. Better you do it on your own. That way, no one can come and take it from you.”

  “Exactly. I love that you understand.”

  “I’ve met your brothers, and I know you.”

  Behind me, I heard a voice that was all steel. “Just who the hell are you talking to?”

  “Oh my God, Kannon, this is Rian.”

  I turned the device over so he could see her face. It was funny watching him do a double take and blink. “Um, uh, ma’am?”

  Rian wrinkled her nose. “Oh my God, you did not just call me ma’am. Call me Rian.”

  “All right, Rian, it’s nice to meet you.”

  Rian grinned at him, and her eyes were wide and glittering. “Nice to meet you too...”

  “Kannon. I’m Kannon.”

  “Excellent, Kannon. Just how did you and London meet?”

  Kannon’s gaze lifted to mine and narrowed. “This is my cue to duck out.” He moved remarkably fast for someone so big.

  Rian lifted a brow. “Looks like you’re left to tell the tale.”

  “It’s an unusual story, but suffice it to say that only in Paris would I meet a man who can help me when I need to find somewhere safe.”

  Rian’s eyes narrowed. “Safe?”

  “I’m fine,” I lied. I didn’t want to worry her more than she probably already was. “But he’s just a...friend.”

  “A hot friend,” she teased, but I knew Rian was still worried.

  I held back a smile even as I tried to hide anything she could latch on to and worry about. “It’s not like that.”

  Rian’s brow furrowed. “It’s not like what? You met somebody fine. You needed a place to stay away from the city. It’s so romantic.”