Forever Bold

by Kathleen Brooks

  14

  Grant pulled up to a side door of the hospital and parked. Valeria jumped out and headed inside as Grant pulled off his suit coat. “Here, bundle this up and put it under your sweater.”

  “What? Why?” Ari asked as she grabbed the coat and began to bundle it up.

  “No one will look at a pregnant lady and her husband walking around the hospital. Val got you a wheelchair. Keep your hands on your belly and your head down. Alex says they’re in the VIP section, eighth floor, suite eight fourteen. Good luck getting in.”

  “Oh shoot,” Ari groaned as Val came out with a wheelchair.

  “What is it?” Jameson asked, full of worry. He had a strange expression on his face as he looked at the new pregnant Ariana.

  “I should have brought a pie for the nurses. That always works back home to get us past the nurses.” Ari grabbed her phone and sent a quick text.

  Val opened the door and Jameson slid out and held out his hand for her to take. “A pie has nothing on a badge.”

  “Don’t be so sure about that,” Ari said under her breath as she let Jameson help her out of the SUV and then into the wheelchair.

  They left Val and Grant waiting in the car as Jameson wheeled Ariana into the hospital. Grant was right. No one paid them any attention. They made it to the elevator without anyone even looking twice at them. However, it was different when they got off on the VIP floor. Two guards at the nurses’ station, who looked as if Ariana and Jameson were crazy for daring to get off on this floor, greeted them.

  “Maternity is on the second floor,” a guard said, effectively dismissing them.

  Jameson reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge. “DSS. We need to see a patient.”

  Bless his heart. He really thought this was going to work.

  “Sorry, Agent Duke,” the security guard said, reading off the badge. “You’re not on the list.”

  Ariana stood up then and leaned forward, ignoring the guards and focusing on the nurses. “Hello. I’m Ariana Ali Rahman, Princess of Rahmi. My best friend, Greer Parker, is here in room eight fourteen.”

  The elevator door opened and a deliveryman from the bakery one block over stepped out and looked around. “Here!” Ari said, signing for the delivery and taking the pie from him before turning to the nurses. “Now, I’m not a New Yorker, but I’ve heard this place has amazing apple caramel pie.”

  Ariana slid it over to the nurses and smiled. “Please, would you give us just a couple of minutes to make sure Greer is okay? Your guards are welcome to escort us. In fact, I’d feel much safer if they did. Do you see how strong they look? Any woman would feel safe with them around.”

  Ariana turned her innocent smile on the guards. She’d seen the old ladies of Keeneston pull the move a thousand times. One of the guards blushed and the nurses zeroed in on the pie.

  “Buzz them in. Just check with the patient that she knows her,” one of the nurses told the guards.

  Ari took a seat back in her wheelchair and looked over her shoulder to shoot Jameson a victorious smile. They were buzzed in and all they had to do was follow the noise. Greer was at the end of the hall and when Jameson maneuvered Ari into the room, the noise stopped as everyone stared at her.

  “Well, you go away for a couple of days and come back pregnant. I think we need to have a little chat with the dad-to-be,” Jackson Parker, Greer’s second-oldest brother, said crossing his arms over his wide chest.

  “You know this woman?” the guard asked and everyone in the room nodded.

  “She is not just any woman; she is Princess Ariana Ali Rahman,” Ahmed growled, sending the security guard blubbering from the room.

  Ariana leapt from the wheelchair and into her family’s arms.

  “Are you okay? Is anyone hurt? Kale didn’t think so, but we couldn’t get confirmation,” Ariana said emotionally as she scanned every person in the room.

  “We’re fine. Your Rahmi guards are injured, though. Nothing life-threatening, but they’ll be in the hospital for a couple of days. One with a broken arm and the other with a fractured scapula,” her mother told her.

  “Hello? I’m hurt. I have a freaking broken leg.” Greer tossed her hands up in the air and Ari turned to hug her friend.

  “I heard you saved my mother. Thank you,” Ari whispered against Greer’s hair.

  “You’re welcome. We were worried about you.”

  “I’m okay thanks to Jameson. He took the brunt of the blast and protected me from it. Sorry it took us a while to get here, but he had to be stitched up in several places.”

  Ariana turned and smiled at Jameson with all the emotion in her heart. She tried to mask it as appreciation, but it was growing into something so much more than that.

  * * *

  Jameson wanted to kiss Ariana right then and there. She was looking at him as if he were her own personal hero, and he’d do anything to have her look at him like that every day for the rest of his life.

  His attention was taken by Mo and Dani as they rushed over to him. Mo held out his hand. “Thank you for protecting my daughter.”

  Dani wasn’t so concerned with manners. She flung her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. “You saved my baby.”

  Jameson raised his arms slowly and hugged her back gingerly, knowing this wasn’t protocol, but Dani, Princess of Rahmi, didn’t seem concerned with protocol. “It was my honor to do so. Your daughter is a very special woman.”

  Dani pulled back and sniffed. However, she didn’t drop her hand away as he thought she would. Instead, she grabbed his upper arm and pulled him close to her as she turned to the other people in the room. “Jameson, these are Greer’s parents, Cole and Paige Parker.”

  Jameson shook their hands and told them how much he has enjoyed working with Greer.

  “These are their sons, Ryan and Jackson,” Dani introduced.

  “The FBI family, right?” Jameson asked, looking from Cole to Ryan and then Jackson.

  “Retired,” Cole said with a smile as Jameson reached for his wife’s hand. “Now I help in Paige’s shop.”

  “Agent-in-Charge of the Lexington office,” Ryan answered.

  “Hostage Rescue,” Jackson added.

  “Impressive. I’ve told Greer how much I respect her for being in Hostage Recue. She sure saved our butts last night.” Jameson smiled at Greer and she winked at him.

  Some man was going to have his hands full with her—in the best possible way.

  “How did you all get here so quickly?” Ariana asked the Parkers.

  “Kale called as soon as he found out about Greer and got us on a private plane. Mo and Dani don’t know yet, but they were nice enough to charter it for us,” Paige smiled at her friends and Jameson wanted to laugh. They obviously had been friends for a very long time.

  Jackson’s phone buzzed and he glanced down at it and then slipped it back in his pocket before turning to Ariana. “I’m sorry, Ari. That was a news release. The UN has been suspended for three weeks.”

  “What?” Ari asked with disappointment clear on her face.

  “Because of the bombing, all committee meetings have been put on hold for three weeks. I’m sorry. I know how hard you worked. You’ll still get your chance, though, and more time to make the presentation even better, if that’s at all possible.”

  “Maybe I can tour some countries near Bermalia,” Ariana sighed.

  “Oh man! This is going to suck for the royal wedding,” Greer complained. “I’m going to have to dance on crutches.”

  “Royal wedding?” Jameson looked at Ariana and dreaded her answer. He hadn’t read that she was engaged and he knew that her two brothers were already married, which left Ariana as the bride.

  “Our friends are getting married. We introduced them,” Dani told him. “Draven, King of Bermalia, is a mentee of our family. He’s marrying Addison Rooney, a Keeneston lawyer. The entire town of Keeneston is going to the wedding in Bermalia in a couple of days.”

  Jameson nodde
d as a pain struck his chest. The pain was the realization that Ariana had no reason to stay in New York City. At least she wasn’t getting married. She’d be back in three weeks, but there was no promise he’d be assigned to her. Jameson glanced at her and saw her talking to her friends. She was completely relaxed as they teased each other. He was going to miss this. He’d loved getting to see all the sides of Ariana, with each side having its own thing to love about it. The powerful princess, the caring friend, the hilarious woman, the loving daughter and sister, the rebel, the prankster, the humanitarian . . . they all combined to make one hell of a special woman. A woman who was about to walk out of his life forever.

  Suddenly Dani gasped and grabbed Mo’s arm. Every eye in the room turned to her. “Sweetheart, are you okay?” Mo asked his wife, his attention focused solely on her.

  “Darling, we can’t go to the royal wedding! Oh, this is horrible.” Dani was truly distressed and Jameson wanted to help her in any way he could but he didn’t know how.

  “What do you mean we can’t go? We have to go. Zain and Gabe are Draven’s groomsmen.” Mo was visibly worried now.

  “We don’t know if our Ari was the target of the bombing and both her bodyguards are injured. There’s no one to protect her,” Dani said in near panic.

  “Dani, that’s no prob—” Ahmed began to say before Dani whipped around. Jameson couldn’t see her face, but he did see Ahmed’s eyes widen.

  “She’s right. Rahmi doesn’t have a large enough protection force,” Bridget said as she glared at her husband. “Right, Ahmed? Nabi?”

  “Yes, ma’am. We’re a very small country,” Nabi said, puzzled. It was almost like he was purposely downplaying his own security force.

  “Sweetheart,” Mo started to say. “We have plent . . . ow!”

  “Sorry, I was so upset I didn’t mean to hit your arm.” Dani stared at her husband and didn’t appear all that sorry. “Mo, I’m worried about our daughter’s safety. You can’t just pull an untrained soldier and make him a personal protection agent. This is our daughter’s life at stake.”

  “Sweetheart,” Mo tried to say again, but Dani was in the middle of a tizzy.

  “Don’t you ‘sweetheart’ me. We can’t go unless we have a trained protection agent guarding our daughter!”

  “What am I?” Nash asked Nabi.

  “Apparently not very good at your job,” Nabi whispered back.

  What was going on? Jameson looked to where Ari was standing next to Greer. She looked as confused as everyone else did. Well, everyone except Dani, Bridget, and Paige.

  “I agree. You can’t risk your daughter’s life, Mo,” Paige said, jumping into the discussion. “If only Jameson could go, right? I mean, he’s already saved Ari’s life once.”

  “Paige!” Dani said with a surprised smile. “What an excellent idea. There’s no one I trust with my daughter more than you, Jameson.” Dani reached out and squeezed his arm and gave him a kind smile.

  Then she squeezed his arm hard and gasped. “You can go!” Dani said to him, “You can go as Ari’s date. She was allowed a plus-one but isn’t taking anyone, right dear?”

  Ari blinked a couple of times as she tried to process the conversation, but Jameson was already there. He’d do anything to spend more time with her. “It would be a great honor to protect Ariana.”

  “I trust Jameson completely,” Ari finally said. “And I don’t have a date.”

  Jameson’s smile fell as quickly as it had appeared. “I wish I could, but I just started my job here. I’m not able to protect Ariana once she leaves the city.”

  “I’m sure we can make it happen,” Bridget assured him. Dani, Bridget, and Paige were already sending texts.

  “I probably won’t be allowed to. However, I know some great guys at the embassy in Bermalia who I am sure could help,” Jameson said as Valeria’s phone rang.

  “It’s your boss,” she said.

  “Excuse me.” Jameson walked out into the hall and took the call. Strange that he called right when they were talking about him. Now all Jameson had to do was figure out a way to ask for time off to attend a royal wedding as an off-duty DSS agent.

  “Duke,” his boss, Joseph, snapped in his no-nonsense way.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Pack your bags. I’ve gotten a call that you’re to accompany Princess Ariana to her home and then on to Bermalia for a state event.”

  “How did that happen?” Jameson knew this wasn’t protocol as he surveyed the roomful of people. How had they done that in seconds?

  “It’s coming from the top down. You’ll be going as a private contract employee hired by Rahmi. You’ll be off-duty from DSS. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And Duke? Good job on saving her life. You made us look good.” His boss hung up and Jameson stared at the phone. Did his wish just come true? He was going to a wedding as Ariana’s date? Well, not a real date, but at least he didn’t have to say goodbye quite yet.

  Jameson walked back inside and Dani smiled at him. “So, do you have a tux?”

  15

  Ariana was so surprised she was speechless. How had it come about that the one thing she wished could happen just happened? Jameson Duke was her date to Draven and Addison’s wedding. The only thing that could have been made it better was if he’d actually asked her instead of being assigned to her.

  Wait a second. Had her mother organized this all?

  Ari looked to her mom, but she was busy working with Nabi to organize a larger plane for the trip home. She didn’t appear to be trying to fix her up. Her mom wouldn’t even know about how Ari felt. No one did. Maybe it was genuine concern for Ari? Either way, Ariana wasn’t going to complain.

  Jameson motioned for her and Ari followed him out into the hall. “I’m sorry my mom put you on the spot. I’m sure we can find someone else to go with me to Bermalia if need be.”

  “No,” Jameson said quickly and Ari smiled up to him. “I’m happy to go with you and keep you safe.”

  Ari felt a little of her smile drop. She was so stupid. He was thinking of this as a business assignment and here she was thinking it could be a romantic date. “Thanks. What did you need?”

  “I texted Grant and Val. They’re going to clear everything from your apartment and also pack my bag. That way we can leave straight from the hospital for the airport.”

  “Oh, okay. Sounds reasonable.”

  “Obviously, I didn’t know about the trips so I haven’t done a threat assessment on Keeneston or Bermalia. I’ll work on it in the plane. Is there anything you can think of that I need to know?”

  Well, Ari could warn him about Draven’s dildo collection that was made up of life-sized replicas of his royal member. She could warn him of the bride’s father’s bad pick-up lines. She could warn him about the interrogation he’d receive the second he stepped into the Blossom Café. She could warn him that Miss Violet would pull his head into her bosom and suffocate him. She could warn him that her friend Aniyah would probably shoot something. But she’d only warn him if this were a relationship, which it wasn’t. No matter how much she wanted it to be, Jameson was clear. He was here to protect her and that was all.

  “Nope. Keeneston is just your average small town. Then when we’re in Bermalia, we’ll probably be at the palace. Anything else?” Ariana wished in her mind that Jameson would tell her he wanted this to be a date. He wanted to be with her, not just to protect her, but to be with her.

  “That’s it. Thanks.”

  Ariana nodded and headed back inside the hospital room as Jameson stood by the door, made some calls, and worked on the phone.

  “You have time,” Greer said once Ari took a seat beside her.

  “Time for what?”

  “For Jameson to see he’s perfect for you and you’re perfect for him.”

  If only. “It’s not like that, Greer. He’s just doing his job.”

  Greer rolled her eyes. “Please. Did you see how fast he accepted that j
ob? He may not realize it yet because men are stupid, bless their hearts, but he’ll figure it out. If he doesn’t, I can always shoot him for you.”

  “That’s true friendship.”

  “Darn straight,” Greer said, squeezing her hand. “Now get me the hell out of here.”

  “You got it.”

  Ari pushed to get Greer discharged even as the cast covering her from below the knee to the ankle was drying. Her mother was pushing equally hard to get a plane up and ready. At some point, Grant texted Jameson and told him they were back in the parking garage with their luggage. Finally, Greer was discharged with the promise not to put any weight on her leg for at least four to six weeks and her word that she’d follow up with her primary doctor. Greer could leave with her family for Keeneston now that her boss at Hostage Rescue had put her on medical leave. Jackson wheeled her out to where a line of SUVs waited with Val and Grant in the lead and everyone got in their assigned vehicle.

  It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the airport but it did take longer to get Greer up the steps to the plane. She argued she could hop up the steps and didn’t need help. In the end, Jackson tossed her over his shoulder so he could make sure her broken fibula didn’t hit anything and carried her up that way.

  Ariana turned to Val and Grant and looked around. “Where’s your luggage?”

  Val smiled at her and shook her head. “We’re on our way to help someone else. It’s been a real pleasure getting to know you. I knew any friend of Abby and Dylan’s would be cool.”

  Ariana hugged the woman who had a caring heart underneath the no-nonsense attitude. Grant picked her up in a tight bear hug and they both shook Jameson’s hand.