by Nana Malone
The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. Something was off. The other guy was dressed the part, but he looked off. Like maybe he was too rough around the edges to be wearing that tux.
“Hey, give me a sec,” I muttered. “I’ll be right back.”
Tamsin frowned at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just following a hunch.” I ran back in and followed both men out of the ballroom, into the hall, and to the stairs leading to the side entrance headed to the north parking lot where the valet had been parking the cars. Faster. Faster. Do not lose them.
Outside, the too big, too rough guy was speaking intently to the man with the gray eyes right next to a car. The passenger door was open, and no one else was in the car that I could tell.
They were arguing and gray eyes had his hands up. Was this the time to butt in? What if my hunch was wrong?
What if it’s right?
Yeah, fuck it. I ran up to them both. “Sweetheart, there you are. Are you being naughty and sneaking a cigarette?”
Stormy gray eyes met mine, and he gave me a sharp shake of his head. I ignored him and turned to Mr. Too Many Muscles. “Oh, is this a friend of yours?”
The guy was shaved bald. He had eyes that were dark and too closely set together, high cheekbones, and a forehead and nose that suggested he was maybe Eastern European.
When he spoke, it confirmed my impression that this scenario was nothing good. “Get rid of her, or she comes with us.”
“I’m not going anywhere, buddy.” I jabbed him in the chest in an attempt to create more space. In close combat with this guy, I’d lose. Sure, I was faster and nimbler. But one good hit and I’d be down.
His sharp, slashing brows drew down. “Suit yourself. I know what to do with someone like you.”
I’d bet he did. And none of those things included me sleeping in my warm cozy bed tonight. “Babe, come on the royal family wants a photo.”
Gray Eyes arched a brow. “Darling, you go ahead I’ll meet you there.” His voice was sin and bad decisions mixed together.
I stood my ground. Now was no time for him to be noble. “Oh, I know King Sebastian insists.”
“I’ll have to pass, love.”
“Yeah, you heard him, he’ll have to —”
He was talking and also raising his right arm. All I saw was the black gleam, and I acted, launching myself in the air and slamming against Gray Eyes. Toppling him over and covering his body with mine, tranq gun raised.
Wasting no time, I squeezed twice. The asshole about to shoot at us was big. Who knew if two doses would be enough? But I was prepared to run.
The muscle-bound brute fell to his knees. I rolled on my back, ready for anything.
But I didn’t need to worry. Two hits with the tranq had done the job.
I sucked in a shuddering breath.
When I turned to my bed of muscles, he was glaring at me. “Do you have a bloody death wish?”
His voice had lost some of the sin quality. It was colder, like he was pissed.
I pushed to my feet. “What? You wanted me to let you go with that asshole? He was going to kill you.”
“I promise you, I’m quite capable.”
Unbelievable. “You could have fooled me. Men wielding weapons and shoving you into a car are generally bad news.”
His gaze narrowed as he glowered at me. “I had it under control.”
I crossed my arms. “Oh, so you're delusional. Okay then. Goodbye, crazy. And P.S. You're welcome.”
“You generally only say thank you when you’re glad someone did something.”
I shook my head. “For fuck’s sake. Next time I’ll let you die then. Pity. You look expensive, like someone would miss you, but it’s no skin off my back. I’ll just let the homicidal asshole kill you when he wakes up.”
“You could have been hurt. Did you pay attention to what just happened?”
“You mean besides me putting on a display of badassery the likes of which you’ve never seen? I also made this couture look damn good. Oh yes… and saved your ass.”
“My ass didn’t need saving, princess.”
“I’m not a princess, asshole. I’m a King’s Knight. I don’t need anybody to save me. Have a nice life.” As I strutted off, I flipped him the bird.
Not my most mature moment, but he was an ungrateful prick. Let him deal with the body. The dickhead was going to wake up at some point, and he was going to be all kinds of pissed off. But neither one of them was my problem anymore. No good deed went unpunished.
Boy, I sure did know how to pick ‘em. But at least I’d never have to see Gray Eyes again, the ungrateful prick.
Four
Theo…
That fucking woman, she could have been killed. She said she was a King’s Knight. What the hell was that? And why had she had a tranq gun?
I turned to find my would-be kidnapper. But there was no body. I nearly gave myself whip lash as I whipped my head back and forth searching for him.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He'd used my goddamn name. That motherfucker had called me, Theo. Only Derrick knew who I was. But Derrick needed me here. So what the hell was going on?
With swift, jerky movements, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed the number Derrick had left me for emergencies. It was pretty safe to say that this qualified as an emergency.
It went straight to voicemail.
That didn't stop me from leaving a message though. “Hey, Arlington. You know who it is. We need to talk. Someone just tried to grab me at your little party. News flash. Someone knows.”
Christ. I needed him to respond quickly. That jackhole’s words sent a chilling spike through my blood. That had been enough to get me moving out of the reception.
Denying it had done no good. He’d known. And where the hell was Kyle? We needed to get out of here. More importantly, where the hell was Arlington? I needed some damn answers.
I could still feel the blunt edge of the gun he’d pressed into my back. Then we'd been outside in the balmy air with the sounds of the ocean in the distance. He'd been leading me to the car and then Little Miss Loud Mouth had turned up and, everything had gone to shit. He knew who I was. What the hell had happened to my goddamn life?
I had to think things through. I ran my hands through my hair and tried to force my brain into action. Great idea, taking this job. So fucking smart. That was me, too goddamn smart for my own good.
I thought I could handle this, be what everyone needed, be all things for all people. But if I wasn’t’ careful, I wouldn’t only fail, I’d fail the people who needed me most.
So get your shit together.
I turned back to the ballroom. I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off of the woman, but maybe that was the point. Considering we were in the playground of the rich and famous, was she part of some kind of con?
Focus. You don't have time for that shit. Someone out there clearly knows that you are an impostor. If you don't get your shit together, the whole situation is going to crumble around you.
And worse, the one person that could pull the plug and tell me what the fuck I was supposed to do about it wasn't immediately available.
I could go back to the party, or go back to the penthouse, or go back to New York and resume my life. Pretend none of this had ever happened.
If you go back, you'll be empty-handed.
Going back to New York wasn't an option, so I had to stay and figure this shit out. I wasn’t going back to the party. Besides, if I did, there would be the chance of running into the king and—
"Derrick?"
Fuck. Slowly, I turned. I squinted, and my gut knotted. It was the one person I was hoping to avoid. "Sebastian."
He frowned. "Did you just call me Sebastian? You haven’t called me anything but Seb, since we were fourteen."
"Sorry, I just uh—It’s been a long night. Roone and your sister know how to party."
The king studied me closely as if trying to figure out w
hat was wrong, what was different, what wasn't adding up. I knew my English accent was impeccable. My mother was English, so I’d learned from the best.
Clearly, you've done something wrong. He's looking too closely.
"I'm just going to head back in. You know, kiss the bride again. See if one of the bridesmaids wants to dance with me."
"Most of them are taken. Are you all right, Derrick? You look off."
"I'm fine." And then I tried to deflect. "Shouldn't you be out here with security?"
"Christ, you sound like Penny. I came to give her a shawl because now she's cold, even though for weeks she's been talking about how she's going to crawl out of her skin from the heat. That was something I could take care of. I was going to send someone to do it."
"You're the king. You should take better care with your life."
"Trust me, there are security personnel that you can't even see out here."
I didn't know how I felt about that. "Well, if you're sure."
I tried to pass by him, and he frowned. "Derrick, what the hell is that on your tux?"
I glanced down at the dirt. It must have been from when the brunette knocked me down. All one hundred and twenty pounds of her. But she'd done it valiantly trying to save my life or something. "Uh, it's just some dirt. I fell."
Sebastian watched me closely. He frowned. "You want to tell me what’s up?"
How much choice did I have? If he was right, and there was security out there, that indicated there were probably security cameras too, which meant he would see for himself anyway.
Tell as much of the truth as you can.
"Someone inside the party cornered me with a gun."
Sebastian's eyes rounded. His lips pressed firm into a thin line. "For fuck's sake. Can’t this family get any fucking break?"
"It's not your concern, Sebastian."
He frowned again but didn't make another mention of the use of his given name. "Of course, this is a problem. We're going to get you an immediate guard tonight."
"Sebastian, it's not necessary." So much for drawing no attention to myself.
"Of course, it's fucking necessary. You might not use your title, but that doesn't make you any less royal."
"Look, I just want to go back in."
He shook his head. Before I knew it, he’d pulled out his phone. "Get me Ariel."
Five minutes later, a pretty redhead was barreling down the stairs. "Oh my God, is it Penny?"
Sebastian shook his head. "Ariel, I'm not sure you've met my cousin Derrick."
The woman named Ariel had bright green eyes and a warm smile. "I'm Ariel Scott, pleasure to meet you."
"It seems my cousin Derrick here needs a bodyguard."
She lifted both brows. "What happened?"
Sebastian nodded. "Derrick, why don't you tell her?"
"Look, it's fine. Some asshole escorted me out here and tried to shove me in a car. I resisted. Clearly, I'm a little rumpled, but mostly unhurt. I've had anti-kidnap training."
Sebastian shook his head. "I don't care what kind of training you've had. If something like that happens at my sister's goddamn reception, I'm not letting it lie. This family has been through too much already."
"I don't want to make this a big thing, Sebastian. It's not what I'm looking for, right now. Things are sensitive."
He nodded and leveled me a gaze. "Good thing Ariel is the picture of discretion."
Zia…
What a jackass. Next time I saw a gorgeous guy about to be shoved into a car against his will, I was going to leave him to it. Let him be kidnapped and tortured. For all I knew it was some kind of elaborate sex game. Or one of those escape room games taken too far.
Maybe he's a criminal and you thwarted some kind of heist.
If only. Most of the things I did at Royal Elite weren't that interesting. I still loved my job though. I got to learn from the best and put my skills to good use. There were worse jobs to have.
But you want to do more field work.
Yes, I did. I’d had a little field action when Ariel and Penny had broken into Stanstit prison. I was also shot at once while working on Neela’s protection case too. That assignment had actual excitement. But most of the time I stayed home on tech duty. Which was fine, but babysitting actors and musicians didn't really come with much oomph.
Those jobs consisted of mostly following them around shopping. Being propositioned. Being told to get them something to eat. Either way, still the best gig I'd ever had. I loved being in the military. But again, I'd been relegated to tech, so mostly I sat behind a desk. Maybe one day I’d get to do something real.
My phone buzzed again.
Deedee: Seriously. Where are you?
Shit. Was this one of those occasions where she actually needed me? I typed out a quick message.
Me: I'm at a wedding reception. You knew I had to do that today.
Deedee: I need your help. It's an emergency.
Me: I probably need to teach you the definition of an actual emergency.
Deedee: I'm trapped on the roof of Princess Tower.
Me: What do you mean trapped?
Deedee: I mean trapped. The door is locked, and I can't get back down.
Me: Ugh!
My fucking sister. Why was it that I always had to run to her rescue?
Because you always run to her rescue. How is she ever going to learn?
Problem was I couldn't leave Deedee to figure it out on her own. She was my little sister. After our parents died, our aunt had taken us in, but she’d been an ineffective parent. So I'd had to raise Deedee. If there was a recital to attend, I would go. If she needed new shoes, I made sure she got them. I made sure vegetables appeared on her plate instead of pizza or burgers. I’d become her parent as soon as I realized my aunt was not much more than a token adult who had no intention of parenting.
Now there was this co-dependent shit going on. Every time I tried to teach Deedee independence, sure enough, she would get herself into some kind of mess that required me.
Zia: I'm on my way.
Princess Tower was located at the most southern point of the island. It overlooked the other five islands and served as sort of an unofficial lighthouse. During the day, people would go up to the top-level observation deck. But at night, it was shut down for a good reason.
A couple of years ago, some kid tried to do a prank and another kid almost fell. So for everyone's safety, the king insisted that no one go up there when it was dark. I was going to kill my fucking sister.
Unfortunately, since it was night time, the elevator was not running, which meant forty-seven goddamn flights of stairs.
I parked my Jeep at the base and stared up. God, I loved my sister. I really did. But did I love her this much?
If it's not you, who's it going to be?
That was a good point. Deedee had lots of friends. She was that girl. Beautiful and stunning, and everyone wanted to be around her. She was gregarious and fun and outgoing. She was also that girl who thought things would magically work out for her. She would have a suitcase and just stand idly by a stairway, and inevitably, within thirty seconds, some guy would roll by and offer to carry it for her.
I did the same thing once as a test, and people just brushed past me to get to the stairs. I loved her. To death. Because there was something inherently sweet about her. And she was my sister. Who else did I have?
I turned off the lights and my engine and then ran around to my trunk. I always put a go bag back there. Just in case. Always at the ready.
Sure enough, I had a pair of tennis shoes in there. Thank God. But, no socks. Ugh. Worst. But hey, at least sneakers and not heels. I grabbed the sneaks and one by one dragged off my heels, sliding my bare feet into the sneakers and tying the laces. Then I grabbed my bolt cutters and my lock pick set. I'd only ever used it in training exercises, but I was pretty good. I even beat out Jax. A fact he still grumbled about.
Jameson likes to joke that with the skillset Ariel gave
us, we were all actually going to be high-end thieves. Which we weren't. At least, I was pretty sure we weren't.
It was no secret that Lucas, the king's brother, was once a conman and a thief. But as far as I knew, he'd given that up, right?
Either way, I ran up to the main door only to find it unlatched. Jesus Christ, I didn't even want to know how she got in there. Or who she was with.
Good thing I was at least in shape. Forty-seven flights. Jesus.
After twenty, I was cursing my sister. After thirty, I had plans to throttle her. At thirty-five, I wanted to hug her before I tossed her off of the roof. When I finally reached the top, that's where I saw her problem. The door was a key only entry. Which meant there was no way to get back in from outside. Awesome.
I knelt down and got to work, rolling out my tools, picking the best ones. The night was balmy, so at least my hands were warm. When Ariel had trained us the last time, it was bitter cold, but I'd still beaten Jax. With the flashlight in my mouth, I was able to get the lock mechanism turning just so, and then there was a click. I turned the handle and pulled with all my might, only to find a naked Deedee, curled up in a ball, by the center telescope. "Dee?"
She gave me a tremulous smile. "Hey, Zia. Glad to see you."
I stared at her. "Where the fuck are your clothes?"
She gave me a sheepish smile as she pushed herself to stand, using her hands to cover her boobs and crossing her legs. "Well, um, okay, don't be mad.”
I crossed my arms. “Why would I be mad?”
Someone behind me cleared their throat. Like an idiot, I’d left my weapons downstairs, so when I whipped around all I had to defend us were my bare hands and my lock pick set. Still though, I had my hands up at the ready.
Then I saw the boy with the russet hair in his birthday suit. I whipped back around. “I swear to God, Deedee. Why is he naked? Why are you naked?”
My sister continued to try to cover herself with her hands. “I know you said that I couldn't join the sorority, but I just really wanted to rush or at least have the experience of rush week. And—"