Angelina shuddered. Why would anyone like that be after her? It seemed surreal. “I told you I can’t imagine anyone who would do this. Except…” Silver eyes and long blond hair flashed in her mind. A handsome face but a thin smile and a slimy kind of charm. His face red with anger.
“Except?” Rico repeated, taking a step closer. She had to tip her head back to look him in the eye. He looked so strong, so forbidding.
So hot.
She took a deep breath. Had she ever noticed his spicy scent before? It made her mouth water. “I’m sure it’s nothing. I just remembered the last charity dinner I went to. I was paired with Phillip, the Duke of Larkin.” Her face grew warm. This wasn’t the kind of conversation she wanted to have with Rico. With anyone. “He…he groped me.”
Storm clouds darkened Rico’s face. “He touched you inappropriately?”
“You could say that.” He’d pounced on her in the backseat of the limo on the way back from the dinner. She shivered as she remembered the way Phillip had suddenly turned into an octopus, hands everywhere, pushing her down onto the seat. She shuddered as she remembered. “But I know how to use my knee.”
Rico grinned and she realized how seldom she saw him smile. He always looked like the big bad bodyguard. She knew he was supposed to look intimidating, not sexy. He looked sexy now.
“Good for you, Your Highness.”
“Phillip did apologize profusely afterward, but I’m not sure it was sincere.”
The grin was gone and Rico was glowering at her again. “Why didn’t you mention this earlier when I asked you?”
“I didn’t want Vittorio to know.” She didn’t even want to imagine how that conversation would have gone. “You know how he is. I’ll always be his little sister and if he heard about something like that, he’d go crazy. And he’d tell our father and he’d go ever crazier.”
Rico’s expression almost looked a little crazy, but his calm mask was up in an instant and she wondered if she’d imagined it. He took another step closer, close enough to touch if she dared reach out her hand. “I can recommend someone to teach you self-defense.”
“Will you teach me?” Angelina was shocked at the way the words slipped out of her mouth on a soft, breathy whisper.
He cleared his throat and backed away, his expression carefully blank. Her face burned. “We have experienced trainers for that job, Your Highness.”
Job. That’s all she was to him. A job. She would have to remember that. She stiffened and took a step back as well. “Never mind. I took care of it without any training. Anyway, I can’t imagine kneeing a letch would be enough for him to hire men with guns to kidnap me.”
“Still, the team will look into it. Anyone else?”
She didn’t want to tell him about the other royal men she’d angered in the past couple years. A few of them had acted as if being matched up for one occasion meant that they had carte blanche to put their hands on her, even assume a future with her. She’d remained firm with them, blocked their calls so she didn’t have to hear from them again, and was coolly polite if she saw them again at another boring function. She’d been raised to be polite, the good princess, no matter what.
Her skin crawled at the thought of any of those men touching her again. Now the man standing in front of her, he was another story. Tingles danced on her skin for an entirely different reason.
Rico had been around the palace for as long as she could remember. She’d had a silly crush on him when she was younger. When he’d been her oldest brother’s best friend. Before everything changed and they’d grown up and she’d come to realize what the royal marriage decree had meant. Rico became one of the many men who’d been forbidden to her.
But not anymore. She let herself look at Rico now as a man. A real man.
He had large hands, long fingers that surely would touch her with finesse, not with immature groping or self-important squeezing. And that mouth. Those lips. What would he taste like? What would his lips feel like if he kissed his way down her body? She’d have nothing to compare it to, but she’d love to know.
She moistened her lips with her tongue. She was certain Rico wouldn’t plant a sloppy kiss on her, shove his tongue between her lips before she’d allowed him that much access to her. She shivered as she let her gaze caress his lips.
“Your Highness?”
Angelina blinked. Rico frowned down on her. What had they been talking about? “I’m sorry? What did you ask?”
“Is there anyone else we should talk to?”
“No. No one.” But now that she thought about it, there were several other members of royalty who’d glared at her at the last gathering, her father’s birthday ball. Some who avoided her or…
“No one,” she repeated. None of her girlfriends who’d broken up with boyfriends had them send armed kidnappers after them, and none of the men Angelina had rejected were more than acquaintances. It was ridiculous. “You’d have more luck questioning my father or brother to get your answers.”
“I will be doing exactly that as soon I know you are safe.”
“I’m safe here at the palace. It was built as fortress. No one is going to get me here.” She was done with this conversation. She wanted to get back in her rooms where she wouldn’t look into his eyes and know she was nothing more than a job to him. Nothing more than a problem to solve. She waved him away. “You are free to go.”
“I am remaining until Tony gets here.” There was that commanding tone and forbidding expression. It shouldn’t have made her feel all shivery.
“You are wasting time you could be spending searching for the person responsible for this.”
His gaze darkened, but it didn’t appear to be in anger. “Your Highness, seeing to your safety is not a waste of time.”
She swallowed. “Oh.”
Could that really be attraction she saw in his eyes? It didn’t creep her out like when Phillip, the Duke of the slimy smile and sweaty hands had undressed her with his gaze. Or Prince Viktor, whose smile was slightly evil and whose touch was cold. Or Ferdinand, who was gorgeous and knew it – and let everyone else know too. Rico’s smile held heat and promise.
Before he pulled back and hid behind that polite mask.
Her body was warm now, warm and fluid and aching for something she’d never been able to find. She knew she shouldn’t feel such desire when Enzo and Donato were fighting for their lives. But she could have been injured too. She could have been kidnapped. She could have been killed.
She looked up at Rico. His dark gaze made her all tingly. She saw Rico in a new light now. Did he still see her as Vittorio’s little sister? Or as the young princess? Could he possibly see her as the woman she’d become? What did he see when he looked at her now?
Words flew out of her mouth. Words she’d had no intention of saying. “You know, I’m not a little girl anymore.”
Chapter Two
Merde!
He’d been trying so hard. Rico’s hands curled into fists so he wouldn’t reach out and touch her soft skin. Wouldn’t tuck that wayward strand of long silky hair behind her ear. Hell, wouldn’t grab her around the waist and tug her up against him.
Of course he knew she was no longer a little girl. Rico had watched the princess grow up into a beautiful woman. There was nothing he could do about the desire that had grabbed him by the throat about a year ago. The day he’d acknowledged his attraction to her was the day he began to think about opening his own security business. Getting away from the palace. Away from the royal family.
Away from Angelina.
He’d tried to stay as far away from the princess as he could. And now, when he’d almost made it out safely, here he was about as close as he could be without actually touching her. He was grateful for his suit jacket which hung low enough to cover the evidence of his improper passion.
Her cheeks had grown pink but her big dark eyes were still locked on him. He cleared his throat. “Of course, Your Highness. You are a beautiful princess.”
>
“I don’t care what kind of princess I am. I want to know what you think of me as a woman.”
He dragged his gaze away from her, glanced up and down the hallway. Where the hell was Tony? “You are a beautiful woman, Your Highness. Any man can see that.”
Her tongue darted out and made her pretty lips all wet and shiny. “I suppose you’d say that no matter what you really thought.”
He frowned. Didn’t she look in the mirror every morning? “I would never lie to you, Your Highness.”
She frowned back at him. “It was a stupid question. I’m sure you never noticed anything about me one way or the other.”
“Your Highness…”
“I know. I am a foolish child. I’m going back into my room now and leave you alone.”
She backed away and he let his gaze run over her, the slender body, silky hair, smooth skin, wide mouth, expressive eyes before she was gone forever. Rico realized this might be the last time he saw the princess for a long time.
Except in his dreams.
“Angelina…” Her name slipped from his lips on a whisper.
She froze in her retreat. Her eyes widened. Her lips parted.
“Angelina!”
Vittorio’s voice echoed down the hall and Rico started, backed away from the princess’s open door. She peeked around the door frame at her brother racing down the hall. Mia followed on his heels. Rico’s body went on high alert. The prince glanced at his sister, then turned his attention to Rico.
“The king wants Angelina taken away to someplace safe. Tonight.”
Rico’s mind started whirling with options—locations, transportation, manpower—while Angelina reacted as he knew she would.
“What?” she cried, stepping out into the hallway. The narrow space was getting crowded. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m surrounded by security. This castle was built as a fort. No one’s getting in here. I’m not leaving.”
Vittorio calmly turned to Angelina. “Are you going to put more stress on our father or are you going to do as he asks?”
“Not fair,” she mumbled. “Why does he think I’ll be safer somewhere else?”
“It is common knowledge that you are here at the palace,” Vittorio explained. “We’ll slip you out and everyone will think you are still here. Our security team will be on high alert, waiting for whoever it is to make their next move. But you’ll be safe. Because you won’t be here.”
It made sense, but Rico wasn’t sure if that was the best tactic to take. Still, he answered to the king. At least for a few more days.
Mia put her arm around the princess. “Come on. I’ll help you pack.”
“Wait,” Angelina protested. Her wide-eyed gaze met Rico’s for a brief moment, but she let herself get ushered into her suite and the door closed behind the two women.
Rico turned to Vittorio and waited. He had a bad feeling he knew what his friend was going to say.
“I know you wanted to leave at the end of the week. I also know we don’t have any idea how long Angie will have to stay secluded.” Vittorio clasped Rico’s shoulder. “Still, I want you to take my sister and keep her safe.”
No. No. “Your Highness. Tony is highly trustworthy. He will protect the princess with his life.”
“I know he will, but there is no one I trust more than you. I could command you as your prince.” Vittorio’s dark gaze betrayed his desperation. “I’m asking you as a friend. This is my little sister, Rico.”
“I know.” Just as Rico knew there was no way he could refuse.
“This will be your last job for the royal family. I promise. It will also give the rest of the team practice working together without you as they find who is responsible for the attack and apprehend them.”
“The team will work perfectly together.” Of that Rico had no doubt. He had trained them.
“Just keep Angie safe.”
“I will. Do you have a location in mind?”
“It can’t be the family’s beach retreat. It is well known. Away from the coast would be best.”
“Somewhere no one would expect her to be,” Rico agreed. Someplace with no connection to the royal family.
“My father remembers you have family in Tuscora.”
“An aunt and uncle have apartments to rent in a villa there.” Tuscora was a small village at the other end of the country, as far away from the sea as one could get and still be in Mezzano. He grabbed his cell phone. “I’ll see if they have rooms there for us.”
“Don’t leave her alone. Don’t let anyone follow you.”
Rico paused in the act of calling his Tio. “You do not need to tell me my job, Vittorio.”
The prince ran a shaky hand over his face. “I do not think I can ever have children. I will die of worry before they are grown.”
Rico didn’t bother to respond to the ridiculous statement. He reached his uncle, apologized for waking him, and discovered there was one small loft apartment empty at the moment. He wove a quick spur-of-the-moment story and promised to see him in a few hours.
“I am concerned that she will be unable to remain incognito anywhere in Mezzano,” Rico told Vittorio as his mind whirled with everything he’d have to do to get ready to leave as soon as possible.
“Yes. Mia and I discussed that briefly. Our people only see Angelina when she is dressed up and made-up to be the glamorous princess. Mia thinks as long as Angie looks plain, people won’t recognize her because they would not expect to see her.”
Rico thought that even without make-up and fancy clothing she looked like a princess. “Does the princess own any plain, inexpensive clothing? Ones that will not announce that she is this country’s princess?”
“Mia knows what it is like to dress simply. She will make certain Angie packs the appropriate things.”
Rico nodded. “I can trade cars with my parents. They’ll like driving a newer model.”
Vittorio extended his hand and Rico took it. “Thank you, my friend.”
“I will keep her safe from whoever it is that wishes her harm.” But Rico couldn’t admit that he wasn’t altogether certain the princess would be safe from him.
It was still dark when Angelina, lying across the back seat of an ancient automobile, left her home on the way to what she told herself would be an adventure.
But it wasn’t an adventure. It was exile. It was leaving her home, her friends, her family, her stuff. It was wearing borrowed clothes and no makeup. It was no chance to meet guys for the foreseeable future.
What was she going to do in Tuscora? She’d never even heard of it. There was only one thing about this whole situation to make her smile.
Rico.
In fact, the more she thought about being alone with Rico, the more restless she became. The more alive she felt. Perhaps this was an adventure after all.
“Can I get up yet?” She winced at the whine in her voice. The last thing she wanted was to sound like a petulant child when she wanted Rico to see her as the woman she’d become.
“Soon, Your Highness.” Rico’s deep voice rumbled through the darkness.
“I’ve been crouched down here for hours.”
“It’s been twenty minutes, Your Highness.”
“Well, if you had to keep your face down on this old seat that smells like dirty shoes, you’d think it had been hours too. Whose car is this anyway?”
“I had planned to borrow my parents’ car, but it was still too nice. This one belongs to my sister’s boyfriend.”
The clothing packed in an old suitcase in the back belonged to the daughter of one of the housekeepers. She tried to stretch her legs out, but there wasn’t enough room in this tiny vehicle. “I don’t like this car.”
“It is necessary.”
“I know. I know. I can’t arrive in a fancy car. I can’t look like me. I’m not supposed to be me.” She knew she sounded grumpy but she couldn’t help it. She was scared and uncomfortable. What did the next few days have in store for her? And another thing. �
�Rico? Who am I supposed to be if not who I am?”
A pause. Sudden tension crackled through the air. She wished she could see Rico.
“My bride,” he replied.
Angelina gasped, drawing in more fetid air. She coughed and pushed up. She couldn’t stay down on the seat cushions any longer. She couldn’t remain alone back there in the dark. She couldn’t talk about pretending to be married while she stared at the back of her supposed groom’s head. “Your bride?”
“Yes.”
She glanced around and saw there were no headlights either approaching or behind them. “I’m coming up there.” She threw her leg over the seat and rolled over, landing awkwardly in the passenger seat. Her hand found Rico’s broad shoulder as she reached out to catch herself.
His body was so firm, so hot even through the fabric of the soft white button-down shirt he wore. The sleeves rolled up past his elbows but still covered his upper arm. When had he taken off the ever-present jacket? This was the first time she’d ever touched him and she suddenly wished she could feel his bare skin beneath her fingers.
“Easy,” he said. He was always so calm, so steady. The type of man she’d want for a bodyguard. Yet, her heart raced and she found herself irritated that he wasn’t as shaken as she was by their first touch. She snatched her hand away and straightened in the passenger seat. Their shoulders were almost touching in the small space.
She tugged on the seat belt but it didn’t give. “I think this seat belt is stuck.”
Rico immediately pulled the car over to the side of the road. He leaned close, then reached across her body and suddenly she was surrounded by his heat, his scent. His face was so close to hers she could feel the warmth of his breath along her cheek. It was still too dark to see his expression in the faint glow of the dashboard. His hand brushed against her hip as he groped for the seat belt.
Her heart raced in her chest. This was so different from when Phillip had leaned over her. Before he’d even touched her, she’d panicked as a slimy distaste slid over her skin. But when Rico pressed his body into her, a rich delightful heat burst through her body.
Her Royal Bodyguard Page 2