Royal Ransom

by Susan Kearney

  The children, Tashya and Hunter entered Sophia’s suite, and their nanny rushed over to them, concern and relief in her eyes. The pretty woman’s eyes looked as if she’d been crying, her nose red. Tashya knew Sophia had checked Neve’s background thoroughly before hiring her. Most importantly, Neve loved the two little boys.

  Neve sniffled. “Highness, I went to the bathroom, and the next thing I knew, they were gone. I’m really very responsible—” a little frustration entered her tone “—but with these two imps a girl needs eyes in the back of her head.”

  “It’s all right,” Hunter told her kindly.

  “They slip away from Sophia all the time,” Tashya added. She couldn’t help recalling the mischief she, Nicholas and Alexander had gotten into when they were children. Their father had usually found the three of them in the stable, feeding the horses or napping in the hayloft.

  “Nikita’s practically asleep.” Hunter handed Nikita to the nanny. “The little guy is all tuckered out. If you’ll put him to bed, we’ll do the same for Dimitri.”

  “Thank you, Highness.”

  Tashya suspected Hunter wanted a private word with Dimitri. Still, she didn’t expect him to be so direct.

  As soon as the nanny was out of earshot, Hunter bent until he could look Dimitri in the eyes. “May I ask what gave me away?”

  “You look like Alex, but you don’t dance like him,” Dimitri told him.

  “I don’t, hmm?”

  Hunter stood, took Tashya into his arms and twirled her around. Surprised at his sudden playfulness, she went along with his dance. But Hunter’s attention focused on a frowning Dimitri. “What am I doing wrong?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Hunter stopped in mid-stride and steadied her. “It’s all right, Dimitri. You’re very observant.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “You see things other people don’t.”

  “Oh. Other people don’t look.”

  Hunter and Tashya exchanged a glance. His was, I told you so. Hers said, Now what?

  Talk about the truth coming out of the mouths of babes… Dimitri was one smart little boy. Sending him away was not an option.

  “Where’s Alex?” Dimitri asked.

  “Nicholas sent him to the United States of America,” Tashya explained. “I couldn’t go because I have work to do here.”

  “And I’m pretending to be Alex so that I can protect Tashya.”

  “But we have guards.”

  “The guards don’t go in the private areas. I do,” Hunter explained simply and concisely. “And only Nicholas, Tashya and I know that I’m not Alex.”

  “You want me to keep it a secret?” Dimitri asked, far too wise for his years.

  “It would be for the best if you just didn’t talk about me at all,” Hunter suggested.

  “What about my mother?” Dimitri asked.

  Tashya sighed. “We already know you don’t tell Sophia everything.”

  “Do, too,” Dimitri insisted.

  “So she knows about the kitten you sneak from the stable into bed every night?” Tashya asked him with a smile.

  Dimitri climbed into bed, reached under the blanket and pulled the kitten onto his chest. He petted her gently until she purred. “She’s a secret.”

  “And I’m a secret, too.” Hunter tucked the blanket around him. “Okay?”

  Dimitri nodded. “Okay.”

  “Thank you,” Hunter told him, seemingly not the least bit worried that his life could at any time be placed at risk by a five-year-old.

  TASHYA HAD NO opportunity to speak privately with Hunter until hours later after the ball had ended. Time and again, he’d successfully eluded Madeline, never dancing twice with the same woman. He’d played the part of Alex with supreme confidence, dancing, flirting as if he’d never done anything else during his entire life, but never allowing a woman to corner him into a private tête-à-tête.

  Back in Alex’s quarters, away from the guards, away from the matchmaking mothers and pursuing women, they seemed once again cloaked in a cocoon of privacy. Almost as if they’d gone to the dance as a couple and had planned to meet afterward. She knew the notion was silly, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling of intimacy between them, wasn’t even sure if she wanted to. Perhaps her feelings were simply a natural result of their growing closeness. At times she’d thought she could read his mind—but at others, he’d totally surprised her.

  She started to discuss the question that had nagged her ever since Dimitri had spied him for a fake. “I think—”

  Hunter raised a finger to his lips, took a device from his belongings and slowly walked through the suite, holding the instrument in front of him. “It’s clean.”

  She frowned, wondering if he felt the tension, too, and was walking away to put some distance between them. “Alex’s valet cleans up every time Alex steps out the door.”

  “I meant, there are no bugs. No electronic listening devices were planted during our absence.”

  She should have known he would stick to business. The attraction and admiration she’d begun to feel toward him was no doubt one-sided. “So it’s safe to speak?”

  “Go ahead.”

  She looked him straight in the eyes. “I think you should quit.”

  “Why?” He hitched up his slacks just as Alexander did before he sat beside her on the sofa, and continued to speak to her in the prince’s voice. She supposed staying in character was easier for him, but she missed his American accent.

  She sighed. “We can’t depend on my five-year-old brother to keep such a big secret.”

  Hunter carelessly ran his fingers through his hair, messing up his Alex look. “Even if he decides to talk, who’s going to believe him?”

  She hadn’t thought of that. Was she simply looking for an excuse for him to leave before she became any more intrigued with him? Although she’d always wanted to marry someday, Hunter wasn’t marriage material. She knew that and perhaps not so unconsciously she was seeking to protect herself from eventual pain.

  “What I’m more concerned about is the meetings you set up for next week. Perhaps you should consider canceling them.” Hunter placed his arm over the back of the sofa, relaxing. If she leaned back, she would be in his embrace.

  “Why?” Tashya stiffened her spine, not leaning back in the slightest. “We still don’t know if the same person who shot at Alex and me in the carriage is the same person who sent that bomb. We don’t know if the target is me, Alex, or both of us. I don’t suppose you saw anything suspicious tonight?”

  “Almost everything I saw was suspicious, Princess.” He said the words in a sexy drawl that made her heart reach out to him. What kind of world did he live in that he never let down his guard, never trusted anyone?

  She’d asked him not to call her princess, and yet somehow, on his lips, the words sounded almost like an endearment. “What did I miss?”

  He ticked off points, one by one. “General Vladimir whispering in Stephan’s ear.”

  “Stephan works for the general. I hardly see anything sinister.”

  “So why did they hide behind the potted plants?”

  Okay. “What else?”

  “Sophia and Stephan’s sudden friendship.”

  He viewed a budding romance as suspicious? “And why is that suspect?”

  “Because as the mother of the royal princes, Sophia has the most to gain from Nicholas’s, Alex’s and your deaths. Maybe she’s plotting for her sons to inherit. Since she probably would need help making a bomb…and since Stephan is in the military…”

  Tashya couldn’t imagine the gentle Sophia engaging in a love affair so she could get help in making a bomb. But Tashya had no facts to back up her intuition, and she already knew Hunter was a man who needed facts. Sometimes he acted as if he didn’t have feelings, but at other times he was kind and warm, as he had been with Dimitri. Clearly he liked children. “What else?”

  “Ira Hanuck, your security chief, didn’t show his
face all evening.”

  “Maybe you just didn’t see him.”

  “He wasn’t there.”

  Hunter’s confidence amazed her. How had he noticed all these details when he’d been so busy impersonating Alex, dancing and conversing? “If Ira had showed up, would that have been suspicious, too?”

  Hunter shrugged, a very puzzling shrug.

  “Who else?”

  “The nanny.”

  “What about Neve?”

  “She didn’t even ask where we found the boys.”

  “And that is suspicious because…”

  “Because it was a normal question and she missed it.”

  Tashya rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “You are too much. Next you’ll be telling me that Nicholas and Ericka—”

  “Besides your little brothers, the king and queen were the only people in the room I don’t suspect.”

  “Because they have nothing to gain by Alex’s and my deaths?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Wait a minute.” She frowned at him. “You didn’t mention my name among the people you don’t suspect.”

  He grinned, placed his arm across her shoulders and tilted her back against the sofa. “Ah, I thought you might catch that.”

  The warmth from his arm around her shoulders contrasted with the coolness of his words. She swallowed hard and forced her tone to remain calm although her pulse raced. “You suspect me?”

  “I can’t eliminate you from the list.”

  Was he insane? She twisted out from under his arm and faced him. “What are you saying? I’m the one whose life is in danger here.”

  “But maybe you’re trying to kill Alex. What better way to look innocent than to claim that you’re in danger, too?”

  “So I sent myself a bomb? After I knew Alex was gone? That makes no sense.”

  “Unless you want to make yourself look innocent in my eyes.”

  She glared at him. “And why in hell would I care what you think?” Even as she asked the question, she knew she did care what he thought. Insulted, angry, hurt, she leapt to her feet. “You are one twisted piece of work.”

  “THIS ISN’T GOING the way I planned,” Hunter admitted softly.

  “What?”

  “Deliberately making you angry isn’t supposed to make me feel like a heel.”

  “Deliberately?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You wanted me angry? Why?”

  “I need a clear head to do my job properly—”

  “You decided to make me angry…so I’d push you away.” Her voice dropped to a whisper.

  “I’m not good at apologies, but I owe you one, Princess.” He looked up at her from his position on the sofa. “I was wrong to even imply that you could kill anyone—especially family. After listening to you speak so fondly of Alex for hours, after seeing how much you care for Nicholas, Ericka, Sophia, Dimitri and Nikita, I know you could never plan their murders. I’m sorry.” He ran his fingers through his hair again. “But understand that someone is after you. It’s my job to protect you, and I need to think about work. Not about kissing you.”

  “You…want…to…kiss me?”

  He had no idea what she was thinking, but her pupils dilated until he could see only a thin ring of blue. The arch of her neck revealed her racing pulse, and he wondered if she considered him an unfeeling bastard for trying to manipulate her. If someone had treated one of his sisters as badly as he’d just treated her, he would have had a difficult time restraining his anger.

  Remorse and pain knotted in his gut. Damn it. He was a professional. He knew better than to let himself become emotionally involved while on a mission. It was bad enough that he’d let himself become distracted, but he’d caused her pain just because he feared that if he allowed her to remain close, he would lose control, maybe kiss her. Definitely kiss her.

  Even now, he didn’t dare stand and put himself within arm’s reach. Every cell in his body ached to gather her into his arms, soothe away the pain he’d caused. Through gritted teeth, he spoke gruffly. “You should go.”

  “I do not think so.” Her words, spoken softly, held a hint of tension that made his hopes leap.

  He squashed them flat.

  “I want you, Princess. Believe me when I tell you that right now I can think about only one thing.”

  “What?”

  “Making love to you.” He dug his fingers into his bunched thighs, determined not to budge, wishing she’d go before he made a move he’d regret.

  “I’m not a coward. You don’t scare me. Despite what you say, you wouldn’t force an unwilling woman.”

  “True. But we both know that you’re not unwilling.” He drilled her with a stare that had often made battle-scarred men retreat. “And we both know you aren’t the kind of woman who enjoys a fling. There’s no future for us, Princess.”

  “We have now.”

  Reaching down, she took his hand, tugged him to his feet. Within a moment he held her in his arms. Held her close enough to feel her heart thudding against his chest. Held her close enough to know that kissing her wouldn’t be enough.

  Dipping his head, until his lips barely caressed hers, he gave her one last chance to run. “You sure?”

  She placed her forearm on his shoulder, dragged his head down. “I’ve never been less sure in my life. But sometimes, I go on instinct.”

  “And what are those instincts telling you, Princess?”

  “That this kiss is going to be…unforgettable.”

  As her words shimmied under his skin, they showered him with a warm glow, and he vowed to give her a kiss so unforgettable it couldn’t fail to live up to her expectations.

  However, not even he could have anticipated the thrumming urgency that possessed him. She tasted like the finest champagne, intoxicating his blood, firing his senses and inflaming his yearnings. Under his nipping persuasion, she parted her lips, welcoming him into her warmth, holding him as if she had no intention of ever letting him go.

  They had all night. He needn’t rush.

  But he already felt revved to full speed, his senses demanding more. His princess sure knew how to give a kiss, a royal kiss.

  Hungry for more, but starving for air, he broke his mouth from hers to seize a ragged breath. She gave him only one breath and then their mouths fused back together, creating heavenly sensations.

  A pounding noise slowly permeated his consciousness. Pounding at Alex’s front door.

  Hunter placed his hands on Tashya’s shoulder, watched her eyes slowly focus. “Something’s wrong.”

  He drew his weapon but held it out of sight as palace security swooped into the room. Sophia hurried in right behind them, her face streaked with tears, a piece of paper in her hand.

  “What’s wrong?” Tashya asked, recovering from their kiss with seeming ease.

  Sophia thrust the paper at her.

  Hunter discretely tucked away his weapon and read the paper over Tashya’s shoulder. Words had been cut from a newspaper and glued to the kidnapping demand.

  Dimitri and Nikita are with me. If you want to see them alive, Alexander and Tashya must go to the front entrance to the National Museum. Come alone. Immediately. I am watching. Delay will not be tolerated.

  “Oh, God.” Tashya dropped the paper and hugged the sobbing Sophia. “We’ll get them back. Don’t worry. Alex and I will do whatever is necessary.”

  Hunter spoke to the guards with Alex’s authority. “Who else knows the boys are missing?”

  “No one, Highness.”

  “You are to tell no one, but search the palace for any sign of them yourselves and report back to Nicholas or me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Highness.” He waved the guards away, hoping they wouldn’t contact anyone, not even the security chief, whom he still didn’t trust.

  “Tashya, Sophia.” Hunter sharpened his voice to get their attention. “I need to speak with the nanny.”

  “Neve’s mother is in the hospital. I sent her home around midn
ight so she could visit her first thing in the morning,” Sophia told him. “The boys disappeared in the last hour.”

  “How do you know?” he asked.

  “Nikita had a nightmare at 1:00 a.m. I comforted him.”

  Hunter checked his watch. It was ten after two. “What about the security cameras? Isn’t there one always on the boys’ room?”

  “Ira’s checking it for me,” Sophia told him.

  Damn. He supposed it had been too much to ask that the security chief could remain uninformed. But now that he had been brought into this mess, Ira might be of some use. “Sophia, Ira will need to question Neve and the guards on duty.”

  Speak of the security chief. Ira Hanuck, with King Nicholas and Queen Ericka, strode through Alex’s apartment. All their faces were grim.

  “I’ve checked the security tape,” Ira told Hunter, obviously having overheard the tail end of their conversation. “Someone looped it.”

  “Looped?” Tashya asked.

  Hunter had to be careful to stay in character while his mind raced over options for his next move. He didn’t know if Alex was familiar with the term “loop” and left the explanation to Ira.

  “They taped footage of the boys while they slept, then had the camera repeatedly replay that segment. To the guard monitoring the tape, everything looked normal.”

  “He thought the boys were still in bed?” Sophia asked.

  “The four cameras covering that hallway were all looped. The children’s guards were told over their radios to report to the main gatehouse. Whoever gave that order knew the correct password. The guards obeyed.”

  Hunter, careful to mimic the prince, had to speak up since no one had mentioned Sophia’s third child. “Make sure another guard is placed on the baby immediately.”

  Ira nodded, bent and picked up the note with tweezers he extracted from a pocket. “We’ll analyze this for prints, check the glue, and see if we can discover which newspaper the words were cut from.”

  Hunter spoke in Alex’s voice. “Tashya and I need to pack.”

  “Why?” Tashya asked.

  “This may take longer than a few hours.” He didn’t want to say more in front of the others, but he suspected the kidnappers might lead them on from one location to another. “We should probably go within the next ten minutes, or we may make the kidnappers think that we aren’t coming.”