by Nana Malone
How was she supposed to know I'd been on the verge of an epic O-athon. I certainly hadn't appreciated the side looks she'd given me and Jax, but that was another problem for another day.
I marched into my office, attempting to close the door behind me, but Bex was on my heels. "Come on, spill it. Obviously, something is upsetting you."
I tried to smooth my hair back, but a narrow curl or two had escaped. "No, I'm fine. Everything is fine."
"See, you already said that, so that leads me to believe that nothing is fine. Come on. Is something up with hot manny?"
I flopped into my chair. "Okay, so you know how yesterday was just... you know, a day."
She sat in the opposite chair and nodded, coffee at the ready, sipping slowly. "Yes."
"Well, when I got home, Mayzie was also having a day of her own. The poor little thing was teething. And before that at the gallery, I ran into Willa's mom. No one told her Willa was dead, so I had to tell her."
"Damn."
"I know, right? So, this morning, I need to call Bipps and find out what the hell happened. Why wasn’t she notified? And then last night she turned up unannounced, wanting to see Mayzie."
Bex frowned. "Wait, she showed up unannounced and just demanded to see her granddaughter?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"The granddaughter that she wasn't named guardian of?"
"Exactly."
Bex narrowed her gaze. "Maybe I'm inherently suspicious, but I say don't trust dear old grandma. Still, none of that should have you looking like you're walking on a tightrope and desperate to either fall off or hack the thing to shreds."
I swallowed hard. I could lie. Lying might be preferable. But no. Chances were Bex would be able to see through the lie and then pester me all day.
"Okay, fine. Before Jane showed up, Jax and I were uh… making out."
It was as if Bex was a slow-motion cartoon figure. Her jaw unhinged, and she slowly lowered her coffee cup as she gawked at me. "Holy mother of hell."
"I know."
"Wait, I was opening the office as you were leaving the main house. Why were there no sexy nothings being whispered at the door?"
"Well, we got interrupted by Jane, and then this morning, he acted like none of it happened. Like he'd been invaded by a pod person last night and he didn't remember a thing."
"Oh, no."
"Oh, yes. So I barely got any sleep, and I'm just in a crap mood. Sorry. I will try to keep my darkening storm clouds of doom away from you and Adam."
"Oh, honey. You don't have to worry about that. Besides, I know how to fix your problem."
"How is that?"
"You seduce him."
"Uh, I don't think so. Remember, I'm the girl who doesn't like to be seen. So the last thing on earth I want is to have to be the one to take the first step."
"You don't have to actually take the first step, but you’ve got to let him know you're available. He probably thinks that you're freaking out about all of this being a very bad idea."
"It is a bad idea."
"I know. I'm just saying. You might be giving off the 'this is a bad idea' and 'let's forget it all happened' vibe. You need to be giving out the 'Hey, can I have some Os before we give up’ vibe. You know... a few-for-the-road kind of vibes."
I choked back a laugh. "Oh my God, but why? Why are you my friend?"
She shrugged. "Because you need someone to say outrageous things to you, and your life would have been dreadfully boring without me. So, if you're going to seduce him, I need to make you some appointments. You know, waxing, shaving those brows, the whole thing."
She touched my brow line. "What the hell is wrong with my brows?"
"Um, they're fine. You wear them a little full, so you know, just a clean-up. And how about a fun pattern downstairs?"
"Oh my God, are people still doing that?"
"Well, we can go old school, you know, just take everything like you've been mugged. Or we can turn it into a landing strip. You know, that's sexy and elegant again, old-fashioned. Or you can have a fun design, like an arrow."
"You know what, let's go back to that, 'I'm not sure why we're friends' thing."
"Because who else would help you jump the bones of your manny?"
"You know what, you have a point." If I wanted something, I needed to go out and get it. I'd done it with the business, but I was too afraid to do it in my personal life. And where had that gotten me?
"Okay, what do I need to do?"
Nineteen
Ariel…
Zia smacked her gum as she soaked her feet in the pedicure tub. “I mean, I can’t believe what happened to Willa, you know. She was like a super close acquaintance of mine.”
Next to her, Jane MacKenzie scowled at her nails. “She was so well loved. Everyone loved her. I should know. I was her mom.”
I almost snorted when Zia widened her eyes. She batted those false lashes like a pro. “I am so, so sorry for your loss. I mean at least you have her gallery. Something to remember her by.”
And cue the bomb. This was our best chance at getting information out of Jane if she was the one behind the attempt on Neela and the baby. It was unlikely, but we couldn’t leave any stone unturned.
Jane sniffled and sneered at the poor blonde who was doing her pedicure. “There were so many people jealous of her. They just wanted what she had. She had more than one friend like that.”
Zia tried hard for an understanding and compassionate face, but she mostly looked constipated. “Oh, wow. It’s so hard, especially after someone dies. You never know who’s being real.”
“I know that girl Neela isn’t being real. She tricked Willa into leaving her everything. She stole my daughter’s life. My granddaughter, the house, her man.”
Zia’s mouth hung open as I watched from across the shop. “She stole her man?”
“Mind you, Willa was highly sought after. She had her choice of men. But I went over there to see my granddaughter the other night, and Neela wouldn’t even let me see her. And she was there with some man. He was clearly out of her league, so he had to be one of Willa’s cast-offs.”
“Wow, you don’t seem to like her.”
Jane sniffed. “I never have. I mean her father was some big-time government freelancer, but when he died, he didn’t leave her with money for me to look after her. I mean there was some, but children are expensive. That girl has always been a burden.”
“I mean you totally deserve to be paid back.” Zia nodded and twirled her dark hair on her finger. “You could sue her for damages or something.”
“I should. But first I have to find out how much she made Willa give her. Can you believe no one even told me Willa was dead?”
Shit. She was telling a perfect stranger that she hadn’t been notified of her own daughter’s death. Which meant chances were slim she had someone try to pull the two of them off the street. There’d been a chance that she had been faking her surprise at the gallery. But watching her with Zia… it was unlikely.
Back to the damn drawing board.
Jax…
Why the hell was I nervous? I was just meeting an old mate.
But there was something about coming home, being back here. The number of times I had been at this pub were countless, but still...
Maybe you can't go home again. It feels different now.
Trevor Tatters was at the bar, his golden-boy good looks attracting female attention, of course. When I walked in, his gaze flickered up from the brunette he was talking to, and he grinned and stood immediately.
"Jax! You old dog. Where the hell have you been hiding yourself?"
A grin spread over my lips easily. "Tatters, mate, how have you been?"
He clapped my arm and pulled me in for a one-armed man hug. "You look good. London been treating you right?"
I winced. "Actually, I've been back for a couple of weeks now."
Cue the scowl. "Why the fuck am I just hearing from you now?"
I shrugge
d. "Long story. I see you guys have some company at the bar."
He chuckled. "What can I say? Ladies love me."
He grabbed his pint from the bar and waved me over to a table. "Pool table's all ready. Your drink is on its way."
I raised a brow. "My drink?"
"I know you're still drinking that shitty Guinness."
I threw my head back and groaned. "Guinness is not shitty. It's the best lager, mate."
He shook his head. "Nah, man, I like IPAs."
Gross. "Too hoppy."
"Man, you don't even know. All these breweries have opened here in the last six months. All the Yanks bringing their love for beer with them. It's like a paradise."
"You're living the life."
Once my drink arrived, he racked up the pool balls. "So, what brings you back? Is it for good?"
"Yeah, it's for a while anyway." Since I didn't know how exactly it was going to go with Ariel, better to keep my cards close to the vest.
"Mate, when I heard… I'm sorry."
I rolled my shoulders and applied chalk to my cue stick. "It's all right. I probably should have known better."
He laughed. "Oh man, you loved her. Nothing we could have said would have changed your mind."
"It's funny how shit looks with twenty-twenty vision."
"Ain’t that the truth? You couldn't have known."
"Ah, but I could have. You know all that shit you ignore when you're having all that crazy hot sex? That's the shit you pay for later."
He laughed. "Yeah, mate, always. But you know, you seemed to love her."
"Yeah well, I gave up everything for her. So that wasn’t a good idea."
He winced. "You miss it, do you?"
I leaned over to break. When the balls scattered, I glanced up at him. "Every damn day."
He shook his head. "I'm sure if you appeal to Ethan, you know, he'd understand. He'd make concessions."
I shook my head. "I don't know man. It might not be as easy as all that."
"Well, I mean, it's worth a shot. Things have been, I don't know, tense. It would be good to have a mate back."
I frowned. "What do you mean tense?"
Trevor sighed and then ran a hand through his hair. "Man, I guess you missed a good lot of the drama. Well, obviously, you were here when King Cassius died."
I winced at that. "Yeah." I'd been on duty that night. Not on the king though. But there wasn’t a guard on duty who hadn't considered what would have happened if they had been the ones guarding the king.
“Then things got extra interesting when the Prince returned.”
"Yeah, I was here for some of that. And then well, like a moron, I left."
"Well, things got hairy. Roone got shot at a couple of times."
"Yeah, I knew that much. Which was one of the reasons she-who-shall-not-be-named insisted I needed to leave the guard."
He shook his head. "That alone is bollocks. Because at that point, she knew what she was doing, and she still chose to ruin your life."
I could feel the fury rising in me, but I kept a lid on it. "I made the mistake. I made the choices. She didn't make me do anything."
"No, but she didn't tell you the truth."
"Yeah, that much is true."
"So anyway, things got really interesting when they found the lost princess."
I ran a hand through my hair. "Yeah. That's wild. I caught up with Roone for a bit right after I got back. But we didn't get into all of it. So they found her, and he went undercover?"
Trevor nodded. "You know those Intelligence types. Clandestine shit. The rest of us plebs, we're just happy to watch the palace and make sure no one important gets shot, you know?"
I raised my beer in salute to that. When it was Trevor's turn to shoot, he landed the seven in the corner pocket and then the two in the side pocket. I'd forgotten how good he was.
"So what are you working on now anyway?"
He shrugged. "I'm on King Sebastian's traveling team."
I grinned at him. "Oh, look at you, moving up in the world."
"I don't know about that, but I just got back from a trip.”
I knew I couldn't ask where he'd gone or what he'd done. That was the way of the work. And probably what used to twist up she-who-shall-not-be-named the most, the inability to tell her half of what I did with my day. "That's cool man."
"So, what are you doing?"
"I now work for a company called Royal Elite."
Trevor choked. "Ariel's company?"
"Yeah. I didn't know you knew her that well."
"Ariel? Are you kidding? She's a fucking legend. She was one half of the team that found the king, she is basically a killer hacker, and she's one half of the team that was guarding the princess."
Ah, so that's how she knew Roone. "She offered me a job, so I took it."
Trevor leaned back and gave me a slow clap. "Man, you are a fucking tough one. You leave the Guard, which everyone would argue was a mistake. Your girlfriend was a tart who got knocked up by some other bloke. But you managed to land a choice private-sector job for a fucking living legend? Man, you took some knocks, but you sure as hell landed on your feet."
I shrugged. "I didn't realize she was a big deal."
"Man, what hole have you been living in? Ariel is legit the real deal. She's best friends with the queen. Everyone said that it was bullshit that she had to leave the Guard."
"What do you mean she had to leave?"
His brows popped. "You don't know?"
I shook my head. "Nah, man, remember, I've been in London. I'm completely out of it."
He laughed. "Oh, you missed out on all the good gossip. Well, it turns out her dad was part of the conspiracy against the king. I don't know how he got in with that lot, but he did."
I cursed under my breath. "What the fuck?"
"Exactly. When she found out, she tried to bring him in. And then he tried to kill the princess, so Ariel shot him."
I stared at him. "She killed her own father?"
He shook his head. "Nah, the motherfucker lived. He's in prison."
I whistled under my breath. "Jesus Christ!"
"Yeah, but you know, no felons in the family. That's the rule. So she left the Guard. And apparently, King Sebastian was displeased about it. I can only imagine. The queen is her best friend. It was a whole messy, ugly thing. Rumor is the king basically blessed her agency, helped her out, the whole thing."
I took a sip of my beer. "Huh, I didn’t know all the details." That was probably why she was so sure she could get me back in the guard.
"See, you have lived nine fucking lives. You landed on your feet and don't even know anything about your benefactor."
"Yeah, honestly it was super quick. Since I got here, there’s been a job. Undercover. So we didn't really have time to, you know, talk about our feelings and shit."
"Somehow, I can't imagine you ever talking about your feelings."
I grinned. "Good point."
"Man, you need to do your research though. She is basically the anointed one. With her connections, you must have a killer client roster."
"It's not bad." Immediately, a vision of Neela filled my mind, and sure enough, the blood headed exactly where I didn't want it to. "I was due for some good luck."
"Yeah, I see. So what kind of gig are you working on? You said bodyguard?"
"Yeah. I got the night off, so..."
"You're being mum because of the contract?"
"Sorry man, habit. But yeah, basically. The client inherited a fuck ton of money, and someone tried to grab her off the street, so cue needing a bodyguard." I kept it vague out of habit.
"What? Someone tried to grab her off the street. And I noticed how you said 'her.'"
I chuckled. "It's not like that, man."
He grinned and bumped my shoulder as he walked past to set up his next shot. "Oh, I have seen The Bodyguard. Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, back in the day. It was a looking-no-touching situation. But I know how
it gets all intense and hot."
He wasn't wrong. "Nope, not like that."
He frowned. "Oh mate, is she busted?"
"Busted? You want to know if she's ugly?" I shook my head. "No. Fuck, no."
"So then she's hot."
Fuck. I walked into that one. "I didn't say that. All I said is she's not busted. But she's got a kid, so…"
He winced. "Ahh, that’s always a little complicated. But, hey man, spending alone time together, keeping her safe…"
"It's not like that, man, I swear."
"What is with you? You're not still hung up on what’s-her-face, are you?"
"Nope.” Way over that. Sort of over that. Oh, I was over her, but I was still harboring some of that pissed off feeling.
"So, you're being all well-behaved because of your moral obligations?"
"Man, she's a client."
"And? Do you recognize that the king and queen got together when she was his bodyguard? And then you also recognize that Roone got together with the princess that way?"
I shook my head. "Yeah, you know, somehow I don't think I can bend the rules like that. I am no prince."
He laughed. "You know, that's the truth."
"Arsehole."
Something about just being able to talk to him eased some of the tightness in my chest. Just because I wasn't part of this family anymore, didn't mean they weren't still my friends.
For the rest of the night we caught up a lot on what my old mates were up to, and their families who had married and had kids. I don't know why I avoided this for so long. Maybe coming home wasn't going to be the exact same as it used to be, but it didn't have to suck either. And especially with a line back into the palace, I might be able to have it all again.
When I drank the last of my beer, Trevor met my gaze. "Man, I'm serious though. You didn't deserve what happened."
"Thanks, mate."
"You just pick the ones that need a rescue. Maybe one day you can find a girl who doesn't need rescuing. That would be good for you."
He was smiling, but there was something serious about what he said. Was I always looking for someone who needed me? Neela needed me.