by Tia Louise
“And anyway, you didn’t actually do anything.”
“I almost helped Blix capture you.”
“You almost got yourself killed.”
I remember Blix’s plans for me—hot oil, darkness, silence, imprisoned in my own body. “He wanted to do much worse than kill me.”
“Which is why you’re here. Logan was pretty adamant the night he found you.”
“No,” I shake my head, everything in me rejecting his forgiveness. “It’s not fair to him.”
“I don’t think he cares.” She leans closer, voice softer, and I can feel her looking around us. “He can’t keep his eyes off you.”
Heat floods my cheeks. “But I hurt him.”
“Only because you didn’t have a choice.” Three more cards. She’s back to casual, oblivious to my inner turmoil. “The way he looks at you sometimes could set the house on fire.”
I lower my face to my cool hands and shift in my chair. “I wish I could see his eyes,” I say quietly. “Where is he?”
“Oh, he’s somewhere around here watching you instead of me.” She laughs, but I’m not sure she’s right. I can’t imagine what Logan sees when he looks at me now.
“Damn,” she sighs. “I lost.”
She pushes the table aside and leans back in her chair. She’s a filmy haze, but I can tell she’s facing me. I don’t know if she’s studying me or looking at something else.
“It’s easy to understand. You’re very beautiful,” she says, and I have my answer. “Do you know that?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen myself clearly.” I turn the statement over in my mind a moment. I hadn’t intended the double meaning. “I don’t know what I’m like now.”
“What’s the hardest part about being blind?”
Her change in direction diffuses the conflict in my chest. I think about her question and rotate toward her. My legs are bent, and I look into the wind, listening to the noise of the surf. “I’ve mostly adjusted to this way of life.”
“Mostly means not entirely.”
Nodding, I rest my cheek on the tops of my knees so I’m looking in her direction. “I miss being able to read people’s expressions. Words and tone of voice can be so different from how people really feel.” She makes a noise of assent, and I slide my hands down my shins. “Also, shaving my legs.”
I see her dark head rise in my peripheral vision. “Wow. Shaving?” She exhales a short laugh. “I would never have thought of that.”
We’ve moved onto easy ground, where my anxiety feels distant. “What’s the hardest part about being queen?”
“Queen regent,” she corrects me. I hum a yes and wait for her answer. “I miss being bad.”
Not what I expected her to say. “I have no idea what that means.”
“Well…” she’s looking around. “I was brought to this country by the men who tried to kill my husband.”
I’d heard this about her. Cameron had filled me in on the whole twisted tale. “You didn’t know they were planning to kill him.”
“Still, I knew they were planning to betray him.” She hesitates a moment. “Money can be a powerful motivator.”
I don’t answer right away. It’s possible I misjudged Ava Wilder… Westringham Tate. “How would you be bad?”
I hear a door closing behind us followed by footsteps moving toward the outer edge of the patio, giving us space. Ava leans closer and whispers, “What’s something Logan always carries?”
“A gun?”
“Something else. Smaller.”
I retrace the few days we were together. “He has two phones…”
“Stay here.” She’s up and walking away from me before the words register in my brain.
Waiting on the lounger, I don’t look over my shoulder, but I listen as she greets the sexy guard who has my emotions so tangled. His deep voice squeezes my insides. I can’t make out what they’re saying, but Ava’s voice is teasing. She does a little laugh, and I hear her returning to where I wait. She’s moving quickly, and she pats my legs, causing me to sit up so she can sit close beside me on the lounger.
“Give me your hand,” she whispers. I hold it out, and she places it on top of a small rectangular shape. “It was in his breast pocket.” Her voice is giddy, and I can feel the excitement buzzing around her.
“What did you do?”
“I picked his pocket.”
My eyes widen and she flips our hands, leaving the small phone on my palm and taking hers away. “You can give it back to him.”
“But… How?”
“It’s simply a matter of distraction and redirection.” She’s smiling, bouncing lightly on the seat.
“Everyone says you’re beautiful.” I turn slightly and hold up my hand toward her cheek. “May I? It helps me see you.”
“Really?” She guides my palm to her cheek. “How?”
I drop the phone in my lap and slide the tips of my fingers lightly over her high cheekbones down to her full lips. “What color are your eyes?”
“Sort of a bluish green?”
“And your hair is long and dark.” I move my fingers to the soft waves on her shoulder. “That’s your secret weapon. You’re very beautiful.”
“It evens the score.” Her mood changes so suddenly, I’m confused.
“You seem… angry?”
A sharp exhale, and she stands. “Beauty hurts me as much as it helps. It makes me a target. It’s why Zelda got mixed up with men like Wade Paxton. She tried to protect me.”
Chewing my lip, I think about this. “It’s what brought you here… and now you’re with the king.”
“I’m going inside to check on dinner.”
“I’m sorry—”
“Nothing to be sorry for. I’ll be back in a little while.”
She leaves, and I lean back against the cushions. I feel guilty… but how could I have known she would react that way? I can’t seem to win in this place. Everything feels wrong, and my heart hurts. I wish I could go somewhere else. I wish it would stop raining. What do I really wish?
“Are you all right?” The lovely, low voice is like hot caramel through my insides, and I have my answer.
“Logan.” I reach out my hand.
He hasn’t spoken to me or come near me since our walk on the beach when he kissed me—that amazing kiss on the beach. Ava’s words drift through my mind, The way he looks at you…
Insecurity rears its ugly head. I betrayed him.
Seconds pass and he doesn’t take my hand. I lower it only to find his larger one is waiting below. Our palms touch, and his fingers close over mine.
I have no right to feel this way, but I miss his arms so badly. I don’t deserve him, but it doesn’t seem to matter. I start to move when I feel the weight in my lap and quickly catch the small phone.
“Ava wanted me to give you this,” I say.
“How did she—” He makes a noise, and I sense him looking after her the way she came. “Little thief.”
“She gave it back.” My voice is quiet, and in defending her, I feel somehow like I’m defending me. Ava isn’t truly bad is she? Am I?
Logan sits beside me on the chair, and I crawl into his lap. I hear him inhale sharply, as if I’ve surprised him, but just as fast huge arms encompass my torso. I can’t deny this, and I can only hope, beg from somewhere deep in my soul that he might forgive me.
After all I’ve done, what’s left for me if I lose Logan? I’ll never return to Miami. I’ll never help Blix again. If we’re able to find him and arrest him—or kill him—could I possibly have a second chance? I want to say all these things out loud, but I feel like I don’t have the right.
I close my eyes and rest my face against his broad chest. I listen to his heart beating in time with mine. His strong breath swirls in and out, and his hand touches the back of my hair. Electricity hums beneath my skin with every touch, and I’m willing to do anything to earn his forgiveness, even if I don’t deserve it.
�
�Talk to me.” His voice vibrates against my cheek. “What are you thinking?”
I take a deep breath of his warm scent mixing with the clean smell of ocean rain. It makes me want to cry. “I’m so dirty.”
“You came clean.” Our voices are quiet. We’re in this intimate space.
“I did bad things.”
“You’ll never do them again.”
“It’s too late. The game has already started.”
My eyes squeeze closed, and my grip on his shirt tightens. He continues holding me, stroking the back of my hair. I remember holding his body against mine, lying in his bed and tracing my fingers along the lines of his muscles. I remember him making me coffee. I remember the bookstore. The book he bought.
“We never read the book.” I lean back as if I can see him. I long to touch his face, read his expression. I want to know if his dark brow is lowered. I want to see his blue eyes watching me the way Ava said he does, full of desire.
“I read it,” he says. “That night I read it.”
“Did you find a favorite verse?”
“I found two.”
“Tell me one.”
A warm hand touches my cheek. A large thumb tugs on my lower lip, not too hard. “If your eyes are opened, you’ll see the things worth seeing.”
I want to pull his thumb between my lips, touch it with my tongue. I want to kiss his palm, but I never get the chance.
With a deep exhale, he moves me off his lap and stands. My heart stills, but he walks away, leaving me on the chair silently aching for him.
Bait
Logan
Back in the war room, Reggie is sharing the information gathered by his network of spies.
“He’s gone deep undercover,” the grand duke says. “One report says he’s somewhere in Tunis. He could be as far as Morocco.”
“Would Fayed help us?” Freddie looks to Rowan.
Prince Fayed Patel is a longtime friend and friendly rival of the king’s.
Rowan shakes his head. “If we involve more people, he’ll only sink further into hiding. We have to draw him out.” He stands and walks around to the laptop. On the screen is the map of our region with little red points on all the possible locations.
“We have to give him what he wants.”
Apart from money, Blix only wants two things, and one of them the king would never risk.
“What exactly do you mean?” I say, locking eyes with Rowan.
His brow lowers, and my stomach tightens. “We have to send Kass back. She can’t stay at Occitan.” I’m ready to fight this when he continues. “She won’t be unguarded. We’ll assign someone to watch her, but she has to appear to be on her own. It’s the only way to break this holding pattern.”
He’s right. I know he’s right, and I’m mad as fuck. “Let me do it.”
Reggie leans back in his chair. “If you guard her, we might as well keep her at Occitan.” My attention is diverted to him, and I realize he’s in on the plan.
I look to Freddie, and his lips are pressed into a line. His eyes are trained on his computer screen.
Stepping back, I can’t fight the rage firing in my chest. “You discussed this without me.”
“It came up when we were discussing our options,” Rowan says, his voice calm. He’s attempting to placate me. “No one is going behind your back. You were working.”
I haven’t left Ava’s watch since she came to Occitan. I tell myself it’s my job. I’m simply doing what I’ve been assigned. Still, I haven’t slept a night at my apartment in a week. I’ve eaten every meal, showered, and slept here. When Ava takes personal time with the king, when I would normally have my leave, I go to Kass.
She often falls asleep on the patio, and I watch her through the night. Her hair is spread behind her and the tension leaves her face. Those nights, it’s difficult not to touch her, kiss her.
She likes to walk along the shoreline, and I follow her from afar. It’s too chilly for swimming, so she pulls a pashmina tightly around her body. I ache to replace it with my arms, but I don’t.
I believe her when she says she had no choice before, but I’m still angry she didn’t tell me the truth. She’s still vulnerable as long as Blix is a fugitive. So I maintain the distance. Only twice I’ve broken it. The last time nearly made me forget everything.
She reached for me, and I couldn’t hold back. I stretched my hand out, almost daring her to find it. She did, and I held her in my lap, stroking her hair. My eyes closed and I remembered every night she’d slept in my bed with her face nestled against my chest, allowing me to care for her the way I always want to do. The Cassandra-shaped hole in my heart was momentarily filled, but even then she was guarded.
I want to tell her not to be ashamed or afraid because I already know everything, but if I do that, I’ll remove the option for her to trust me. It’s an important gesture I need from her. She has to meet me halfway. So I continue to wait.
Now Rowan is telling me to send her back into danger, and he won’t even let me follow.
“I can’t agree to this.” My fists are clenched. “It’s too risky. He could take her and disappear. If he captures her, he will hurt her. She betrayed him, and we’ve seen what he does to people who betray him.”
Heat burns around my heart. Protective rage at the possibility of Blix touching her piques every muscle in my body.
“It’s a risk we have to take, but we won’t take it lightly,” Rowan says.
“How will you guarantee she won’t be hurt?” I’ve lost all vestiges of rank or subservience, but Rowan is not offended.
“Freddie has an idea for planting a tracking device under her skin. It would be a tiny chip emitting a GPS signal.”
“Is it safe?” I look to Freddie.
“So far it’s only been tested in animals.” My stomach turns, but in his voice is the enthusiasm of trying out new technology. “Still, the results have been positive across the board.”
I’m out of my chair, pacing the room. “This means you’ll tell her she’s to be used as bait?” It’s ironic, considering the man’s preferred method of torture.
Reggie’s bored tone enters the conversation. “Of course not.” He lifts a small vial containing what looks like a tiny SIM card. “We’ll inject it beneath her skin under the guise of being a vaccination of some sort.”
“So you’ll lie to her.”
“For her own protection.”
I don’t like it. I stand and go to the window, clenching my jaw and thinking of all the arguments against this plan. The second hand on the large clock in the back of the room ticks low and loud as the room falls silent. When I turn to face them again, three pairs of eyes are on me.
Again my body is tight. “What do you want me to do?”
“Give her a reason to leave,” Reggie says flatly. “Ideally, to leave and return to her previous occupation.”
My stomach roils and my voice rises. “Let me get this straight. You don’t want her to go home. You want her to go to Blix. The man who we’re pretty sure was ready to kill her at their last meeting?”
“Not necessarily go to him. But perhaps be open to contact from him,” Reggie speaks slowly, as if I’m too thick to understand. I want to pop him in the mouth. “She cooperated with him before because she thought she’d lost everything. Perhaps if she feels that way again—”
“No.” I cut him off. Anger is burning in my veins. “I won’t do it. We can send her out, but I won’t hurt her. She’s been hurt enough.”
“Just think about it. If she ignores his calls, we won’t have any way of tracking him. We need her to talk to him, help us draw him out.”
The grand duke always has a twisted approach to capturing suspects. I think back to his idea for luring Wade Paxton, the prime minister who wanted to assassinate Rowan. From a certain angle, his methods work, but as long as I’ve been in the picture, there’s always been collateral damage. I think of Ava being shot, Zelda being kidnapped…
“Yo
u’re assuming she will accept his calls.” My tone is sharp. “I’m not convinced anything would make her go back to that life.”
“It’s worth a try,” Freddie says quietly. “We won’t lose track of her. If he somehow does take her, we’re never more than five minutes away.”
I don’t like their level of certainty. I don’t like that they’re willing to dangle her like a fish on a line hoping to jerk her back before the shark devours her.
Rowan steps forward. “Let us have a moment.” Freddie and the duke rise at the king’s command. When the door closes behind them, he turns to me. “Your concern in this case seems more than professional.”
“Your majesty,” I do a slight bow. “I’m sorry. I just… I can’t agree with this, not after what happened last time.”
“Because you’re in love with her.”
I can’t answer. I won’t lie to him, but I’m not ready to own these feelings just yet—not after what she did. Instead I go to that damn window. The view is of a line of cliffs curving around the sea. Whitecaps are visible below, and it’s a majestic view of our small country.
“I know this is asking a lot—more than I’m willing to risk.” Rowan’s voice is quiet, calm. “However, after our success in Tortola, I have the utmost confidence in this team, in you.” His tone turns grave. “We have to stop this madman before he strikes us again.”
He’s thinking of the threat to Ava. I can only think of Kass. Ava at least is protected by his hunger for money. Kass has nothing to keep her safe.
Except one thing. “I have to be the one to guard her. It’s the only way I’ll agree.”
“How long have you known Cassandra?”
I’m uncomfortable opening up, but in this case, I overcome my innate reluctance. “We met before I joined the guard. She was the last person… she’s been a memory ever since.”
“And now he’s using her against you.”
“He tried.” Our eyes meet, steel against steel. “I know his game now. I won’t let him succeed at it.”
