His father had come running and dragged him off by the ear all the way to their cottage, and given him the lecture of his life. Stasi’s station was leagues above his own. He couldn’t display the slightest hint of impropriety. Whatever friendliness they felt between them needed to be stomped out.
Young as he was, Kirk hadn’t understood then, but he’d tried to erase their friendship as though it had never been. For his father and mother’s sake, he’d tried to treat Stasi no differently than he treated Queen Elaine, though the little princess had subjected him to no end of teasing because of his stiff formality. She didn’t understand the reason for the change in his behavior, and Kirk hadn’t been able to explain it to her. It had taken him years understand it, though in some ways, he wrestled with it still.
By the time Stasi was seventeen, Kirk had realized what it was. There was something between them, an undercurrent of attraction that went beyond friendship. Once Thad disappeared, Kirk found it easier to ignore, since Stasi turned a cold shoulder on him. But now that she was back in his life, there it was—a longing that drew him no matter how hard he fought it. He’d won many a difficult battles in his time, but this one he had yet to conquer.
Still, he was determined. He would treat Stasi no differently than he treated the queen. He might not ever change the way he felt about the princess, but he would make certain he never acted on those feelings.
Kirk gripped the helicopter controls firmly. Stasi was royalty. He wasn’t good enough for her. He would keep her safe from every threat, including the feelings he had for her.
They reached Milan shortly after dawn, and Kirk reluctantly nudged her arm to awaken her. “Where would you like me to put us down?”
“There’s a lay-by near the hotel where my parents always stay, with a bus and taxi stop. It’s only a couple of blocks from there to the jewelry shop.”
“Are you quite certain we can pass from there undetected?”
“It’s Milan, not Lydia. No one is looking for me here. And I still have my hair tied up.” She pulled an oversize pair of sunglasses from her purse. “There. Satisfied?”
“It will have to do—but let’s not be out in the open any longer than we have to.”
He surveyed the neighborhood as they landed, but nothing looked out of place, and no one seemed to bat an eye as they disembarked from their helicopter and stretched their legs. A leathery old man looked up from where he swept the sidewalk in front of the bus stop and nodded in greeting.
Kirk smiled and nodded back.
Stasi had his hand, and fairly pulled him off down the street, which had barely begun to crawl to life at the early hour.
A few blocks later, at a handsome storefront under the sign Giovanni’s, Stasi walked right past the metal security gates that protected the darkened windows, around to the back and buzzed a box on the wall.
A man’s voice answered in Italian, and Kirk couldn’t help smiling as exotic-sounding words slipped from the princess’s sweet little mouth. Then she turned a triumphant smile up at him, a buzzer sounded, and they stepped inside.
A robust figure almost as leathery as the man they’d seen at the bus stop switched on a light and hurried forward to meet them.
“Ah, Anastasia!” He bowed and kissed Stasi’s hand, running off in Italian at length, obviously relieved to see the princess alive.
Stasi’s Italian didn’t falter, and a moment later she pulled the package from her bag, and Giovanni’s eyes went wide. He escorted the two of them out to the front room where expansive cases held a pirate’s trove of treasures.
Giovanni snapped on a monocle that made his round eye look even rounder, and blinked intently at the gems. Then he chattered rapidly in Italian, leaving Kirk feeling woefully behind.
Stasi must have sensed it, because the next time Giovanni stopped for a breath, she inquired if they might not speak in English.
“Ah, sì, yes, Your Highness.” He nodded. “These are your mother’s stones—the crown jewels. I know them well. She brought them to me some years ago for cleaning. Very memorable. You know about the locket on the back of the central jewel.” Giovanni opened the latch on the back plate of the large gem, revealing the tiny key inside.
“Yes.” Stasi reached for the necklace and clasped the latch securely shut again. “There is no doubt? It couldn’t be a replica?”
“No, no doubt.” Giovanni held out the stones on their bed of tissue paper wrapping. He pointed to the large teardrop shapes. “The color, the clarity—such a well-matched set, and the undertones of indigo give depth to the amethysts.”
“I thought so, but I needed to be sure.”
“Not even I could make its equal. They are a priceless treasure.”
Stasi smiled, and Kirk felt as though the warmth of her smile lit up the room.
Giovanni pointed to a case of jewelry nearby. It didn’t appear to be as full as the others. “And your collection is selling well. I will need more pieces if I am to keep up with demand.”
Stasi blushed. “I haven’t had time to work on new designs.”
“Ah, you are a busy woman. So talented.”
The princess shrugged the compliment away. “I have a favor to ask of you, Giovanni.” She pulled another parcel from her bag, unwrapping the sapphire set she’d been wearing on the night of the attack. “I’d like to consign these.”
Giovanni’s eyes went wider, and protests spilled from his lips in a startled mixture of Italian and English.
Stasi shook her head firmly. “I’ve made up my mind.”
“If it is funds you need,” Giovanni offered, “I could pay you what you have earned for your work.” He gestured toward the case that held her collection.
“You know our agreement.” Stasi’s blush deepened, and she shook her head, switching to Italian again.
Kirk couldn’t help wondering what had made her blush so, or why she didn’t want him to know the details of her arrangement with the jeweler. From what he could tell of the jewels in her collection, they were artfully designed and apparently quite popular. Like the princess herself, the jewelry looked delicate. He also knew precious stones were among the most indestructible substances in the world, having endured the tremendous pressure that created them.
They were also dreadfully expensive.
Kirk glanced back at Stasi. Like the gems she loved, she was way out of his league. He couldn’t afford any of the nicer pieces in the case in front of him—and she, of course, deserved only the best.
It was the kind of reminder he sorely needed. However strong his feelings might be for her, they belonged in two different worlds, and her world came with a much higher price tag.
But at least it seemed Stasi had convinced her friend to take the sapphire jewelry set she’d brought.
“Fine. I will hold them for you.” Giovanni opened up a safe under the back counter and pulled out an alarmingly large stack of bills. “I will give you cash against their value, but I will not try to sell them unless, heaven forbid…” He paused, folded his hands, and murmured a prayer, his eyes pointed heavenward.
Kirk watched Giovanni count out a large stack of banknotes to Stasi—in euros, the same currency used in Lydia, so Kirk had an idea of how much it was worth, even though he respectfully turned his head away.
Stasi hugged her old friend goodbye, and after he wished them well, she followed Kirk out the back door. The princess shoved at least half the stack of money at him.
“Have you got a discreet place to carry this?”
Kirk thought about confessing that the money was far more than he made in a year, and he couldn’t replace it if he lost it, but like so many other details that might have seemed important any other day, the value of the money now felt utterly trivial. It was a means to an end. If the money helped them get Ki
ng Philip back on his throne and the princess back in her palace, he would carry as much as she asked him to.
Besides, one other question had stuck in his head, and as they turned back up the road to the hotel Stasi had said her parents favored, Kirk decided to go ahead and ask it.
“Your jewelry collection—why have I never heard of it?”
When Stasi blushed, Kirk almost regretted asking.
But she was so adorable when she blushed.
“It’s not exactly a matter of pride.” Her downcast eyes may have been in an effort to keep her feet, but he suspected there was more to it than that. “The jewelry sells well enough without my name attached to it. I don’t wish to draw attention to it.”
“What does the money go to?”
“How do you—”
“You said Giovanni had an agreement with you about where the money from your jewelry sales is supposed to go.”
A break in traffic allowed them to cross the street, and Stasi hurried on ahead of him.
Kirk had to rush to keep up. He thought she might be going to avoid his question, but after another adorable blush, she admitted, “You know my sister sponsors a mission, building deep-water wells in Africa. I wanted to accompany her, but the royal doctors insist I’m not strong enough to travel there.”
Kirk nodded, understanding. Stasi had been born before her lungs had fully developed. They’d given her problems ever since. And Princess Isabelle traveled to some of the most disease-prone parts of Africa. Though Kirk would have loved for Stasi to have the freedom to travel there, at the same time, he appreciated the doctors’ wisdom in holding her back.
“This is my way of helping.”
“Wouldn’t it be more effective if people knew you were doing it? They might be inclined to give more.” They came to the block near where they’d parked the helicopter.
Stasi stopped in her tracks.
It took Kirk just a second to pull his eyes away from the princess to see what she was looking at.
He quickly pulled her back behind the nearest building.
“What were those men doing near the helicopter?” Stasi asked.
“I don’t know, but we can’t stick around to find out. I think I recognize the one who was facing this way. He’s Lydian.”
“A member of the military?”
Kirk peeked around the corner of the building for a better look. “No, royal guard. And they’ve got guns.”
“But members of the royal guard have no authority outside of Lydia.”
“I don’t believe this is an official visit. Those men are in tight with Viktor Bosch, and he’s put a price on my head.”
“They’re not here to ensure our welfare,” Stasi stated grimly.
“Hardly. Let’s get out of here before they see us.”
Kirk hurried up the street with Stasi keeping pace beside him. He didn’t want to draw anyone’s attention by running—not while there was still a chance they hadn’t been seen. They needed to get away as quietly as possible. If it came to a fight, he’d only be injured worse.
Just as he’d begun to think they might have gotten away, two men leaped around the corner half a block in front of them, sprinting their way.
He looked back in time to see three more men pounding up the sidewalk behind them.
They were trapped.
EIGHT
Stasi glanced to the right and the left. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to hide.
Just ahead of them, a brightly painted red, double-decker tour bus had pulled away from the station, and was picking up speed as it headed out on the morning tour. She sprinted after it, wishing the slick, steep sides weren’t quite so high. There didn’t appear to be any way to vault up onto the open top.
Kirk pulled her around to the driver’s side, where the bus itself blocked them from the view of the men who’d been chasing them. When he waved his arms, Stasi wondered what he was doing.
They didn’t need to attract any more attention.
But then Stasi realized Kirk had pulled out a few of the bills she’d handed him, and was waving the money at the driver.
The door opened.
“Tell him to keep driving,” Kirk requested of Stasi as they bounded aboard, and he shoved the cash at the smiling driver.
“He speaks English,” the driver said of himself. “You want to go fast or slow?”
“Fast.” Stasi glanced around and noted that the bus was still nearly empty at this early hour. Apparently, the driver had just set out in search of passengers, but he seemed content to carry just the two of them. Kirk had handed the man a much larger than usual fare.
The word had hardly left her lips than the bus accelerated.
“Grazie!” They both called as they headed for the stairs that led to the panoramic viewing deck.
“Stay down here,” Kirk suggested before ascending the stairs.
Stasi waited below while Kirk cautiously proceeded above. Looking out the windows, she couldn’t see the men who’d been chasing them, but that was little assurance. They’d appeared almost out of nowhere before.
Kirk descended with a cautious smile. “No sign of them, but I don’t doubt they’ll eventually guess what we did.”
“They figured out about the helicopter quickly enough.”
“I feared they might.” Kirk’s expression was grave. “Though I didn’t think they’d find us on the ground so soon.”
“They seem to be coordinated. And they apparently have plenty of resources at their disposal.”
“I need to get you reunited with your parents.” Kirk looked back in the direction of the hotel they’d been planning to check, though it had long before slipped from view. “You’ll be safest with them.”
“Will I?” Stasi settled into a seat and pulled Kirk into the seat beside her. “If my mother sent the jewels to me to keep them safe, my parents may be no better off than I am.”
“I’ll do what I can to protect you.” Kirk slid down in the seat, and Stasi felt a twinge of surprise at how close he suddenly was. There wasn’t any space between the seats, and almost nothing between their faces as they talked in muted whispers. “If that had come to a fight back there, I don’t know what I would have done. You can’t depend on me.”
“You’ve managed quite well so far.” As she spoke, the bus turned a corner, still traveling a clip faster than it was probably used to, and she found the centripetal force pushing her into Kirk. Her forehead pressed into his cheek, and she tried to right herself by pushing against him, but she didn’t want to hurt his injured ribs, and so found herself fumbling at his shoulders.
He cleared his throat and put his hand on her arm, righting her as the bus straightened out. “Your Highness.” His voice sounded dry.
Stasi met his eyes.
She’d been fighting the connection she felt to him for the last three days, always thinking whatever they were running from was far more urgent than whatever was between them.
But for the moment, they’d left what they were running from far behind.
And now there was nothing but what was between them.
“I have a name,” she reminded him, feeling chafed that he insisted on using her title.
“If I use it—” Kirk’s eyes never left her face “—it would put us on familiar terms.”
“My forehead just smashed your cheek, Kirk. We are on familiar terms.”
He pulled back, but only by a couple of inches. “You’re a princess.”
“Am I? Last I checked Lydia was crowning a new king in—” she glanced at the digital clock at the front of the bus “—a little over two hours. I think I’m just a very scared girl.”
“A very wealthy girl,” Kirk corrected, but some
how their faces had moved closer together again. She’d blame it on centripetal force, but she knew that wasn’t the whole cause.
“I gave you half the money.”
“I gave some of mine to the bus driver.”
“I could give you more.”
Kirk began to look away.
Stasi touched his hand. “We’re equals. Actually, if you want to get down to it, you’re my better. You’re strong—”
“I’m injured.”
“You’re my elder.”
“I’m not in your league. Your father wanted to marry you to a billionaire.”
Stasi made a face. “Thank God you averted that disaster.” She tried to remember what they’d been arguing about. Mostly she wanted him to stop talking and kiss her, but at the same time, she felt intimidated by the prospect. After all, she needed his help. What if a kiss changed everything between them?
“Anyway—” she cleared her throat “—you can call me Stasi.”
“I need to get you back to your parents.” Kirk had pulled back again. Perhaps he’d thought better of the kissing idea. Or perhaps a kiss had never crossed his mind at all.
Stasi took his cue. “They usually stay in the penthouse of that hotel back there. The staff knows them, and they have a secret entrance in back that leads straight to the elevators.”
“Can you get us to that secret entrance?”
“I know the way, but it will depend on whether those men are still lingering around. Perhaps I should have had you park the helicopter elsewhere.”
“That would only have left us with more ground to cover. No, we did what we thought was best. We simply underestimated the men who are after us.”
Stasi settled back into her seat and tried not to let the ominous undertones of Kirk’s words bother her. They’d underestimated the men before. It could easily happen again. “Do you think the bus driver would take us back around that way?”
“I suspect he’d take us anywhere—it just depends on the price.” Kirk pulled out a couple of bills and headed to the front of the bus.
Protecting the Princess Page 10
