The Princess and Her Mercenary: A Driven Hearts Novella

by Nikita Slater

  Keane wore his usual fatigue pants and tight T-shirt. Ndari wasn't going to complain though, she loved the way that man looked in his gear. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep yourself from smiling as she watched him load his weapons and strap them to his body: one holster, two guns, two knives, a set of handcuffs and a grenade.

  “You think we’ll need a grenade?” she asked skeptically.

  He mock frowned at her. “Woman, there is never a time where grenades aren’t needed.”

  They sat down and had a quick breakfast and coffee with Mrs. Keane. When they finished, they hugged and kissed Mary goodbye, then they were headed back into Dublin.

  “Where are we going?” Ndari asked Keane brightly.

  He flashed her a look. “We’ll get the tourist shit out of the way first. Going to Guinness.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “The beer place?”

  “Yeah,” Keane said. “You can't come to Dublin and not do the Guinness tour.”

  “Pretty sure I could manage it,” Ndari muttered, but she went along with his plan. It wasn't until they arrived and someone handed her a dark bitter beer that she began to question this idea. “It's 10:00 AM in the morning,” she pointed out, holding the beer like it was going to bite her.

  Keane looked down at her. “When in Rome,” he said and tapped the bottom of her glass indicating she should drink.

  She took a healthy swallow, wrinkled her nose and said, “Why aren’t you drinking?”

  “I don’t drink often,” Keane said. “It clouds my senses and I don't have time for that.”

  Ndari snorted. “No kidding, with the amount of enemies you must have, you would need to keep your senses.”

  “The only enemies at my back right now belong to you, lady. So you better watch that little mouth.”

  “Or what?” she demanded cheekily.

  “Or I'll shut it for you,” he said with a quick grin.

  “Okay, I vote for that,” she said. “I’ll dump my beer now and let's go do that.”

  He laughed, “Nope we're doing the tour.”

  Ndari actually had fun and enjoyed learning about how Guinness beer was made. They finished the tour up on the rooftop patio where they ordered some lunch and another beer for Ndari. It was amazing to Ndari how much they had to talk about considering how very different their backgrounds were.

  Keane was such a great listener. He seemed to want to know everything about her. He asked about her colour preferences, he asked about her friends and family. He even asked about her shoe size. He genuinely listened to all of her answers and asked follow-up questions. It was obvious he cared about her responses. Ndari was happy to tell him everything and anything he wanted to know. She was an open book and she was very pleased that he wanted to read.

  After Guinness, he took Ndari to the Old Jameson distillery where she laughed and asked, “More booze?”

  He shrugged. “Told you, we're getting the tourist shit out of the way first. Gotta do the tours.”

  “Gotta do the tours,” she repeated with a terrible fake Irish accent.

  They went through the distillery and Ndari had another few drinks. She was starting to feel the alcohol in her system. Her head was spinning a bit, and she felt a euphoric uplifting sensation.

  She loved spending time with Keane, having drinks and wandering around, looking at everything. After they finished at the distillery, they wandered through an outdoor flea market where she commented on the coloured doors of the residential houses. They were bright and beautiful, red, green, blue, yellow.

  “Why are they all painted like that?” she asked, pointing at a door.

  He flashed her a grin. “The doors of Dublin,” he said. “Originally, they were painted that way to distinguish them from each other, but now I think it has more to do with the individual homeowners and their artistic expressions.”

  “That's very romantic and thoughtful coming from you,” she commented.

  “I’m very fucking romantic,” he assured her.

  She laughed, “Where to next?”

  Twenty minutes later, she found herself standing in front of a huge old church.

  “St. Patrick's Cathedral,” Keane told her.

  “I hadn’t pegged you as a churchgoing kinda guy,” she said.

  He gave her a raised eyebrow look. “Definitely not. But you can't come to Dublin without checking out at least one Cathedral. Plus, thought we could get married while we’re here.” He said it so casually that it took her a moment to catch on.

  “Married!” she exclaimed.

  “Yeah, married,” he confirmed. “We're going to get married anyway, may as well be here.”

  Her heart pounded and she tried to convince herself that he wasn't serious, but she knew better. Keane was always serious. Even when he was joking, he was always truthful. “You know we can't get married right now, right?”

  “Why the fuck not?” he demanded. “Are you married to someone else?” He sounded genuinely angry at the thought, as though the idea hadn’t occurred to him before.

  “Of course not! You know I'm not married to anyone else,” she said impatiently. “We just can't get married right this second.”

  He gave her a hard stare and didn't bother to repeat himself. She knew what he would say anyway, why the fuck not?

  “I don't want to get married this way,” she said reaching for his arm and squeezing him. “As though it's some kind of clandestine thing. I mean I've always wanted the pomp and ceremony, of course. The big white dress, the church.” He pointed his thumb at the Cathedral behind them. She rolled her eyes. “Not just any church, something that we choose together. And I want your mother there and my brother and the rest of my family. Not like this.”

  “All right,” he relented. “Besides, don't think we can get the paperwork together in time to get married by the end of the day. Maybe we can try for the day after tomorrow.”

  She laughed and smacked him on the arm. “Maybe we should give it a few weeks…” When he gave her a stern look, she added, “Just until the palace guards settle down and my brother is willing to come without wanting to murder us.”

  They did the Cathedral tour. At the end, as they were leaving, Keane said, “Now we go see the Dublin that I know.”

  Which heralded an evening of wild entertainment and even wilder fun. They danced. They laughed and they talked. Ndari had a few more drinks until she was truly tipsy, laughing in Keane’s arms and pointing at the bright passing lights as they took a taxi from one pub to the next. It was the most fun Ndari had ever had in her life. Even though she would sometimes do things to shake up her royal life, bar-hopping had never been on her list. Now that she was experiencing it, she wanted to do it all over again.

  Their time in Dublin was like Paris and Prague. They were wrapped up in each other, rediscovering the world through each other’s eyes. Only Dublin was even better because there was something about the Irish city that spoke to the heart of Keane. She could see a kind of relaxing inside him. And whatever it was that called to him was calling to her too. In just one day she had fallen in love with this magical Irish city.

  It was nearing midnight and they were at their final pub for the evening when Keane decided to cut Ndari off. She made a face at him. She was finally getting into the whole beer drinking thing.

  "I'm not ready to go home yet,” Ndari complained.

  “But I'm ready to have you to myself.” Keane wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

  "Okay, I'm convinced." Ndari went up on her toes and tugged his head down for a kiss. He laid one on her while the other bar patrons jostled them.

  “Gotta take a piss first," Keane said, pulling away. “You stay here. Don’t move and don’t speak to anyone.”

  She smiled as he walked away. Even his crudeness was becoming endearing. What was happening to her? She usually hated guys that were vulgar, avoided them like the plague. She liked to be wined and dined, treated like a… well, a Princess. But Keane was dif
ferent. Maybe it was because she knew that he was really quite intelligent underneath all the brashness and muscles.

  She finished her drink while he was gone and just as she turned to scan the crowd for him a fight broke out. At first, she was amused. Ndari had never seen a bar fight before. Then she realized what was at the center of the fight. Or who was at the center of the fight. Keane.

  Men were throwing punches at him all over the place. He was taking them on blow for blow. Only the punches he threw had a lot more impact, sending men flying this way and that.

  "You think you can come into my town, come into my bar, after not saying a word for 20 fucking years?" some guy yelled. “I don’t think so, boy.”

  Yup, this was definitely about Keane. Ndari stood chewing on the inside of her cheek, wondering if she should step in or if she should allow the very big, very well armed mercenary take care of himself.

  She turned to the bartender. "Another drink please."

  She really did have a good view for the fight. It became quickly obvious that no one was very serious; they were mostly interested in throwing each other around and tipping tables over. Ndari glanced at the bartender who stood behind her watching as well.

  "You don't break this sort of thing up?" She took a healthy sip of her drink.

  "Not worth it," the bartender assured her. "They always pay for the damages and it's easier to leave them to fight it out."

  "Did you know Keane?" she asked curiously.

  "A little," he admitted.

  "What was he like?"

  The bartender raised an eyebrow at her. "You really want to know what that hellraiser was like 20 years ago?"

  She thought about it. "On second thought don't tell me."

  The boys looked like they were about to wrap up the fight so Ndari turned back to the bar and handed the bartender a roll of bills. "This round’s on me. A Guinness for everyone."

  He gave her a wink and took the cash. An arm slid around her waist and dragged her into a big sweaty body. She tipped her face up, a grin teasing her lips as she prepared to accept Keene's kiss and an apology for leaving her alone while he played with his boys. Only the big sweaty man holding her was not Keane.

  "Scream and I'll cut you.”

  The man slipped a knife inside her jacket and pressed the sharp edge beneath her breast. She sucked air into her lungs trying to pull her rib cage away from the sharp blade. This couldn’t possibly be a palace guard? She gazed at the man. Nope, he definitely had an Irish look about him. He was big, he was hairy, he wore jeans and a stained T-shirt. But the thing that really tipped the scales was his accent. Dammit, how could she manage to get herself in trouble after only one day in a brand-new country?

  As the man ushered her through the bar, weaving around the patrons, she threw a glance over her shoulder just in time to see Keane's big red head twisting this way and that searching for her. Everything inside her wanted to shout for him but the knife against her breast stopped her.

  "I hope your affairs are in order, buddy," she said seriously. "Because my boyfriend is definitely going to kill you for this.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Before Ndari could so much as let out a scream she was dragged behind the bar and into an alleyway. Oh, hell no. She was not about to be raped and murdered in some dirty dark disgusting alleyway. The second he pulled the knife away, she started fighting for all she was worth. Punching, kicking, biting, scratching. She opened her mouth to let out the most bloodcurdling scream she'd ever made in her life, but it was cut off midway when she was slapped so hard that she spun around and slammed into the side of a vehicle.

  Before she could regain her senses, someone shoved a bag over her head and lifted her into the vehicle. The door slammed shut behind her. She was about to drag the bag off her for head and start fighting again when she was shoved face down, her arms pulled behind her back and secured with a rope.

  She was too busy wiggling and trying to dismount the guy on top of her to realize that the vehicle was moving. But after a few minutes she could feel the wild rocking as the vehicle took corners so fast the tires screeched.

  They hadn't driven long when the vehicle came to a sudden halt. It stopped so fast that she slammed into the seat and the guy on top of her toppled over.

  She would've laughed except the door was wrenched open and she was dragged out backwards by her ankles. Her jean skirt rose up her thighs until she was positive that her panties were showing. She was getting angrier by the second. She was not new to this whole kidnapping thing. She’d had threats against her for years, and Keane had successfully managed to kidnap her. Every single attempt on her had been made while still maintaining her dignity. These assholes apparently had no idea how to treat a Princess. The second her mouth was free she was going to let them know.

  She expected to find herself in some ramshackle warehouse, because so far these guys weren’t showing a whole lot of class. But when her face was finally free and she could look around she was somewhat bemused to find herself standing in a very nice suite that rivalled some of the fanciest hotels she’d stayed in. What the heck was going on?

  "Thank you for joining us, lass."

  Ndari turned to face the person who was speaking to her. “I wasn’t given much choice,” she snapped, treating him to a scathing look.

  Instead of finding a man as rough as the rest, she found herself facing a man who was probably in his 40s and extremely well dressed in a high-end suit and tie. His hair was impeccable, his teeth were white and straight, and he wore a ring on the middle finger of his right hand that was both expensive and well cared for.

  "I assume you are my generous host?" she asked sarcastically.

  "I am indeed," he said with a wry smile. "I hope you didn't find your transportation too trying."

  She fingered her cheek. "Actually, I could have done without the punch to the face. Your men do not know how to treat a Princess."

  "A Princess?" He raised an eyebrow.

  Oh, shit. He hadn't known she was a Princess. Ndari had assumed he would know, because why else would she be kidnapped? Which left only one other reason. Keane. She had only herself to blame, she was the one that convinced him to come back to Dublin. Although he could have mentioned that he had enemies here.

  "What exactly do you want with me?" she demanded.

  "It's not you I want," he looked her up and down, appreciation written on his face. "Although I might be changing my mind about that. It's your boyfriend that I've been looking for. For two fucking decades that asshole has eluded me."

  "What does this have to do with me?" she asked sharply. "It's not like he's been hiding since coming to Dublin. If your men saw him at the bar why didn't you just go talk to him there?”

  "Because he would have said no."

  She really hated to play into a bad guy's rhetoric but she just had to ask, “Would have said no to what?"

  He circled around her, and then stopped in front of her, tipping her chin. He was careful to only very lightly touch the beginning of the bruise that was darkening her face. A look of regret flitted across his features and she hoped this meant that she had something to work with. A bad guy with a conscience could be manipulated.

  "I am truly sorry that you were injured. I’ll make sure that this doesn't happen again. To answer your question, I’m hoping that by keeping you here, I will be able to persuade our mutual friend into doing me a favour. He owes me after his unexpected exit from Ireland."

  "Here’s a piece of advice," Ndari said impatiently. "The reason villains always fail in movies is because they talk too much. Gives the good guy time to rescue the Princess.” Okay, so she was stretching the truth by calling Keane a good guy, but in this scenario he was just going to have to play the white knight. “Either say what you mean or don't bother to speak to me at all. I'm not interested in the dramatics. Also, I require a drink, preferably a margarita, but I’ll take a Guinness if you have one."

  "I see you are a woman that knows her
own mind," he said, moving away from her toward a wet bar.

  Ndari followed, keeping a few feet of distance between them.

  "Very well,” he said. “Plain speaking it is. When your boyfriend left Dublin 20 years ago, he left behind a rather large debt owed to me. I fully intend to collect on that debt. I own a popular underground club that hosts fights every few weeks. I like to place my best man in the fights, but my number one went down last week with a broken ankle. Keane will take his place."

  "Or what?" When he opened his mouth to answer she interrupted him with a finger held in the air. "And please don't bore me with your answer. I expect to hear something better than the usual, ‘threaten to cut off the girlfriend’s whatever’.”

  He chuckled as he set two martini glasses on the bar and began mixing drinks. "I can see why our friend likes you so much. You are a sharp-tongued, plainspoken woman, but you do it in a playful manner that’s almost pleasing. It also doesn't hurt that you are quite beautiful."

  "Are you stalling?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad, bad guy. He obviously had discerning taste in women.

  "If Keane doesn't fight." He eyed her as though considering carefully. "Then I suppose I will allow him to trade his life for yours. Originally, I had thought to send him pieces of you so that he would know that I am serious. But, as you have pointed out, my plan was rather obvious. And having met you, I don't think I could bring myself to desecrate such a unique creature."

  She rolled her eyes and reached for the martini he handed her. "Do you always sound like a Bond villain?"

  "Report!" Keane bellowed at his men.

  Only Jacob was brave enough to speak up. "As per your request, we kept an eye on you and the Princess during your day in the city. But we also kept our distance, as per your request." It was obvious that he was trying to be very clear that they had followed their boss’s orders to the letter. "We were watching the bar, but we didn't actually see the Princess leave. We did see a man bundling a woman out the door and into the side alley. At a guess, that was likely her."