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Inside, he locked the door at our backs. “Make the call.”
I clutched my phone with the torch still activated.
“Wait.”
He watched me. “Why?”
I stepped into his space, palmed his rough cheek, and kissed him. Everything fell away. My fear, the palace we’d just run through. Only him.
Yet too quickly, I had to end it.
“When they come up here to talk to me, there will be a fuss. You’ll have to leave when they do. Someone will probably patrol the floor all night. I just had to?—”
He touched his forehead to mine. “Never justify kissing me. And don’t apologise for bringing me here either.”
My heart missed a beat. “Because it’s your job?”
“No, princess. Because I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Everything next happened too fast. I called security, sending them scurrying. A lead officer and two burly guards came to my door, and I explained Raphael’s presence by saying he’d been on the phone to talk about tomorrow’s work. Luckily, no one blinked an eye, but the protocols for a potential intruder went into full effect.
Raphael left, escorted out as the palace went into lockdown.
I took myself to bed, and while I should probably have been worrying about a search underway or a stranger being found, all I focused on was a lone text that came in from my bodyguard.
Raphael: Here whenever you need me.
The following morning was busy with meetings. I had a couple of hours free in the afternoon, but half of that was chewed up with the head of palace security debriefing me on what they’d found.
No intruder had been detected.
There had been no breach of the perimeter that they could discover. Many people had been present in the building, and he gently suggested that I could have encountered someone going about their job, or that creaking old buildings could be spooky at night.
Maybe he was right, but I felt like a scolded child.
This evening, I’d be in my emerald gown with a gala to attend. Hair and make-up on point and a smile at the ready. I anticipated it with the sense that something was wrong, and nothing I did could make it go away.
Chapter 20
Raphael
“Baby Gordonson is as stubborn as their ma,” my brother said down the phone.
A thud sounded, and I released a breath.
“Did Effie throw something at ye?”
“Good guess. Pregnancy hasn’t dented her aim.”
My smile flickered, and I stared out at the ferry boats cruising along the Thames from the bench I’d dropped onto at the end of my run. My brother chatted on, still with no news about the arrival of my niece or nephew but with plenty to say about where we lived and our friends.
I listened but couldn’t help the rising sense of danger whenever I thought about his baby arriving. It had taken a long time after relocating to Scotland for me to feel safe. To some extent, I did, but that sense of security flickered each time we had to encounter our father. He was still in California, still running his Mafia-linked empire. No matter what we had on him, I knew he wouldn’t give up wanting us to return. Theminute he knew his first grandchild was born could be the moment he decided on a family reunion.
Mentioning this to Gabe was pointless. He knew my fears. He’d damn well counselled me about them more than once, and I wasn’t about to dent his joy. So instead, I kept my mouth shut and just listened.
I had to kill time anyway, nothing to do until this evening when I’d be back on duty. I’d tried to sleep in, failing in that, and spent the day working out.
Anything to stop myself from calling Alex.