Page 31

D arius fiddled with his cell phone, trying to figure out the right wording for the call he was about to make.

He had to tell his siblings about his “engagement” before the news became public.

If he was going to pull this off, he would have to make everyone believe he and Tahira had fallen for each other.

One slip up and the media would be all over it, desperate to figure out what the couple was hiding.

He was still trying to decide the best way to avoid having the press going after his father—it wouldn’t go over well for any reporter who tried to step on the man’s property.

Darius would have to make sure his brother and sister did extra sweeps for the shotgun shells their father always seemed to find a way to get ahold of and hide in the double-wide trailer he lived in.

Once a week wouldn’t cut it after the media frenzy started.

The last thing they needed was for the old man to kill a trespassing reporter.

Hitting one of the speed-dial buttons, Darius placed the first call. When his brother picked up, Darius said, “Hey, Levi—let me get Barrie on the other line.” The siblings often had three-way phone chats with each other; it was easier than having to repeat things twice.

“Don’t bother,” his brother responded, sounding like he had a mouthful of food. There was a pause when he must have swallowed because afterward his voice was back to normal. “She’s right here. Hang on, I’ll put you on speaker.”

There was a click and then his sister came on the line. “Hey, big brother! What’s up?”

Darius couldn’t help the grin that appeared on his face.

He loved his younger siblings and missed them at times like this.

They’d grown up close, huddling together in one of their bedrooms while their parents fought about everything under the sun.

While the mismatched couple had never hit each other, sometimes their words had been worse than fists.

Surprisingly, Phillip and Jacqueline Knight had only taken their frustrations over their unhappy marriage out on each other.

Darius had wondered at times if the doting affection they’d lavished on their children had been a sort of one-upmanship to see who could earn the title of “favorite parent.” He would never understand why they hadn’t divorced.

Darius and his siblings hadn’t thought things could get any worse, but they’d been wrong. One night had changed everything.

Darius would never forget the call he’d received from his brother five years ago.

A drunk driver had run a red light, killing Jacqueline instantly.

In a way, she’d been far luckier than her husband.

His head injury had robbed him of ten years of his life leading up to the accident.

The last thing he remembered was one of the fights he’d had with his wife when she’d stormed out of the house, threatening to never come back.

While she had returned a few hours later, as she’d always done, in his mind, she’d abandoned him.

Now, Phil thought his children were fifteen years younger than they were.

Paranoia had also set in. He rarely left the trailer he insisted on living in on the outskirts of Brookford, a small town dwarfed by the Smoky Blue Mountains in Tennessee.

The townspeople knew well enough by now not to disturb the old man who would rant and rave and threaten anyone who stepped on his small half-acre of property.

The only reason he hadn’t been arrested for making threats was Levi was the town’s police chief.

Barrie, a midwife, and Levi would check on their father, making certain he had food and supplies and hadn’t hidden any shotgun shells he could use to hurt someone.

They still hadn’t figured out where he was getting the damn things every few months, but at least they’d managed to find most, if not all, of his hiding spots.

They would just convince the old man he’d done some target practice recently whenever he discovered his new ammo missing.

Yeah, they were conning him, but whatever worked.

“Hey, sis. What’d you make for dinner?” Once or twice a week, Barrie and Levi had dinner together.

With both their busy jobs, they sometimes sat down for the meal later than most people did.

Barrie loved to cook, and Levi liked to reap the benefits of letting her use the spacious kitchen that had come with the house he’d purchased a few years ago.

“Momma’s beef stew.”

That was all she had to say to get Darius’s stomach grumbling.

Their mother had been an accomplished cook and left behind a well-used box filled with all her favorite comfort-food recipes handwritten on index cards.

Barrie treasured the box and its contents, often recreating their mother’s culinary masterpieces.

“One of these days I’m going to convince you to make a pot of that and ship it overnight to me.” He paused. “How’s Dad doing?”

“Ornery as ever,” Levi responded. “I was out there yesterday because a few teenagers wanted to see who was brave enough to poke the bear. Thank God I confiscated Dad’s new stash of shells the day before.

He scared the crap out of those kids with an empty shotgun.

I doubt they’ll try to take him on again.

I think two of them pissed their pants when he circled around and snuck up on them. ”

“Who called it in?” Darius couldn’t see the kids calling 9-1-1.

That was the type of stuff you kept under your hat in their neck of the woods—messing with the local loon.

Not that Phil Knight, a former lumberjack, had always been crazy and paranoid, but after the past five years, that was how he’d be remembered by many people when he passed away.

“No one had to. I was on the phone with him when the Russians invaded.”

“Oh, jeez.” This time it had been the Russians in their father’s mind.

The last time it had been the North Koreans, and before that it had been the Viet Cong, not that Phil had fought any of them during his four years in the Army after enlisting at eighteen.

As far as his kids knew, the man had served all his time stateside.

“Yup. I hightailed it over there with two of my deputies. You think these stupid kids would learn.” They wouldn’t, and both brothers knew it, so Levi changed the subject. “So, are you back in the Sunshine State?”

“Yeah, got back a couple of days ago but had to deal with a debriefing and stuff.” Darius’s brother and sister had learned and accepted long ago there were many things about his work in the SEALs and Trident Security that he couldn’t discuss with them.

While sometimes their curiosity got the better of them, and they asked questions he wasn’t always able to answer, they were used to him saying “no comment.” “Listen, I’ve got something to tell you .

.. I’m ... uh ... getting married.”

Levi’s shocked “holy shit” was barely audible over Barrie’s squeal of excitement. “O.M.G.! Get out of here! I didn’t even know you were dating anyone. What’s her name? Where’s she from? What does she do? How did you meet her? When do we get to meet her?”

Chuckling, Darius shook his head. Barrie had always had a habit of rattling off a string of questions without waiting for an answer to any of them until she ran out of things to ask.

Once there was a break in the interrogation, Darius responded, “Her name is Tahira. She’s from a small country in North Africa called Timasur, and she’s a .

.. um ... a princess.” Damn, that sounded so weird, even to him.

There was silence over the phone, and Darius pulled it from his ear to check the screen and see if he’d gotten disconnected. Nope. They were still there. “Guys, say something.”

A roar of laughter came from Levi. “Good joke, big brother. A princess? Right, like you could ever hook a princess. Maybe in a fairy tale.”

“Darius, damn it! I was all ready to start planning a wedding. That was mean.”

Darius sighed loudly. He should have expected their reaction, but then again, how many men from Tennessee called their family to say they were marrying into royalty.

Not many at all. “I’m telling you the truth.

You can Google her. The palace will be announcing the engagement in a few days, so I wanted to give you both a heads up.

I’ve got my computer geek trying to lay some groundwork to keep the media vultures away from Dad, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to prevent anyone from making the connection.

As soon as the news is released, it won’t be long before it’s all over town.

Someone will see dollar signs and contact the press with info on me and my family. ”

“You’re fucking serious, aren’t you?” Levi asked, the disbelief in his tone had been cut in half.

“Yeah, I am. I’ve been on her security detail a few times, and we kind of hit it off.”

Barrie finally found her voice again. “You really are serious. Holy shit! Does this mean you’re going to be a prince?

Will we have to bow or curtsey or something when we see you?

Oh my God! Are we going to meet a king or queen?

I’ll have to go shopping! What should I wear when I meet them?

Oh, and where will the wedding be? In ..

. what’s the name of her country again?”

When his sister finally took a deep breath, Darius did his best to answer all her questions. Ten minutes later, he finally disconnected the call, only to have the phone ring almost immediately. Seeing it was Cain Foster, he swiped the screen. “Knight.”

“We’ve got company—three media vans just pulled up. One of them is CNN and another is the BBC.”

“What? The press release hasn’t gone out yet. What the hell do they want?” From his pocket, he pulled out a comm unit that was connected to both the TS team and the royal guards and stuck it into his ear. He could listen in on everyone doing their jobs.

“I don’t know, but we’re going to need a little backup.

There are more coming.” Foster must have opened the door to the vehicle he and Morrison had been sitting in outside the front gate because Darius suddenly heard a bunch of people shouting questions.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg, brother.”

Darius looked up as Jabari Bastide, the new head of Tahira’s detail, stuck his head into the library. “Where is Her Royal Highness? The press is at the gate.”

Disconnecting the call, Darius strode toward the doorway. “I know. She was talking to her mother on the phone in the office a little while ago. I’m not sure where she went from there. If you want to handle things out there, I’ll look for Tahira and keep her inside.”

If the man took offense to Darius speaking so informally about the princess, he didn’t show it.

Darius was going to have to remember when a situation called for him to refer to her as Her Royal Highness or, at least, Princess Tahira.

In such a short time, he’d gotten used to just calling her by her given name.

“No, my men have already joined your teammates. Princess Tahira is my responsibility, and I just checked the office—she’s not there.”

A flash of sadness and guilt appeared in the man’s dark eyes, and Darius felt bad for him.

The reason he’d been promoted was because his two teammates and friends had been murdered protecting their charge, while Bastide had been sleeping on the cruise ship.

He took his new position even more seriously than his old one and would lay down his life for the princess, of that Darius was sure.

As bratty as she used to be, over the past few years, as she’d matured, Tahira had won the respect and loyalty of her guards.

She now knew about their family members and inquired about them often, which made the men like her even more.

“Okay. If you want to check upstairs, I’ll see if she’s still down here somewhere.

” With twenty-nine rooms in the three-level, main house, it would take a few moments to find her.

Darius hoped she hadn’t gone outside. He didn’t think she was in any danger, but he still wanted to make sure she was safely out of view from any telescopic camera lenses.

Bastide nodded, then turned on his heel and hurried toward the foyer to take the stairs.

Darius double checked the office on his way past it and found it empty.

So were several other rooms. Finally, he found her in the kitchen, reading a fashion magazine and drinking a cup of tea.

Tension he hadn’t realized had crept into his neck and shoulders released at the sight of her. “There you are.”

Startled, she looked up at him. “Darius.” Her mouth turned downward as she studied his face. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing for you to worry about. Hang on.” He tapped his earpiece. “Bastide, Her Royal Highness is safe in the kitchen.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Safe? Darius, what—”

Tahira’s started to stand, fear blazing in her eyes, and he held up a hand, trying to calm her. “It’s okay, Tahira. The press just showed up at the gate. Apparently, word got out about our engagement.”

Her mouth gaped. “B-but Sebak was not supposed to release the statement until the day after tomorrow.”

Stepping over to her, Darius pulled her into his arms. She was shivering, and he doubted it was because she was cold. “I’m not sure what’s going on and why they’re here, but you’re safe, Princess. I won’t let anything happen to you. The press won’t get anywhere close to you.”

Behind him, he heard Bastide enter the room, but Darius didn’t release Tahira.

He didn’t know why, but he suddenly didn’t want to entrust her safety to anyone else.

Bastide had asserted she was his responsibility, but ever since that relatively chaste kiss they’d shared, Darius wanted to claim Tahira as his in a completely different way.

One word seemed to resonate through his mind— mine.