Page 23

CHAPTER 22

LIZZY

PIECES OF TRUCK

I threw my body over the prince as his truck exploded into flames, sending a huge cloud of smoke and debris up into the street and making a horrific noise.

Players came streaming out of the house and through the gates from the back yard, and neighbors were stepping from their houses to watch the burning remains of Declan’s truck at the curb like some kind of neighborhood cookout.

“Holy shit, dude, did you miss a recall notice?” Rock Stevens asked Declan, stepping closer.

I lifted myself from his body, ignoring the fear zooming through me. That had been far too close. I needed to get the prince home. Immediately.

The fear I felt was more than just the worry appropriate for someone who’d almost lost their target in a protection assignment, though. It was more in line with the kind of fear a person felt when someone they cared about was in real danger.

And I did care about Declan. Too much. Which was why this assignment had been a bad idea in the first place. Even if no one else remembered it, we had history. And that was interfering with my ability to do my job objectively.

“I guess I must’ve,” Declan said, picking himself up off the grass and brushing off his shorts as the big car smoldered and sirens sounded from some distance away.

“Why is your vehicle burning in front of my house?” Klaus Arndt asked, sounding irritated as he looked up and down the street at the pieces of truck scattered about.

“Sorry for the inconvenience,” Declan said, rolling his eyes.

It was hours before we were able to leave. First the fire department came, and then, when the explosion was tracked to a bomb strapped beneath the truck’s chassis and set to ignite when the doors unlocked, we chatted with the police investigators for a while longer.

I could have told them everything I knew, but it would blow my cover. I had strict instructions from the royals, but I wondered if this might change things. If Declan knew his father was sick… if he knew how unstable things were as a result, how much danger he was in as long as he remained here in America…

I knew I wasn’t supposed to tell him, but I didn’t see any other way. How would I convince him to go home otherwise?

I had one idea, but if it didn’t work, I resolved to tell the truth, even if it meant potentially losing my job. His life was too important.

“I’d like to offer you a ride home,” Declan said as we sat in the office where we’d been waiting at least a half hour at the police station for them to let us know we could leave. It was well after midnight, and the prince looked as tired as I felt.

“That’s okay,” I told him. “I’m sure the police will give us a ride.”

“I haven’t been driven home in a cop car since I was sixteen,” he said, chuckling. “But hey, I’m a pretty exciting date, huh?”

I leaned into his side, both for the warmth and reassurance, and because I was exhausted. But once I was there, I found very little resolve to move back to where I’d been before.

Declan’s big arm came around me, and for a long moment, I just breathed him in. He smelled like grass and fresh air, and a lingering hint of smoke.

The police did give us a ride home, and as we sat together in the back of the cruiser, Declan’s arm was around me again.

“Who would do this?” He asked in a low voice. “Who would try to hurt a hockey player?”

But I knew that somewhere deep inside, he knew it was about more than that. If he told me the truth first, then I could tell him everything. I wasn’t glad our lives had been threatened, but it might have opened the door to accomplishing my mission.

“You really have no ideas?” I asked, trying to sound like I didn’t either.

He sighed, and the sound carried the exhaustion that I was sure came with keeping secrets. Keeping big secrets for years. About your identity, about your past… about your future.

“Why don’t you come to my place?” he suggested. “I worry about you being alone after this…”

I looked up into his blue eyes. “Come home with me instead,” I suggested.

It was clear the prince took that as more than the simple invitation I’d hoped it would be, as his eyes darkened slightly and he swallowed hard. I’d suggested it because I knew the security at my place was tight. I’d coordinated all the details myself from Murdan, and confirmed that everything had been done exactly as I’d specified upon arrival. There were no other tenants in the building, and the doormen were on the royal payroll. There was no safer place to be in Wilcox, Virginia.