Kate Walker - Claiming His Princess - Duty at What Cost? / A Throne for the Taking / Princess in the Iron Mask

‘Wolfe, please.’ She hated the way she sounded as if she was begging but she was. She couldn’t do this any more. First thing tomorrow morning she was going to contact her father and tell him to organise another bodyguard. Wolfe could still head up the case if he liked, but she knew there was absolutely no way she could feel anything more than friendship for any man she met while Wolfe was by her side. Even when he wasn’t with her she thought of him, ached for him. She was starting to fear that no one would measure up to him. Ever .

His jaw clenched, as it always did when he was annoyed with her, and if possible his expression grew even more remote.

God, he was impossible! That kiss back in her hotel room…Her lips parted…

Don’t think about it , she ordered herself.

Not easy when he blocked her path, giving her no choice but to either wait for him to step aside or turn around with her tail tucked between her legs and retreat back inside as he wanted her to do.

Ava knew which option she wasn’t going to take.

Stepping closer to him was a mistake, though, as her senses became immediately overloaded with the faint trace of musk and man—a combination that instantly flooded her body with heat and need.

She shivered and Lorenzo placed his hand on her shoulder. Straight away her undisciplined mind compared its size and texture to Wolfe’s. It felt cool, where Wolfe’s always felt so warm it bordered on hot, and it didn’t make her want to wind herself around him until she didn’t know where she ended and he began.

‘Are you cold, piccolina?’

For a minute Ava thought Wolfe might do Lorenzo damage, and she quickly smiled her reassurance at Lorenzo before throwing Wolfe a baleful stare. ‘We can talk later. Right now I need you to move out of my way.’

In more ways than one , her mind quipped unhelpfully.

Ava waited, remembering the time he had threatened to toss her onto his horse. Back then she hadn’t believed he’d really do it. Now she knew better. Wolfe always got the job done, no matter what.

He glanced at his watch and then stepped aside, but it didn’t feel as if she had won a major victory.

In a fit of frustration she tightened her hold on Lorenzo’s arm in an attempt to disconnect her senses from Wolfe.

Oh, who was she kidding? She’d done it to send a message to Wolfe that his rejection of her hadn’t affected her in the slightest. That she didn’t need him. But silently she accepted that if Lucy hadn’t interrupted them they’d have made love again. And she couldn’t dislodge the sensation that it just felt so right to be in Wolfe’s arms.

‘Ava?’

‘I’m sorry, Lorenzo. I was…you were telling me about how we could integrate the telecommunications networks between Anders and Triole?’

Ava let him fill her head with possibilities and murmured appropriately, but her heart wasn’t in it and, feeling Wolfe’s steely silence behind her, she experienced an overwhelming need to escape both men and take stock. And she would have done exactly that if Wolfe hadn’t cleared his throat and stepped forwards again.

‘Ma’am.’ His voice was dark and official. ‘We need to have that talk now.’

Ava glanced from Wolfe to the burly man in an expensive suit and with a grim expression standing beside him. Did he have news about her situation?

Excusing herself from Lorenzo, Ava waited for Wolfe to speak.

‘Ma’am, this is Dan Rogers. He’s a security specialist who has worked for me for a number of years. He’ll be taking over your security detail from now on.’

It took a minute for Wolfe’s words to sink in, and when they did Ava’s stomach bottomed out. ‘You’re quitting?’ She couldn’t believe it. He’d told her he would never quit, and she realised with a start that she’d come to rely on that.

‘Not quitting. I’m rearranging the team to better utilise our skill-set.’

Ava heard what he said but she didn’t believe it. This wasn’t about skill-sets. This was about that kiss in her hotel room.

With her thoughts and feelings swirling around inside her like leaves in a whirly wind, she said the first thing that came to mind. ‘My father won’t like it.’

Wolfe’s jaw clenched and released. ‘I’ll deal with your father.’

Before she could think of anything else except the sick feeling growing in the pit of her stomach he turned to the other man.

‘Take care of her. Once she’s secure for the night call me and I’ll come and give you a complete brief.’

The man nodded.

Wolfe nodded and then turned his eyes briefly to hers. ‘Goodbye…ma’am.’

Ava closed her eyes and leant her head back against the butter-soft leather seats inside her limousine. She was alone in the car, having forbidden her new bodyguard from riding with her. He hadn’t liked it, but she’d given him the super-special superior look that had never worked on Wolfe and he’d acquiesced.

Now she felt horribly alone and hankered for something familiar. Something to anchor her in a world that kept moving and changing at a pace she was struggling to keep up with. She’d had so many decisions to make lately she was completely exhausted. No wonder she felt so out of sorts. Life-changes usually happened one at a time and with some sense of order. Didn’t they? At least that had been her experience to date. But these past few weeks nothing had been as it should. Least of all her.

In a split-second decision she knew Wolfe would call a ‘spontaneous reaction’ Ava instructed the driver to take her to her gallery, and immediately felt better.

The restless energy flowing through her was somewhat appeased at the thought of seeing Monique’s new works. They’d been installed two weeks ago, and viewing them on her smartphone wasn’t the same as standing back and inspecting them in person.

She smiled as her change in plans was relayed to the other two cars. No doubt Wolfe would have a kitten…but he had chosen to abandon his post and there was nothing he could do about it. She imagined the conversation they might have if he were here. Was it wrong to enjoy their mental tussles with each other so much?

When the car stopped Ava didn’t wait for her chauffeur to open her door but did it herself, breathing in the sweet damp air of Place des Vosges.

Her new bodyguard stopped beside her. ‘Ma’am, I’d like you to wait a few minutes before heading inside.’

Ava considered that briefly and then realised why. ‘Is Wolfe on his way?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

Ava cursed. ‘I thought you were in charge now?’

‘I am. However—’

‘Never mind. And, no, I won’t wait for your boss to join us.’

Pivoting on her heel, she set off across the square to the row of shops she knew like the back of her hand. Her footsteps echoed in the quiet night that was only broken by the low hum of fast-moving cars on the main road and the squeak and clunk of a garbage truck as it rattled along the cobbled streets.

Dan reached the solid metal door to her building before her and held his hand out for the key. ‘I’ll do that, ma’am.’

A car door slammed somewhere close behind her but she ignored it.

‘I can do it.’ It might be the last time she ever did, and she wanted to take in every moment.

‘Ava!’

Wolfe’s hard, angry voice made her fingers fumble the key, and that made her mad. He wasn’t going to ruin this for her by muscling his way in. She wouldn’t let him.

Of course her stupid key chose that moment to become stuck and, frustrated, she twisted it in the opposite direction. Wolfe’s harsh, ‘Get back!’ confused her, and then a strong arm wrapped around her middle and yanked her sideways seconds before a deafening bang exploded in her ear.