How old is he? I learned the information when he first arrived, but the last month has kept me too busy to remember. Twenty-six? That sounds right. When Derek first recommended the soldier to me, I nearly laughed when I discovered his age. Surely he is too young, both to have so many accolades and to be responsible for my life. But Derek assured me Sergeant Reid was the best of the best, and I trusted my friend. Reid’s résumé is, in a word, impressive, assuming it is all accurate, but I would have thought Derek recognized my need for a personality that would match mine. That has been ninety percent of the battle in finding a bodyguard who fits.
Whoever becomes my protection agent in a more permanent capacity will be with me at all hours of the day. He will be privy to my everymoment, good and bad. A snarky ex-soldier who is younger than my immature brothers and finds amusement in my frustration is likely to drive me mad before I ever ascend to the throne.
“So,” Hex says, once again glancing between the two of us. “Does this mean you’re stuck here and therefore not available for a quick match, El?”
Reid’s eyes narrow. “As long as your sister wants to get into the conference room, yes. I’ll be here.”
An unladylike groan slips out of me, and I take several steps back as embarrassment fills my face with heat. I turn before I can see Reid’s reaction to the sound, pulling my phone from the pocket of my slacks. Hex happily starts chatting with Reid, so I hope my conversation is relatively private. Just in case, I take a few more steps down the hall as I pull up Derek’s number and hit the dial button. If I go too far, I worry Reid will follow.
“Hey, Peach.” To my relief, Derek answers. It is always a gamble with him. As one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, he has a lot of people eager to take his time, and it is early in California. “What’s up?”
“‘What’s up?’” I repeat. “What is up is you are clearly determined to drive me to insanity.”
He chuckles. “Elliot started today, didn’t he?”
The fact that he so easily guesses the source of my frustration does not bode well for Reid’s future career in Candora. “You knew he would get on my nerves?”
“I knew he would keep you on your toes, but that’s not the same thing. Aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting right now?” Leave it to Derek to know my schedule as well as he knows his own.
I grip my phone tighter, glancing behind me to make sure Reid and Hex are still occupied. Reid’s impressive résumé included the ability to speak several languages, as well as read lips. I wish I could rememberwhich languages he speaks, as that would make this conversation easier to hide.
Turning so my back is once again facing Reid, I switch from English to Russian. I would speak Candoran, as Derek is fluent in the language as well as others, but I would not be surprised if Reid has picked up on enough over the last month to get by. “He has not even started as my bodyguard, and I already want to dismiss him.”
After a pause, Derek responds with near perfect Russian. “It’s that bad, huh?”
“I do not think yourfriendhas the right temperament for a protection officer, Derek Riley, and I fear I may need to begin questioning your judgment.”
“You should do that anyway, Peach.”
He says that, but in the seven years I have known this man, he has never once been wrong. Remembering that, I sigh and tell myself to take a calming breath. I switch back to English; Derek’s Russian is better than mine, and hopefully I am done complaining. “Do you really think Reid is a viable candidate?”
“Yeah, I do. But it’s also not my decision on whether he stays or goes. That’s on you, and he knows this is a trial run.”
That is comforting, and I am sure Gregor told Reid as much when he first arrived. It has been the same with all of them.
As if sensing my thoughts, Derek asks, “What does Gregor think of him?”
I sigh. “This is the only man he has spent more than a couple of weeks with. I think Gregor practically views him as a second son.”
That gets Derek laughing, which I should have expected. Gregor likes no one, but I spoke true. My old bodyguard has had nothing but praise for the ex-soldier. “Give Elliot some time, Freya. Like you said, he hasn’t even started.”
“Started as my bodyguard, no, but he has certainly begun getting on my nerves.”
“He’s good at that.”
“How, exactly, do you know a Sergeant First Class in the Special Forces?” I ask. Derek has a habit of collecting friends and contacts all over the world, from all walks of life and levels of fame and influence, but from what I know about Reid, he has spent the last half a decade overseas. It seems unlikely that an actor and a soldier would become close friends or even meet.
Derek hums, as if thinking about how he wants to answer that question. “I don’t remember,” he says after a moment.
“Lies,” I reply without hesitation. He does not generally keep secrets from his friends, and I am curious why he would try now. “The truth, Riley.”
“He’s my cousin.”
“Oh.” Those words hit me with more force than I expect. Derek rarely speaks of his family. I have only heard him mention his parents once or twice over the years I have known him, and I did not realize he had any relatives beyond them. “Derek, why did you not say in the beginning?”
I turn to look at Reid once more, and suddenly the similarities are obvious. Perhaps that is because Reid is actually smiling. Not smirking, like he did with me, but smiling wide as Hex talks with wild hand gestures. The way Reid’s smile twists up at an angle is very much like Derek’s smile. Though Reid’s face has softer edges, there is something in the shape of his eyes that reminds me of Derek’s as well. Most likely Reid comes from Derek’s mother’s side, but as there is no quicker way to convince Derek he needs to end a conversation than to bring up his parents, I cannot know for sure.
“I don’t like nepotism,” Derek says after a long moment of silence. “You know how it is.”
