He stepped out of the sports car, kicked the door shut, and was inside the nightclub in under a minute.
One of his subordinates met him at the opening that led to the cavernous room where dozens of bodies writhed in tempo to the thumping music. Not his second in command because he was obeying Valenti’s command.
‘This way, Your Highness.’
The man, almost as tall as Valenti and even broader than him, muscled his way through the crowd to the back of the club. From the corner of his eye, Valenti saw the guard flick him a nervous glance before respectfully backing away. Revealing his quarry in all her glory.
For the briefest moment, his footstep faltered. Seeing her for the first time in three years, Valenti had hoped the unsettling elements that had churned between them then would’ve dissipated.
The clenching in his gut said otherwise.
It was a combination of fury—although he wasn’t entirely sure what this fresh bout of fury stemmed from—shock, disquiet and…primal, soul-scorching—
No. He wasnotgoing to dignify that insufferable hint of a forbidden sensation with a label.
He’d received weekly reports from the security team in charge of her safety; he’d spoken to her older brother every few months—although with Gunnar Lillegard busy with his Doctors Without Borders duties, he too rarely saw his little sister; he ensured her apartment, food, clothing and education and the trio of staff to take care of her needs were all in place.Buthe, Valenti, hadn’t set eyes on Lotte since her nineteenth birthday. And even then, for all of half a day. She’d turned up unannounced in San Maribet, stunning the hell out of him, after giving her security team the slip and earning five men immediate firing. And while he wasn’t proud of himself for barely recognising thewoman she’d seemingly turned into overnight—since most of their contact had been by phone or hurried text lately—he hadn’t suppressed the visceral need to be rid of her. To listen to the hindbrain warning that keeping her around was a mistake. Her protests about being sent away had threatened to rattle him, until he assured himself he was doing the right thing. She was better off in Reykland—statistically one of the safest places on earth.
That hindbrain caution returned full force now, sending sheets of shock through his system as he stalked to a halt at the edge of the dance floor, his gaze riveted on the woman lost in the throes of music and dance without a care in the world.
The shoulder-length waves he remembered had grown out to almost waist-length, straightened tonight so they fell in iron-straight silky sheets that flew around her as she gyrated in sky-high heels.
The second observation crept far too close to that forbidden sensation he’d first experienced three years ago, and try as he did to smash it to oblivion, it continued to bloom within him.
The reality was that Lotte Lillegard had left every trace of girlhood behind; had bloomed into a stunningly attractive woman. Even more breathtakingly beautiful than—
Valenti shook his head to dispel the direction of his thoughts, stalking forward with a thin burst of satisfaction when bodies hastily fell away, giving him a clear path to the girl…womanwho still hadn’t noticed him.
Who according to his team, had dismissed the danger she was in with a shrug and grimace. As if it was a pesky fly in an easily replaceable cocktail. The same way another threat had been dismissed, with lethal consequences almost a decade ago.
His stomach knotted as memories pushed harder. Of him dropping to his knees, gathering an unresponsive body in his arms…swearing, pleading, praying…to no avail.
Which was why he arrived next to her with a red haze of renewed fury rushing across his eyes. Why he closed his hand over her arm when she continued to remain oblivious to him. Grew angrier when he noticed just why she was so oblivious.
The phone in her hand, turned onto some live social media platform, dozens of hearts flowing up the screen as eager strangers rabidly followed her exploits.
‘Excuse me!’ She rounded on him, to her credit aiming a slender leg in a defensive posture he remembered teaching her eons ago. He blocked it easily, then steadied her as she stumbled on stiletto heels, her blue eyes widening in shock.
‘V-Valenti?’
His belly clenched in weird reaction to his name on her lips, then noted why. Her voice had lost its high girlish pitch, had dropped several octaves into a huskiness that tunnelled deep, into dark,forbiddenplaces it really shouldn’t.
‘What are you doing here?’ she demanded.
Valenti didn’t bother holding back his ire. ‘I should be asking you that. What the hell do you think?’ She opened her mouth to answer. He stopped her by sliding his gaze to the phone clutched in her hand. ‘Turn that thing off. Now.’
Shock replaced the obstinacy he remembered well. And traces of wary censure he didn’t. He ignored the flickers of unease the latter trailed over his nape, reminding himself he’d long passed caring about personal opinions. Duty, purpose and the strength of his oath were all that mattered. And he’d taken an oath to keep Lotte safe.
And yes, that included keeping her safe fromhimself, from those unacceptable thoughts that flashed through his mind during her unannounced visit to Cartana three years ago.These thoughts circling the edges of control right now.
‘Why?’ she demanded. ‘And you still haven’t answered me.’
He’d been called ‘intense’ many times by so many people, he’d lost count or care. He felt zero guilt for bringing that emotion to bear as he waited for her to comply.
She didn’t. Instead, she brought the hand holding the phone to eye level, right in front of his chest, and flashed a smile so striking, so eerily similar to another smile embedded in searing memory, every last scrap of air left his lungs.
Mocking him with why he’d kept his distance from Lotte all this time…
‘Sorry to cut this short,elskurnar, but I gotta go. Remember, be kind, love hard, live free. And don’t party too hard without me!’ She tossed a peace sign, then closing lushly lashed eyes, puckered her lips for three excruciating seconds before blowing a kiss at the camera.
