“Excellent choice.” Maxim turned to his bodyguard. “Felix, disarm him.”
Felix stepped forward, neatly removing a secreted pistol and two blades from his person before kneeling and swiftly withdrawing a third blade from its sheath hidden in Tierney’s boot.
His task complete, Felix stood, nodding toward the carriage. “Get in.”
Tierney complied with obvious reluctance, stepping up and into the carriage. Felix slammed the door at his back. Within moments, the carriage sprang back into motion, Tierney seated across from him, the glow of the carriage lamp illuminating his face.
He looked ordinary enough. Hardly menacing. Maxim reckoned he could snap him in two.
“What do you want from me?” Tierney asked.
“I want to know where my betrothed is,” Maxim said calmly. “Her lady-in-waiting told me that you have her.”
The other man held his gaze, unflinching. “She is safe.”
Not truly an answer. Had he expected one? Smug bastard.
“And what of her brother?” he asked next, needing to know.
Princess Anastasia had been tasked with finding Prince Theodoric and convincing him to join their mutual cause, not chasing after Englishmen.
“You know about her brother?” Tierney asked carefully, clearly knowing far more than he revealed.
“Of course I do,” Maxim told him curtly. “I learned from Gustavson himself that the lost prince was in London.”
“You call him the lost prince. I understand he was exiled.”
Exiled by a usurper, a pretender to the throne.
Maxim shrugged. “The means matter not. Have you found him?”
Comprehension dawned on Tierney’s countenance. “You’rethe reason she sought me out to find her brother.”
Maxim drummed his fingers on his thigh, not bothering to disguise his dislike of the other man. “I was told you were the best. Clearly, I was misadvised.”
“I’ve found him,” Tierney said evenly. “However, he’s made it more than apparent that he had no wish to be found.”
Hope rose, searing in its intensity. He had fought too hard to allow the exiled prince’s reticence to ruin his plan. He needed to find the princess, and he needed to speak with Prince Theodoric. If Princess Anastasia couldn’t persuade him to join in their cause, Maxim believed he could.
“Tell me, where is Princess Anastasia?” he demanded again.
“She’s safe,” Tierney repeated.
Damn the man.
“According to whom?You, Tierney?”
“What do you want?” the other man asked, as if he had the right to question him.
“I want Theodoric St. George. You’ve been paid a handsome sum to deliver him to me.”
And it would appear that he had entangled himself romantically with the princess instead. There was no denyingthe possessive note in Tierney’s voice when he spoke of Princess Anastasia.
“The gems belonged to the princess’s mother, not to you,” Tierney countered, “and moreover, they’ve been returned to her. I’ll accept no payment for my services.”
The cheek of the man astounded him.
Maxim raised a brow. “And why would that be, I wonder? Could it also have something to do with the reason the princess failed to return to her bedchamber last night?”
