Page 2

He shakes his head. “But you’re not. Even if you weren’t in witness protection, you work for a high-profile member of a royal family. The fact that I’m a non-working royal means nothing to someone trying to hurt or blackmail one of us. That’s why you have to be able to protect yourself. Do you really want to be in a situation where someone gets into your apartment and you’re just hiding in the closet hoping the police get there in time?”

“Gun or no gun,” I admit with a laugh, “I’ll still be hiding in the closet.”

He chuckles. “Fair. But won’t you feel safer with a way to protect yourself?”

I wrinkle my nose. “Probably not. But I understand the point and yes, I’ll schedule training with Grim.”

“Good.” He cocks his head. “You look like you didn’t sleep at all last night.”

“Thanks,” I say dryly.

“Go home early today and try to get some rest. If you’d like, you’re welcome to crash in our guest room for one night until we can get you set up. I’m going to send Chaos over to take care of it either this afternoon or first thing tomorrow.”

I hesitate.

I would absolutely sleep better under Daniil’s roof, but I hate the idea of being forced out of my own home. My sanctuary. Where all my things are.

No, I have to deal with this.

“I think I’ll be okay,” I say. “But I appreciate the offer.”

“All right. See you later.” He turns back to his computer, and I head to my office.

I’m exhausted but there’s a cappuccino with my name on it in the kitchen and then I’ll talk to Grim.

I’ve just taken my first sip of cappuccino when I hear movement behind me. I turn and am momentarily at a loss for words.

Rage.

Also known as Elliott Rageis.

He’s one of the bodyguards I work with and about two hundred and fifty pounds of pure delicious masculinity. My mouth practically waters every time he walks into a room and I get as tongue-tied as a teenager with her first crush. I have no idea why he impacts me like this. I’m dating someone. There’s nothing between us but work.

But I would lick every inch of him given half a chance.

“Morning.” His eyes meet mine and I’m at a loss for words. Still.

Knock it off.

The internal admonishment seems to do the trick and I smile as pleasantly as I can. “Good morning. How are you?”

“Good. What about you?”

“Daniil is making me learn to shoot,” I grumble. “Do you know where Grim is?”

“I can teach you to shoot.” He leans against the counter, and I force my eyes to leave his gloriously broad shoulders.

“Oh. Um, well, Dan said to ask Grim. But it doesn’t matter to me. I just have to become proficient with firearms as a prerequisite to work here.” I playfully wrinkle my nose. “I’m way too girlie for guns, but I knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to come work here.”

“It’s never a bad thing to learn a life-saving skill. I know guns can be intimidating but when used properly, and with good training, they’re not as dangerous as people think they are.”

I nod. “I suppose that’s true. I just never really liked guns and stuff. I was more of a punk rock princess.”

He chuckles. “Nothing wrong with being a princess of any kind. Learning how to handle a gun doesn’t change that. It just adds to your mystique.”

My mystique? I’m going to swoon if he keeps talking to me like that.

“Let’s make a plan,” he continues. “Maybe later this week, or on Saturday, we can get started. You can use a gun from my collection.”