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“I love the ocean,” she says as we start to walk. “I grew up in New Hampshire, so the ocean was a good ninety miles away, and then it was freezing year-round.”

“I grew up in South Florida,” I say. “So the beach was right there but I was never really into it. Surfing and all that wasn’t my thing. I wrestled and played football.”

“What else were you into?”

“Mostly, survival,” I admit. “My grandmother raised me after my dad left. She did her best but she was old and didn’t have the energy for a kid like me. After she died I went into foster care for two years. Then I joined ROTC so I could afford college, and the rest is history.”

“I didn’t know you were in the system. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I was luckier than a lot of kids. My foster parents weren’t the best, but they weren’t abusive or anything. There were four of us, all fosters, and our foster parents were mostly in it for the money they got. But to be fair, they fed and clothed us, so all I had to do was keep my head down and graduate from high school. I already had a plan for college.”

“And that’s where you met Grim?”

“Yup. We played football and did ROTC. Then we wound up in Force Recon together. I guess we’ve been pretty inseparable since the day we met.”

“That must be nice, to have that kind of friendship.”

“You don’t have a best friend?”

She shakes her head. “No. I was always too smart for my own good. Most of the kids in school thought I was weird. It was better in college, but I mostly hung out with guys because in my experience, women are catty.”

“You seem to be close to Allora and Courtney.”

She smiles. “Yeah, it’s been fun making friends. Not just with them but with everyone at Shadow. It feels like a family.”

“That’s what they wanted, to create a new, special family that has nothing to do with royalty. Daniil loves his actual family, but Courtney wasn’t sure about that life, and he loves her more than he loves being a royal.”

“That’s very romantic,” she says softly.

“Is it? I never thought about it in those terms.”

“Do you think you’re not romantic?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t had a serious girlfriend in a long time.”

“Allora said the same thing about Grim…was that done by design?”

“What, not having serious relationships?”

She nods and I hesitate.

“If you’re asking if we discussed it, or made some kind of bachelor pact or something, no. I mean, while we were in college, we were young and wild. You can imagine how that was. Then while we were in the Marines, it was hard. Women were either completely enamored with the idea of marrying a military guy, or they wanted nothing to do with it. And frankly, we were deployed almost the whole time we were in. I don’t think either of us were in a head space to fall in love after the shit we saw over there.”

“That makes sense.”

“When we got out, I went into fighting professionally, with the UFC, and while I’m not proud of it, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I liked the attention. But the truth is, none of them cared about me. Elliott. The man. They just wanted to be on Rage the Cage’s arm, and that got old quick. Then we got into the security and bodyguard world and it seemed unfair to drag a woman into that life. Or maybe we just convinced ourselves of that because we were scared of the emotional stuff.”

“You? Scared?”

“Of allowing myself to be that vulnerable? To fall in love? A little. I don’t know exactly, and I can’t speak for him, but I see the way he looks at Allora and I know for a fact he’s never looked at a woman like that before. Maybe he was waiting specifically for her.”

“Okay, you can’t say you’re not a romantic,” she says, playfully bumping me with her hip. “Because that’s a very romantic observation.”

“Oh, I can observe it—I just don’t know that I could come up with shit like that on my own.” I reach out and slide my arm around her shoulders. “You’ll have to tell me if I don’t put in the right effort.”

“Is romance…part of our equation?”

“If you want it to be.” He rubs my shoulder as we walk. “Now it’s my turn to be honest.” He stops and turns to look at me, his expression thoughtful. “Princess, I’ve thought about sleeping with you almost since the first time I saw you. Every time you walked by I felt like a teenager again. You’d accidentally brush against me, and it felt like I couldn’t breathe.”