Page 9
“I’m sorry, I have to go. My boss’s wife is in labor, and they need me at headquarters.”
“On a Friday night?” He looks dubious.
“Courtney’s in labor,” I repeat, looking around for our waiter. I wave him over and ask for the bill. “Please put half on this,” I say, handing the waiter my card.
The waiter puts down the credit card receipt, and I sign it hurriedly, before stuffing the card back in my purse.
“Take care of yourself, Roger.” Now that I have a legitimate excuse, I get to my feet.
“I’ll call you in a few days,” he replies quickly, also standing up. “And let me walk you—”
“I’m fine!” I say impatiently. “Really.”
I turn and head for the door, eager to just put this whole evening behind me.
I take two steps when my foot hits something slippery and then both feet slide out from under me. My legs go wide, my purse goes flying, and I watch in a kind of slow-motion horror as a waiter trips over my legs.
The tray of food he’s carrying goes in every direction.
And then two plates’ worth of pasta carbonara bounce off my head and splatters all over me.
Chapter Four
Rage
Everything happened quickly once Courtney announced she was in labor.
Daniil immediately gathered a security team. Grim and three of our colleagues all accompanied Daniil and Courtney to the hospital. It might seem like overkill but Daniil Gustaffson is technically Prince Daniil, first cousin to the king of an Eastern European country called Limaj. He’s a non-working royal now, but still a royal. Still a billionaire. Still a potential target while in a vulnerable situation, like his wife going through childbirth.
Mark Garrison, another one of the bodyguards we work with, came in to be with me, and Luna is supposed to be on her way back to man the cameras and phones. Not a lot happens at the office late at night but it could. Since Daniil is royalty, there’s always the possibility of danger. He left Limaj to avoid that as much as possible, but nothing is guaranteed.
Courtney is as tough as they come but she’ll be vulnerable during labor. Daniil is also a trained bodyguard and martial arts expert, but he’ll be distracted while Courtney is giving birth, and frankly, he should be able to be completely tuned in to his wife during that time. Especially since he missed the birth of their first child.
We’ve been preparing for this, which is why Mark came in right away and Luna is on her way back.
I almost smirk, thinking about her date being interrupted.
Maybe that makes me a dick, but I absolutely hate the idea that she has a boyfriend. I’ve never let a woman distract me before, and though a Friday night sparring session with my best friend isn’t something I needed to be completely focused on, I love to fight. To train. A woman should have been the last thing on my mind at that moment.
Instead, she walked in and Grim clocked me good.
I’ve thought about her a lot more than is healthy the last couple of months, so the rush of jealousy I felt when I heard she was going out on a date didn’t surprise me. What did surprise me was hearing the girls mention that she’s going to start trying to get pregnant. She’s never even brought this Roger guy around—and everyone’s significant others come by regularly—but they’re serious enough to talk about getting pregnant?
Fuck that.
First chance I get, I’m going to try to talk her out of it.
There’s movement at the front doors that catches my eye, and I lean closer to the screen, on alert.
Is that Luna?
Unable to help myself, I get to my feet and peer around the corner. She’s limping into the lobby and her beautiful pink dress is covered in something I can’t identify. She’s carrying her heels and as she gets closer, I see her mascara has run down her cheeks.
Before I can stop myself, I walk over to her and snarl, “What the fuck happened? Did Roger do this?!”
She blinks up at me in confusion. “Wh-what?”
“What. Happened.” My heart is thundering and I’m ready to throttle whoever did this to her.
