Chapter 12 #2
“Mic. This room and the bedroom are miced. I know you don’t want to wear an earpiece, but this way we can hear you.
Any sound of distress and we’ll be there.
” Grigoris pointed at an almost-concealed door in the wall that connected this suite to the one he was using.
Hers was smaller, one bedroom rather than two, and done in what she thought of as a classically French style with ornate chairs, beautiful brocades, Chinoiserier wallpaper, and gold and crystal accents.
A modern, toned-down version of Versailles.
“Any sound of distress,” she said slowly, staring hard at Grigoris.
Iacob snorted in amusement. Maxim looked up, then sidled over. “I didn’t hear that. What did she say?”
“The admiral is worried Grigoris won’t be able to tell the difference between sex noises and a cry for help.”
Grigoris closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Nikolett burst out laughing.
Zoran opened the connecting door and stuck his head in. “He’s in the lobby.”
Unexpected nerves tightened her stomach. She must have made a face because Grigoris put a hand on her shoulder.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“I know I don’t. I chose this.”
He searched her face, his brow pinched in worry.
Nikolett patted his hand. “I’ll be fine.” She grimaced. “And apparently you’ll be listening.”
“If it wasn’t critical to your safety…”
“I know, I know.”
She would never have true privacy, even within her own home, and she’d accepted that.
Iacob and Maxim rushed into the other suite, Grigoris trailing behind them.
She had several minutes to herself before there was a knock at the door. Once more, her stomach cramped with nerves, but she smiled as she opened it.
Gus was tall and broad with dark hair and bright blue eyes. Given the bronze cast to his skin, she guessed he spent most of his time in sunnier parts of the world than the north of the British Isles. Or maybe he was a devotee of sun holidays.
Tonight, he was…different. More.
He wasn’t wearing glasses the way he had been the first time she saw him, and his hair was neatly combed. Standing straight and tall rather than awkwardly hunched as he tried to carry a computer, a plate, and his coffee.
A shiver of awareness passed through her. He didn’t look rumpled and harmless the way he had when they met in that coffee shop.
He looked composed, confident, and intelligent.
Intelligent in the way that made him seem slightly dangerous.
The impression of potential danger might have had something to do with his frown, which pulled down the corners of his mouth. The expression wasn’t directed at her, but to the right.
Nikolett leaned out the door, peering into the hall.
Iacob and Maxim were standing on either side of her door in dark suits. They hadn’t been wearing suit jackets when they were in here installing mics, and the mental image of them quick-changing into their intimidating bodyguard costumes like this was a theater, made her lips twitch.
Iacob had a scanner of some kind in one hand and was waving it over the bunch of flowers he held in the other.
Eric said he’d brought flowers. Part of her would always regret not seeing them. What kind of flowers? How many?
“What are you doing?” Nikolett demanded in Romanian. Gus spoke some Hungarian and she didn’t want him to understand this.
“Checking for poison.”
“Why are you both standing here like bodyguards?”
Maxim cleared his throat. “We are your bodyguards.”
They were, should have been, more. Harcosok were meant to be out in the territory, protecting members and ensuring critical rules that kept them all safe were followed.
Instead, three of her nine knights were assigned to her full time. Not just working out of the territory headquarters, aka her home, but assigned specifically to protect her.
“Nikolett, are you…is this safe?” Gus’ low question brought her attention back to him.
“Safe? Yes.” She forced a smile, but he wasn’t looking at her, instead looking at Maxim who passed him back a wallet and glasses case which Gus tucked into interior pockets in his jacket.
“It’s…necessary,” she said to fill the awkward silence. “But if you don’t want to do this, I understand.”
Gus shook his head once. “I’m not even sure what this is.”
Of course a nice, normal man wouldn’t want to be searched like this was an airport. Wouldn’t want to put up with any part of her chaos. She opened her mouth to offer social niceties that allowed him to fully back out, but he spoke before she could.
“But you’re worth a trip to Paris.” His gaze met and held hers. “And worth having my flowers poison-tested and a bit of grab-ass.”
Nikolett blinked. “Grab-ass?”
“He gave me a pat-down.” Gus tipped his head to Maxim, the mood shifting. “Copped a bit of a feel, I think.”
Nikolett pressed her lips together to keep from smiling, even as the amusement in Gus’ gaze was infectious.
Iacob thrust the flowers back at Gus. “They’re clean,” he said in English.
“You thought they were out romping in a pasture and got mucky?” Gus asked.
Iacob didn’t react, maintaining a flat, bodyguard-appropriate expression.
Nikolett waited, giving him one more chance to bail after the indignity of a search and pat-down.
Gus didn’t leave, merely waited, a cute, half smile curving his lips as he looked down at her, patient and calm.
Nikolett stepped back from the door. “Would you like to come in?”
He flashed her a full smile, walked past her, and Nikolett closed the door behind him.