Chapter 13 #2
“Oh please.” Anger surfaced and he bobbed on it like a life raft, it was easier to cling to the fury than to the pain. “She’s someone who works for you.”
“No, she’s someone my brother loves. Which makes her my sister.
I’ll treat her accordingly, even if my brother is behaving like a jackass.
” Armand stood and dropped a passport on the table.
“Go to Europe. Sebastian is in Florence. He’s expecting you.
Spend some time on his yacht, rest, recover and then come back here and get to work. ”
“You can’t just send me out of the country. I don’t work for you and I have cases.” His interest in the fight waned. Couldn’t Armand just leave him alone?
“No, I asked Daniel for some assistance and his attorney—Grange? He’s taken over the cases at Christine’s Center. All of your papers were filed and taken care of.”
Guilt stabbed Richard. In his need to get blind, roaring drunk, he’d let a lot of things slide.
“As for the foundation, well, your associates will have a true test of their mettle. Fortunately, everything is settled with the consortium deals. You don’t have to be there.
Peterson’s men will get you to the airport.
My jet is waiting for you. Take a month, figure out what you want to do, and come back. ”
“And if I don’t? Go, that is?”
“Well, then you’ll find me here every day and I won’t leave.
” His tone stiffened, and grew more formal.
Oh, Armand was angry after all. “Anna is most cross with me about this entire situation. She blames me too. Perhaps you are both right, but I don’t care.
I am hardly going to let you kill yourself, nor will I stand idly by while someone else tries to do it. You need time and I can respect that—”
“But only on your terms.” Richard dared him to disagree.
“In the world I live in? Yes. On my terms. But this isn’t just about you, Richard. Kate nearly died to make sure you stayed alive. She asked about you the moment she woke up. She called your name and she wanted to know that you were alive. She didn’t care about anything else.”
A fresh lance of guilt splintered his heart.
“We told her we’d moved you to keep you safe.
She’ll buy that for a little while, she’s on a lot of drugs.
So man up, grow some balls, and figure out whether you really love her and can be the man for her.
Be my friend again. We’ll wait.” He tapped the passport.
“If you’re still here in the morning, expect a roommate. ”
Armand made it to the door before Richard reached over to pick up the passport. “You’re getting married in a month.”
“I know. I really hope my best man is there.” The door closed behind him and Richard stared at the blue cover. What the hell did he want?
Kate’s face flashed before his eyes and he sighed. Dropping the passport on the table, he scrubbed his hands against his face. Maybe Armand was right, he couldn’t think here. He hadn’t been thinking—he’d been drowning and the prince threw him a life line.
No, not the prince. My friend. My brother.
Picking up the prescription bottle, he stared at it. Dammit. That woman. From a hospital bed, she was trying to manage him. Walking to the door, he pulled it open and the security guard gave him a questioning look. “Yes, Mr. Prentiss?”
“I want to go to the hospital.”
KATE
“A prince! You have princes coming to visit you in the hospital. And these flowers? Have you ever seen so many? I can’t get over it, Katie. You told me you were working in security. I thought you meant rent-a-cop, instead you’re all Jane Bond.”
If her mother didn’t stop talking soon, Kate thought she might find another gun and finish the job Leonard Braun had started.
Shirley Braddock meant well, but she babbled when she was nervous and the constant stream of visitors including a prince, a princess, and the future princess had left her more than a tad disconcerted.
“Mom, its personal security and I don’t know if I’ll be doing it much longer.” Not after screwing her last job up so epically.
“Hmm, I’ve heard that one before, dear.” Her mother stroked her hair back. “I should go down to the gift shop and see if they have more of that freeze dried shampoo.”
“Waterless shampoo? Sure, that’d be great.” Anything to get a break from the chatter.
“Do you want anything else? A magazine? Crossword puzzle book? Book? I know, I’ll just pick you up one of everything.” She rose and kissed Kate’s forehead. “Be a dear and don’t pick on the nurses when they come in to check your vitals.”
“Promise, I’ll be good.” Gooooo. But she swallowed back the snarl. Her mother hadn’t stopped talking since she’d arrived and she’d been a nervous wreck.
Closing her eyes the moment the door closed, Kate sighed.
They’d told her Richard was fine, but she hadn’t heard from or seen him.
Yes, it made sense they’d lock him down for a few days to make sure that Braun acted alone.
But she didn’t get the feeling from the man that he was part of any larger conspiracy.
It didn’t matter that they’d loaded her up on painkillers, or that it was her lung that had been compromised and not her heart.
Because her heart hurt.
Opening her eyes, she stared up at the ceiling and then reached for the leads connecting her to the machines. If they had Richard on lockdown then she just needed to go to him. It was over—and she could tell him the truth dammit. Peterson said Braun was behind the accident and the first shooting.
Her job was done.
She made it to Richard’s house, but he wasn’t there.
The guard at the gate recognized her, and without complaint, he’d helped her into the house.
She’d been grateful—it had taken every scrap of energy she had to stay upright on the drive.
Without a doubt, the guard would report in to Peterson and whomever, but it didn’t matter.
Richard mattered.
Exhausted, she sank down onto the sofa and leaned her head back.
Maybe leaving the hospital early hadn’t been the best idea—though it proved surprisingly easy.
What little energy she’d mustered evaporated before she slipped into a taxi.
Bless the driver, he didn’t bat an eyelash at her odd clothing.
Who knew, maybe pajama bottoms and a hospital gown would be all the rage in the next season.
The door opened and Kate could barely keep back a groan. “I asked for a few minutes,” she told the guard, not willing to move yet. “I can go back to the hospital later.”
“Kate.” At the sound of his voice, her eyes jerked open.
“Richard.” He was there. He looked like hell—his eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled, and his shirt wasn’t tucked in—and she’d never seen a more beautiful sight. “You are okay.” Relief swamped her.
“Yes.” His presence seemed to fill the room, but there was a distance in his eyes and a hard tilt to his mouth. “You weren’t at the hospital.”
“Neither were you.” But her attempt at levity fell flat and her relief dissolved into a pool of unease. “You know.”
“Peterson had to authorize your medical care,” he murmured. “I figured it out and Armand confirmed.”
Her heart squeezed at the distrust in his dark eyes. “I’m sorry.” She had no excuse to offer, no pretty words to make it better. They’d given her a job to do and she’d lied to him to make it happen. “I lied to you.”
“Yes, you did.” A muscle in his jaw flexed. “Then you saved my life—twice.”
How did she answer that? “I screwed up at the center. I shouldn’t have let you distract me when I opened that door. I shouldn’t have opened it without clearing the porch first. Basic rules and I—I was thinking about getting naked.” Bitter was the taste of her failure.
“But you’d quit.” He moved forward, his steps slow and his gaze intent. “That’s what Peterson said.”
The churning in her stomach increased. “I did. I still knew better, especially after you sent the security detail away.”
“You were upset on the driveway.” He said it as if that made sense to him now, and perhaps it did.
“An unsecure location? Strangers? Poor lighting? Yeah, I was upset. But instead of saying it, I had to keep playing my part.” Tears burned in her eyes. Stupidity was crime in her book. “I’d never have forgiven myself if you’d been hurt.”
“What part were you playing, Kate?” Danger lurked in that question, but he had every right to ask it.
“Girlfriend. Lover. But it wasn’t a role, it was what I’d become.” Her chest hurt with every breath, but she tried to take a deeper one. She needed to get the words out and refused to shy away from the choice she’d made. “It’s why I had to quit. I hated lying to you.”
“But you kept lying.” The accusation stung.
She could argue that she’d made the decision before she really knew him—that it somehow mitigated it. “I had orders, and a contract and…all of that aside, I didn’t want you to hate me.”
“Ripping the Band-Aid off?” Her Richard appeared in the shadows of the cool man assessing her.
“Without mercy. I liked you. I really liked you. I never lied about my feelings. But it was so damn complicated. You were supposed to be a protectee, one I had to be undercover to protect because you didn’t want visible security.
” She blew out a breath and tried to stand, because she hated feeling so weak in this discussion.
But she’d barely made the attempt before Richard was across the room and stopping her with a hand on her arm.
“What are you doing?” There was nothing distant or cool in his growl.
“Trying to stand… To walk to you.” Though his presence made her action a moot point.