Royal Line by Carrie Ryan (lightweight ebook reader .txt) 📗

“Vague terminology for someone who knows how to handle a gun.”

“It’s my job to protect people. I’m here for Paris Fashion Week,” he said. “I ran into you when I closed out that job.”

“I’m grateful you did.” I whispered the words.

His brow furrowed. “Were you here for the shows? Who knew you were going to be here?”

“I—no one. Just Rian. My family. I wasn’t really here for the shows.”

“Not one show? It’s the hottest ticket in Paris.”

“I know, but we just wanted girl time.”

He lifted a brow that told me he didn’t exactly believe me. “Girl time. Right. What is it you do, London?”

I frowned at him. What was with this tone? He sounded suspicious. Worse, he sounded like Wilder. That calm countenance. The simple question then the quiet calm as he waited for a response. It was infuriating.

I’d once asked Wilder why he did that. And he’d told me that the quieter you were, the more suspicious people tended to talk. Their own discomfort made them eager to spill. Just what the hell did Kannon suspect me of?

I was done with that tone. He might have saved my life, but I didn’t know him, and I didn’t need to tell him my life story. “It’s none of your business.”

“I got shot at with you in my car. That makes it my business.”

“I didn’t ask you to protect me.”

“Well, it seems like I’m going to be protecting you anyway, princess.”

“My name is London,” I gritted out. “Call me London.”

“Shouldn’t I call you Princess London?”

I lifted my chin. “You know who I am.”

“Of course, I know who you are. Your face is splashed on all the tabloids. Last night I wasn’t certain. But in the clear morning light, I knew exactly who was in my bed, Goldilocks. You’re even more famous than the London royals.” His smirk made his eyes go smoky, not that I noticed. “Nice coincidence on the name.”

I flipped him off. He’d already made fun of my name twice now. He didn’t get a third chance.

“Hey, that’s not what a princess should do. Is that your royal finger?”

“Okay, I’m done. I need to go. I need to make sure everyone knows that I’m safe.”

“We can make that happen.”

“You keep saying ‘we.’ Who do you mean by we?”

“My team. I sent Sparrow and Olly to look at the site from last night. We don’t know who was shooting at you, but it looked like a professional job. So you’re not safe. We’re going to make sure you’re safe. I’m going to make sure you’re safe.”

“Sure. While you do whatever it is you do, I need to contact my brothers.”

“We will. But first, you’re going to give me your phone.”

My gaze widened, tension crawling up my spine. “Okay, now this sounds like you’re taking it. Once you have it, what’s to stop you from just abducting me? You can’t have my phone. You can’t have anything. I’m going home.”

Home, where apparently, I was supposed to marry a duke and have babies and never have a choice in my life.

That option sounded better than being dead, sure, but there had to be a third option. One where I wasn’t in a room with a man who was prowling around me like a caged lion. One where I wasn’t hurt because I’d been shot at and run off the road.

I scrambled off the bed, this time with Kannon letting me do so.

“I need to call my brothers.”

“We’ve got that handled. And I’m sorry, but you need to give me your phone.”

I whirled on him. “Why? So you can call for ransom?”

He gave me a beleaguered sigh. “No, so we can make sure that nobody can trace where you are.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’ve been taking care of business like this for a long time. In cases like these, people like this, they don’t give up. They’ll be back. Which means they feel confident in their ability to find you again. And the easiest way to find someone is to track their phone.”

“And I’ve dealt with security professionals before. For my entire life, actually. So no, I’m going to call my family, and they’re going to take care of me.”

His sharp blue gaze narrowed. “You like that? People taking care of you?”

“You’re trying to do the same thing to me!”

“Maybe, but it’s my job.”

“I didn’t hire you.” I was yelling now. I didn’t want to yell, but my panic was rising.

“No, you didn’t. But me getting shot at? That kind of puts me on the job no matter what. And I’m more than a little pissed off that someone took shots at me. I’m not a fan of someone trying to take a piece out of my ass. Like it or not, I’m going to figure out who shot at you, and you’re just going to have to deal with it.” His voice rose to match mine.

“Stop yelling at me!”

“You’re yelling right back, princess.”

“You don’t talk to me like that.”

“What are you going to do about it, princess?”

“I’m going to leave. I’ll take my chances. Worse comes to worst, I’ll go back to the airport and go home.”

“If you do that, someone’s going to find you, and they’re going to shoot you. Just like they tried to last night.”

“Don’t you try and scare me. I’m already there. It can’t get worse. What do I have to lose?”

“I’m not trying to scare you, princess. I’m just telling you the truth.”

“Stop calling me princess.”

“It’s what you are. A precious little protected princess who’s never seen the real world. And suddenly someone’s shooting at you. I get it. It comes with the job. Well, my job is to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Now, give me your damn phone so I can make sure they can’t find you. And then we’re going to call your brothers and see what they want.”

Un-fucking-believable. “And what about what I want?”

“You want to stay alive? Then give me your phone.”

He pushed to his feet and loomed over