Her Royal Bodyguard Read online

  “Just like that?” she asked. She wondered if Signora Bea had told anyone yet that Angelina had borrowed the car and left the palace grounds. Was anyone looking for her yet? Or did no one else even know she was gone?

  “Of course,” he replied. “The plane will be ready by the time we finish our conversation.”

  She stiffened. “Plane?”

  “I am taking you home with me, Angelina. Where you belong.”

  So much for being calm. “Are you crazy?” she cried. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

  Viktor grabbed the back of her neck, bent her backward and leaned in so close that his breath heated her face. “I did not go through all this trouble so that I could let you go back to your sick father and doting brothers. You are mine, Angelina.”

  She couldn’t even shake her head. “No.”

  “You will never be queen of Mezzano. I can make you a queen.”

  “I don’t want to be queen.” Any queen. Especially his queen.

  “Your Highness?” A timid female voice reached them.

  Viktor released Angelina and she stumbled back. Big Nose was behind her, ready to remind her he was there, that she couldn’t get away. Viktor turned to a small woman holding a silken gown in a beautiful shade of lavender. He took the gown from the servant who skittered away.

  “This is much better than those rags you are wearing.” He shoved the dress into Angelina’s hands. “Change.”

  She took the dress. If she went along with him for a while, perhaps it would give her a chance to find a way to escape. “Where’s the bathroom?” She hoped it had a window.

  Viktor’s chuckle was as evil as she remembered. “You can change right here.”

  “Um?” She looked around at the two guys still holding guns on her. “You want me to undress in front of them? You really want them to see me in my underwear?”

  Viktor shrugged. “Turn around,” he told them. The two guys grinned, but slowly turned their hulking bodies around to give her their backs.

  “You too,” she said to Viktor as she clutched the dress to her chest. She swore she could feel her heart pounding against her palms. “You turn around too.” How quickly could she find a place to hide?

  “You cannot get away,” he whispered. He brushed his hand along her cheek and she shuddered again. “If you try to run, it will hurt my feelings. And that would just make things worse for you.”

  But she had to try. “If you want me to change, you have to turn around.”

  He lifted his brow but slowly turned his back on her too. She was trying to decide which way to run, when there was a violent pounding at the door. She recognized the voice that shouted for Viktor to open the door. Angelina shoved Viktor in the back, knocking him into Big Nose and then took off toward the door, screaming Rico’s name at the top of her lungs.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Prince Viktor had taken up residence in an old villa at the edge of the city, a fact that was easy to discover with the information Rico had gotten from Seb and passed on to Tony. The front door was ornately carved, but the thick wood was no match for Rico after he heard Angelina scream. His team stood behind him and Sebastian, eyes bright with a mixture of fear and excitement, was beside him. Rico had tried to get the young man to stay behind, but he couldn’t deny they would have had no idea where the princess was without Seb, so Rico had allowed him to come along.

  “I don’t know what we’re going to run into,” Rico had told him as they crossed the city. “You must do what I tell you to do. I don’t want you getting shot or getting in the way of my trained men. But if you can reach Princess Angelina and get her out safely, that will be your job. We don’t know how many armed personnel will be in there, and the guards and I may be busy with them.”

  Stefano had also insisted on coming along. Rico couldn’t deny his request either. The prince couldn’t have any more personal investment in the outcome than Rico did, and he sure as hell wasn’t staying behind.

  So when Rico pounded on the door and Angelina had screamed his name, that door was down in seconds. He wanted to rush into the house, find the princess and drag her into his arms, but fortunately his training kicked in and he took a moment to survey the situation. The marble foyer was huge with a large winding staircase and several wide doorways to choose from. The team split up.

  Weapon out, Rico was about to creep through the doorway which opened into a garish living room when Angelina screamed again. Adrenaline pumping, heart racing, there was no way Rico could take things slow. He dashed through the living room, Seb and another armed member of his team behind him. Others would move stealthily in the other directions. He skidded to a stop when he reached a large open room in the back of the villa.

  He saw Angelina immediately. Eyes wide, she struggled in the grasp of a hulking brute who was pointing a gun at her head. Rico could barely breathe. He wanted to yet at her to stand still. Was she trying to piss off the guy with the gun? Didn’t she have any sense of self-preservation? Another guard had his weapon trained on Rico. If there were only these two jokers, they had a good chance of getting the princess out of this alive.

  The over-dressed dandy prancing around the room must be Prince Viktor. Rico remembered Angelina mentioning his name a couple times when she’d complained about the royals she’d been matched up with. Were all these royals slightly crazy? Or did they live with such a sense of entitlement that they thought they could do whatever they wanted and get away with it?

  Angelina’s gaze locked with his and she stopped struggling when he sent her a small frown. She was in enough danger without risking her own safety. Then she sent him a calm smile and he knew without a doubt he’d been the biggest fool in the world.

  How could he have pushed her away? He thought she deserved someone highborn? Someone like Phillip or Viktor? Someone who thought they would be allowed to harass or kidnap because of who they were? Who they thought they were?

  With every ounce of his being, he wanted Angelina. He loved Angelina. As long as they treated each other as equals, what did it matter what the rest of the world thought? If they could get out of this situation alive, he was going to spend the rest of his life proving to her that they belonged together.

  A sense of purposeful calm washed over him. He stared down Prince Viktor. “Let the princess go.”

  Viktor laughed. “She’s my princess and she’s not going anywhere with you.” Rico couldn’t believe the prince would say that when he’d been caught red-handed. Talk about irrefutable proof. His two bodyguards were looking to him for a cue of what he wanted them to do. “She is going home with me.”

  “Not unless she wants to,” Rico said. “And from the look of the gun pointed at her head, it appears she doesn’t want to go with you.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with him,” she cried out and began to struggle again.

  Rico wished she’d stay still. It wouldn’t take much for that twitchy trigger finger to put a bullet into the princess’s pretty head. He sure as hell didn’t want to lose her now.

  The prince was sweating and breathing hard. He was obviously beginning to panic. Probably realizing this wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d thought it would be.

  Fortunately, at that moment the rest of the security team, led by Stefano, filtered into the room from the other side, their weapons raised and obviously out-numbering the two guards and the prince. Tony and the palace guard should be arriving in the scene at any minute.

  “Put your weapons down,” Stefano growled.

  “No!” Viktor shouted, but his two guards were smart enough to place their weapons on the floor and raise their hands in the air. Rico noticed with relief that Angelina began to ease away from the guy who’d released her. Seb inched along the wall, carefully approaching her, taking Rico’s instructions to heart. Rico lowered his weapon, looking forward to taking his amore into his arms again as soon as he could secure the prince and his thugs. He headed across the room toward the prince.

  “Sh
e is mine! Only mine!” Viktor shouted.

  The next few seconds seemed to move in slow motion. Viktor lunged for one of the guns the guards had set down and aimed it at Angelina. Rico raised his weapon but Viktor got his shot off first. Seb dove, pushing Angelina out of the way as Viktor pulled the trigger. The impact knocked Seb onto his back, spread-eagle on the floor.

  Rico’s bullet hit Prince Viktor in the shoulder. He was then tackled by several members of the security team while Rico and Stefano dashed to the other side of the room, toward Seb and Angelina. The princess was already kneeling beside Seb, calling his name.

  He couldn’t see any blood, so hopefully the vest under his shirt did what it was supposed to do. Rico grabbed his shoulder and shook, calling out his name. Seb groaned and opened his eyes.

  “Man, that hurts.” He rubbed his chest and they helped him sit up.

  Angelina gave him a big kiss. “You’re my hero! You saved my life. Thank you.”

  “It was my honor, Your Highness,” Seb said with a grin. And then a wince. He was going to have a hell of bruise.

  Rico couldn’t wait any longer to touch Angelina. He ran his hand down her back. Warm. Alive. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” She let him pull her in for an embrace but then eased away. “Thank you, Mr. Santori. I will be forever in your debt.”

  Rico frowned. “We need to talk.”

  Her eyes flashed as she got to her feet. “I know I was stupid. I know I shouldn’t have left the palace without my bodyguard. I don’t need to hear it from you.”

  “That’s not—” He didn’t want to argue with her now. Rico stood and opened his arms. “Angie…”

  “No.” She stumbled away from him. “I…I can’t do this.”

  Frustrated, he asked, “I suppose you’d blocked this guy from contacting you?”

  She lifted a brow and didn’t relax her expression one bit. “Can you blame me?”

  “Not at all.” Rico wanted to take her someplace quiet and convince her to give him a chance, but she’d been forced against her will once today already. He didn’t want her to think he was anything like Prince Viktor.

  Then Tony and the palace guard arrived. The house was swarming with security and Rico would have to deal with them too.

  Stefano swept Angelina up in a big hug. “I’m taking you home,” he said. “Papa and everyone else is very concerned.”

  She nodded and turned with Stefano’s arm around her, ignoring Rico. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked Seb.

  “Sure. I’m fine, Your Highness.”

  “Good. Thank you again for saving my life. I’ll see you later on then. Signora Bea said you and Maria will be staying at the palace?”

  “Yeah. Let her know I’m okay.”

  “I will,” Angelina said and then walked away with her brother without even a glance at Rico.

  Stefano spared Rico a look and a little shrug and then he was gone with his sister, leaving Rico and Tony to clean up the mess.

  Rico tried calling Angelina later that day. His call went directly to voice mail the first couple times. The third time he tried, he got a busy signal. He almost laughed. She’d blocked him, just as she had the other guys she thought were harassing her. Did she actually think he was harassing her? Or was she simply angry at him?

  Over the next few days, Rico continued to throw all his energy into Santori Security. He hired a receptionist who not only understood the payroll and billing systems he’d been struggling with, but could set up and maintain a website as well. Emilia had the front office, the entire business, running smoothly within a day and a half. The guys he’d hired knew what they were doing.

  The only one who needed to get his shit together was him.

  Angelina made her way down to the kitchen. Maria and Seb had left for Tuscora the day before, but Angelina had enjoyed spending time with them while they were here. Signora Bea and sometimes Signor Leo had joined them too. No one in her family knew her feelings for Rico, but these four people did. They sympathized with her but tried to convince her to give him the benefit of the doubt.

  She had to decide if the risk of getting hurt even more was worth the possible reward.

  Signora Bea had asked her to stop by this afternoon. Angelina took a break from the research she’d been doing online. Mia had told her jokingly that she should put her talents to work as a wedding planner and it was like a light had turned on inside her. Now Angelina was looking into her options. She’d enjoyed her time working on Mia’s wedding more than anything in ages.

  Not counting her time in Tuscora, of course.

  She missed Rico with a constant ache that had seeped into her bones. She’d probably have to learn to live with it for the rest of her life. He wasn’t interested. He couldn’t have said it any more bluntly.

  When she saw him rush into Viktor’s villa, she’d nearly lost her breath. Rico was so strong and powerful. The protector she knew him to be. The man she loved. She’d wanted nothing more than to run into his arms when it was all over, but her pride hadn’t allowed her to let her heart get trampled on again. Especially after such an emotional experience. She didn’t want to make a fool of herself with him again.

  She heard Beatrice speaking softly as she approached the dining room. A soft male voice responded. She thought it was Leo until she stepped inside and saw Rico standing with his mother. Angelina froze in the doorway, unable to move. She couldn’t run away, but couldn’t step forward either.

  Beatrice gave Rico a nudge and he turned to face Angelina. The cold mask was gone and his expression seemed hopeful. Joyful. Or was that simply what she wanted to think? Could she be hopeful as well? Could she find joy with Rico after all?

  “Well,” Beatrice said, when neither one of them moved, “I have gotten you two together, that’s all I can do. I’m sorry for any part I played in keeping you apart. But after all that has happened, even I know you both would be foolish to throw away what you could have together. But it’s up to you now.” She walked out of the dining room and left them alone, staring at each other across the large room.

  “Hey,” Rico said softly.

  “Hi,” she whispered, her heart racing wildly.

  Rico moved first. Angelina saw the deep breath in the rise of his chest, heard it on a shaky exhale. He crossed to her, but stopped with a good arm’s length between them. “Angelina, I’ve missed you so much. If you can ever forgive me for pushing you away, perhaps you would like to take a drive so we could be alone.”

  Tears prickled her eyes, but this time she didn’t mind them. “And talk for hours?”

  “And talk for hours,” he agreed. “Will you come with me, amore?”

  She bit her lip and nodded. He reached out his hand and she wrapped her fingers around his. Something that had been wound tight inside her loosened and she drew in a clear breath for the first time in weeks.

  Soon they were in his luxurious car and away from the palace. He glanced at her. “Where would you like to go?”

  “I’d like to see your home.” It would be easier to talk when he didn’t have to concentrate on the road. And she was interested to see the home he’d built outside the palace walls.

  Although Angelina was a self-professed romantic and would like to declare her happily-ever-after at this moment, she knew they weren’t quite there yet. She’d admitted her love for Rico, but he had yet to tell her the same.

  “It’s not much to look at,” he said, but he took the right turn toward the city. “I haven’t had time to devote to anything but the basics.”

  She shifted in her seat so she could see him better. “You mean you’ve been busy building a business and rescuing princesses?”

  “Something like that.”

  They rode in silence for a few minutes. This car smelled like Rico, spicy and masculine. “I meant what I said the other day,” she told him when she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I admire the life you’ve built. Often I feel as if I haven’t even begun to live ye
t. I haven’t built anything for myself.”

  “You’re wrong,” he said. “Princess Angelina is not an accident of birth. You have become a gracious, passionate woman. You could have become arrogant and entitled like Phillip or Viktor. You could have turned to partying, to drugs or alcohol like so many young people who have too much. Your life is what you have made it, Angie. And that’s just one of the many reasons I love you.”

  Angelina’s breath caught. He loved her. “I was afraid I’d never hear you say that.”

  They’d reached the city and when they stopped at an intersection, Rico looked at her. “I love you, amore. I’m sorry I was so hard-headed. It’s not easy to ignore the way you’ve seen the world for all your life.”

  “You know none of that matters to me, right? The so-called station into which we are born? Yes, it plays a part in the people we become, but just because we didn’t grow up the same doesn’t mean we can’t build a future together.”

  “I know that now. I can’t imagine my life without you in it.” He let out a quick bark of laughter. “Actually, I can. I’ve been living it for the past few weeks and may I say, they were the worst weeks of my life.”

  She brushed her fingers over his on the wheel. “Mine too.” Rico grasped her hand and lifted it to his lips. She no longer felt restless or claustrophobic. Instead, wrapped around her was an amazing sense of belonging.

  Inside this small car with Rico, the walls were no longer closing in on her. They’d been blown away. The future was now wide open before her.

  Soon they were standing in front of the tall building that housed Santori Security. When she’d been there before, Angelina hadn’t noticed the three stories, the warm stone walls, the bright blue shutters. The building faced the wide, busy boulevard and was surrounded by shops and restaurants. It was bigger and busier than Tuscora, but she loved the feeling of being a part of Mezzano and its people, instead of being secluded away behind palace walls.