Page 77 of Royal Pain

I had to grin. “You’re worried about me?”

“Somebody has to.”

She could make me laugh.

As well as make me crazy.

The night before, the thought of possibly losing her had never been far from my mind. That meant one thing.

I could fall in love with this girl.

God help me.

“Alright, guys. Keep her safe. Call me if you see anything odd.”

“Don’t worry, boss. Everything will be fine.” Jeff seemed so certain. “And I did some research on the group you mentioned. Bad seed.”

I lifted my eyebrows, nodding. “You nailed it perfectly. We’re going to piss on them.”

After grabbing my keys, I pulled her into my arms and roughly kissed her lips.

“Get a room,” Ron teased.

I gave him my middle finger. At least I had people I could trust. Hmmm… I wondered how they would mind becoming part of the second tier. It would provide them more benefits, and profit sharing to start with. I might mention it to my brothers.

“Get ice cream on the way back.Honey,” she said in a teasing voice.

“Oh, yeah? What flavor?” The wistful look, the one that would grab at my heart for hours or days was right there under the surface. I could tell with every passing hour she was close to losing it, doing everything she could to hold it together. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to have a child ripped from her. I also couldn’t imagine how angry she must be at her parents. Although she’d realized and accepted her mother was a pawn as well.

God, I hated that word.

“Hmmm. Surprise me with three. And sugar cones.”

I threw a look at Jeff who was grinning. At least the guys likely realized why I adored her. “Oh, yes, princess. Anything else? Sprinkles?”

“Sure, why not? And soon you’ll be calling me your queen.”

I knew she was just teasing but it struck me much differently than it would have just a few weeks ago. Well, I had consideredmyself a playboy in those days. Hopefully, my errant behavior had ended.

I once again thought about my brothers, trying to explain I might want additional time off and grinned. They might laugh but we weren’t getting any younger and we all preferred running the Royal Players Clubs. A second tier was a good idea. Days like today reminded me of that.

“Anything you want. Princess.”

As I headed out, I turned back to study the woman once more. She was doing the same with me. Why did I have a terrible feeling that not only was the shit going to hit the fan, but that it was entirely possible lives of people I cared about would be destroyed?

Nope.

Not going to happen.

Not on my watch.

Glorious downtown San Diego. Well, our offices were closer to the beach, which was one reason both our father’s corporation and our wealth management firm sites had been selected. It was funny that so many people thought of us as a quaint town, where you could get anywhere within minutes. That couldn’t be furthest from the truth.

With seventy miles of beachfront property, over three hundred and seventy square miles within the city limits, and over onepoint four million people, we were considered the eighth largest city in the country.

However, the quaint areas were what we were known for, including the boardwalk.

Yes, I’d adored growing up and living here, even if both islands we’d purchased were wonderful refuges.

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