Page 25 of The Princess and Her Mercenary

Chapter Thirteen

Ndari glanced over Keane’s shoulder and realized that they were being confronted by a room full of palace guards. She gripped Keane’s shoulder and said, “Please don’t kill anyone.”

He turned his face to look at her with narrowed eyes. “You don’t want me to kill the guys who broke into my house and are pointing their weapons at me?” he demanded, his voice booming in anger, his accent thicker, as he turned the full wrath of his gaze on the men filling their kitchen. “The fucking men who are pointing guns at my future wife?”

Every weapon in the kitchen except Keane’s suddenly pointed at the floor.

Ndari would’ve laughed if the situation wasn’t so serious. Even though there were nearly a dozen palace guards, they still looked a little green at being faced with one extremely angry Irishman.

“Half of these guys are related to me,” she said quietly to Keane. “I’d hate to have to tell my aunt Christine that her youngest son was killed while trying to retrieve me from my future husband. It’ll make for awkward family reunions.”

“Fuck!” Keane snapped and pointed his guns at the floor too.

They seemed to be in a standoff. Finally, Ndari peeked around Keane's shoulder and said, "What do you guys want with me? Why does my brother keep sending you?"

One of them took a shuffling step forward. Her cousin, Tereq.

"We need you to come with us, Princess Ndari."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah I pretty much figured that's what you guys want. What I want to know is why?"

She could feel the tension vibrating through Keane.

He was a person of action, and there were threatening men in his home. The restraint that he was showing was incredible. She placed her hand on his back and rubbed, trying to ease some of the tension.

"You can't really believe that I'll go with you," she said, and then she glanced at Keane. “Or that he'll let me."

Tereq took another tentative step forward. "It doesn't matter what you want. Your brother sent us to collect you and that's what we'll do."

"Even if it means your death?" she asked, annoyed.

Whatever Tareq was about to say next was lost in the cacophony of Keane's men piling in through the front and back doors and surrounding the palace guards in the kitchen.

"Hold!" Keane shouted at his men.

No one moved a muscle. Keane glanced at his number two, Jacob, and said, "A little late?"

His man shrugged. "You gave us the night off. Figured you could take care of yourself." Keane glared at him and Ndari asked, "What happens now?" She didn't direct the question at anyone in particular.

"Your brother will keep sending more of us," Tareq pointed out.

Ndari looked up at Keane and said quietly, "It's true. He's never been good at losing. If he thinks he’s right about something he’ll keep fighting for it."

Keane growled something not very polite, took Ndari by the wrist and backed out of the kitchen with her. The palace guards looked like they would follow, but Keane's men closed in around them. "Please don't kill anyone," she shouted as Keane pushed her out the back door.

"Looks like our date's over," he said.

"Looks like," she repeated mournfully, disappointed that they didn’t get to have sex. She thought about their dilemma for a second, then glanced up at Keane through her eyelashes as he escorted her to one of his SUV’s. "Or is it? How do you feel about Prague?"

“It’s a city,” he said, starting the SUV. “Don’t care for it more or less than any other place.”

“You learned to love Paris,” she pointed out as he pulled the vehicle onto the road. She figured he was just going to leave his men behind to deal with the mess of palace guards.

He flashed her a heated look. “I’ll love any place as long as you’re in it.”

She smiled happily. “Then you’ll love Prague. Because that’s where I want to be.”

“What’s in Prague?” he asked gruffly.

“My favourite dessert.”

They planned their trip as Keane drove to the train station, preferring a private car where they could make love and nap over an airplane that would get them there too soon.

Keane bought the tickets while Ndari kept watch for their pursuers, wearing one of her brand new wide-brimmed hats as a disguise. It was a joke and she knew it. The palace guards weren’t going to hurt her, and they didn’t seem interested in hurting Keane. Though she knew they were well trained, her brother was clearly not planning on a violent confrontation. Slipping through their fingers was child’s play. Especially for a man like Keane.

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