Page 3 of The Princess and Her Mercenary

“Each family member gets their own code so we can access our jewelry for events and kidnappings. Maybe next time you ask me if I know a better way. Bullets aren’t always best.”

Keane didn’t agree with the no bullets thing, but he got her point. “Ah, well that might’ve been a bit smarter.”

“You think?”

He was going to have to spank the sass from her once he got her alone in a room not surrounded by angry palace guards. But, for now, he would have to settle for a kiss.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her up onto her toes, bending down to plant a quick, hard kiss on her. Stunned, she stared up at him as he broke away, grunting his displeasure. While the kiss, their first, was as awesome as he knew it would be, it was also extremely unsatisfying. He wanted more. Much more.

He didn’t have time for more. “C’mon, we gotta go.”

“But - ” she protested as he pulled her from the room, gun still in hand. He searched the halls and then took off down the one that led toward the kitchen. He’d been pouring over blueprints of the palace for months. He knew every nook and cranny.

“Can’t talk right now, Princess,” Keane said chidingly. “Plenty of time once we get outta here.”

“But…!”

A quartet of guards came hurtling down the hall toward Keane and Ndari. Keane shoved Ndari behind him and lifted his weapon, aiming at windows, shattering them and drawing the guard’s attention as they lunged in different directions trying to escape the bullets that weren’t being aimed at them.

“Amateurs,” Keane muttered.

Normally he’d be shooting at the guards and taking pride in a growing body count, but he remembered Ndari telling him that some of the palace guards were cousins and figured she might be a wee bit upset if he killed them. It was a wrench to his ego, but he could manage one operation without murdering someone. He hoped.

He picked Ndari up by the waist and tucked her into his side, retracing his steps. Feathers flew everywhere, some of them into his mouth. He spat them out as he ran and wondered why such expensive-looking material was so badly sewn together.

He’d have to take another route than he’d originally planned, the back way out was now cut off. He knew the entire palace layout, including the private residences, offices, servant quarters, kitchens, the jewelry room; everything. Originally, he’d wanted to take Ndari straight from her bedroom, but quickly realized he’d be trapping himself in a heavily guarded section of the palace. According to his source, the jewel room was not as heavily guarded as people might think. Each case had its own alarm and the room itself was located at the center of the palace, one door in and out and no windows. It was rarely guarded by actual people.

He heard guards in the distance, coming toward them, closing off their current escape route.

“In there,” Ndari chirped from his arms.

He looked down, then hurtled toward the door she had indicated. He hoped she was on his side of her kidnapping or he’d be really embarrassed when she trapped him in a corner.

“It’s locked,” he grumbled after trying the knob.

“Code,” she snapped.

He set her on her feet and she immediately punched a code into the panel underneath the knob. A clicking sound heralded the lock sliding back. Keane pushed her to the side and shoved the door open. Even if she was leading him into a trap, he wasn’t going to let her go first. Who knew how trigger happy these guards might be? They could shoot their own Princess without even realizing.

Keane was surprised to find himself stepping into a massive empty room. The Princess stepped in behind him, slammed the door shut and locked it again. She crossed her arms over her chest and demanded, “Explain.”

Keane was busy admiring the unexpected room. It was a huge boardroom with a table that ran the entire length, cushy chairs surrounding it. A screen took up one entire wall and another hosted floor to ceiling windows overlooking the small village outside of the palace walls. The view was stunning, and the room was a modern breath of fresh air in a heavily opulent and oppressive palace. If he had to guess, he’d say this was some kind of strategic planning or war room.

“We’re leaving,” Keane answered her, looking around the room. He pointed at the wall opposite. “Where’s that door go?”

“The roof,” she said, then shook her head. “I can’t go with you, Keane. My place is here in the palace. I’m not interested in a fling.” Then her eyes lit up. “Unless you’re taking me to see Jaya, and then, by all means. She changed the plan on me, which is really bad form, but I’ll take it up with her when I see her.”

“Nobody sent me,” he growled and, grabbing her arm, dragged her toward the door leading to the roof. “I assume this’ll lead to a helicopter pad? The men that use this room leave that way?”

“Yes, of course,” Ndari said impatiently.

“Well that’s just fucking perfect. Blows my original plan to hell,” he said as he hurried her through the door and up a flight of stairs. He pulled a radio off his belt and spoke into it. “Keane here. We’re moving to plan B, need a rooftop extraction. Wanna see the chopper in the next five minutes.”

A crackling voice responded with, “Yes, Commander. We’re four minutes out.”

As they burst onto the roof and out into the blinding desert sunlight, Keane grinned his pleasure. “Fucking destiny is what this is.”

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