Page 54 of Keep Her from Them

“Dori is meant to be my date for the gala tomorrow night. By now, he’d normally be sending me pictures of tuxedos or critiquing the guest list and planning on who he wanted to hook up with or persuade to go to a club with us after. To hear nothing at all is weird.”

“One second while I get to my room and we’ll talk it through.”

I listened as Raphael greeted someone, then stairs drummed and another door shut.

“Is that some kind of bodyguard accommodation?” I sat taller. “Are you in the palace?”

If he was here, I wanted to see him.

“No, princess. About half a mile from ye.”

Why did I love the way he called me princess? Like it wasn’t my designation but someone dainty and special to him.

Raphael continued, “Will is downstairs. Johnnie and Riss don’t seem to sleep here, but there are other palace staff in various flats, too.” A mattress creaked, and Raphael continued. “Tell me about Dori. How do ye know each other?”

“Sure you have time for this?”

“Didn’t I tell ye I have nothing to do in the city but wait on ye? Plus I called your number. Talk to me or I’ll go mad with boredom.”

I worked through my history of meeting Dori. “Both of us went to boarding school in Switzerland. Separate single-sex ones, that is. The schools are in the same town, so after hours and on weekends, the girls and boys would mix. There’s something uniquely punishing about being sent so far from home, so the kids bonded, fought, and flirted with this edge of desperation. He and I were best friends from the start.”

“Did ye date?” There was a funny tone to his voice.

“Each other? Never. We have exactly zero romantic chemistry, probably because we’re related through my father’s line. Second cousins, I think. I adore him, but it’s like he’s my favourite brother, if I ever had siblings.”

“Sure he feels the same?”

“I am. Why?”

“The last time ye mentioned him, he came up with a nickname for me. I’m naw exactly his favourite person. I wondered if he’s jealous and that might be why he’s ghosting ye.”

Hot Bodyguard, that was Dori’s name for Raphael. I stared at the pilot picture open on my screen and shivered. “I see your logic, but I’m ninety-nine percent certain he’s in love with someone else. He has been for a while, though he’s never told me who.”

“How do ye know? I’m not questioning it, just trying to get through the facts.”

I searched my mind. “He told me he’d met a girl, but it had to be secret. This was almost a year ago. The breakup affected him big time, but I saw rather than heard about that as he wouldn’t say a word. He spills secrets like they’re going out of fashion, but for her, he kept it to himself.”

“Secret suggesting she’s famous?”

Halfway to starting an answer, I stalled, stuck on what I’d discovered with my online stalking. “You could be right. Which is making me join the dots to him liking a post with a celebrity in it earlier. It was her engagement party. I think it said the party had taken place in Italy. I might be reaching, but I’ve got nothing else to go on.”

“Gut instinct shouldn’t be ignored. Have ye ever booked a flight for him?”

“That’s random. I have, but why?” We’d country-hopped regularly throughout our teens, catching cheap flights between cities and party locations.

“Got his passport number? I can track it for ye. If he’s in Italy, that’s an answer.”

My jaw dropped. “You can do that?”

“We monitor known risks that way.”

I jumped to my notes and found Dori’s passport details then sent them to Raphael. “This feels very illegal.”

“It is. Got a problem with that?”

I smothered a laugh. “No. If I don’t criminally cyber stalk my best friend, do I even care about him?”

“Exactly.” There was a pause, then he came back. “I’ve sent off the request. Should have information tomorrow.”

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