Page 17 of Keep Her from Them

For all I knew, he could be. “Aye. Hand him over and we’ll go.”

The manager stared at me for a beat longer then turned to his staff. “Release him.” To me, he added, “Get him out of here, now. You can leave by the side exit.”

It meant we’d be half a building away from Alex, but with the fight on the main dance floor, I’d take it. I nodded, and the bouncers released Dori with a shove. The young aristocrat swung around, but I neatly hooked an arm around him and towed him after the manager. A short hallway took us to an exit,and we spilled out into a dark and dirty alley, the door slamming behind us.

The second we were outside, Dori shoved me off. “I’m not a fucking prince.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. “Then who the hell are ye?”

“Count Sonderburg.”

“All the same to me. We need to get to Alex.”

The count pulled his phone from his pocket, the screen lit. “She’s calling me.”

My stomach did a strange flip. “Answer her.”

He curled his lip but obliged, putting her on loudspeaker.

“Are you out of the club?” Alex gasped.

“I am. You didn’t need to send your attack dog in to fetch me.”

She audibly exhaled then replied, “Is Raphael okay?”

“Ask him yourself.”

“All good,” I quickly said so she knew I could hear.

A tyre screech came from her end of the line. My heart thumped. It didn’t come from nearby. I could hear the road at the end of our alley just fine.

“Alex, where are ye?” I asked.

“Someone tried to take pictures through the taxi window. I had to leave. I’m so sorry for abandoning you.”

Dori paled and handed me the phone. Whatever was in my expression had infected him.

“You did the right thing,” I told her. “Are they chasing ye?”

Her voice came out small. “I don’t think so, but my driver is going fast just in case. I’m almost at the palace. Can you please bring Dori back?”

“Of course I will. Stay on the line.”

I gave the phone back to Dori and fished out my own, summoning the nearest taxi. It was only a minute away, but that felt too long. My strategy to separate them had been a sound one.I got my principal out and away safely. Had I been part of a team, she wouldn’t be alone right now. But the shite setup designed for her protection was failing hard.

On my phone’s app, the car neared, and we left the alley to find it. At the roadside, I scanned the crowd outside the club, anger brewing inside me all the more. This was a disaster from start to finish.

Dori rolled his shoulders, a bruise revealed on his collarbone.

“Are ye hurt?” I asked.

He shook his head. A black cab pulled up, and we climbed in, leaving Hell behind.

The cab moved out, and Alex’s friend put his head in his hands and muttered something down his phone. I held my tongue. He’d made the night a hundred times more dangerous. Alex had encouraged him. Neither would want to hear what I had to say about it.

It was only Alex’s quiet, “I’m safe,” that finally let me take a deep breath.

A short while later, we rolled up to the palace gates, our driver stopping but the armed police keeping to their posts.

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