Page 54 of Royal Agenda

“Yeah, I got him.” Sean pushed the man onto his side, revealing a dart in his left shoulder. He reached down and pulled it out, clipping it to his belt where three other darts resided.

Ryker harrumphed. “You waited long enough.”

Liam surged from the water in full submersible combat gear, including a rebreather. The three baby alligators followed him on shore and stared up at him. He gave Ryker and Sean a thumbs up and then began stripping out of his gear. He was done in less than thirty seconds and looked like any other guy wearing a swimsuit and tank top and carrying a beach bag. He stopped to motion for the alligators to return to the water, which they did, before beginning his patrol around the island at a tourist’s pace.

Sean turned back to their attacker.

“Closing in to secure your position,” Mack’s voice came through the phone. They turned to see him cross the bridge.

“Is Kate safe?” Ryker asked, feeling protective of the rock n’ roll bookworm.

“She’s oblivious. I knocked over half a shelf of books before coming to get you. She thought it was Chester, the ghost, and was scolding him when I slipped out.”

Sean struggled to check his grin. “You tangled with Chester? Man, I thought you hated ghosts.”

Mack shuddered. “I do.” He brushed off both his shoulders and whispered something in Gaelic. “That should keep him off my tail until we’re out of here.” He frowned at the bounty hunter. “How long until he wakes up, Sean?”

Sean shrugged. “I didn’t give him that much juice. He’ll be awake before we’re at base.”

“Bien. I want to know how he found me. Why did he come after me?” Ryker looked back and forth between the SEALs. “Diamond Cove must be safe.” If not, they’d need to relocate and that would mean leaving Grace. That was no longer an option for him.

“Too bad we can’t use Sweetie to frighten him into confessing,” Mack joked.

“Who says we cannot?” Ryker asked. He would do anything to get the answers they needed.

The three men glanced at one another, waiting for one of them to protest. When none of them did—after all, this guy would have killed Ryker and taken home a paycheck—Mack spoke into his phone. “Liam, change of plans. We’re headed to Aaron’s alligator rescue . . .” He began giving instructions.

Ryker chuckled in admiration. “This is not how it is done, buckaroo.”

Sean laughed. “No one says buckaroo.” He smacked Ryker on the shoulder. “Nice take-down by the way.”

Ryker beamed. “It was. Grazie. I should get back to lunch. I have some apologizing to do to a beautiful woman.”

Mack’s hand shot out to stop him. “Sorry, Romeo. We can’t let you go just yet. We don’t know if this guy is a lone ranger or the head of a pack.”

Ryker sighed. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

He stared longingly across the bridge. “I was rude.” He thought of the hopeful way she’d invited him to meet her sister and her sister’s fiancé. Meeting the family was important and a step forward for them.

And he’d walked out without saying goodbye in an effort to save her life but it was not like he could tell her that. If he were advising his sisters, he would tell them that they should expect to be treated with respect and honor and should dump this sorry borsa di ossa.

He pulled out his phone to send Grace a text and promised to see her soon.

Sean snatched it out of his hands. “Sorry. Until we know how he found you, it’s radio silence and bodyguard duty.”

Ryker’s heart sank. It must have shown on his face because Sean added, “We’re not thrilled about it either.”

“Let’s roll,” Mack said into his phone, starting a flurry of action as the team efficiently extracted the bounty hunter from the site.

Ryker prayed for inspiration. His relationship with Grace was new and he sensed she had reservations about him. She was too perceptive not to notice the way he danced around questions. So far, she had–what did his friends say?--given him a pass. But after today, she would want answers.

Answers he could not give.

He would need to ask her to forgive him and give an explanation—though he would have to make it up because he could not tell her he was attacked by a bounty hunter.

And yet, when faced with death, she’d been his hope.

Perhaps he was a Romeo—a man who fell in love quickly and completely.

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