Page 35 of Mercenary Princess

“Glad to hear it. That doesn’t mean I’m on board with the tactics he used to get you to come to him.”

Sophia slanted a glance at her friend before adding, “Agreed. Though I needed it.” She wouldn’t have gone to him otherwise, and it had been incredible.

But was it wise to go for seconds?

Ever astute, Jen drawled, “I won’t argue that you needed it. So why the frown?”

“Because he makes me want things I can’t have.” Simple things. Beautiful things people took for granted, like being held in the morning. Things she had too many secrets to have with anyone.

Even if it were possible to have more, relationships burned out. There were very few happily ever afters. The couples that lasted in her world were no more than business partners, and even that kind of arrangement required trust. How could she trust a man with not only her secrets, but with the secret lives of all the people she cared about? She couldn’t. Her work meant something to her. This life had started with the vacant eyes of a dead boy, but if she were truly being honest, it had really begun as a kind of atonement for the evils in her own family.

Jen jolted her out of her thoughts. “Sleeping with him was the mistake.”

“I know.” She was well aware she’d been playing with fire, but she’d been spent and had felt safe in his arms. Safe and more alive than she could ever remember feeling.

They parked just as a soft orange glow burned from the horizon, warming the edges of the gray clouds beyond.

Jen scanned the area diligently as she exited the vehicle, sidling around it and opening Sophia’s door when she was confident they were alone. Mostly alone, anyway. Somewhere in the shadows lurked their mercenary backup. Cade and Sean were staying at Riot’s sprawling mansion across the street.

Porch lights flickered through the filigree of heavy iron gates and lush canopy of old elms of the home in question. She didn’t see the men, and no sound permeated the quiet streets. Even the winds were calm, though that didn’t make it any warmer. Sophia rubbed her bare arms, wishing she’d considered a wrap. It was colder in the chilly early morning than it had been last night.

She lifted her head, taking in a deep breath of fleeting freedom, which smelled suspiciously like damp leaves, as she followed her guard. Their discreet entry through a shrubbery path was secured by hidden facial-recognition cameras. After they were through, Jen lifted a storm grate in the grass. Both grate and hidden door opened as one, and they climbed down to the cool, decades-old stone passage.

“I’m going to check out his audio and video files now. Go get some rest before you have to make a breakfast appearance,” Jen instructed. Checking data was something her friend would be able to do in the adjacent house’s high-tech “bat cave,” as Forde fondly named it.

“Let me know what you find.” A part of her didn’t want any bad news about the Russian, but she apparently had a modicum of self-preservation left where he was concerned.

*****

Viktor eyed his men after returning from the garage. He hadn’t wanted Sophia to leave, and he wasn’t used to having to compromise.

His men were glaring holes at the table when he approached. There was no missing the mess of snack bags and coffee mugs surrounding a pile of discarded cards.

With a glance, he was able to see the hands. “Am I to believe the woman took all your money?”

They grumbled in Russian but didn’t deny it before he walked back into his rooms, grinning. His men played poker all the time and boasted about their skills often enough.

His amusement fled when he entered his private space and hit the remote for the curtains.

He had a lot to consider. He’d had the woman in his bed for one night, and he already craved more of her. He had been willing to give a great deal to have her again, whether she’d believed him or not. She matched him as if made for him, and the sweet innocence mixed with her fiery passion made a lethal pairing that called to him in ways he couldn’t explain. She hadn’t held back any part of herself while in his bed. He nearly groaned, remembering the shock glazing her eyes every time she’d come for him. Her lack of lovers seemed at odds with her needs. But she had blazed fiercely for him, and he was determined to play with that fire until it burned out.

After a few moments, Ivan found him looking out at the lightening skies of the courtyard. Viktor didn’t look back when the door clicked shut behind the man. “Has she returned safely?”

“Yes.” Her rented home was a few streets away, so close yet not so easily achieved. Their time together posed more than its share of challenges.

He turned at the charged silence. “The blocker?”

Without serial numbers, they had no way to narrow it to a buyer even if she’d left it, but Viktor generally did a cursory check of people or groups who purchased equipment. He was more than certain Porenza had not been on the list.

Ivan gave a slow nod. “None of the buyers on file have links to the princess or her family.”

The shadows in Ivan’s gaze made Viktor’s shoulders tense. “What is it?”

“Pavel noticed a faint radio signal ping the security system.”

Viktor narrowed his eyes at his friend. “Why am I just hearing about this?” He knew the answer already. Ivan was his second in command for a reason. He was a friend and skilled as his head of security. Plus, his men loved their guns, and he had plenty, far more than most countries, it often seemed. Not that he imagined the princess would mount some kind of attack on his home.

“When did this happen?”

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