Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I lost my cool. Could have shot the king had my reflexes been poor because as soon as that door flew open, I had my gun trained on him in about two seconds flat.
Heard the insults he flung and was an asshole back to him, but he’s not my king. I don’t owe him any ass-kissing, and I have a commodity he needs—protection of his daughter.
The things the king said, while offensive, are one hundred percent true. I don’t come from an appropriate royal lineage to compete for Camille’s hand, nor do I have the requisite money. It didn’t hurt my feelings or anger me when he tossed these facts out with a tone that made it clear I’m not good enough.
But for him to think he has the right to assume I want that life, that I’m only here to take advantage of Camille’s status and wealth… well, that crossed a line and made the asshole in me come out.
Granted, Camille did defend our relationship. But she did it from the standpoint that this is just a fling, that she’s a mature adult and is entitled to have one, and that she and I both have accepted it’s temporary. She pointed out that I have my life, and she has hers.
Also all true and accurate.
Sure, it bothers me a little that she didn’t come to my defense when her father accused me of taking advantage. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to quell that accusation. I can’t figure out if that was an oversight due to anger and possibly embarrassment at being caught naked in bed with me, or perhaps her dad got into her head, and now she’s wondering if she misjudged me.
Regardless, every bit of that exchange pissed me off, and after the king left, I didn’t want to talk about it. I was already beyond stressed that for the next several hours, Camille will be at high risk for getting killed. I don’t need her apologies on her dad’s behalf, nor the reminder that we’ll never be able to work this out for the long run.
So I took a hasty shower, dressed, and left the room without a backward glance. Camille didn’t try to stop me, but I know the whole incident has left her pretty shaken.
Once outside her room, I called Paul to come up and take my place, as well as ordered four more security agents to her room, stationing two at each end of the hallway. I instructed Paul to stay in her room while she was there, and I don’t care if she finds that intrusive. She has plenty of secure, private places within her suite to get ready. But while her balcony is three stories up and the locked windows are bulletproof, it’s still a point of ingress if someone were to blow it open. As such, Paul’s job is also to keep Camille away from the windows, but that’s not difficult. Her suite is big enough to do so.
When she’s ready to move about the palace, she’ll have a total of six agents with her, not including Paul.
Paul keeps me updated via text on Camille’s whereabouts, and I make sure to be in another part of the palace at all times. Currently, I know she’s up in her room getting ready for the party, which starts soon. The Winterbournes will have a receiving line, so they’ll be down shortly to get in place. I’m making my way through the three interconnecting rooms where the party will be held, making sure everything is in order. I move slowly through each room, once again taking in every window and door ingress and egress. The middle room, a massive library space, is actually two stories high with sweeping staircases at opposite ends of the room going up to a large, walk-around balcony. Up there, groupings of furniture offer spots for guests to sit and chat.
I wanted to cut off access to that area because if somebody did manage to get a gun inside, it would be a prime angle from which to take a shot. Dmitri denied my request, pointing out that the chance of a gun getting smuggled in was almost nonexistent, and he’s right about that. Our searches have been thorough and the metal detectors are functioning. He did assign additional plainclothes security to that area, though.
In fact, we’re all in plainclothes. While an assassin wouldn’t be stupid enough to think we’d go without security, they won’t know who we are as the male agents will all be in tuxedos and the females in evening gowns. We have minuscule, high-tech earpieces to enable us to speak to one another. Weapons are hidden in chest holsters or strapped to thighs in the case of the female agents. I note their gowns have easy-access slits, which will probably make them a bit quicker on the draw than the men.