Page 7 of Liam

“Oh?”

She heard him stop moving and knew she had his full attention. “I fired my security team ten minutes ago.”

“You what?”

Taamira heard the controlled anger in his voice. “I had too, at least one of them has betrayed me and took a picture of me in the gym. It is plastered all over the media.”

“I’ll have someone on a plane in the next hour.”

“I want Liam.”

She waited for Jack to reply to her demand. She always asked for Liam, and she knew it drove both Jack and Liam crazy that she was so demanding. But the truth was, he was the one out of them all who gave her the security that she was safe. He was the man who’d seen to her safety; had stayed beside her as she dealt with the betrayal of her family. His loud, brash, annoying presence had soothed her soul, allowing her to come to terms with what had happened.

Liam had been the person who’d held her as she cried and seen her at her most vulnerable and perversely, it was the reason she forced him call her Princess still. She needed that distance to keep her heart safe from the man who would own it if she let him because she knew he would never feel that way about her. He tolerated her at best, was kind as part of his job, but he would never love her like she feared she could love him.

It was for that reason she was haughty and snobby around him, irritating him until they bickered. Keeping her walls up when all she wanted was to let them down.

Taamira laughed inwardly without humour, noting she must be a sadist because, despite all of those things, he was the one she wanted when things went wrong.

“He’ll be on a plane in the next hour,” Jack confirmed.

“Thank you, Jack.”

“No problem, Princess.”

Taamira hung up. Knowing Liam was on his way allowed her to breathe easier, the fear tightening her belly lessening slightly.

CHAPTER THREE

THROWING HIS BERGEN OVER HIS SHOULDER, LIAM MOVED TOWARDS THE LIFT IN THE HOTEL IN central Madrid. The concierge had been expecting him and even recognised him from previous visits, handing him a pass for the elevator that accessed the top floor of the Regent Grand. As the doors closed, Liam ignored his irritation of the fact he was back here, instead wondering at the excitement underneath.

He found he liked sparring with the Princess, who still insisted on her title when he addressed her. But even that little annoyance had him fighting the smile that played at his lips. The woman was smart as hell, funny, stubborn as shit, and so totally out of his league. That didn’t stop his dick from getting hard every time she came at him with her fire and attitude though.

Using the key, he opened the door to her suite; he’d catch up with Derek in a little bit. He’d called as Liam left for the airstrip with an update, telling him a bit of what had gone down. Liam had been furious to hear that one of the men he’d personally selected for this job had betrayed Taamira, and him as well. It left him feeling guilty and responsible for her current predicament.

He stepped through and yelled, “Honey, I’m home.” But before the last word left his mouth, he felt a breeze as something whistled past and turned to see a knife embedded in the wall beside his ear. Twisting quickly, he caught sight of the Princess, with her hand over her mouth in horror.

“What the fuck are you doing, woman?”

He glared at her, and her hands dropped as her feet seemed to come unglued from the plush cream carpet. Princess Taamira rushed to him and stopped a few feet away, running her eyes over his body in a way that shouldn’t make him want to take her to her back in a bed, but did. He wasn’t in a very forgiving mood at that moment though, so continued to glare.

“I wasn’t expecting you so soon,” she said as if that answered all his questions.

“So, you thought you’d throw a knife at anyone who walked through the door?” He turned and eyed the knife before returning his glare to her. “You could’ve frigging scalped me with that thing.”

He watched as her shoulders sagged and hated his words were the reason. She had been trying to protect herself, and he should be praising her, not being an asshole about it.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Her voice was quiet and nothing like the feisty woman he knew. He needed the woman who’d fought, who’d held her head high, and he knew the way to get her to come out.

“I’m sorry, what?” Liam cupped his hand to his ear and cocked his head to her.

As he hoped it would, her head came up and he saw the timid look turn to imperial fire in her eyes. He almost groaned with desire for this woman he couldn’t have as her neck lengthened in fury, her shoulders straightening like a warrior about to do battle.

“I take it back. I wish I’d had better aim now.”

She spun on the heels of her expensive designer shoes and sauntered away. He chuckled to himself and admired the sway of her hips in the loose-fitting jewel green pants. One thing was for certain, nothing was ever boring around the Princess.

He walked to his usual room beside her bedroom suite and dumped his bag on the bed before he went back into the main room and found her pouring herself a drink. Liam moved towards her and stopped, waiting for her to acknowledge him. He needed to give her that, so he did.