Page 42 of Royal Salvation

Eidolon was their parent team and the more well-known, but no less deadly or qualified at protection, having been protecting the Queen for near on six years. Reaper knew it made sense to draw Playboy and his team out and end this for good, but he wasn’t willing to take the chance. Not with her, not with Lucía. “No, I won’t have her put in danger.”

“Do I get a say in this?”

Reaper glanced at the woman he was breaking all his rules for and shook his head. “No, not with this, Lucía. I can’t risk you getting hurt.” He prayed she understood he was coming from a good place and didn’t fight him. Yes, he was making a unilateral decision about her safety, but he needed her to trust him when it came to her safety more than he could say.

“Fine but if things change, we do it his way. I can’t spend my life being hunted, Justice.”

Reaper gritted his teeth and nodded, knowing he had no other choice. Seeing the haunted look in her eyes over the last few hours as the memory of the video returned had been agony, and he knew how much it was affecting her.

Bás grinned but it was anything but warm and friendly, and Reaper knew he’d been caught with his own net. “I see. Well, let’s try the hacker first and see if Bishop can find any information.”

Not particularly wanting to have the conversation but knowing it might be a good source of information, Reaper made the offer anyway. “I can speak to my father and see if he knows anything.”

Duchess angled her head, her dark hair falling across her neck and the myriad of tattoos adorning the slender column, visible. “You sure about this, Reaper?”

“Yeah, it makes sense. He still has contacts in the military.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

Reaper glanced at Lucía who was watching him, clearly overwhelmed by it all and suffocating in ghosts from the past. “I am.”

“Which brings us to the next question, Princess Lucía’s visit to the Middle East. I know we said we’d do everything we could to make this happen, but given the number of unknowns in the mix, I don’t conceivably see how it can happen safely at this time.”

Reaper felt a sliver of relief go through him that Bás had brought this up. Since the image had come through and he’d realised how much danger she was in, he’d been dreading pulling the rug from under her and saying she had to cancel. Especially as he now knew the purpose of the trip was to check on the girl from the photograph. The one he knew was already dead.

The air from the AC cooled his heated skin but did nothing to ease the sadness in his heart as he accepted he had to tell her and knowing it would break her heart. He desperately wanted to reach for her, hating that they had to hide this from his boss as if what they shared was dirty instead of the beauty he’d found with her.

He hadn’t lied when he’d said she was his. Making love to her had cemented something inside of him. The thought of her being with anyone else sent a sharp splinter through his gut. He just didn’t know if he deserved a woman like her. No, scratch that. He knew he wasn’t good enough and yet he wanted her anyway. He just wasn’t sure he could find a way to make it happen or if it was even what Lucía wanted.

Perhaps he was her bit of rough before she settled down with a Duke or Prince, someone more suited to her standing in life. A man who could stand beside her proudly, not one who was, in essence, a glorified killer. What he did know was that whatever man she ended up with, he’d need to be extraordinary to be good enough for her.

“Reaper?”

He shook himself from the thoughts overriding his brain and glanced at Lucía. “Sorry, what?”

“I asked if you agreed with Bás?”

He nodded and reached for her hand off-camera, feeling her silky skin warm against his rough, calloused hand. “Yes, I agree with Bás. Maybe when this is all handled you can rearrange the visit but currently, it’s too dangerous. There are too many variables to deal with and it would end up with someone getting hurt or worse.”

“I see.” Her head dropped before she seemed to rally, straightening her spine, and lifting her head in such a regal manner it was hard for him to understand how the whole world didn’t see the amazing woman he did, despite the disguises she wore for her job. “Well, given that, I’ll cancel or rather postpone the visit and reschedule when things are more settled, but I want to go.” Her eyes came to him then, imploring him to understand. “I need to know what happened to her.”

Reaper squeezed her hand, hating that he had to tell her and break her heart. “I understand and we’ll figure something out.”

Lucía nodded once. “Okay, well if that’s all you need from me, I might go and visit with Caleb and John while you talk about whatever it is secret special ops people talk about.”

His family had just arrived back from the beach and the timing was perfect. Reaper watched her leave, his eyes moving over her as he tried his best to hide his increasing feelings for her.

The door closed firmly behind her, he turned back to the screen to see, Bás and Duchess were the only two still on the call.

“What the fuck, Reaper?”

He could deny it and pretend he didn’t know what his boss was talking about, but this team only worked because of the transparency and honesty among them all. No matter how painful this conversation was going to be, he needed to have it. “I care about her, Bás.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck. You knew the rules and you broke them. What the fuck is happening to you all? Falling in love every two fucking seconds.”

“It’s not love, I just…” He stopped because how could he quantify how he felt about her when every thought or sentence made it sound more and more like love. But that wasn’t the plan, he didn’t put down roots. He was too much like his father, too selfish to love anyone and commit to their happiness over his own, wasn’t he? “I didn’t plan this.”

“Reaper, you may not see this but it’s clear as day from where I’m sitting that Princess Lucía is in love with you and if I’m not very much mistaken, the feeling is mutual. If it isn’t, you need to end it right now.”