His Forbidden Princess by Jeannie Moon Page A

pajamas.

    Her hair was pulled back in a clip, and she was staring out at the horizon. Her pink t-shirt and pajama pants were too thin—so that, along with being wet—and she was shivering. “I don’t know where they are,” she finally said. “He didn’t tell me. Just that they are all together. I’m assuming they aren’t in Aubonne anymore.”

    “I don’t think they are,” Ian replied.

    “He didn’t tell me much. My sister’s going to be okay, so that’s good news.”

    Easing himself onto the lawn near her, but not too close, the droplets on the grass immediately soaked through his sweats. He wanted so badly to get Sofie inside, but he sensed how much she needed to talk. So, he was going to let her, and they’d dry off later.

    “I know you were worried about her. I’m glad to hear it.”

    “Did you know that, Ian? About my sister?”

    “I hadn’t been given that information, no.” That was the truth. Anna’s condition was well-guarded. Everything about the royal family was now highly restricted. The only information he’d had access to directly affected Sofie.

    “Did you know that my family will probably never be able to go home again?”

    He didn’t say anything. How could he tell her that had been made aware of the situation before they left two days ago?

    He thought about that. Two days. If felt like a lifetime had happened in forty eight hours.

    “You aren’t saying anything so I’m guessing you know the truth, then. I am officially homeless, and jobless.”

    “Sofie…” He didn’t know how to comfort her. There was nothing fair or right about what was happening.

    She was calm. So calm it worried him a little. “I don’t know where my family is. I’m in a strange country. And now I have no home.” She wiped at her eyes, before turning her head to him. “Am I still a target for the terrorists?”

    He nodded. “We believe so, yes.”

    “Okay. There’s that, too. I mean just to round it out.”

    “It’s all going to sort itself out. The terrorists are not going to get away with this.”

    “Maybe not, in the long run,” she said. “But my country is so tiny, Ian, and they have no stomach for violence. They’re going to want to save lives, and I can’t blame them.”

    Everything he was hearing made sense. She’d thought about it, and with that big,
    wonderful brain of hers, knew the safest course of action. He didn’t agree with it and wished he could help her fight.

    “I just don’t know what that means for us. Will we be in hiding forever? Are we always going to be at risk, even when the new ruler is in place?”

    “You’re projecting and you can’t do that. It’s a waste of energy.”
    “Maybe so, but it’s all I can do when people are keeping secrets from me. People I want to trust, but now know I can’t.”

    This time there was no glancing around, no questions. Sofie nailed him with her gaze and expected him to explain himself.

    “You’ve been keeping things from me, Special Agent Stuart.”

    “Yes, ma’am,” he confessed. “I have.”

    Unexpectedly, she stood and walked to the bulkhead. If she moved an inch, she’d be in the bay. The sky was pink, glowing, as the sun came up. A sign of the coming storm. But Sofie, for all her emotion, was calm because she knew exactly where she stood. “I didn’t think you would actually lie to me, Ian.”

    “I didn’t lie,” he said coming to her side. “I didn’t tell you everything, but I didn’t lie.”

    “Are we going to go round and round about this? I’m not a child.” She faced him and poked her index finger into his chest. She was angry, and he supposed he deserved it. “You didn’t tell me about my family,” she snapped. “Why not? Did you think I was too weak or fragile for the truth?”

    Grabbing her hand and holding her palm flat over his heart was a mistake he might
    regret. Everything in him responded to her. “Never, in all the time I’ve known you, have I ever