Russian Enforcer's Royal Engagement (Russian Enforcers Book 7) by Nic Saint

eligible young women there.”
    “Or photo models. Or princesses. Or gorgeous actresses below the age of twenty-five,” she stated moodily. She and Jack, when they’d finally come up for air, had taken a stroll to the casino, and she’d noticed how the women, all more stunning than the next, had practically thrown themselves at him, all the while darting envious and derisive glances at her.
    “Don’t worry too much about the competition, honey,” advised her mother. “After all, if you’re only in a physical relationship with the man, there’s nothing to worry about, is there? As long as your heart is not on the line…”
    She grimaced, then admitted, “I might have feelings for him, Mom.”
    Mom sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of.” She eyed her solicitously. “Be careful, all right? I really don’t want to see you get hurt a second time. After that horrible Murgatroyd man…”
    Diana groaned at the recollection of Jim, the lawyer who’d dumped her. “Don’t worry, Mom. I won’t let that happen again. Ever.”
    Though as she spoke the words she had the distinct impression it was happening again. Wasn’t she dating a guy who was way out of her league? Wouldn’t she ever learn?
    “Do you even know his full name?” Mom asked cheekily.
    Diana frowned. “As a matter of fact, I don’t,” she admitted. She’d only ever called him Jack.
    “His Royal Highness Jacques Francois Georges de Betancourt,” Mom said, rolling the words around her tongue. “Quite a mouthful.”
    “He is,” Diana blurted out before realizing she’d said too much.
    Mom laughed heartily, patting her daughter’s hand. “At least you’re having fun.”
    They were definitely having fun, Diana thought with a wicked grin, then clasped her mother’s hand. “Oh, Mom, can’t you stay a little longer? I’m gonna miss you so much.”
    “I’m only a Skype call away, honey,” Mom told her cheerfully, though it was clear from the expression on her face she was just as unhappy to leave Montinia.
    “I’ll call you every day,” Diana promised.
    “You better,” warned Mom. “I want to know everything that goes on with you and Prince Jack.”
    “Trust me, you will.”
    “And if he so much as looks at you the wrong way I’m taking the first flight to kick his ass myself.”
    Diana leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder. “Oh, Mom.”
    She sighed, hoping it would never come to that. In a few days Jack would probably tire of her, and send her home, and that would be it. Her vacation would be over, as would her royal romance. She decided to harden her heart so that this time she wouldn’t be caught unawares. The sex was great, but that was all this was ever going to be. She decided to enjoy it while it lasted.
    Which would probably not be very long.

CHAPTER 23

    Jack eyed the burly police chief askance. “Are you telling me you still have no clue who these men were?”
    They were seated in Jack’s office, the head of the Montinian police department here on his invitation.
    The chief scratched his grizzled scalp, then wiggled his three chins, directing an apologetic look at the prince. “We’ve searched the entire palace, Your Highness. Not a single trace.”
    “No fingerprints? No fibers, DNA or footprints? But that’s impossible!”
    “It is very unlikely,” the other man agreed, “but unfortunately these men are pros. Apart from the damage they caused it’s almost as if they were never here.”
    Jack gestured impatiently. “And the kinds of weapons they used? Or the explosives? You must be able to trace those, right?”
    The police chief eyed him wearily. “Just your garden-variety plastique, Prince Jacques. And the weapons were never discharged. We didn’t find a single bullet.”
    Jack thought back to the weapon they’d fired in Diana’s face; only a gaseous substance had erupted. He frowned. What kind of terrorist doesn’t use bullets? This whole thing was growing curiouser and curiouser by the