Elias stood there, canted sideways a little, easing his shoulder back. Aside from that readjustment, he was still slickly suited. Not a hair out of place. Not an inch of his starched shirt untucked. Even though he’d just—sort of—broken down the freaking door.
Damn it, that easy show of strength was sexy but also infuriating. His Royal Protection pay had damned well better cover their security deposit, not to mention the upcharge of getting someone out here right away to fix the door.
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I get the distinct impression this will not be the only time I give you this lecture. Let me be clear: I am now, officially, your shadow. Not to be an annoyance, not for protocol, but for your safety.”
“I can take care of myself. You wouldn’t be able to guess how many places we’ve stashed pepper spray around this apartment.” Plus, Kelsey wasn’t afraid to use the old reliable knee to the groin maneuver.
“Whether you remember or not, whether you believe me or not, the fact is that you are a princess of the House of Villani. That necessitates round-the-clock protection. Protection that will be easier all around if you cooperate.”
Mallory stepped up, toe to toe with him. Even in yellow-and-white striped cotton pajama pants and a white tee, she managed to look haughty. She gave Elias a measured once-over from head to toe. Chin jutted out, she asked, “How qualified are you to protect my sister?”
“Right now? I’m wearing two guns and two throwing knives. I’m an expert in three forms of martial arts. I’m a trained sniper. And, most importantly, I’m willing to give my life to save hers.”
Seriously? Elias had known her for maybe seven minutes, and he’d not just throw down for her, but sacrifice himself? Kelsey wasn’t sure if that fell more on the side of sexy or scary. All she knew was that his somber but factual ticking off of his abilities had given her goose bumps on every inch of exposed skin.
Knees more than a little wobbly, she sank onto the nubby brown sofa they had big plans to recover. “We haven’t even finished unpacking. I can start emailing these…people”—because how could she call them family?—“and maybe come for a visit in a year. After we’ve saved up enough money for the flight. Moving to New York has us on a tight budget.”
Elias threw back his head and laughed.
Mallory frowned as she sat next to Kelsey. “There’s nothing funny about how expensive it is to live in Manhattan.” She was the one in charge of their bank accounts. The one who’d run the numbers eight different ways to make sure that they’d waited to move until their emergency cushion was exactly the right size. The one who’d nixed a stop at Junior’s because she’d called spending twenty-seven dollars on a Reuben and a slice of cheesecake “a laughable splurge.”
“You’re exceedingly wealthy, Your Highness.” The laughter dissipated, and Elias became quite matter-of-fact. “The private plane waiting for us at LaGuardia belongs to your family. As does a yacht, several boats, countless cars, three palaces, five manor houses—”
Kelsey held up a hand to cut him off. She’d seen movies, for crying out loud. Flicked through glossy magazines when stuck in line at the grocery store. Royalty equaling immense wealth wasn’t something that had to be explained to her. Wrapping her head around the fact—that she’d known for all of, oh, ten whole minutes—that she was royalty? That was the sticking point.
“I get it, but you’re going to have to give me a minute to freaking catch up.”
“I appreciate that. We don’t have a minute, however. You don’t have the luxury of time to take this all in. Your family needs you. Your country needs you. I’m doing my duty by bringing you back, and I’m going to do my damndest to make sure you do yours.”
Duty.
That word struck her, hard. Like a physical jolt to her belly that stole her breath away. Kelsey sagged against the back of the couch. Her parents—the ones she knew, anyway—had drummed responsibility into her.
Elias might not realize it, but he’d just given her a reason that she couldn’t fight. If everything he told her was true, then Kelsey did have a duty…to an entire country. Her own whims and wishes and dreams paled next to the word “duty.” Not that she knew yet entirely what that entailed.
“Can you give us a minute?” Mallory asked.
One dark eyebrow raised, practically to his close-cropped hair. “Her Royal Highness slammed the door in my face. I’m not leaving this apartment again until she comes with me.”
Shooing him, she said, “Then go stand in the kitchen. Just give us the illusion of privacy and maybe ten feet of space, okay?”
With a nod, he eased back across the apartment until he stood at the sink and politely turned his back.
Mallory clasped her hands, then pointed with both index fingers at her little sis. “You should go.”
The effort it took to refrain from rolling her eyes surely earned Kelsey one of those expensive slices of cheesecake. Because, yes, that was one option, sure. An option that completely decimated the New York dream she and Mallory had worked toward their entire lives. A dream Kelsey craved more than an endless buffet of ice cream and pizza put together.
She buried her face in her hands. “I should crawl under the covers and wait to wake up from this super bizarre dream.”
Mallory poked her in the side. “Bizarre, yes, but an opportunity you can’t ignore.”
Kelsey looked at her sister’s wide, excited eyes, and tucked a leg underneath herself, curling farther away from the sight of the ramrod spine of her bodyguard. Because the man had a presence that was impossible to ignore. It was distracting. The last thing she needed was to be distracted from this decision about doing a one-eighty with her life.
“There’s so much we don’t know right now. So much that doesn’t make sense.”
“You won’t find answers here. You’ll find them in Moncriano. If your family has really been missing you, searching for you, for twenty-five years? How can you possibly deny them a visit? Not going, now that they know about you, would be heartless.”
Ouch. That angle hadn’t yet occurred to her. All she could focus on was the fact that strangers were trying to rip her away from her life. But Mallory made a point that was yet another sucker punch, this time to her heart.
Family was everything.
The love Kelsey had for her sister and her parents was so deep, so much a part of her as to be almost indescribable. The pain the Villani family must’ve gone through missing their child—her—for an entire lifetime had to be horrible. It was her, yes, duty, to put that to rest. To put a bandage over that raw wound.
“You’re right. I know you are. It’s just hard to face.” Kelsey lowered her voice to a whisper. “That talk of duty really got to me, too.”