I pried the cigarette from her fingers and brought it to my lips, taking a drag of my own. I hadn’t smoked since I’d left the Marines, but once in a while I got a craving. Like now.
We shared the rest of the cigarette in silence and she finally put it out in the dirt at her feet.
“You’re a smoker?” I asked after a moment.
“Sometimes.” She got up.
“Solange, why are you mad at me?” I called as she started to go back inside.
“I’m not mad at you,” she responded, without looking back. “I’m simply a realist and don’t want to get attached.”
Shit.
Solange didn’t speak to me the whole flight to Hiskale, while we got Kostya settled at the hospital there, or when I showed her to her room at the palace. Her parents kept up a steady stream of chatter, albeit in Limaji, so I didn’t catch all of it, but Solange was uncharacteristically quiet and I wasn’t sure why. I understood her not being thrilled with going on vacation in the midst of the upheaval of her life, but why was she pushing me away?
Her lame excuse about not getting attached didn’t resonate with me, but in all fairness, I didn’t know her well enough to know for sure whether I was right. I knew women in general, but Solange wasn’t like them, and as I walked toward my own room to grab a quick shower, I wondered what was going on with her. Maybe it was best if I let her go. Not just to Greece, but in general. Once she left, I could make it so I didn’t have to see her again. I didn’t know what Erik would come up with for her family, but I’d be willing to bet none of it required the services of the Royal Protectors. Especially not this one.
I showered and got dressed, heading down to the security office for an update on everything. I was starving and on the way stopped at the kitchen to get a sandwich, eating as I walked. I ran into Xander on the way up and he looked a little harried.
“You okay?” I asked him.
“I’m good. Just trying to keep up with renovations at the new house, get our new housekeeping family settled, and follow Elen around everywhere, while the whole palace goes crazy getting ready for this wedding.”
I chuckled. “Better you than me.”
“Happy to be home?”
“Fuck yeah. Being up in Braksa sucked ass.”
“Yeah. That compound is creepy as fuck. Just thinking about Elen being locked in that basement…” He made a face. When Princess Elen had been kidnapped, she’d been taken to the compound in question. We’d killed her kidnapper and taken over the compound, and now planned to use it as an unofficial prison. A place we took prisoners without any real rights. Traitors, spies, people like members of the Brat who needed to be interrogated. Part of my job up there had been preparing the basement for such interrogations and making sure every inch of the house was inspected for bugs, cameras or anything surveillance related. It had taken me a few weeks and there was still a little more to do, but then this whole thing started with Solange and I’d gotten a reprieve.
“How’s she feeling?” I asked him. They’d gotten married just a few weeks ago and she was pregnant.
“She’s feeling pretty great. She gets tired a little earlier than normal, but mostly she’s her usual self, running around all day, helping Lennox with the wedding.”
“I’ll be glad when it’s over and things around here get back to normal,” I admitted. “I’m really happy for them, but this wedding is a huge pain in my ass.”
“You have no idea,” Sandor said, coming up behind us and falling into step with us. “Believe me, if it was up to me, we would have eloped months ago. But Erik and Casey had a small, private wedding, and then you and Elen did your thing on the beach in Tahiti, which left the big, royal wedding for me.”
“And you have no idea how grateful I am,” Xander said, laughing.
Sandor gave him a dirty look and we went into the security office.
“Okay.” Sandor sat in the chair at the head of the table. “Four days and counting until the wedding. We’ve already got a full house, with guests arriving from all over the world, and there are activities nonstop, beginning tomorrow morning. First on the agenda is getting the Kovac family off to Greece tomorrow.”
Kovac. I hadn’t even known Solange’s last name. But I knew the exact shade of pink her nipples were and how she liked to be kissed.
Ah, shit.
“Natalia has taken Solange and Nadia shopping,” Sandor said. “That’s why she’s not here. Erik’s feeling pretty guilty about the whole thing, so he’s giving them the royal treatment, so to speak.”
We all chuckled.
“Axel, can you get them to the airport in the morning?” Sandor asked me.
“Would you mind getting someone else to do it?” I asked hesitantly. “I haven’t worked out in a week, I’ve got two weeks’ worth of paperwork to do, I need my laundry done… Really, I could use a few hours here to get some shit done.”
“No problem.” Sandor turned to Joe Westfield, who was the head of palace security. “It shouldn’t take more than an hour… Can you do it? I could have one of the drivers do it, but Erik wants a personal touch after everything that’s happened.”
“No problem.” Joe nodded.
“All right, back to business.”
I put Solange out of my mind and focused on the job at hand. She was better off without me. I wasn’t the right guy for her. At least that’s what I told myself.
Now if I could just stop thinking about the night we’d been together, things would be fan-fucking-tastic.
11
Solange
I’d been in a terrible mood the day we’d left for Hiskale, and had been rude to Axel, but I’d thought I’d be able to apologize before we left for Greece. Instead, I hadn’t seen him, and after four days of being pampered in Greece, I wished I could talk to him. Though I hadn’t wanted to come, I was honestly more relaxed than I ever remembered being.
After an impromptu shopping trip to downtown Hiskale, we’d gotten full summer wardrobes, luggage, even a new laptop for me. Our villa here at the resort was the most gorgeous place I’d ever seen, and we were waited on hand and foot. My parents spent their days by the pool, eating and drinking and dancing, like they were on a second honeymoon or something. I’d been given spending money—more than I’d ever seen at one time in my life—so after two days on the beach, I’d spent today at a spa.
I’d never had a massage before and it had been incredible. I’d also never had a pedicure or manicure before either, and at that point, I’d gone for the facial, the hair mask, and time in some sort of mud bath. I now had the world’s softest skin, pretty red nails, silky smooth hair, and a fantastic tan. I looked great and the only person I wanted to see me was a thousand miles away at the wedding of the year. Which was happening tomorrow.
I walked back to our villa and let myself in. There were two bedrooms, so I had plenty of privacy, which had been nice. King Erik was pulling out all the stops for us, and while it was amazing, it made me a little sad too. Before long, we would leave here and had no idea what awaited us.