Above All Else: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Easy Team Book 2) (18 page)

              “Where did she go?” I asked again. The alley was narrow and I nearly filled up the entire space. The man had no place to run and he knew it.

              I could see him mentally weighing his options and I was disgusted to see such a traitorous snake. “How much did they pay you?” I asked, eyeing him like a stinking vermin.

              The question seemed to give him some confidence. He straightened his shoulders and stared up at me with false bravado. “Enough,” he answered. “And I was promised a title in new Loranza once the princess was overthrown. Y-You touch me now and you’ll have to face the Loranzian courts for touching a titled man.”

              I could see straight through him, this cowardly, spineless, opportunistic rat.

              I stepped towards him and his eyes widened as he took a step back. He kept stepping backwards until he ran into Hawk, who was holding nothing back with his dark eyes.

              The aide turned back to me, his straightened shoulders now crumbling.

              “Well,” I said, “let’s test just how powerful this Loranzian protection is.” I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and swung him towards the wall, his head slamming against it hard. I could see his eyes glaze over from the impact. “Shall we?”

              He stared in horror as Hawk and I closed in.

***

              Hawk and I moved as one as we approached the palace fence. There was a large willow tree covering a part of the fence. With Hawk standing guard on the street, I used the willow leaves as cover as I hoisted myself up and hopped over the tall fence.

              With a muffled thud, I landed on the opposite side. I turned around and gave a Hawk a quick hand signal to indicate I had made it to the other side just fine.

              Hawk touched his ear again. “Tweety, standby with the vehicle,” he said.

              “Roger,” Tweety replied.

              It had only taken the tiniest draw of blood before the aide had given up the plan. A drugged kidnapping. I had nearly snapped the small man’s neck when he had told me they had drugged Sofia. The only thing that had stopped me was when he had told me where they had taken her.

              “To the palace?” Hawk had echoed in surprise.

              The aide nodded, his nose bleeding profusely. A broken nose tended to bleed a bit.

              “That’s what they told me,” he said frantically, searching our faces for mercy now that he had given up the information.

              Hawk looked at me. I knew what he was thinking.

              “Pretty fucking ballsy,” I said.

              “You’re telling me,” he replied.

              “We need to quickly regroup and head out,” I said.

              “Agreed,” Hawk replied. He eyed the bleeding man. “But we need to make sure this one doesn’t tattle before we head out.”

              I eyed the nervous aide. “Leave it to me.”

              And leaving the aide, stripped naked and hogtied on the embassy steps with the words ‘traitor’ written on his chest, I was sure he wouldn’t be making any compromising phone calls any time soon.

              We had quickly gathered our equipment and had come up with a plan while on our way to Loranza.

              It was a bit of a gamble. We were playing with chance and the stakes were high but if we pulled it off, we would not only save Sofia but her crown as well.

              I looked around the overgrown garden and spotted an old abandoned rock waterfall. It was directly below my target window.

              My muscles flexed and my entire body tightened, ready for what was to come.

             
Hang in there, baby. I’m coming.

Chapter
Nineteen
Sofia

              I sat on the edge of my bed, preparing myself.

              Preparing myself for…what? I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know where things would go from here on out. I was pretty sure I would be killed but from that moment to now, I didn’t know what else would happen.

              But I tried to prepare myself nonetheless. If there was anyway I could manage to try and save the mess Loranza was in, I would. I would bargain with my own life if I had to, although I wasn’t sure how valuable it was now.

              I tried pushing away all thoughts of Xander. Miles away and in a different country, he couldn’t help me now. I would only be putting him in danger if he were here. Although…it was impossible to extinguish that tiny flame of longing. It was impossible to stop myself from imagining myself safe in his arms once more, no matter how unrealistic that was.

              I was in the middle of trying to figure out what I could do to demand a meeting with Pryto when the bedroom door suddenly opened.

              I gasped instinctively and stood up.

              The door slowly swung open and in the doorway stood the man who had haunted and defined my entire life.

              Argus Pryto.

              “It’s been a long time, Your Highness,” Pryto said, a slow smile wreathing his long face.

              By now, I was positive he had been the one to incite the mob months ago when I had arrived in Loranza for a rededication event in the palace. He had lured me there with implications that the event would allow me to re-establish myself in Loranza. I had thought it would be my big chance to finally prove myself to Loranza.

              But I had been wrong.

              “I’m surprised you are addressing me so formally,” I said coldly. But despite my tone, my body began to shake. It was just an instinctual reaction. No matter how many years separated myself from the past, I couldn't forget that this was the man who had literally orchestrated years of torture for me. And the fact that we stood in the very room of my misery was not lost on me. Or him, I was sure.

              “This is still your home,” Pryto said, stepping into the room and gesturing. “And, for now, you are still the princess of it.”

              The ‘for now’ rang ominously through the room.

              Pryto was not as tall as Uncle Gregory. In fact, he stood only a few inches above me. He was of average height and average build. Physically, there was nothing remarkable about him. Maybe that was why he was so engaging publically. He had to make up for his physical deficiencies.

              “You are making a big mistake here,” I warned. “Everyone will know soon enough what you’ve done. Loranza will be outcast from any real political realm of power.”

              Pryto scoffed. “Ha! Let’s see them try. They may look down on us at the moment but there’ll come a time when soon they’ll be begging for an alliance with us.” His eyes gleamed with power hungry greed. “And they’ll see who I will remember for being loyal and who was not.”

              I stared at him. “What are you talking about? What does that even mean?” Loranzian economy was in the tank and now there was political coup. I couldn’t think of a worse off country that would ever be able to hold political sway.

              Pryto eyed me speculatively. “You’ll find out soon enough. But right now, I need to prepare the final touches for my speech. I just wanted to stop by and make my greetings before I do.”

              “Speech?” I echoed. Immediately I remembered Pryto’s speech before Uncle Gregory’s hanging.

              Pryto smiled, reminding me vividly of a snake. “I have one due in a couple hours with some very special announcements planned,” he hinted at. His dark beady eyes narrowed as he gave me a meaningful smile. “Hopefully, they’ll be joyful announcements. It’ll all depend on you, Your Highness.”

              I was so confused. “What are you talking about?” I demanded, completely lost.

              Pryto gave a little chuckle, clearly relishing his authority over me. “I will explain. Soon.” He stepped towards me and I forced myself to stand my ground and not cower. But it was hard to stop the overwhelming shudder as the man who had made my entire life a living hell leaned in towards me.

              He ran a hand down my arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps.

              “I will leave you with one thought though,” he said, so close his breath brushed my cheek. “Caring for this country requires sacrifice.
Meaningful
sacrifice. Your uncle’s was foolish and it was a waste of his life.” Pryto smiled when he saw me jerk and shake in outrage at his words. “But
you
can make a better sacrifice. Something worthwhile that will benefit generations of Loranzians.”

              He stepped away, heading towards the door. “Just something for you to think about before I return.”

              As soon as the door closed behind him, I collapsed onto the floor. All the strength I had used to hold me upright seeped out of me. Pryto, Uncle Gregory, Loranza, everything that I hate, loved, drove me up the wall, was here in these four walls and it was overwhelming.

              Sacrifice?

              What did he mean by that?

              Did he mean my death? My death would be a sacrifice for Loranza? I had expected that already. I had expected my execution.

              But seeing Pryto, so close and in person after weeks and weeks of seeing him only through the news, brought home just how imminent my death was. He had killed Uncle Gregory so easily. I had no doubts he could do the same for me.

              Without even feeling them, tears rolled down my cheeks. I had tried so hard to fight against Pryto. From the minute he had control over me, it was clear he wanted to kill me. Either through starvation, beatings, or an abusive governess, he wanted me gone. And I fought with every fiber of my being to be brave and to stand my ground and to
survive
.

              But now, trapped in my old haunted bedroom with no possible means of escape, I realized it had all been futile. My life had always been rolling towards this inevitable moment of death and nothing I had done could’ve changed that.

              Tears seared down my cheeks as ground rush overwhelmed me. I felt like I had jumped off a plane without a parachute and I could see the ground coming towards me at a hurtling pace.

              If only there was something that I could’ve—

              “Sofia!”

              I whirled around, my heart nearly in my throat as I heard an impossible voice.

             
Impossible
.

              Impossible because there was no way in the world he could possibly here.

              But there, crouched in my window, was Xander.

              He quickly scanned the room before jumping into the room. Without hesitation, he strode towards me in three long steps before kneeling down and gathering me up in his powerful arms.

              Never in my entire life had I ever felt something so good.

              I gasped as I felt my body enveloped in his powerful embrace. I breathed in deeply, inhaling his scent and realizing this wasn’t a hallucination. Somehow, against all odds, my soldier had found me.

              “Don’t worry, Sofia,” he said, his voice solid and reassuring, just like his arms. “I’ve got you.”

              Hot tears rolled down my cheeks but this time in utter happiness and relief.

              “I got you.”

Chapter
Twenty
Xander

              I could feel the small tremors that shook her body and it only made me hold her tighter. The urge to pick her up and carry her far away from this place was overwhelming. It had taken everything in me not to smash the window and fucking strangle Pryto when I had glanced into the room and seen him standing in front of Sofia.

              “You’re here. You’re here,” Sofia kept murmuring in disbelief as I helped her stand up.

              “Of course I am,” I said. I pulled back a little to inspect her. She had been drugged and carried a good distance away by people who wanted to harm her. But she seemed whole and physically unharmed. “Where else would I be, sweetheart?”

              “How did you know?” she asked, her lashes still wet with tears. I brushed a thumb under her eyes. “How could you possibly know where to find me?”

              I gave her a mirthless smile. “Let’s just say there’s an aide at the French embassy who’s going to have a hard time breathing through his nose for awhile.”

              Sofia gave a surprised watery giggle as she wiped her tears away. Shaking her head, she whispered, “I can’t believe it. I had secretly hoped….It was selfish of me, I know. But I had hoped…that if the impossible could happen—”

              “It’s not selfish of you,” I said, grabbing her hands. “Just like it’s not selfish of me for wanting you. And I promise you, for as long as I breathe, I’ll use everything I have to keep you safe.”

              She looked up at me, her smile shaky but brave.

              “And I promise to get you out of here,” I said.

              She nodded, completely putting her trust and heart in my hands.

              “But just not yet,” I finished.

              She paused, her brows raised in surprise.

              “What?”

              “I need you to be brave for just a little bit longer,” I said, pulling her towards the bed. “You can do that for me, right?” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my plan.

              “We’re not leaving?” she asked, still looking shocked. There was a pleading note in her voice and it nearly broke my heart.

              “Not just yet,” I said. From my pocket, I pulled out two small black round disks. I grabbed one and pressed it discreetly onto the side of one of the posts of the bed.

              Then I took the second black disk that was a little thinner and began untying Sofia’s robe.

              “Why aren’t we leaving?” she asked. I could tell she was trying her best to keep the panic from her voice.

              “We need to make sure that once we leave here, you don’t ever have to worry again about Pryto. We need to make sure that this is the end of it all,” I said, running my hands along the length of the robe’s collar till I could find a good edge to hold onto. With as much delicacy as my pressed time allowed me, I carefully ripped the seam and slipped the black disk into the collar of the robe. I pressed from the outside of the fabric to make sure it was in place. Then I carefully retied her robe.

              Preparations done, I pressed the comm in my ear. “Bugs in place,” I said. “Testing now.”

              I turned to Sofia. “Say something. Anything,” I said.

              Still confused but willing to trust me, she said, “Hello, hello?”

              “Read her loud and clear,” Ajax reported. “Both bug signals strong and steady. Recording on your command.”

              “Roger.” I turned towards Sofia, her eyes wide and confused. I grabbed her arms and pulled her close to me.

              “Alright, sweetheart,” I said, explaining quickly. “This is what I need you to do. Pryto is going to come back.” I felt her body jerk in fear but I held her steady and squeezed her arms reassuringly. “We’ve got eyes on him and he looks like he’s just finishing up preparations for some kind of speech. When he comes back, he’s going to talk. And I need you to get him to talk as much as possible. Do you understand?”

              I tapped her robe collar. Her eyes darted confusedly about before I saw the wheels click into place.

              “You’re recording him,” she said.

              I smiled at her, proud of her. “Exactly,” I said. “And you need to lead him on, making sure you get as much as you can. Let’s let the man incriminate himself. Clearly, he’s not shy when it comes to talking about himself. Let him do it. This bug in your robe should get everything but I have another one on your bed for insurance. Can you do that?”

              Sofia took in a shaky breath. “Yes, I think so,” she replied. “But I don’t understand. Even if you get him on tape, how will anyone listen—”

              “Just focus on getting him to talk,” I said, cutting her off. Time was of the essence at the moment and I needed to make sure she knew what she had to do. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her fiercely. The fright of having her separated from me had made my body as sensitive and charged as a live wire. I needed her badly but for now, I satisfied myself with a kiss.

              Pulling away, I kissed her forehead in encouragement.

              “I’ll be right outside, baby,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

              She watched me take a comfortable spot on the rock waterfall below her window. I wanted her to see that I really would be nearby.

              She gave me a lingering look before whispering, “I love you.”

              “I love you too,” I said, my gaze dark and fierce. “And I’ll show you just how much after all this over.”

              I saw Sofia’s frightened eyes glow with the warmth of security for a quick moment before she turned around to face her enemy.

              I watched her leave, her long copper blonde waves whirling after her.

              Brave and beautiful hardly did the woman justice.