it to Lara.
“Drink this,” he gently urged, his eyes locking with hers.
“It’s been a rather exciting day,” she said, her tone shaky but light. “And I told you nothing exciting ever happened to me.”
“You’re nothing but exciting,” he replied, very much aware that she was close to having a hissy fit. He hoped she didn’t go into shock.
But then, this was Her Royal Highness Lara Kincade. She took a dainty sip of the bottle of water, cleared her expression, touched a hand to her hair and then gave him a challenging glance. “May I please exit the vehicle? I need some air.”
Gabriel stepped back, did a visual of the area and then nodded. “Stay near me, please.”
She did the chin-lift thing. “Deidre, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Deidre stayed in her seat, her head down. Every now and then Gabriel heard a sniffle. He handed her a bottle of water, too. But she just held it tightly in her hand.
“I can’t find my phone.”
“I’ll look for it,” the driver said. That busied him and kept Deidre focused.
And gave Gabriel a chance to whisper in Lara’s ear. “I don’t think this was an accident.”
She didn’t even flinch. “Neither do I.”
Gabriel kept checking the noisy highway above them and the streets surrounding them. “They could be watching right now.”
“I’m aware of that, too.”
“What do you want to do next?”
“Right now I want to go home and have a private fit.”
He smiled in spite of his jangled nerve endings. “What exactly happens when you have a private fit?”
She shook her head, gave him a defiant glare. “I mostly pace and throw pillows. If I actually throw plates or vases, someone will come running. I wish just once I could throw a whole set of china and not have anyone be concerned about it.”
He turned serious again. “Are you going to be all right for now?”
She got serious right back. “Do I have a choice?”
Sirens wailed down the ramp. “The cavalry has arrived,” Gabriel said. “Let the paramedics give you a good examination, Lara.”
“Of course.” But that defiant chin challenged the notion.
“I’m serious.” He did another scan of her face and her clothes. She looked as lovely as ever in her pastel flared dress and pearls. “How do you do it?”
Eyeing the EMTs, she asked, “Do what?”
“Stay so calm.”
“I’m not that calm,” she said on a catchy breath. “I’m so practiced in staying calm, always holding up my head, that my heart has forgotten how to feel anything, I think.”
Her eyes turned a rich blue-green. The glance she gave him was washed in regret and longing, in anticipation and apprehension. She sure was feeling something right now.
And Gabriel felt it right back. An awareness, a stirring, a need to...hold tight.
He let her go. Now was not the time to explore these odd and fascinating tingles and jangles moving throughout his system. Now was not the time to remind himself that this woman was so over his pay grade.
But someone, somehow, had to make the princess see that she was in danger.
Gabriel had seen enough death and destruction to know all the signs. Someone wanted the princess out of New Orleans.
Or worse...dead.
* * *
“Another quiet night at home.”
Lara turned from the Benoit to give Gabriel an elegant frown. “Hello, Gabriel. I’m sorry about the accident yesterday, but I hope you got some rest last night.”
“I did all right. How about you?”
“I didn’t sleep very well, but I’m a light sleeper on a good day. I’m a bit sore, but I’ll be okay.” She did a shoulder roll to hide her nervousness. “You had to come to my rescue yet again. I don’t think that’s what you signed on for, and I’d rather you didn’t put all this nastiness in the photo essay.”
“I don’t mind helping out, and I don’t mind leaving all of this out of my story,” Gabriel replied. “But I do mind that you refuse to cancel your upcoming public appearances and the big event coming up.”
“We’ve been over this,” Lara said, exhaustion tugging at her from every direction. “I’ve been planning this event for close to a year now. I can’t cancel the gala. I have dignitaries coming from the state and the city, and some coming from Washington and Europe, too. I’ve made a pledge to give the ticket money to the Kincade House foundation. I can’t go back on my word now, and I need you to cover the affair to reassure your readers that I’m doing what my husband wanted to do.”
He got up off the couch and came to stand next to her. “Even if someone is trying to kill you?”
Lara ignored the shivers hitting her skin like needles. “We don’t have proof of that.”
“Yet,” he added. “But I’m going to find that proof. I didn’t come here for this, but I won’t stand by and watch you get hurt or worse.”
He sounded confident and dangerous, but Lara refused to let him put himself in any more danger. She’d started this, so she’d be the one to finish it. “That’s not your job.”
“It is now.”
Lara tried to ignore the way his eyes washed over her with a dark concern. She was terrified that he might be right about the odd happenings around here, but she’d learned a long time ago to hide her fears. She’d also learned she couldn’t trust people. She’d been naive once but not anymore. “I have people looking into this, Gabriel. Malcolm and the police are going over the SUV to see what could have happened.”
“And I don’t trust those people or the police, either, right now. In spite of the tight security around you, someone has breached your home twice and managed to damage one of the tires on your vehicle, too.”
Lara came up with excuses to convince herself. “We don’t have proof that someone tampered with the tire. That’s why Malcolm is investigating the accident.”
“But earlier, you agreed that we didn’t think this was an accident.”
She nodded, played with her pearls. “Yes. But I want to wait for Malcolm’s report before I give in to that conclusion.”
His frown darkened. “Why are you so stubborn?”
She continued to play with her necklace. “Why are you so
