King nodded his agreement before addressing his mutinous daughter. ‘I have organised a ball in your brother’s honour this coming weekend and you will need security for that.’
‘It’s too soon,’ Ava whispered softly.
Her arms enfolded her waist in a protective gesture her father didn’t seem to notice, but it tugged at some unwanted place inside Wolfe’s chest.
‘It’s not too soon. And the ball is not only to honour your brother’s life—it is to find you a husband.’
A husband?
Wolfe’s eyes locked on Ava’s face, which had suddenly turned ashen. His own gut felt as if it was twisted up with his intestines, and a flash of adrenaline rushed through his system as if he’d just been physically assaulted.
‘I can find my own husband, sir.’
‘Not now that you’re Crown Princess, you can’t,’ the King rasped. ‘The stakes have been raised, Ava, and you’ve had more than enough time to find a suitable partner and Anders badly needs a celebration and an heir.’
The tension in the room as Ava stared at her father could have cracked the Arctic shelf. Wolfe thought of the island paradise he had planned to visit next week, after his round of meetings. The warm sparkling blue waters of the North Atlantic. A new set of sun loungers that edged one end of his lap pool.
‘Do I even need to be in attendance, sir?’ Ava stared down her nose at her father with bored enquiry. ‘I’d hate to mess around with your plans.’
The King’s eyes hardened. ‘Don’t be smart, Ava. You have a duty to do. You know that.’
‘And is it my fault that I am entirely underprepared to carry out that duty?’ she retorted.
Her words were underscored by a subtle vulnerability that called to every one of Wolfe’s protective instincts and threatened his determination to remain detached from everything at all times. It was an aspect of his nature that had never been challenged before—regardless of what he had seen and experienced. It was the reason he had acquired his nickname.
Instead of following that troublesome thought down what could only be a dead-end street set with an ambush, he focused on what he could see and hear. The facts.
‘You chose to run around Paris for eight years.’ The King’s face had the motley hue of a man on the edge.
‘Because I didn’t have any choices here,’ Ava returned icily.
‘I won’t argue with you, Ava. You need a husband. Someone who understands the business and can support you when you need it.’
Wolfe noticed the King’s hand shook slightly as he picked up his water glass. ‘Wolfe, if you would accompany my daughter back to her quarters? I’m sure you’ll want to get started on the best way to carry out your duties as soon as possible.’
Wolfe wasn’t sure about anything right now except two things. His need for this woman was stronger than it had ever been, and taking on the role of her personal bodyguard was absolute insanity.
Ava rounded on him as soon as he’d followed her into her private sitting room. ‘“I’ll need absolute control. Access to everything.”’ She mimicked his voice, her tone scathing. ‘Are you kidding me?’
Wolfe couldn’t stop himself from running his eyes over her slender curves as she stopped in the middle of the room, her body vibrating with tension.
Had she lost weight?
He studied her face. Her cheeks were flushed, her mouth was tight and she had dark smudges under her eyes that told him she had been sleeping as poorly as he had. All the same, she looked magnificent, and he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her so soundly it was all he could do to remain where he stood. ‘It’s for your own good.’
‘According to some so is whale oil, but you won’t find me firing a harpoon any time soon.’
Wolfe sighed, realising this meeting was going to be even more difficult than he had anticipated. ‘Ava, this doesn’t have to be awkward.’
She paced away from him and then turned back sharply. ‘Don’t mistake my fury for awkwardness, Wolfe. I can’t believe you’ve agreed to take this job.’ She paused and locked her eyes on his. ‘You know, if you wanted to see me again you could have just picked up the phone.’ Her navy eyes glittered challengingly.
‘My taking this job has nothing to do with whether I want to see you again. And I believe it was you who cancelled dinner,’ he reminded her stiffly.
She gave a dismissive shrug. ‘I didn’t see the point in going out with you when it was a spur-of-the-moment request made out of guilt.’
Wolfe contemplated her answer. Was that why she’d cancelled? ‘It wasn’t guilt.’
She arched a brow. ‘No? So why run off so early? I don’t even think the birds were up when you left.’
Wolfe’s mouth tightened at the insouciant boredom he heard in her voice. It was the same tone she’d used with her father before. ‘I left because I had to provide last-minute details to two of my men before they left on another job.’ And he’d wanted to surprise her by replacing her damaged phone with one of his.
Her eyes flicked to his briefly, as if she hadn’t considered that. But why would she? In hindsight, it had probably looked bad to her, waking up alone after the passionate night they had spent together. Which, he acknowledged to himself now, was another reason he’d left. He’d woken up with such a strong sense of wellbeing his instinct had been to pull back. It was so ingrained in him he hadn’t even thought to question it at the time. Hadn’t wanted to question it. Now, looking at it from her point of view, her reactions that morning made more sense.
‘I’m sorry if I hurt you,’ he murmured sincerely.
Ava’s chin came up and her eyes shot sparks at him. ‘Hurt me? You didn’t hurt me, Wolfe.’
Wolfe’s mouth tightened at her vehemence.
‘Quite the contrary. In fact you did me a favour, because I didn’t have time to have dinner with you and…’ She shrugged again. ‘It’s too late now anyway.’
Was it?
Yes, of course it was.
‘You’re right.’ For one thing he was now her bodyguard and she was his client, and for another he wanted her just a little too much for comfort. ‘That ship has definitely sailed.’ Wolfe paced the length of an antique rug, agitated by the situation he had inadvertently created for himself. ‘And your father wants you to marry!’ Which would effectively remove her from his orbit altogether.
‘Something you’ll never do!’ The heated statement was almost a question.
‘Something I’ll never do,’ he agreed. He’d spent his adult life avoiding that particular institution, and he’d never felt any need to reconsider his views.
Ava nodded sharply, as if somehow his response had been predictable, and Wolfe
