‘It was unscheduled,’ he replied, then froze when he saw their unease. ‘Something has happened. What is it?’
Leif exchanged a wary look with the housekeeper. ‘It might be nothing—’
‘Tell me,’ Valenti insisted. ‘Now.’
Leif exhaled. ‘I think it’s better if I show you, Your Highness.’ His gaze darted to Lotte. ‘And it would be better if you stayed here, miss—’
‘Absolutely not. And I really wish everyone would stop treating me like I’m some fragile flower.’ Whirling around, she headed where Valenti remembered was her bedroom.
His hand circled her arm for the second time, pulling her into his chest before she’d taken the second step.
‘And I really wish you would stop manhandling me,Your Highness.’
His title from her lips was all fire and zero respect, which alarmingly ignited sensations he’d rather not experience. With her. ‘Stop diving headlong into danger and I might consider it,’ he replied. Then watched affront leach the colour from her cheeks for two seconds before it came flooding back. A delicate pink.
Analluring—
‘How dare you! I have a right to go anywhere I please. This is my home.’
‘Paid for by me,’ he muttered in her ear. ‘Or have you forgotten that too?’
A dash of hurt accompanied the fury this time, then naked pain as memories shadowed her eyes, darkening them from ice to cerulean blue.
Valenti bit back a curse as she yanked herself free. Things had gone from bad to worse, starting with the urgent text he’d received while in Cartana with Teo and Azar.
It had elevated the threat level of one of Lotte’s followers on social media. Valenti knew a handful of pesky individuals always needed deeper scrutiny with any client seeking security, especially if that client had a substantial online presence.
Just as he’d known his ward’s active social media presence would draw the inevitable trolls. His cyber experts had quickly identified the problematic ones, his team successfully neutralising any hint of a threat.
Except one had slipped through the net.
Because everything wassafe and sound…until it wasn’t.
He pushed back another wave of harrowing memories and captured her gaze, ensuring she didn’t miss the severity of his command.
‘You can come with me. But you do not move from my side. Agreed?’
Perhaps the gravity of the situation finally filtered in. Perhaps the memories had done their job of reminding her of their loss.
Either way, she jerked out a nod.
But Valenti didn’t feel in any way appeased as he strode down the short hallway, her wrist held firmly in his hand. Her pulse fluttering beneath his thumb.
He yanked his mind back from dwelling on how soft her skin felt. How delicate and smooth. BecauseDios mio, he had no business eventhinkingit.
Then he stopped thinking altogether when he saw the deeply disturbing scene splayed out before him.
Lotte sucked in a sharp breath, her face leaching of all colour as her hands flew to her mouth. ‘Oh my God!’
Valenti pulled her closer, glad he hadn’t let her come in here alone.
Spread out on her bed were over a dozen pieces of lingerie, each one pinned with a shiny red plastic heart. The kind usually tossed into a gift box.
The rage that hadn’t dropped below a simmer since he received the text resurged, threatened to boil over.
He rounded on the men and women filling up the room behind him. ‘How the hell did this happen? How did an intruder gain access to her room without anyone noticing?’
Staff and security team alike flinched at the lava-hot demand. Valenti throttled back the deep urge to fire everyone on the spot. But his attention was diverted when she took a step towards the bed.
