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She didn’t walk towards him. She bounced. It was almost a skip. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as her gaze connected with his and she made her way back over to join him.
‘Ready, soldier?’ she said as he held the door open.
He was too busy watching her moves, too busy focusing on those long legs and curves, too busy watching her eyes to notice anything else.
It all happened so quickly.
Gabrielle took a few steps out of his reach. She was teasing him, taunting him, spinning around to face him, pulling down her jacket to reveal one shoulder.
One second he could see her delicious smile, the next second his vision was entirely obscured.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Six men—all dressed in black—surrounded her.
It seemed as though time stopped. At least it did for Sullivan. He’d never really suffered from flashbacks of his time in the army, but now adrenaline pumped through him.
He might be a medic, but he’d always made sure he could give the guys from Special Forces a run for their money.
Tunnel vision. That’s what some people called it. But for Sullivan it was different. It was ultimate focus.
He moved quickly. The first guy he just grabbed between the shoulder blades and flung backwards to the floor. The guys on either side took a couple of punches to the face. The guy at ten o’clock got a swift kick to the chest, the guy at two o’clock a karate-style chop.
But the man directly behind Gabrielle had more time—if mere seconds—to react. He grabbed Gabrielle and spun around, shielding her body with his own.
Noise had faded as he’d moved. He hadn’t thought. He’d just reacted. It took another second to realise Gabrielle was screaming. The kick from behind took the legs from him, but the punch to the head hardly registered.
‘Stop it! Stop it!’ Gabrielle screamed, extricating herself from under the dark-suited man’s grip.
An arm clamped around Sullivan’s neck and he reached up to grab it, ducking forward and throwing the man over his shoulder without a thought. The second punch to the side of his head annoyed him.
Who were these men and why were they attacking them?
Or were they?
He gave his head a shake. Only about five seconds had passed.
He pressed his hand to the ground, getting ready to jump back to his feet, when Gabrielle moved into the middle of the sprawled bodies. ‘Stop!’ she shouted, standing with her legs spread apart and her arms held wide.
All heads turned in her direction. She turned to the man behind her and pointed at Sullivan. ‘He,’ she spat out furiously, ‘is with me!’ She pointed her finger to her chest to emphasise her words.
Her angry gaze connected with Sullivan. ‘And they...’ she looked around at the dark-suited men, and let out a huge sigh ‘...I guess are with me too.’
‘What?’ Sullivan shook his head. Maybe that last knock to the head had been harder than he’d thought. What on earth was she talking about?
He stood up and looked around. A few of the guys were shooting him looks of disgust and dusting off their suits.
He could sense one of them standing directly behind him. The guy was practically growling.
Sullivan stepped forward. His first instinct was still to protect Gabrielle. ‘Are you okay? What on earth is going on?’
He slid his hand to the side of her waist. She was trembling. Her whole body was trembling. But he could see the determined jut to her chin. She pressed her lips tight together as she tried to compose herself.
She spun around, facing the guy who’d shielded her body with his. ‘Arun, what is going on? Why are you here?’
The dark-skinned man gave a little bow. ‘Your Majesty. Your brother—the former Prince Andreas—has abdicated. He left the country a few hours ago. We have to take you back to get you sworn in as Head of State.’
‘Your...what?’
Sullivan gave his head a second shake and glanced downwards for a second. Was he secretly out cold or hallucinating? The dark-skinned man had a strange accent, Middle Eastern mixed with a distinctly British edge.
Gabrielle swayed. Two sets of hands reached out automatically to catch her. Arun’s and his own.
‘He’s what? Andreas has done what?’ Her voice rose in pitch and she started pacing in circles. ‘Where is he? Where has he gone? Why hasn’t he spoken to me? He can’t do this.’ She flung her hands in the air. ‘He can’t just walk away from Mirinez! Who does that? Who walks away from their country?’
Five sets of eyes blinked and averted their gaze for a second. Sullivan felt something washing over him. Unease.
Arun kept his gaze solidly on Gabrielle and his voice low and steady. ‘Princess Gabrielle, it’s time to return home. It’s time to come back to Mirinez. Your country needs you.’
Panic flooded Gabrielle’s face. She pulled her phone from her bag and started pressing buttons furiously. ‘Andreas. I need to speak to Andreas. He emailed me a few weeks ago. I told him I’d get in touch when I got back.’
Arun pulled an envelope from his pocket as he glanced at his watch. ‘He’s currently on a flight to New York. He left you this.’
Her hand was shaking as she reached for the envelope. She pulled the letter out and took a few steps away, head bowed as she read.
Sullivan looked around and put his hands on his hips. ‘It’s one of these things, isn’t it?’ He took a few paces, glancing towards every corner on the street. ‘You’re filming us somewhere and it’s all a set-up—it’s all a big joke.’
Arun met his gaze and shook his head, giving a few rapid instructions to the other men, who changed positions.
Gabrielle was still reading the letter. Her body was rigid, her face pale. She crumpled the letter between her hands.
Several of their colleagues came out from the bar. ‘Gabrielle? Sullivan? Is everything okay?’
The shout seemed to jolt Gabrielle into action. She pushed her hair back from her face. She gave a wave. ‘Hi, Connor, Matt, everything’s fine. Just a little misunderstanding.’
Connor frowned and shot Sullivan a wary glance before giving a brief nod and disappearing back inside the bar.
‘A misunderstanding?’ Sullivan walked up to Gabrielle. ‘We walk out of a bar and get attacked by six goons and you think that’s a misunderstanding?’
She glanced sideways. ‘Shh,’ she said quickly. She stared down at the crumpled paper in her hand.
Sullivan took a deep breath. ‘Are you going to let me into the secret here? What’s with the princess stuff—and why are these guys attacking us?’
Gabrielle gave a huge sigh, her shoulders slumping. She shook her head. ‘They’re not attacking us. At least, not me. They’re my protection detail.’
‘Since when do you have protection detail? Where were these guys when we were in Narumba?’ He shook his head. ‘And princess? Mirinez? Is this all some kind of joke?’
Tears glistened in Gabrielle’s eyes. ‘Believe me, Sullivan. I wish it was.’ Her gaze was drawn back to the six men. ‘I have a protection detail now because I’ve just inherited the title of Head of State of Mirinez. It’s a small principality—you’ve probably never heard of it.’
Sullivan narrowed his gaze and racked his brain. He’d lived in enough places to know most of the geography of the world. ‘I have heard of it. It’s in the Med. A few hours from here, in fact.’ He tried to pull what he could remember from the vestiges of his mind. ‘It’s a tax haven, isn’t it?’
Gabrielle made a kind of exasperated sound. ‘Yes, yes, it is. My brother inherited the title. He was Head of State.’ She held up the crumpled paper. ‘But it seems he’s had a change of heart.’
Sullivan felt as if he were waiting for someone to pinch him. Or punch him—but, no, two guys h
ad already done that.
‘You’re a princess?’
She nodded.
‘We spent two weeks together in Narumba. We were just about to head off to a hotel suite and do...whatever. And you’re a princess. And you didn’t tell me.’ It was almost as if saying it out loud actually clarified it in his head.
For a second she looked pained. But that passed fleetingly, quickly replaced by a stubborn look. ‘It wasn’t important. I’m a doctor. That’s what you needed to know in Narumba. And even though I was a princess it wasn’t important. I didn’t need to fulfil that role any more. When I work for Doctors Without Borders I’m just Gabrielle.’
In a way he could understand that. He could. But it still annoyed him. Would he have looked at Gabrielle any differently if he’d known she was a princess? He didn’t think so. But it was just the fact she hadn’t told him that irked.
He kept his voice steady. ‘You didn’t need to fulfil that role...but now you do.’ He met her gaze. ‘So what now?’
There it was again. That little flash of something. It wasn’t horror. It wasn’t fear. It was just...something. That thing that you saw in a kid’s eyes when his parent made him do something he really didn’t want to do. It looked almost like regret about having to be there. Having to take part in that point of life.
Gabrielle looked down. ‘I guess... I guess...’ She lifted her gaze. ‘I guess I have to go back. I have a duty.’
