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“Not good,” Tabitha sighed. “I’m going to have to do it online. I got accosted by press again.”
Mary’s expression softened in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Tabitha. I know you hate it, but it’s just an unavoidable part of being who we are.”
“I know. I can handle it… I just think I need a little break.”
“You’ve tried that before. Staying shut up in the palace and not emerging may keep the press away, but it isn’t good for your mental health.”
“You’re right—that’s not what I mean. I was thinking more like a holiday.”
“A holiday?”
“Yeah. What if I went to visit the U.S. like I always wanted to? I would be much less likely to be recognized there.”
“That’s true,” Mary mused. “It could be dangerous, though. You’d have to take a large contingent of security.”
“No, Mother,” Tabitha groaned. “That would entirely defeat the point. If I have a swarm of British police around me, it’ll be a dead giveaway.”
“I’m not sending you to a foreign country with no one protecting you!”
Tabitha supposed she was right. Like it or not, there were threats associated with who she was. There were any number of people who would love to do her harm if they got the opportunity.
“What if we hired an American bodyguard? That way, they would blend in and wouldn’t blow my cover.”
“That’s something I could consider. We’d still have to plan this carefully, though. A lot could go wrong.”
Tabitha thought Mary was a little paranoid, but she didn’t say so. Mary had been living in the role of royalty for a lot longer than she had, after all. “I’m happy to take safety measures. I don’t want to be reckless. I just really need a break.”
Mary’s expression softened. “I know you do, honey. Dealing with the constant publicity can be wearying. We all need a break at some point. You should at least take Alice with you. I don’t want you going without anyone from our household.”
“That’ll be fine. I’ll be glad to have Alice with me.”
Tabitha couldn’t clean to save her life, and Alice the maid was a wizard with household chores.
“Excellent. Then I suppose we should start planning.”
Tabitha felt excitement curling in her belly. Not only would she finally see America, but she would have a chance at escaping the constant scrutiny she was under. It was a dream come true. Having a bodyguard would be nothing new. She’d needed to give bodyguards the slip before, just like she did to go on her doomed shopping trip.
One way or another, she was going to enjoy her trip to the U.S. to the fullest.
2
Jk
JK Sullivan got up and made her coffee. She ate breakfast and went to sit in the beautiful little garden outside her apartment. She stared off into the distance and… did nothing.
Fuck, she was bored. Retirement certainly wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. She had thought that taking an early retirement from her successful military career would be idyllic, but it wasn’t. It was just damn boring.
She needed something to do. After her disastrous attempts at hiking and attending a book club, she wasn’t keen to try any more conventional hobbies. She needed somethingexciting. Something that had real stakes to it, like the life she was used to.
Bored out of her mind, JK started scrolling through her phone’s contacts, wondering if she could call up anyone for coffee. Of course, most of her friends were busy at work at this time, so it was unlikely she’d find any solutions this way.
She stopped as she scrolled past one particular contact.
Gray was an old friend from her army days. They didn’t speak often, but they had kept in touch. JK knew that Gray ran a successful bodyguard business and she had taken on many ex-military members as part of her workforce.
Would she be interested in hiring JK? It would certainly be something to do, and there would be real stakes involved.
JK had never been one to sit around and go back and forth over a decision. She hesitated for only a moment before pressing the call button.
