Robbie raised his eyes to Priest’s, and the love and gratitude he saw there made his heart fill close to bursting.
“Years ago,” Priest said, “a thief stole my heart and brought it to life, and tonight a princess saved it. I love you, Robert, for so many reasons, but your strength these past couple of days was exactly what I needed to get me through. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Robbie bit his lip and nodded, knowing if he hadn’t asked Henri to get that vest to protect Priest, they wouldn’t be having this conversation right now—something he couldn’t even begin to fathom. “I love you too. So much.”
“We’re not letting you go now, princesse,” Julien said from the bed, making Robbie turn in his direction, and then Priest said by his ear, “You understand that, right?”
Robbie’s cheeks heated with pleasure. “Right.”
“Good.” Priest kissed his temple. “Now get into that bed and under the covers with Julien. I’m going to grab the pain medication Henri left, and we are all going to try and get some sleep.”
As Priest left the bedroom, Robbie turned to see Julien watching them with a soft expression. “That is what I wanted to come home to,” Julien whispered. “That right there.”
Robbie climbed into the bed, and as Julien slipped down under the covers, Robbie turned on the television, looking through the channels for something that would help them all forget for a little while and drift off.
He’d just bypassed several automatic nos when his eyes caught on a headline scrolling across the bottom of one of the news channels, and as it repeated itself, Robbie sat up in the bed, and Julien looked at him with a frown.
“Robbie?”
“Priest,” Robbie called out.
Julien turned to look at the TV. “I can’t read it with my eye. What’s it say?”
Robbie was just about to answer when a loud knock on the hotel room door startled him, and he heard Priest call out, “I’ll be right there.”
Robbie turned the volume up so Julien could hear what he was reading, and as the news anchor’s voice filled the room, the two of them stared in stunned silence at what they were watching.
“We have some breaking news coming in. It appears that escaped inmate Jimmy Donovan has been found dead after an extensive manhunt. His remains were found in the Calumet River, hundreds of miles away from the Louisiana prison he escaped from days before. Police are gathering a list of those who may have had a history with the once notorious crime boss of New Orleans, and it is believed it will take some time to narrow down a list of suspects. We’ll bring you more information as soon as it becomes available.”
No, Robbie thought, as he looked to the bedroom door. There was no way what he was thinking was true—was there? But as he looked over at Julien and saw relief and gratitude fill his eyes, Robbie had a sneaking suspicion it was.
* * *
PRIEST CAREFULLY WALKED across the living space to the door, and when the knock came again, he peered through the peephole. There, standing on the other side, was the young lady who had checked him and Robbie into The Peninsula when they’d arrived. With a frown, Priest unlocked the door and pulled it open.
“Hello,” Priest said, wondering why they were getting an early wake-up call, when one certainly had not been requested.
A bright, sunny smile crossed the woman’s face. “Oh, good morning, sir. I’m sorry to disturb you so early, but your guest from yesterday dropped these two bags off just now and asked me to hand-deliver them to, uh…” She looked down at the note in her hand and scrunched her nose up. “A priest?”
Priest’s eyes dropped to the black bags at the woman’s feet, and as he realized what he was looking at, he schooled his expression, casually leaned an arm against the door, and returned her smile. “Yes, that would be me. Last name’s Priestley. My friends call me Priest.”
“Oh,” she said, a blush blooming on her cheeks. “I thought you were actually a—”
“No.” Priest chuckled and then coughed. “Far from it.”
“Well, umm, there they are. I’m sorry it’s so early.”
“That’s perfectly all right.”
She walked backward to the private elevator and hit the button, and Priest made sure to keep his expression pleasant as she stepped inside. But as soon as she disappeared, the smile dropped, and Priest grabbed a bag in each hand and headed back inside the suite.
When he undid the first one and saw stacks of hundred-dollar bills, he shut his eyes for a minute and sent up a quick prayer. Then, with his heart in his throat, he unzipped the second and found the same, though it was a little less full than the first, and there was a note sitting on the top.