“She’s fine,” Ellie assured him. “She noticed the poison right away, you did absolutely the right things to keep it from getting into her system, and Shane got her the antidote within half an hour. Absolutely no harm done.”
“Is she alone?” Nick asked.
Ellie gave him a sharp glance with her blue-green eyes, catching something in his tone. “Yes, in one of the spare bedrooms. We offered to have someone wait with her till you came back, so she’d feel secure, but she said it wasn’t necessary. And you’ll be here all night to guard her, of course.”
“Of course,” Nick said after a pause. Well, he would. And he couldn’t face the thought of having that conversation with Hal, Raluca, and Ellie. Nick would tell Raluca, and Hal would tell everyone else. It was no skin off Hal’s back. “You can take Hal home now.”
Ellie scooped up her book and kit. Nick turned away from her happiness, glowing as bright now as when Hal had first brought her to Protection, Inc., as she went into the office to meet her mate.
He went downstairs, hearing the distant sounds of Hal and Ellie leaving. By the time he reached the spare rooms, he knew that he and Raluca were alone in the building.
There were two rooms. One door open and no lights on, one door closed with light shining through the crack at the bottom.
Nick drew in a deep breath, straightened his spine, and squared his shoulders. He might have fucked up like no shifter had in the history of ever, but at least he’d stand up and take it like a wolf. Hal was Protection, Inc.’s alpha, but Nick had been an alpha once and he still was one at heart. And that meant protecting your pack. Sacrificing your own needs for your pack. Bleeding for your pack. Dying for your pack. Protection, Inc. was his pack now. And since Raluca was a client, all th
e duties of an alpha to his pack also applied to her.
Breaking your heart for your pack.
Nick knocked on the door. “It’s Nick.”
“Come in,” Raluca called.
Nick walked into the room, then closed the door behind him. He’d slept in that cramped room quite a few times himself, so he knew it well: the normal-sized bed (the other room had one big enough for Hal), the little chair (because a bigger one wouldn’t fit), the bedside table and lamp, the hardwood floor.
When he’d first come to Protection, Inc., those rooms had been bare; the company had only recently moved in, and Hal hadn’t decided what to do with the tiny rooms yet. Nick had been one of the reasons they’d ended up putting beds in them.
He knew that room like he knew his gun. But it was surreal to see Raluca sitting on the bed, still in her jeweled mermaid gown. It made the entire room look new and strange. Almost... magical.
A folded pair of pajamas and another set of Fiona’s black fatigues lay on one chair, so it wasn’t like she had nothing else to wear. She still had all her jewelry on. Her hoard pack lay beside her on the bed. One of her hands rested atop it. All she’d taken off was her silk gloves, probably so Ellie could check her pulse, and her silver stiletto heels. Raluca’s hands looked bare with neither gloves nor rings.
Nick had meant to get straight to the point. But the words caught in his throat as he looked at her slim fingers, remembering how she’d eaten half a Big Bacon in one bite and without a flinch because he’d dared her to, how she’d remembered to tip even after she’d been poisoned, and how she’d risked getting shot to strap a bulletproof vest on him.
“Is this how a princess dresses every day?” Nick asked. His voice cracked. He hoped she didn’t notice.
If she did, she gave no sign. “This is how a princess dresses for a ball. Except that if I was still a princess, I would wear my crown.”
“What happened to it?” Nick asked.
Raluca tilted her head, her eyes going distant with memory. “It is in my hoard pack. I shall not wear it again... Or so I thought.”
Nick had been under the impression that she’d given up her title for good. “Are you thinking of going back to being a princess?”
Her rainy-day gaze met his squarely, making him realize how rarely she looked him right in the eyes. Usually she snuck peeks when she thought he wasn’t paying attention. “Yes. I am.”
He heard the absolute, unadorned honesty in her voice. He was about to ask her why when his wolf snarled a warning. Nick closed his mouth. He knew why. It was because of him. He’d given her the worst possible impression of America and Americans, just because she’d stung his pride, and now it looked like the World’s Biggest Ball of Twine was going to have the World’s Worst Consequences.
“I think...” Nick tried to choose his words carefully, for once. Sure, he’d offended her on purpose, but he’d also done it by accident. If he pissed her off one more time, she might bolt straight back to Viorel, and probably be assassinated within the week. “I think you should wait till Lucas comes back, and talk to him first. And...”
He almost choked on his next words, but he had to say them. He’d failed her even more than he’d realized when he’d spoken to Hal. It was unfair to her to stick her with a bodyguard she couldn’t stand but was too polite to fire. And if she hated him so much that she’d rather rush into danger alone and unguarded than have him around, then he had to offer her an alternative.
“I’m sure Lucas will want to protect you himself,” Nick said. “But until he gets back, you can have a different bodyguard. I already talked to Hal about it. He’ll let you pick, but if you’re not sure who you want, I recommend Destiny. She’s funny, but she’s sensitive, too. She wouldn’t piss you off. And she doesn’t swear. Or Rafa— he knows all about high society, like you saw, and he’s very professional once he’s on the job. He wouldn’t flirt or tease if you were his client. Or Shane. I know he seems a little scary, but he’s a really good guy, he’s fantastic at his job, and he has total self-control. You tell him once not to swear, and he’ll never swear again.”
This is madness! Nick’s wolf growled. I told you once, and I am telling you again, you must not —
“Why...” Raluca began.
Nick plunged on, desperate to get it over with. “You don’t want me. You don’t want me so much that you’re about to risk your life just to get away from me. Raluca, you don’t need to do that. I’m not your fiancé. I’m not even your boyfriend. I’m just a guy you hired for a job. So fire me. Or if you’d rather, I’ll resign. And once I’m gone, I’ll stay out of your way. I’ll stay out of your sight. Just say the word, and you’ll never have to see me again.”