He’d badly miscalculated her. Them. The damnable situation they found themselves in. Almost two months ago he’d told himself he could show her how lovable she was and then let her down so gently her heart wouldn’t be broken when they parted at the end of the school year. Two months...and a lifetime ago. Cocky bastard, weren’t you? he told himself. Then in his head he heard the princess saying fiercely, “Do not use that word,” and he amended his self-criticism from bastard to SOB.
But it really made no difference, not in his assessment of himself, or the situation. Time was no longer on his side, and he loved her enough to give her up now instead of later. Being noble? he jeered at himself, but...Yeah, he replied, understanding for the first time how Ryan Callahan could have walked away from Mandy Edwards rather than put her in jeopardy. In Callahan’s world a man didn’t place the woman he loved in the line of fire. Trace hadn’t realized it before, but Callahan’s world was also his. He wasn’t going to risk seeing his princess in a pool of her own blood, the way Cody had with Keira.
The only problem was, the princess would never understand. Would never agree with him. She was just stubborn enough to refuse to let him leave quietly, not if she knew the truth. Which left him with only two options—walking away without a word, or lying to her.
How could he walk away from her without a word? Just disappear from her life? Let her think he was dead? Or worse, that she meant so little to him he couldn’t be bothered to at least tell her goodbye?
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t.
But lying to her? God, it went against the grain for him, almost as much as just walking away. She trusted him. Could he make her believe he didn’t love her? Could he be that good an actor? Maybe. If he didn’t have to look into her eyes when he lied.
The damnable thing was, he’d done exactly what he’d set out to do two months ago—he’d freed his princess to believe in love...just in time to break her heart.
* * *
“I’ll be off this assignment by the end of the year,” Trace told Alec and Liam later that night. He’d asked them to join him in the guest house living room after the princess was in bed for the express purpose of sharing this news with them.
The two brothers exchanged startled glances, then Liam said, “Because of the tail on you.” A statement, not a question.
“Yeah. I didn’t tell you last night when I asked if anyone was following the princess when you’re guarding her. But I have reason to believe I might be the target, not her. There was a case—”
“The case where Keira was shot?” Alec broke in. “That one?”
Trace was glad he wasn’t going to have to go into detail because he wouldn’t have given them the specifics even if they’d asked. It was still a highly secret case, with Need to know stamped all over it. “Yeah. What do you know about it?”
Alec shrugged. “Not a hell of a lot. Keira clammed up when we asked her. Said she couldn’t talk about it, and Walker said the same thing. Pissed us off royally at the time. Keira’s our baby sister, and knowing she almost died, well...we understood the necessity for the secrecy surrounding that case in theory, but in practice it wasn’t easy accepting it. We didn’t like not knowing. Neither did our older brothers, Shane and Niall. We wanted to be sure nothing and no one was going to hurt Keira again.” His eyes hardened. “Even if we had to take matters into our own hands.” Alec paused, and the hard look about his eyes faded somewhat. “But that was a long time ago. Are you sure it’s the same organization?”
Trace shook his head. “No. Not sure at all. But I discussed it with Walker today, and he agrees it’s a strong possibility. Better safe than sorry, so he’s going to talk to the State Department about replacing me on this team no later than the end of the year. Sooner, if possible.”
“Does the princess know?” This from Liam.
“Not yet but she will, as soon as I have a definite date. I want to tell her myself, so please don’t let on to her that you know.” He thought for a moment. “Might be a good idea to tell her first thing tomorrow it’s possible she’s being followed. We don’t know if it’s true, and you should tell her that, too—we don’t want to alarm her unnecessarily. We just want to put her on her guard, especially since she’s driving herself. I’ve taught her a few defensive driving techniques I hope she’ll never need to use, but if she wants to practice them, let her. Just don’t say anything about me.”
Liam looked as if he was going to ask something, but he glanced at his brother who shook his head slightly. And Trace figured he knew what Liam and Alec were both thinking but wouldn’t ask. How will the princess take the news?