An Officer and a Princess
Autore
Carla Cassidy
Letto da
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Capitoli
10
Chapter One
Lieutenant Commander Adam Sinclair hated waiting.
He glanced at his watch and frowned, staring at the door that would eventually open to allow him entry into her office.
Her. Isabel Stanbury. Not only a Princess of Edenbourg, but also a cabinet member and on the staff of the Ministry of Defense, and the woman who never seemed to drift far from his thoughts…a woman he could never, ever have as his own except in the forbidden dreams he had far too frequently.
Although he’d only been waiting a little over ten minutes, this wait seemed longer, more difficult than usual as he remembered her voice on the phone when she’d set up this appointment.
She’d sounded agitated, excited, and that worried him. Isabel was a strong woman who rarely gave in to her emotions, but she’d definitely sounded emotional on the phone.
His frown deepened, and he fought the impulse to rise and pace the small confines of the waiting room. Isabel’s secretary looked up, as if sensing his impatience, but she offered no reassuring smile.
Smiles were in short supply in Edenbourg these days. Three months ago King Michael had been kidnapped, throwing the entire small country into chaos. Since that time, Michael’s son, Crown Prince Nicholas was in hiding but presumed dead by the country as part of the royal plan, and Edward Stanbury, Michael’s estranged brother, had become King of Edenbourg. In other words, things in the country were in a royal mess.
Adam had been away at the time of the king’s kidnapping, working on a mission of his own…trying to clear his father’s name. But, he’d put his personal goals on hold when Isabel had called him home to aid in the search for the missing King Michael.
And that’s what they’d been doing for the past two months…following leads, investigating friends and family…and hitting the eventual dead ends.
“Lieutenant Sinclair,” the secretary called to him. “You can go in now.”
Adam nodded, stood and straightened his uniform jacket. He knew he was the epitome of a well-groomed officer. No errant pieces of lint spotted his pristine uniform, nor did a single dark hair stray from his close-cropped style. He knew what was expected from a high-ranking member of the Royal Edenbourg Navy, and Adam worked double-time to see that he not only met but surpassed expectations.
He had to work double time. He had to overcome the whispered rumors, the veiled innuendoes about his father. He shoved this painful thought aside as he opened the door to the office.
Isabel rose from behind her desk as he walked in. He stopped in the doorway and offered her a crisp salute.
“Lieutenant Sinclair,” she greeted him in that deep, low voice that he’d always found far too attractive. “Please, close the door behind you and have a seat.” She gestured to the chair in front of her desk.
He closed the door, then sat, trying not to notice how lovely she looked. As usual she was dressed in a smart blue business suit, the ornate family crest decorating one breast pocket.
What was unusual was the careless disarray of her shoulder-length dark brown hair and the bruise-like smudges of dark circles beneath her gorgeous green eyes. Both gave her an uncharacteristic vulnerability.
She looked tired and edgy, and an answering edginess stirred inside him.
He knew the past three months had been difficult on her. Although she and her father had often not seen eye to eye on her place in the royal family, he knew of her enormous love for King Michael.
She didn’t sit, but rather moved to the front of the desk and leaned back against it, displaying to him the perfect slender shapeliness of her long legs beneath the short, pencil-thin skirt. The thought of those legs of hers had given Adam many a sleepless night.
Princess Isabel Stanbury was not pretty in the traditional sense although there was beauty in her strong, bold features. Dark brows arched above the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. Her nose was narrow and straight…the Stanbury nose. Her mouth was generous, slightly too big for her face until she smiled, then it seemed to fit perfectly well.
“Thank you for coming,” she said. As always the air crackled with tension between them. “There have been some new developments.”
He leaned forward, intrigued by any news that might help in their search. “What kind of new developments?”
The last “developments” she’d pursued had nearly gotten her killed. Adam worked to control a shudder as he thought of how close she had come to getting a bullet in her back.
She reached to the desktop behind her, the slight stretch causing her jacket to pull taut across her breasts. Adam felt as if the temperature in the room had climbed a full ten degrees.
He averted his gaze to the wall to her left and didn’t look at her again until she handed him a piece of paper, then he focused his attention on it.
“What’s this?” he asked, staring at a list of names of people he’d never heard of before.
“A list of Shane Moore’s closest friends and associates. His sister, Meagan, gave it to me.”
Adam tried to ignore Isabel’s nearness. The scent of her slightly spicy perfume wafted in the air, and he steeled himself against its evocative fragrance. “And what exactly do you intend to do with this?”
She moved back to her desk and sat on the edge. “Find out what they know. Surely somebody on that list knows where my father is being held, and who is responsible for his kidnapping. Shane Moore was only a pawn in somebody’s bigger game, and I want that somebody.” Her spring-colored eyes glittered in a way that Adam found distinctly disconcerting…he recognized the glitter as trouble.
When Isabel had served a tour of duty in the navy, Adam had been her commanding officer. He’d immediately found her to be highly intelligent and self-sufficient. He’d also found her headstrong, stubborn and unwilling to sit on the sidelines in lieu of taking action whenever possible.
He steadfastly refused to contemplate the other traits he found too attractive…such as the silky feel of her hair beneath his fingertips and the intimate press of her body against his.
He actively fought against the memory of the single moment when they’d both nearly forgotten themselves and their respective positions and had almost shared a forbidden kiss. Almost.
“And just what makes you think the people on this list will talk to you…confide in you?” he asked in an attempt to stay focused on business at hand, rather than pleasure never shared.
“I’m going to go undercover.” She raised her chin and glared at him, as if challenging him to stop her.
“Need I remind your highness that it’s only been a week since you were nearly shot in the back by Shane Moore?” What Adam would never tell her was how often in the last week he’d suffered nightmares about that moment when Shane’s gun had been pointed at Isabel.
“If not for the quick action of your cousin, Luke, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he continued. “You wouldn’t be talking with anyone.”
She waved a hand, as if to dismiss the drama. “I’m still not convinced my dear cousin Luke doesn’t have something to do with my father’s disappearance.”
“He saved your life,” Adam observed.
She nodded, her eyes gleaming with the intelligence Adam had always admired. “He did, but at the same time did he also manage to kill a co-conspirator before he could talk?”
Adam sighed. “That thought has crossed my mind, too,” he admitted. “But, you can’t go undercover,” he protested. “Your picture is in the paper all the time. People know who you are.”
Adam tried not to think about the latest batch of pictures of her that had graced the society pages. In those photos she’d been dancing with a pretty-boy royal named Sebastian Lansbury, a distant cousin of the Thortons, the royal family from Roxbury, and a dandy if Adam had ever seen one.
The headlines had boldly announced the rumored engagement between the two and Adam had been surprised to feel a pang in his heart. That fair-haired fop in the pictures wasn’t what a strong, independent, passionate woman like Isabel needed.
“People are used to seeing me looking like a princess,” she replied and began to pace the small area in front of his chair.
Each time she swept past Adam, her fragrance tickled his nose and tantalized his senses. “Trust me, I can make it so nobody will ever recognize me as Princess Isabel.”
“It’s a foolish idea,” Adam replied curtly.
“Why?” she shot back.
It was one of the things he’d always admired about her, how she questioned authority, demanded rational explanations for decisions, and allowed herself to be open when those beneath her control did the same. It was also one of the things about her that irritated him.
She stopped her pacing and stood just in front of him, that familiar perfume enveloping him. “Tell me why you think it’s foolish.”
Because I don’t want anything to happen to you. Because I can’t imagine the world without you in it. Of course he didn’t say these things, would never, ever say these things.
“You know what kind of a person Shane Moore was…he was dangerous, and I’d venture to guess that the people who were his associates, his friends and acquaintances are dangerous as well.”
“Danger has never frightened me,” she scoffed.
“And that’s why you shouldn’t do this,” he returned evenly. “You know what your father would want…he’d want you here, working safely behind the scenes, not on the front lines risking your life.”
He knew he’d irritated her, reminding her of the subject of much tension and debate between daughter and father. Her frown created a tiny wrinkle in the center of her forehead. “My father would want all of us to do whatever we can to find him. I’m tired of sitting and waiting around for somebody else to find him.”
She began to pace once again, her shoulders stiff with tension and her footsteps determined and purposeful. “We know Shane Moore was responsible for my father’s kidnapping. We know he was also responsible for kidnapping Ben.”
Lieutenant Ben Lockhart had agreed to impersonate King Michael’s son, Nicholas, and had been kidnapped by Shane. Shane’s sister, Meagan, had been responsible for Ben’s safety and for the resulting unsuccessful attempted arrest of her brother…unsuccessful because Isabel’s cousin, Luke, had shot and killed Shane.
“The key to who has my father and where they are keeping him is on that sheet of paper. I feel it…it’s the only real lead we’ve had,” she said fervently. “Adam, Meagan already told us that she thinks my father had a stroke…for all we know he could be dying right now…all alone…in some horrid place.”
Her eyes grew too bright, and he realized she was on the verge of tears. He didn’t want to see her cry. He’d only seen her cry once before, and at that time her tears had nearly undone him, nearly caused him to cross a line into forbidden territory.
He sighed with a sense of resignation. “So, you’re really intent on doing this?”
She nodded, a curt motion that sent the ends of her wavy hair to dancing on top of her shoulders. She drew a deep breath and, as if by magic, whatever emotion had momentarily possessed her was once again under control. “Since Meagan gave me this list, I’ve got Ben doing background checks on each name. I should have pictures and complete information about each of them by late this afternoon.”
She was nothing if not efficient, he thought. He stood, unable to stay seated any longer. “I can’t believe your cousin would be a party to this.”
“Ben is a different man since he impersonated my brother and was kidnapped. He feels the same way I do…that if my father is still alive, time is running out and something has to be done. Besides, he knows I’m going to do this with or without his help.” She raised her chin to him.
“I can’t let you do this.” He tried one last time to change her mind. “It’s simply too dangerous. Give me all the information and I’ll assign somebody to the job. I know a dozen men and women who would do anything to help find the king.”
“No. I want to do this. Adam…I need to do this.” There was a soft plea in her voice. “I’ve already made arrangements to rent a room above the King’s Men Tavern. Meagan told me her brother and most of the names on this list spent a lot of time hanging out there.”
The King’s Men Tavern was near the palace, but few of the good king’s men had ever been there. The place had a reputation for trouble, and far too often the police were called in to break up fights or arrest unruly drunks. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit.
But he could tell by looking at her that there was no point in trying to talk her out of it. Her features were taut, her chin raised in stubborn defiance. She intended to run with this…hook, line and sinker.
“And what is your back-up plan? One of the first things I ever taught you was that you never go into a dangerous situation without a back-up plan.”
“You’re my back-up plan,” she said.
He eyed her in surprise.
She took a step closer to him, and again he could smell her perfume, that heady scent that made him think of hot summer nights and slick, silky skin.
He fought the impulse to back away from her, refusing to allow her to see any weakness on his part. “And what role am I going to play in this scheme of yours?” he asked.
“I’m going undercover as Bella Wilcox, Shane Moore’s cousin.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew something, then grabbed Adam’s hand.
“And you will be Adam Wilcox.” She slid a plain gold band onto his ring finger. “My lawfully wedded husband.”
Isabel sank into her chair and released a sigh as Adam left her office. She immediately buzzed her secretary. “Laura, please hold my calls and clear my schedule for the rest of the afternoon and the next two weeks.”
She heard her secretary’s surprise, but the woman was too professional to ask any questions. Too wired to sit still, Isabel stood and began to pace the small confines of her office.
If given a choice, she might have chosen somebody else to act as her “husband” in the undercover scheme. She and Adam had often butted heads over military policies and procedures, but that wasn’t what bothered her about him.
What bothered her were his gunmetal gray eyes with their sinfully long dark lashes. What bothered her were his impossibly broad shoulders, his taut, flat stomach and slender hips.
What bothered her was that when his gaze swept over her, she forgot the trappings of her title and the expertise of her training, and became simply a woman with a woman’s wants and needs.
There were times when Adam looked at her that she felt her knees weaken and her stomach knot and intense heat suffused her entire body. She knew it would be wise to choose somebody else for this undercover operation.
But for this particular assignment she needed the best, and Adam was the best. Well-trained, with an impressive record, Adam Sinclair was the only man on earth she would trust with this important mission.
Adam Sinclair was also the only man on earth who had ever seen her cry. She frowned and tried to forget that there had been a time when she’d believed herself hopelessly in love with him. And that there had been a single moment in time when she’d practically thrown herself into his arms and he’d remained disappointingly professional.
She couldn’t think about that now. That was in the past…in her youth. She had to focus on the task at hand. She knew her plan was dangerous, knew the people responsible for her father’s kidnapping were dangerous. But she would do whatever it took to find her father and put an end to the chaos that reigned in the country she so loved.
Tonight she would put out the word that she was going into seclusion, that the stress of the past three months had finally caught up with her. And tomorrow night she would begin her charade as Bella Wilcox, cousin to Shane Moore and wife of Adam.
She shivered, unsure what had her more anxious, rubbing elbows with dangerous men and women or living a pretend marriage with Adam Sinclair.
