To his surprise, she placed her palm in his and leaned against him as she levered herself up from the sofa. It occurred to him that, prior to throwing her over his shoulder moments before, he’d never touched the woman. Her hand felt small and shaky as she held tight to him. From what he knew of her, he was certain she wouldn’t have leaned on him at all unless she’d had no other choice. Ava was too independent for that. Her first steps were cautious, but then she walked beside him with increased confidence.
“Your legs okay?”
“Better now, thank you.”
Surprised at her thanks, Jason almost smiled. “You’re welcome.”
He led her back through to his office, where her plans for Princess Anastasia’s wedding to Kirk Covington still lay atop his desk. Her requested location was fraught with hazards, even under the best circumstances. Given the explosion that could have killed them both, the plan was all the more unthinkable. He helped her into a chair, then shoved the stapled pages to the side of his desk.
Jason opened up a fresh incident-report template on his computer. “Now, tell me your version of what happened.”
Ava sat up straight, looking less shaken already. “We were in here, discussing the plans for Princess Anastasia’s wedding location.”
Jason did his best to accurately type her words, though he very nearly switched out discussing for arguing about but caught himself before he hit the wrong keys. The way his screen was angled, Ava might be able to see his words. Best not to upset her further—he knew how obstinate she could be when angered.
“And then?” he prompted once he’d entered all she’d said.
“Well—” she looked at him bluntly “—you were being completely unreasonable—”
“That’s not relevant—”
“It’s an island.” Ava rose on her seat and picked up her previous argument right where she’d left off before stalking out in a huff earlier. “If anything, it’s more secure than the Sardis Cathedral and just as safe as anything within the palace walls.”
“The palace complex is the most secure location in Sardis.” Jason would have directed Ava back to her statement, but the security of the palace complex wasn’t something he could let come under question. Along with ensuring the safety of the members of the royal family, his primary duty was to keep the palace grounds secure at all times.
“Oh!” Ava threw back her head with a sarcastic fake laugh. “And the gunmen who ran amok during Duchess Julia’s titling ceremony—was that an example—”
Jason gave up trying to type and instead reached across his desk toward the woman, pointing one finger as he spoke. “That is precisely why I can’t allow you to attempt to hold a royal wedding on an island. If gunmen can get inside these walls, they can easily attack an island.”
“Precisely my point. If either location is equally vulnerable—”
“They’re not vulnerable!” Jason snapped, wishing to end the conversation and get back to typing his report.
“Then there shouldn’t be a problem with using the island of Dorsi—”
“The island of Dorsi is off-limits. No one is allowed to step foot on that island.”
“All the more reason why it’s perfectly—” Ava rose to her feet as she tried to cut off his words.
But Jason would not be interrupted. “It’s too dangerous. It’s forbidden!” Jason found he had to stand as well, just to make himself heard. Besides, he couldn’t let the redhead tower over him.
“It’s absolutely not dangerous. My clients have already vetted the location—”
Outraged, Jason leaned across his desk. “No one is allowed to step foot on Dorsi.”
Ava planted her hands on the desktop and glared at him across the shiny surface. “I already have.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Princess Stasi and Kirk Covington took me there to show me where they wanted to hold the ceremony—in the ruins of the ancient cathedral where the Lydian kings and queens of old were married.”
“You’ve been to the island of Dorsi?” Jason had been there once, too—a memory he’d prefer to forget. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Maybe too dangerous for you.”
“I’ve been there—to retrieve a dead body.”
To his satisfaction, Ava looked the slightest bit startled by his words. “Whose dead body?”
“My predecessor, Viktor Bosch. He was captain of the royal guard before me. I was appointed after his death.” To Jason’s relief, his words silenced the wedding planner. “His death was a direct result of the dangers of the island. I cannot allow—”
But the woman’s fury rose with renewed vigor. “You cannot refuse a member of the royal family.” She leaned farther across the desk, invading his side.
“I can if it endangers safety.” Jason leaned forward again, wishing to push the woman back out of his space, using physical force if necessary. “And I already have.” He grabbed a self-inking stamp from his desk drawer and slapped the word against the paper with so much force droplets of red ink splattered around the letters.
Rejected.
Ava grabbed the stack of paper away from him. “You can’t—”
Jason tugged back on his half of the papers. He needed to file it with the king’s office to make it official. “I already did.”
“It’s not your decision to make!” Ava tugged on the pages.
Jason felt her fingers slipping and pulled harder, certain he’d nearly gained the advantage. “I’ve made the decision! It’s done,” he shouted over her words, even as she increased the volume of her demands.
Suddenly the door across from him swung open, and Jason looked up to see Galen and Titus, two of his royal guardsmen, standing in the open doorway, watching his wrestling match with the wedding planner in obvious shock and amusement.
“We did knock.” Titus cleared his throat. “No one answered.”
“We heard sounds of distress and felt it in the best interest of your safety to open the door,” Galen added.
Hoping to take advantage of the momentary distraction, Jason gave the papers a final hard tug. To his surprise, however, Ava held on so tightly his efforts pulled her partway onto his desk.
The wedding planner glared up at him furiously.
Jason stopped tugging on the papers but didn’t release them. While letting her keep hold of the papers wouldn’t result in her getting her way, he couldn’t bear the thought of giving her the satisfaction of prevailing over him, not when she’d already gotten her way so many times. It was almost as though she held more authority than he did—it hadn’t escaped his noticed that his men in the gatehouse had unlocked the pedestrian gate for her, even though he’d been right behind her.
As the youngest captain in the history of the royal guard, he didn’t always feel as though his men thought he deserved his position of authority over them. Ava’s constant triumphs degraded his power—which complicated his efforts to keep the royal family safe.
Titus continued, “The Sardis bomb squad has found something they want you to see.”
Immediately concerned, Jason asked, “Is it safe?”
“It’s a small bit of residue on the ground,” Galen clarified. “They think it might be bomb-related material. The dogs sniffed it out.”
“I’ll