“How did you know about the nuts?” She’d been staring out the window, watching the snow fly by for the past hour or so. She was bored. Despite the fact she was annoyed with him, she couldn’t sit and do nothing for another moment. Her mind had been so focused on his overbearing, macho orders, she’d nearly forgotten her curiosity over his remark about her allergy earlier.
Silence was her only immediate reply, and for a moment she wondered if she’d need to repeat herself or if he was going to answer at all.
“I know everything about you,” he said quietly.
“Everything?” she asked. Surely he couldn’t know everything. Her mind raced with some of the more private moments of her life that she wouldn’t feel comfortable with a complete stranger knowing.
“You are a princess. Your life is well documented.”
“Well documented?” Thea resisted the urge to shriek, but she felt it building inside her nonetheless. “Documented how?”
“Everything about you has been written down from the day you were born. Your first steps, your first smile. Your first tooth is on exhibit in a museum back home.”
“Really?” she gasped, studying his profile.
“No.” He glanced her way and shot her a quick smile. “I was only teasing about the tooth. But you have always been observed.”
“You shouldn’t tease me that way.” Embarrassment coursed through her. She’d known she had always been watched and her family would forever be a part of their country’s history. History was one thing, though. It was something to look back on years and years from now and ponder. They weren’t things she wanted to share in the here and now. They definitely weren’t things she wanted to share with a man who already thought he knew everything there was to know about her. It was unnerving that he quite possibly knew more about her than she remembered herself.
He smiled, a wide, knowing smile, and it only fueled her discomfort.
“It was important that I know all that I could about you in order to do my job and properly protect you.”
It was only a job. The fact should have lessened her embarrassment, but it didn’t. It wasn’t right that one person should know so much about another. It was an unfair advantage that he knew so much about her and she knew nothing about him.
“That’s hardly fair.” Thea crossed her arms and stared ahead out the windshield. The snow fell heavily in large, perfect flakes. It was as if they were in their own private spaceship on a voyage through the stars. Snowflakes zoomed by at what seemed like lightning speed, but she’d been watching the speedometer and knew they were barely crawling along at well below the speed limit. The beauty of the snow kept her mind from racing off through the many other things he might know about her that she’d rather he didn’t.
“Would it make it fair if I told you something about me?”
“Of course it would.” Any idea of who this man was would help if she were going to continue to hold her own against him. She had to have a clue of what she was up against.
“Then ask away.”
She had no idea where to start. There were so many things that she wanted to know. Jumbled thoughts of questions to ask ran through her mind.
“Do you believe in God?” In the dim light of the dashboard, she could see the play of emotions race across his face. It seemed she’d surprised him with her question. Her own faith and beliefs were central to her identity. She knew without a doubt she wouldn’t be who she was now if her faith hadn’t given her the strength to see the good that could come from all the bad she had experienced in her life. If she were going to trust him with her life and spend any amount of time with him, she needed to know if he shared her convictions.
“Yes,” he answered.
Thea sensed there was a lot more he wasn’t saying. For a moment she thought of pushing further but decided against it. He’d tell her more when he was ready, or she’d find out by his actions. Besides, there was much more she wanted to learn about the man who already knew her life story.
“Are you married?” As soon as the words were spoken, she wondered if she was being too nosey. “I’m sorry—it’s none of my business.”
“Don’t be sorry. All’s fair. After all, I’m fully aware that you are single. I could list the names, ages and social security numbers of the men you have seen socially, though, if you’d like.” He chuckled and, although she knew he was teasing her, she rose to the challenge.
“You and I both know I’ve barely been allowed to make friends, let alone date.” She paused for a moment. She wanted to make connections and have friends. But friendships were impossible when you were never allowed to stay in one place very long and were always being watched. “All right, then, I stand by my question.” She’d noticed he wore no rings, although that didn’t always mean a man was single. Not all men chose to wear rings.
“I’m single. Never married. I have dated, but nothing serious, really.” He paused, flashing a grin. “Would you like names and ages?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary, do you?” She grinned right back. Thea couldn’t help herself. It surprised her how difficult it was to stay angry with him. Not to mention how at ease she felt when only hours ago she’d thought him capable of trying to kill her.
“How do you know my brother?” she asked, hoping to catch him off guard and finally get answers to the questions racing through her mind.
She watched as his face went from playful to serious in a flash. His brows furrowed as he thought. She knew in that second that whatever he told her would be the truth. He was only taking the time to say it as gently as he could. She admired him for that, but part of her just wanted for once to hear the unabridged version and not the watered-down, what-he-thought-the-princess-could-handle edition.
“I was his bodyguard.”
And Leo had been shot. He didn’t say it, but she could tell he was thinking it. The guilt flashed across his face as he spoke the words. Maybe not so much for his own feelings, but perhaps because of what he imagined she’d think of him.
“Do you think I’m going to blame you for his being shot?” Thea folded her hands in her lap to keep from reaching over and smoothing the worry from his face.
“Don’t you?” His shoulders slumped slightly, so slightly anyone else might not have noticed. But she had spent the past fourteen years of her life studying people, determining who was telling her the truth and who was lying to protect her supposed tender feelings. In that moment she knew she couldn’t be angry with him.
“Of course not.” She couldn’t blame him any more than those who had been trained to give up their lives for her and her family. Her heart broke for those who had already done so. Those men were so filled with duty and honor, they would never hesitate in doing what needed to be done. She was tired of the death, of the threats. She wanted it all to end.
She loved her brother more than anything. Without thought, her fingers found the medallion in her pocket and slowly began rubbing what was left of the raised surface of her family crest. He was all she had left. If he’d died, she would have lost a large piece of herself. Her life would have had an emptiness that would have taken a lot of time and prayer to ease.
“How did it happen?” Thea knew it would be uncomfortable for him to share and just as uncomfortable to hear. But she had to know. For now this man was her only connection to her brother. She reached across the space between their seats and lay her hand on his arm. She sensed the muscles in his forearm tense. “Please tell me.”
Thea was relieved Ronin kept his eyes on the road. It was bad enough he could hear the emotion in her voice; she didn’t want him to see