Royal Line by Carrie Ryan (online e book reading txt) 📕

for letting us know, but we’ll double-check.” I glanced between Olly and Sparrow. “All right, we have to figure out who the hell is after her. Leave no stone unturned.”

To London, I said, “Things are going to get a little more uncomfortable because we’re going to fully deep-dive into your life. If there’s something, anything you’re not telling us, now is the time.”

She lifted her chin. “I told you everything I know. I don’t know why someone’s trying to kill me. I’ve never done anything to anybody.”

I knew that to be a lie. She’d sure as shit done something to me. Somehow, in a matter of two days, she’d managed to wedge herself into a crack in my heart, one that I hadn’t even known existed. For my own safety and sanity, I needed to keep her at arm’s length.

A few minutes after our meeting, I walked by the sitting room and saw London sitting in there. I almost stopped. I wanted to talk to her. Ask her why she ran. Had I hurt her? I hadn’t let her sleep, that was for damn sure, but she’d been happy when we passed the fuck out.

So why run then? Because she’s not for you.

Under my skin or not, I just had to accept that. The princess wasn’t for me. So instead of stopping, I shut the door on my heart and kept walking.

Chapter 13 London

A princess never tells.

Thanks to Sparrow, I could at least work. And avoid talking to Kannon.

He’d clearly been pissed I’d left him in bed.

How would you feel?

I ignored the twinge around my heart. I’d messed up. I’d only needed some time to think. Then I’d been too terrified to go back to bed. And then, well, he’d been pissed.

Just where I was supposed to go from here, I had no idea. In the last three days, my life had fallen to complete shit. And I couldn’t breathe. Dealing with the flood of emotions around Kannon was too much to deal with.

You want him. Just say that.

I did want him. But I also had no idea where my life was going. I couldn’t examine what I’d started to feel for him.

Sparrow saved me from being in my head too much though. She brought me a laptop, and I was able to log in to my website and clean some things up. I was also able to work on a few emails and replied to the necessary ones. Olly said he’d set up a relay system, so I should be safe enough to not have my IP address recorded. I knew a little about what he was talking about thanks to Breck, so I knew enough to take it seriously. But some of it felt like overkill. At least I hoped it was. If I let myself think it was truly necessary, it would be hard to focus without succumbing to mind-numbing fear.

There was a knock at the door of the library, and I glanced up. Sparrow approached me with a smile.

I took out my earbuds. “Hi. Do you need me for something?”

“I just came to say hello and grab a book. These scenarios are often wait and see with a lot of downtime. And I could use some space to do some research without the boys breathing down my neck.”

Sparrow presented an opportunity to glean a little more information. “Is it just you and Olly who work with Kannon?”

She shook her head. “No, there are four others on the team. A couple of them accompanied our last assignment home, and one more stayed there to take care of the office. It’s just me and Olly left here in France.”

I saw my chance to get to know him better, so I just asked, “Is Kannon always this grumpy?”

Sparrow eased onto the couch across from me. “There are shadows in him. But mostly he’s a growly teddy bear. You just have to get to know his quirks and what makes him tick, I guess.”

That seemed like an understatement. “It must be a full-time job trying to understand what makes the man tick.”

She laughed. “True enough. But you know what? At the core, Kannon’s one of the best people I know. He legitimately wants to help people. And these days, that’s hard to come by.”

I studied her. “You respect him a lot, don’t you?”

She nodded. “Of course I do. He’s— Well, he gave me a shot when no one else would. He’s sharp as a tack, keeps the bullshit level low, and the company gave me a family. I’d like to think that I gave him the same thing.”

I studied her closely. “Are you two—?”

Sparrow lifted a brow and gazed at me over the top of her laptop. It took her a moment to realize what I was asking, and then her brows lifted before she threw her head back with a loud bark of laughter. The action made her look young and beautiful, as if she didn’t have a care in the world having to watch some random woman that people were shooting at. “Oh my God, that’s priceless. I’m going to tell Olly.”

A flush crept up my neck. “I’m sorry. That was really nosy. None of my business.”

Sparrow put out a hand and waved me off. “No. No. Oh God, no. You can relax. It’s not like that. It has never been like that. He’s obviously very pretty. It actually became kind of a game to watch women throw themselves at him. We have running bets on the team as to how long he can ignore them before he actively brushes them off, or how long before he gives in. It depends. But no, it’s never been like that with me and him. He’s my boss. And my friend. And yes, surprisingly, over the course of the last few years, he has become family.”

“How long have you been with him?”

She smiled then, and I realized what a travesty it was that she didn’t smile more