By Order of the Prince. Carla Cassidy

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СКАЧАТЬ I’m an only child.” Now it was not only her knees that faced him, but her entire upper body, letting him know she was open to him, perhaps just a little bit vulnerable.

      With cool calculation, he leaned toward her, nearly closing the distance between them. He lightly touched her shoulder. “I can’t rest. I can’t sleep until we find out something about Amir. The local officials have been little help with their issues of corruption. I’m desperate to find something, anything that might give me a clue as to what happened and who is to blame.”

      Once again her hand touched her pocket and he saw an uncertainty in the depths of her beautiful eyes. His heart seemed to stop beating as he waited for her reply.

      “I did find something in Amir’s room,” she finally said. For a moment she remained perfectly still and Antoine was struck by a quicksilver desire to stroke a hand across the smooth skin of her sculpted cheek, taste the full lower lip she was now nibbling in obvious indecision. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope, but didn’t immediately offer it to Antoine.

      “I found it taped on the bottom of a drawer in the bedroom. I was going to turn it over to Sheriff Wolf,” she said. “But I guess it won’t hurt if you look at it first.” Her slender hand trembled slightly as she held out the envelope.

      He took it, his heart once again rapping an unsteady beat as he opened it and withdrew the pieces of paper. He read the notes, electrified by the contents. “You read these?” he asked.

      She nodded, her eyes wider than they had been minutes before. “They’re terrible.”

      There was now no question in his mind that the limo explosion had been meant to kill all of them, that it had been mere circumstance, a matter of sheer fate, that had placed Amir in that limo alone at the time of the bomb blast.

      He placed the notes back in the envelope, but didn’t return it to Beth. “Ms. Taylor, I have a favor to ask you. Please let me keep these and see what I can learn from them before you take them to Sheriff Wolf. I meant it when I told you I don’t know who to trust.”

      She frowned thoughtfully. “What are you going to do?” she asked.

      “A little investigating on my own, see if I can find out who is dirty and who isn’t before I give these notes to anyone else.”

      Her frown deepened, the gesture doing nothing to detract from her beauty. “How are you going to be able to do that? You don’t know any of the locals.” She didn’t wait for his response but instead continued, “You’re going to need my help. I was born and raised here. I know the people who live here, and I also know the people who don’t belong. The only way I’ll give you the time you’ve asked for before going to Jake Wolf is if you let me help you.”

      She’d surprised him. The last thing he’d expected was her offer to partner up with him. His initial response was a resounding no, but there was no question that she could be useful.

      “Okay, I accept your offer to help, but only on one condition—that if things get dangerous for you, then you step back.”

      “Agreed,” she replied.

      Antoine stuck out his hand and as they solemnly shook, he was aware of the softness of her skin against his, the delicate bones of her hands. A new flicker of something evocative and exciting swept through him. It had nothing to do with the fact that she might possibly be helpful to him in finding out who was behind the threats. Rather it was a flame of physical attraction.

      “I’ve got to get back to work,” she said as she quickly pulled her hand from his and stood.

      “How much longer will you be?” he asked as they walked to the door.

      She paused and looked at her watch. “Maybe another hour or so, why?”

      “I’d like to make copies of these notes and then take them to somebody discreet and see if prints besides ours can be pulled from them, but I’m not sure where to go to get this done.”

      “Jane Cameron,” she replied without hesitation.

      He knew Jane Cameron was the forensic scientist who had been involved in processing the scene of the limo bombing. He also knew that she and Stefan Lutece, Prince of Kyros, had become involved in a romantic relationship. “And you trust Jane?”

      “Absolutely,” she replied. “Why don’t I take the notes and make the copies in my office, then come back here when I’m finished for the day and we can go see Jane.”

      “Perfect,” he replied. He gave her the envelope and then reached out to take her other hand in his. “I can’t thank you enough for giving me some time to investigate this.”

      She squeezed his hand slightly and then pulled it away from him. “I just hope this isn’t a mistake. I’ll see you in about an hour.” She flew through the door as if the hounds of hell were nipping at her heels.

      Antoine closed the door behind her and tried to ignore the scent of her that lingered in the air. He was attracted to her like he hadn’t been to a woman in a very long time.

      There was something soft, something inviting about her that called to him. But, it was an attraction he had no desire to explore.

      Antoine never allowed himself to get close to a woman. He could enjoy their company and have sex with them, but his heart never got involved.

      He would do anything to find out who was behind the threats made on himself and the others. He would do anything to find out who had been behind the attack on Amir. If that meant using the pretty housekeeper, it wouldn’t be the worst thing he’d ever done in his life.

      Chapter Two

      She had to be crazy.

      Somehow between the time she’d left Amir’s suite and the time she’d left Antoine’s, she’d lost her ever-loving mind. The minute Beth reached her private office she sank down at her desk and shook her head, wondering what on earth she’d been thinking when she’d given Antoine that envelope, when she’d offered to help him.

      She should have kept her mouth shut and taken the notes to Jake like she’d intended. The problem was she hadn’t been thinking. Instead, she’d been falling into the blue depths of Antoine’s eyes, touched by the loneliness and the feeling of isolation he hadn’t tried to hide.

      She’d offered her help because she’d thought he needed it, which was a ridiculous thing for her to think. He was a prince, for God’s sake. He had people to take care of his every wish, his every need. The last thing he needed was a simple woman who didn’t know a thing about foreign politics and had only a high school education helping him investigate threats against members of royal families.

      She checked her email and the voice mail on her phone to make sure there weren’t any fires to put out with the housekeeping staff, then moved to the multitask printer to copy the threatening notes in the envelope. With both the originals and the copies back in her pocket she left her office to do a walk-through of the hotel before heading back to Antoine’s suite.

      The bulk of her work occurred in the mornings when she coordinated the staff to make sure all the rooms were cleaned and the guests’ needs were met. She was not only responsible for the cleaning staff, but also for inventory СКАЧАТЬ