King's Ransom (Man on a Mission 2)

“An innocent mistake, I am sure, Sergeant,” said a deep voice from the shadows. All four men immediately recognized the king’s voice—as did Juliana—and at a sign from their sergeant the other men holstered their weapons, turned toward the king and saluted.

Andre moved out of the shadows and into the light, flanked by two men, neither of whom Juliana recognized. “At ease,” Andre told the security guards. “Thank you for your diligence, gentlemen, and your quick response, but I think Miss Richardson is no threat. You may return to your posts.”

“Yes, Sire,” the sergeant said quickly, snapping another salute before he and his men departed with military precision.

Andre’s eyes never left Juliana as he waited for the security guards to leave. Then he said, “I am sorry they frightened you, but were you not warned about the silent alarms?”

Juliana nodded, then found her voice. “I was. But I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted...” She wasn’t about to tell Andre she’d been trying to distract herself from thinking about him by revisiting old haunts, and had completely forgotten the warning until it was too late. Especially not with two strangers listening to every word she said.

A faint smile touched Andre’s lips, and he lifted his chin in the direction of the doorway behind her. “You were trying to enter Mara’s suite. A trip down memory lane?”

She swallowed hard. “Something like that.”

Without turning his head, he said, “Privacy, please, Dmitri. Yakov.”

“Yes, Sire,” both men responded before moving several paces away, out of earshot.

Andre took a step toward her. “You could not sleep, either, little one?”

His tender voice was as tangible a caress as if he’d touched her, and Juliana shivered and backed away. “Please don’t,” she begged. “Please.”

She wasn’t sure what she was asking, except that she couldn’t bear knowing she was as vulnerable to Andre as she’d been eleven years ago. And that he knew it. That he would take advantage of her when she had no defenses against him.

His smile faded, and his eyes darkened. “No, Juliana. Since you ask it, I will not. Nor will I impose myself on you any further tonight.” He turned and strode away with his determined tread, saying as he went, “Dmitri, please escort Miss Richardson back to her suite.”

Chapter 11

Once back in the Queen’s Suite Juliana paced. No more able to sleep now than she had been before. But it was worse now, because seeing Andre tonight had brought home an undeniable truth she could no longer escape—whether he loved her or not, whether he deserved it or not, her heart irretrievably belonged to him. Forever and a day. She had to accept that...and move on.

So what do I do now? she wondered. She looked down the years of her life and realized she had come to an end of sorts. King’s Ransom could be her swan song, just as it would be Dirk’s. She wasn’t under contract for anything yet, even though she’d received half a dozen scripts to read and offers were on the table. She didn’t need the money any more than Dirk did. She’d never lived lavishly, so she’d saved enough money to retire comfortably even though she was only twenty-nine.

Even if she hadn’t saved her money, she’d inherited a trust fund from her mother—a highly successful stage actress before she’d married Juliana’s father—that would support her if she needed it. She’d never been a starving artist, not even when she first started out in Hollywood. And eventually her father’s money would come to her, too. But not for a long time, she prayed. She couldn’t really remember her mother, so her father was the only parent she’d ever known. Money could never fill the void in her life the loss of her father would bring.

But the bottom line was that she didn’t need to support herself with her current career, had never needed to work at all. Not for money anyway. She had needed to work to escape.

She still had her charity work. She was on the governing boards of two organizations related to children’s rights—one advocating strict child labor laws in developing countries similar to laws in the United States, and one fighting the sexual exploitation of children. They’d invited her for marquee name value to raise awareness of the issues, not realizing just how actively involved she’d become—because anything related to safeguarding children pushed all her buttons and always would. So she still had that to focus on.

Maybe she’d give stage acting a shot, too, although that was very different from acting in the movies. Once upon a time she’d daydreamed of following in her mother’s footsteps and becoming a Shakespearean actress—maybe now she’d give herself the chance to find out if she could do it or not.