HEâLL KEEP HER SAFEâAT ANY COST
Protecting the royal family is Linus Muratiâs job. So when the queenâs younger sister is attacked, the devoted Lydian royal guardsman goes into action and saves her life. But this was no random occurrence. Danger has followed Julia Miller across the Atlantic from Seattle. Now Linus has two missions: to keep the maddeningly independent future duchess in his sights at all times, and to catch the culprit who threatens the woman whose trustâand loveâhe desires above all others.
âIs there anything I can do to make it easier?â Julia asked, still feeling guilty after all Linus had done for her.
âIf you could relaxââ he glanced around as if wary of whatever danger might be lurking about ââit makes it easier to carry you.â
âOh.â Julia hadnât thought of that. She wasnât used to being carried and realized sheâd been straining ever so slightly as though to keep a small distance between them.
It was foolish, she realized now. Linus had to carry her. The least she could do was try to make the job easier on him.
Reluctantly she pressed her cheek against his shoulder and closed her eyes to the embarrassment she felt. She could feel the surging beat of his heart as he strained to move her uphill as quickly as possible. She let out an anxious breath and focused on breathing in slowly.
Over the scent of the sea, Julia caught a whiff of manly scentâsomething wild and strong and oddly soothing. She breathed in again, more slowly this time, and felt her fears ebb away.
She was in good hands.
Linus was watching out for her.
RACHELLE McCALLA
is a mild-mannered housewife, and the toughest she ever has to get is when sheâs trying to keep her four kids quiet in church. Though she often gets in over her head, as her characters do, and has to find a way out, her adventures have more to do with sorting out the carpool and providing food for the potluck. Sheâs never been arrested, gotten in a fistfight or been shot at. And sheâd like to keep it that way! For recipes, fun background notes on the places and characters in this book and more information on forthcoming titles, visit www.rachellemccalla.com.
ONE
Linus Murati stepped into the visual surveillance room of the royal guard headquarters, a three-story brick building located on the Lydian royal palace grounds across the rear courtyard from the garages. âGet me suite 322 on screen, please,â he requested.
âI thought you had duchess duty tonight?â Simon accused Linus as he pulled up the view from the surveillance camera.
âI do. Miss Miller has requested an evening in.â Linus leaned over the back of his friendâs chair and blinked at the image of the white paneled door where heâd left Queen Monicaâs pretty little sister mere minutes before. âBut donât let her catch you calling her âduchessâ just yet. The queen has yet to announce the titleâI donât believe Julia knows sheâs going to be royalty.â
âOfficial or not, thatâs the name weâve assigned to herâwait now.â Simon broke off midsentence as the door on the screen opened and the dark-eyed beauty poked her head out, looking both directions before darting down the hall. âThought you said she was in for the night.â
âThatâs what she told me.â Linus watched Juliaâs progress, switching cameras as needed to keep up with her stealthy excursion down a set of stairs and around a bend in the hall. The woman had changed into shorts and a T-shirt and pulled her thick brown hair into a ponytail. âDo you suppose sheâs headed to the palace gym?â
âSheâs going the wrong direction for that.â
âMaybe sheâs lost,â Linus nearly growled as the woman took a corridor that led to an outside door. âI told her to page me if she wanted to go anywhere.â
âSheâs out.â
The duchess stepped through an exit to the courtyard and skirted a hedgerow, her furtive glances making it clear that she was escaping deliberatelyânot merely adrift on her way to the gym. âCatch her.â
âShe wonât get through the gates.â Linus predicted but ran for the door anyway. The queenâs little sister was an American in town on a visit. She wouldnât know her way around the kingdom of Lydia and might get lost if she stepped out alone. Besides that, as the ambush on the royal family just over two months before had taught them, even the most beloved royals could become targets of criminal activity.
Which was precisely why Julia needed a bodyguard.
Linus caught sight of her at the back gate talking to the men in the guardhouse. They wouldnât let her through without a guard. At the very least, theyâd check with him before letting her pass.