Page 84 of One Last Stand
“We’ll see.”
They took the elevator down to the embassy lobby, where her parents waited along with York. Her mother wore a long cream A-line dress with sleeves that dripped lace to the floor. Diamonds sparkled at her neck. She met her daughter with an air kiss. “You look like you did at the Lauchtenland Rosengala when you were eighteen.”
“Oh, for the love, Mother, really? That’s the memory you bring up?”
“Sorry.” A moment of strained silence, and Shep frowned at her.
Maybe she didn’t need to always jump to defense.
Fine. She met her mother’s eyes with adon’t say a wordand said, “I have definitely put on some curves since then.”
Her mother’s expression relaxed, and she winked. “Indeed.” Then she handed London a printed invitation, took her husband’s arm, and they headed outside.
London followed with Shep and whispered over her shoulder. “My mother would like to set up a back-alley-handshake arranged marriage between me and Prince Luka.”
“Of course she would,” he said, nonplussed. He held open the door.
Outside, the stars twinkled against a deep velvet sky, the mountains outlined by the glow of the city. And above them on the hill, the palace glittered. Beyond the courtyard of the embassy, storefronts had stayed open, and buskers sang with their violin cases open as street vendors cooked up local cuisines.
A party for all.
Her mother and father got into the first limousine, and it pulled away.
“Can’t we just stay here?” he said as the second limousine pulled up. “It smells amazing, like one of Moose’s barbecues.”
“That’s the grilled cevapi—minced meat sausages of lamb, beef, and pork served on flatbread. Watch the sauce, though. It’ll take off the roof of your mouth.” The footman had opened her door, and she got in.
“Spoken from experience?” He followed her in.
“Oh, yes. I couldn’t taste anything for two weeks.” She folded her hand into his. It still felt weird to have him this close, this intimate, but . . .
But maybe this was what trusting—really trusting someone—felt like.
“We’ll definitely have to get some pretzels later. They make them fresh every day, and they melt in your mouth.”
“Keep going and we won’t make it to the ball.”
She laughed, and he looked down at her with a smile. “That’s what I mourned the most.”
She frowned.
“Your laughter. The idea that I’d never hear it again.”
Her smile fell. “I really am sorry I put you through all that.”
He nodded. “I am starting to understand. I think I have a little PTSD from being shot at yesterday.”
Oh.
“Hey.” He turned and touched her face. “I was kidding. It’s not my first time being shot at. I think being arrested by the palace guards was more traumatizing. That was a first.”
“And last, hopefully.”
He met her eyes. “I know this mission is important. But I have my own mission, London. And that’s to keep you alive and get you home.Thatis my goal.”
Sweet.“Okay.”
And,aw,he probably deserved to know the reason behind the look that had passed between her and her mother. She glanced at the driver, but he stared straight ahead. Schooling her voice, she said, “When I was eighteen, I was invited to the Rosengala, the Rose Ball of Queen Katherine of Lauchtenland. I wanted a date, so I invited a boy—a man—I’d met in Russia during our time there. He and I had corresponded for years after we lived there, and I thought he liked me. His name was Ruslan, and he stayed in the embassy residence. He ended up trying to plant a bug in my mother’s office, so that ended our short romance pretty quickly.”