“Damn you, Ian. Why did it have to be you?”
“I’m sure he feels the same way. About you.”
John Stuart stood in her doorway with his arms folded. He flashed an easy smile, the same smile she’d seen on Ian when they were students. There’d been no sign of that easy good nature in Special Agent Stuart, but that was most likely her fault. Ian had a lot of reasons not to be cheerful around her.
“I guess this is proof that you never get away from your past.”
John smiled. “Our pasts define us. Why would you want to get away from it? Even
painful pieces have made us who we are, and I don’t know if that’s bad. What do you think?”
“I think I’m unprepared for a philosophical discussion. You obviously know about my history with your nephew.”
“I do. I was stationed in Germany at the time. We met up in Scotland after you left and he went on a three day bender. I think he was hungover for the better part of a week.” The man was chuckling at the memory, but Sofie felt her heart break all over again. Those days after she went home were spent curled in her bed watching sentimental movies with her dog while she cried her eyes out. There was nothing funny about it.
“You aren’t making me feel better.”
“I’m not trying to.” He took a breath and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Your
Highness, you and my nephew have a history, as you said, and for whatever that’s worth, it shouldn’t be something you try to block out. It was very important to both of you.”
“It was, but I believe your nephew would disagree. He wants no reminders. Nothing that would distract him from his work.”
“You know, he could have gotten someone else to take on your protection.”
“He was ordered to do this. My father…”
Uncle John chuckled softly. “The Archdukerand Duke has no power here. He made a
request, and as a show of diplomatic courtesy, it was granted. But if Ian had informed his superiors of your past involvement, he would have been pulled from the case.”
“He’s here voluntarily?”
“Yes. He didn’t like the idea of you being shuttled to some isolated safe house in the Midwest. In his opinion, the location could have been compromised. Too many people inside different security agencies know where those safe houses are. Enough people that it was deemed a security risk. You would have been in more danger.”
“So he brought me here.”
“Yup. Visitors come in and out, but it’s easy to disappear, no one thinks much about us.
Honestly, it was a stroke of genius getting you out of the city the way he did and bringing you here.”
“I’m grateful. I do feel secure, but it’s still dangerous. I mean this is your family home—
anything could happen. The people after me are lunatics. Fanatics.”
“We are both well aware of that, but I think it should be obvious he’d risk everything to keep you safe. And I fully support his decision.”
“Will your family support it? It’s not just you and Ian.”
“We trust each other, Sofia.” It was the first time John had broken protocol and not addressed her formally. “If he wants you here, you’re going to stay.”
Sofie stood, overwhelmed by John’s words. She approached and did the most natural
thing in the world, she gave him a hug. The kindness, the concern, overwhelmed her and it was the only way she could think to properly thank him. “You are a prince, John Stuart.”
“He cares about you. Be careful with him this time.”
Stepping back, she met John’s gaze, Sofie’s eyes burned. “I never meant to hurt him. I loved him so.”
“Then don’t do it again. You have a chance to change the way things ended up between the two of you. If you don’t intend to take it, make it very clear.”
Sofie stepped away and wiped her eyes when she heard Ian’s footsteps on the stairs. He had a black portfolio that contained his iPad and his bearing said he was ready for the briefing.
It didn’t take him long to figure out something had transpired between her and his uncle, but Ian didn’t say anything, he just looked from one to the other and shook it off. He was all business and that made her sad.
“I’m going to go over our itinerary. Uncle John, we’ll be out so if you want something from the market, let me know.” Special Agent Stuart was most assuredly running this show.
And it only made Sofie want to kiss him stupid.
“I’m almost out of Twinkies.”
“Do you still eat those things?” Ian couldn’t contain his disgust, but Sofie was curious.
“What’s a Twinkie?” she asked.