"That sounds lovely." But she wasn't sure what it had to do with her. She didn't want to intrude on their babymoon.
A weary look crossed Yasmin's face. "But the thought of getting on another plane makes me sick. I'd already decided to tell Oliver that I would rather stay here at the palace for a few weeks when he suggested a change of plans. Everything is ready to go at the apartment in Sydney. It's private. It's well protected. And no one would know who or where you are. Oliver's brother already hired security for us. They can just protect you instead."
No one would know? Not Tal? Not Dane or any of the others? If she could pull that off, she would be totally alone, without anyone's expectations weighing her down. Despite what the press suggested, she wasn't a prisoner at the palace. For just for a few days, she could pretend she was normal and maybe she could sort out her thoughts, find a little peace. With that much tranquility, maybe she could figure out what to do next. It sounded heavenly, but … "I don't know. Tal would be furious."
"Oh, it's only for a short while. Oliver and I won't say anything. So Tal won't have any idea where you've gone. If anyone asks about the plane, I'll simply tell them that we sent it along with notes and supplies for the Reaching Across Cultures' Sydney office. We'd planned a vacation, but I was hoping to squeeze in just a little bit of work. I really do need to send some things there, so it's not a total lie. You wouldn't mind dropping them off, would you?"
If it meant she got to escape all the censure and pressure here, if she truly got to be alone to sift through the rubble of her life, she wouldn't mind. "Just leave me instructions, and I'll take whatever you need. Oh, Yas, do you really think it could work?"
A bright smile curved up her cousin's lips. "Oliver is very smart. Trust my husband. He always tries to do the right thing for his family."
Alea nodded, and they started to make plans. By this time tomorrow, she would be far, far away.
* * * *
Landon couldn't sleep. The events of the evening kept playing out in his head over and over again. He shouldn't have risen to Alea's bait and been so hard on her. His first instinct had been to reach out to her, to hold her and try to coddle her back to reality.
But he'd been doing a version of that for over a year and it simply didn't work. She was farther from them than ever before.
He stepped out of the quarters he shared with the full-time guards. Tal had offered all three of them rooms in the palace, but Lan had turned him down. He wouldn't know what to do with the space. Dane and Coop had made their apartments look something like homes, but Lan felt more comfortable out here with the help. He looked up at the palace, and his stare inevitably drifted to her room.
What was it about this one female that made him so fucking crazy? He'd seen more beautiful women before, but none of them moved him the way Alea did. It wasn't just her tragic past. He wasn't chasing her for the challenge. It was like … his heart recognized her. God, that sounded dumb and girly. Maybe he was a masochist who only craved what he couldn't have.
The trouble was, he'd seen the soft woman under all that armor. He caught glimpses of her when she was working with children or visiting the hospital. He loved to go on those duties with her because somehow she managed to shove aside her own pain to help others. And that's when he saw her most genuine smiles.
"Lan? Is that you?"
Landon sighed and touched his right side. Cooper had done a number on his kidney. He would be lucky if he wasn't pissing blood for a week. "Yeah, Coop, it's me."
Cooper rounded the corner, and Landon noticed he was carrying his medical kit. "Hey, I was just coming to see you. I thought I should probably check you out since I was the one who damaged you."
"You barely managed to hit me." Lan rolled his eyes.
Cooper laughed a little. "Well, I'll feel better if I check you out. Amuse me."
"Fine." Lan looked up at the palace one last time before turning and leading Coop back into the barracks.
Cooper looked around at the large, mostly antiseptic building. There were twenty small rooms, each with a single bed, closet space, and a desk unit. Cooper followed Landon into the room that belonged to him. "You know you left the Army, right?"
Lan was deeply aware of the fact that his room had no personal elements. Cooper had pictures of his brothers and his parents on his walls. Dane had decorated his apartment with paintings and books and other things he picked up in his travels. Lan had only had his grandmother, and she'd never let him forget that his mother had dropped him on her doorstep on her way out to her next party and never come back. There were no pictures of his childhood, no family photos with smiling faces. "I like to keep things simple."