JAMES LEANED against the open door of the last suite on the private floor, next to a middle-aged woman he'd just met, waiting for Kelly and Shaun. The woman, Katherine Mills, was a professional nanny, British, who, she'd just told him, had once taken care of William and Harry, when the princess had been alive. Of late, she'd overseen three children of a British Lord and had come to America after being lured by an unimaginable sum by Alan J Jones. James was faintly surprised. He'd have figured Jones would find someone more malleable for the job of watching his heir. Someone, say, from an old European family, but then again, it was his only son. Never settle for anything but the best, that was Jones's credo.
She looked like a nice woman. Well-kempt, prim. Sort ofa Maggie Smith type. He quelled the urge to tell her to get out before it was too late. Before she made a mistake that could cost her everything. It wasn't his business.
Unfortunately, Jones had made Kelly James's business once again. He'd had to hide his shock at being assigned to her. It had been a long time since his bodyguard days. But when James thought about the other close associates of Jones's, he couldn't come up with anyone he'd trust to watch her.
It wasn't a question of loyalty. No one on the inner circle would dare make an inappropriate move. It was about intelligence. His men weren't exactly geniuses when it came to thinking on their feet.
Independent thought wasn't conducive to slavish obedience. Which, James had learned early and well, could be faked. But this assignment wasn't going to work at all. Not just because of their past, which would have been enough, but because of his future. Unfortunately he couldn't approach Jones about either of his reasons. So he'd have to come up with something else. Something compelling enough to get him back to his old routine without sending up any red flags.
The only thing he could think of was to have Kelly insist that he go. It wasn't a solution he cared for. He couldn't tell her what he was doing, that would put her in too much danger. So he'd have to be a schmuck.
Damn. As if things for her weren't terrible enough. But what was his alternative? Things were coming to a head here and he couldn't afford to have it all blow up in his face. That would be very, very bad.
YOU ARE READING
Not-So-Secret
RomanceLike father . . . like son. The empty crib, the warning note - Kelly Declaremount-black recognised the signs that her secret life had been discovered. To save her son, she became the willing captive of a man arrogantly convinced that her baby was hi...
