Page 55 of Protecting his Heart

“You can sit down, let me get you a drink and tell me how you are feeling,” Freddie said.

Owen sighed, knowing he wouldn’t get out of it and, if he was honest with himself, didn’t want to. He sat down, and Freddie handed him an apple juice.

“How are you?” Freddie asked as Damon settled beside him, rubbing a hand over Freddie’s back.

“I’m okay. Doctors have given me the all clear. Just need to wait for this to heal.” He gestured to his head. “The bandage is purely for infection reasons.”

“Glad to hear it. As much as I know this is part of your job, it still makes me sick when something like this happens and the bodyguards take the brunt of it.” He shook his head. “It’s one part of the job I hate.”

That was one thing about Prince Freddie. He took his role as a job rather than a birthright, and Owen loved him for it. The man was so down-to-earth because he didn’t believe the hype that he was destined to be great, and although Owen believed he was, Freddie didn’t. He didn’t even want the job. Not really. That made him perfect for it. His mother had always said, it was those who didn’t want to be leaders and politicians who should be.

“We do this job knowing what we signed up for. We don’t have any problems with it,” he reminded him.

“I know. I don’t have to like it, though.”

Owen chuckled. “That’s true. Were you both okay? You didn’t get any ricochet or anything?”

Damon shook his head. “We were fine. You pushed us aside, almost instinctively. I think you felt the burn and moved without realising it.”

Owen thought back to the day. “I remember heat blazing across my head and shoving at you, but I remember not having a clue why I did it. Even now, I can’t explain the need to get you out of the way.”

“Well, whatever instincts you had saved our lives,” Freddie said.

“I’m glad. People would use my face as a dartboard if anything happened to you.”

Freddie sighed but sat back. “We’re keeping a low profile for a little longer. Damon has to travel the day after tomorrow, but he’s going with several guards, whereas I will stay put and help Father to recover from his Valentine’s Day plans.”

Owen chuckled. “Big plans?”

Freddie blew out a breath. “Extensive. But I suppose he has two people to think about, not just one.” He patted Damon’s knee and smiled at him. “Are you doing anything?”

Owen cleared his throat. “I have an idea, but whether I can pull it off is another thing.”

“Anything we can help with?” Damon asked.

Owen opened his mouth to decline but thought better of it. “Possibly.” He detailed his plan, and Freddie and Damon grinned at him.

“We can help with both those things. I know just the thing,” Damon said.

And so he spent the next couple of hours planning with the two princes, even after Locke had come back and knocked on the door because she was concerned that Owen hadn’t been at the door only to roll her eyes when she saw them. When everything was settled, he thanked them profusely and headed back to Sec HQ.

“I hear you’ve been distracting a couple of princes?” Brett said.

Owen frowned and waved his hand. “Is that a problem?”

Brett chuckled. “No, because they were driving us mad, wanting to help with the investigation. Whatever you did to distract them helped.” He tilted his head. “What did you do?”

“They were helping me plan a surprise for Valentine’s Day. I haven’t had much chance to do it. Sorry for doing that on work time.”

Brett waved him away. “As I said, time well spent.” He pointed to Owen’s desk. “There is your next report.”

Owen groaned and sighed. “Okay.”

“I think you’ll like this one.”

He opened it, read it and grinned. “Yep.”

The reports Brett had him reading and taking notes on were events from the past few years. They were trying to create a database of the different attacks on the royal family to see if there was any rhyme or reason to them. Initially, Owen didn’t think there would be, but with each new report he went through, he found similarities. It was almost as if people were researching past attacks and using them as a springboard for their own version. The one he’d just been given was the third of the same type of attack—a shooting at a charity event. As much as he first thought it to be a waste of time, he was beginning to see why Brett wanted this done. Owen had already found two attacks that, when looked at individually appeared to stand alone, yet when they were compared to another, Owen had found the attacker’s family member was to blame. It was fascinating in ways Owen hadn’t expected.

---