Page 31 of A Fierce Princess

“I’ll handle it,” he says gruffly as he turns to start preparing the boat for our final sail.

I place a hand on his arm, and he freezes. The wind whips his hair around, and I so desperately want to run my hands through it again. I pull my hand back in order to stop myself from doing that exact thing.

“I’m going to tell my brothers,” I whisper.

His eyes widen. “Really?” he asks.

I nod. “It’s been a long time coming, but you need their help, and I can’t keep this part of me a secret anymore,” I admit. “I’ve been fighting battles on my own for too long.”

Before I can talk myself out of it, I whip around and walk to the front of the boat. I clear my throat and my brothers look up at me.

“Hey, sister, what’s up?” Auggie says cheerfully, but his smile disappears when he sees the look on my face.

“I need to speak with you both,” I say to them. I look at Mia apologetically. “Alone…please.”

Mia nods and heads down toward Logan, who’s watching me like a hawk.

“What’s wrong, Suzy Q?” Chris asks, patting a cushion next to him.

I sit down and take a deep breath, and then I begin to tell them everything, every itty-bitty little detail of my secret life.

My brothers don’t say a word while I speak. Their eyes are wide. Chris shakes his head when I talk about giving tips to Interpol a few times in the past. Auggie looks on the verge of a coronary the entire time I speak. I don’t leave anything out, including the fact that all this started because I wanted to find our mother’s missing crown.

When I finish, they remain silent for a very long time.

It’s Chris who eventually clears his throat. “Wow,” he says.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Anna!” Auggie finally manages. “Are you mad? You could have been killed!”

I glare at him, and he shuts up.

I’m shocked when Chris is the one to chastise him before I have the chance. “If you started this as a kid, and you have managed to evade all of us and, well, essentially the whole world, I’d say you are far, far more brilliant than I’ve ever given you credit for, little sister,” he says, touching my shoulder. “You’re a real-life superhero,” he adds.

I giggle. “That’s a bit of a stretch, but thank you, Chris. It means the world coming from my lion,” I say, using my childhood nickname for him.

I look to Auggie. I can tell he’s still pissed, but I’m taken aback for the second time when he pulls me in for a hug.

“I’m just glad you are alright. To think of all the things that might have happened,” he says into my hair. He pushes me back to look into my eyes. “Chris is right. You are bloody brilliant! Crazy, a bit reckless even, but brilliant,” he says finally flashing his world-class smile at me.

“So, all of this was a setup,” Chris says.

I smile guiltily. “Well, sort of, you did happen upon Logan’s services by some crazy coincidence,” I admit.

“Un-fucking-believable,” he murmurs.

“Why exactly are you telling us this now?” Chris asks, suddenly very serious, as though the reality that we are approaching an island with an assassin on it has just dawned on him.

“I-I need your help,” I admit quietly. It’s bittersweet that after all this time, my hand has been forced. I have to tell my secret to save a man that, if I’m being honest with myself, I’m falling for.

Auggie and Chris look at each other and back to me. Then they both glance over their shoulders toward Pete and Logan.

I bite my lip, afraid of what they will say.

It’s Auggie that grins first. “I feel a little like James Bond,” he says. I roll my eyes.

“Only, this is real, and we could actually get killed,” I say in a low voice.

“So, he knows?” Chris asks.

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