Page 67 of A Fierce Princess

I follow my father down the hall, and he closes the door behind us. I note that Pete is already in my father’s study. He’s standing at attention.

I look from Pete to my father.

“Sit, Anna,” he says.

I comply and give Pete a questioning look. He doesn’t give anything away but keeps his face indifferent.

“I’ve asked Pete to join us,” my father states the obvious.

“I can see that. What is this about, Daddy?” I ask him.

“I’m uncertain if Sten is involved or not. I have Victor working on things and Jack at Interpol, but in the meantime, I want security with us twenty-four seven,” my father says. My eyes bulge.

“In the palace?” I say.

“Yes, Anna, in the palace. Now, Pete will accompany you from here out. Your brothers were made aware of the situation before breakfast, this morning. I can assure you, that no one is happy about this situation. However, I see no other way around it for now. So please, for the love of god, Anna, just do as I say. Don’t argue with me,” my father pleads as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Fine,” I say curtly.

My father looks slightly surprised that I’m not putting up a fight, but Pete is also my closest security confidant. So, if I have to have a shadow, it might as well be him.

“Is that all?” I ask.

“That is all. I’ll keep you updated if anything changes,” he says to me. “Oh, and, Anna?”

“Yes, Daddy?” I ask.

“Please don’t attempt to keep up your game of spies. Victor has things under control,” my father tries to assure me.

“Right,” I mutter.

“Anna, I’m serious,” my father says.

I look at him. His eyes are hard, and I know he means business. I sigh.

“Fine,” I lie.

“That’s all,” he says, dismissing me.

I nod and exit the room with Pete in tow.

I swivel around once we are out of earshot.

“Listen, I know you don’t like playing babysitter anymore than I like to be babysat. Can we just agree to our normal working relationship?” I ask him.

His serious look tells me that he’s not going to back down easy. “Anna, I’m under strict orders. I’ll do what I can to make this…less painful for you, but I’m not letting you out of my sight except when you go to your chambers. Understood?” he replies.

My shoulders sag. “Yes,” I say to him. Undeterred, I begin to hatch my escape plan as I walk to the drawing room to meet Shannon, whose text conveniently pops up the second Pete and I finish speaking.

Shannon drones on and on about the canceled event that I had scheduled. Her voice is laced with strain as she tries to reorganize my appointments.

“Shannon, calm down, really. You’re going to give yourself a coronary. I’m barely missing anything,” I try to reassure her.

“Well, I don’t like you to miss any appointments. It looks bad,” she says as her fingers click-clack on the keyboard of her laptop.

“I know. I know. But…these are very unusual circumstances,” I try to reason with her.

She looks up at me, pushing her black-rimmed glasses up her nose. “I understand that, Your Highness, but I still have a job to do. We all still have jobs to do. Now, let’s talk about the possibility of presenting this award tomorrow via video conference,” she says as she begins to go over details of some charity award ceremony the next day.

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