Page 9 of A Fierce Princess

“Yes, Daddy. Thank you,” I say as I come around his desk and throw my arms around his neck. He pulls me against him and stands so he can lift me off the ground. He kisses my forehead and releases me.

“I love you, Anna,” he whispers as he looks down at me.

“I love you too, Daddy,” I say to him as I smile up at the one person that I know will love me no matter what I do, I hope.

“Off you go then,” he says as he swats me on my butt and ushers me out of his office. Once in a while, he lets down his “king guard” and is just my dad. It’s not often enough these days, but I’ll take it when I can get it.

Chapter 5

After dealing with Shannon and my duties, I meander out to the garden. I find Chris with a bow and arrow. I casually walk up and pick up an arrow as a ground staff member brings me a bow.

Chris ignores me as he pulls the string back taut on the bow before firing the arrow straight at the bull’s-eye. He steps back and motions for me to go.

I position myself and take a deep breath, letting the arrow fly on the exhale. I watch as it hits dead center, pushing Chris’s bow down in the process. I grin and look over at him.

He shakes his head.

“How you best me at everything, I’ll never know,” he mutters.

“Now, now, don’t be sullen. We can’t all be the best,” I say cheerfully.

“And why are ‘we’ in such a good mood?” he asks.

“‘We’ are going to the Bahamas,” I say to him as I set my bow down.

He raises an eyebrow. “Really?” he asks.

I nod. He sits down on a bench and pats the seat next to him. I sit and look up at my big brother, my lion, with his shaggy blondish hair. I can’t help it, I reach out and ruffle it. He slaps my hand away.

“Seriously, Susanna, you need to start acting more…royal,” he grumbles.

“Right, sleeping with the help is a much more royal way to go,” I quip and then immediately regret it.

He gives me a hard look. “She. Is. Not. The. Help,” he grits out while clenching his jaw.

I put up my hands. “OK, whoa, tiger! Guess I hit a nerve,” I say. Then I give him a sheepish look. “Sorry, that was harsh of me.”

He leans back against the bench back and runs a hand through his hair. “Lord help me,” he says looking up at the sky. He stands and holds out a hand. “Walk with me,” he demands.

I accept his offered hand and link my arm through his as we stroll the grounds. He’s silent for a long while, and so am I, until I know where it is he is leading me.

My mother’s grave comes in view around the corner of the rose garden. It was her favorite spot. Dad had the garden built for her. It is fitting that it’s where she’ll spend eternity.

We sit on the small bench across from her grave, neither one of us saying anything. Chris squeezes my hand.

“She’d be so very proud of you,” he says quietly.

“You think?” I ask him, looking up to study his profile.

“I know,” he replies.

I lean my head on his shoulder, and we sit in silence. I want so badly to tell him, to tell anyone what I know, but then my secret will be out in the open. There’s no way Chris would let me go. I’m being foolish and careless, but the excitement of it all, the chance to be me…the magnetism is too strong, especially if I will have to become the proper princess in a few months. I need this one last adventure. One last secret mission. I’ve outsmarted criminals before, from afar, so how much harder could it be. All I have to do is track M, get Logan off the island before he arrives, and voila—assassination attempt foiled, well, at least that’s how it should go, I hope.

Chapter 6

The one problem with having a secret computer is that it’s a secret. I designed it to look like a normal laptop, which is no easy feat. But I can’t just use it anywhere. I have to log in to servers and pass through firewalls and, well, it means the entire time we are in the air, I am without knowing what is happening. I only use my own Wi-Fi, and I’m not about to use it on the plane in front of my brother. We are staying at a property owned by my Uncle Hans, so I know when we arrive that I will be able to rig up some sort of system to get what I need.

“What’s eating you?” Auggie asks as he drinks a second scotch.

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