Max and the Prince (15 page)

“I love him, Bryce. You were right about that.”

“Then you lied to me,” Bryce accused.

“I had to see the real you.”

The police arrived at that point, took stock of the old man
lying on the floor and the bleeding guy crouching next to him, and chaos
consumed the room again.

Only after ten or so minutes later when stories were checked
did Bryce get taken away. He was deathly quiet and simply inclined his head to
Lucien as he left with a muttered
“Your Highness.”

Lucien had to get out, pushing past Max and the receptionist
and the cops and every other person up in his space. Only outside, watching the
police car leave the drive, did he bend over and rest his hands on his knees,
inhaling great big heaving breaths of the chilly air.

“Lucien?” Max said from next to him.

Lucien rounded on Max and poked him in the chest. “Were you
lying?”

Max caught his hand and held it close. “I hate that you even
have to ask that. I had to. He wasn’t going to react unless I proved to him I
was just one more person in your life who was going to hurt you.”

“I really believed—”

“I had to make you believe—”

Lucien shook his head. “You’re a complete bastard—”

“But you love me,” Max interrupted.

Lucien closed his eyes and leaned into Max. “Yeah, that’s
the only right thing about all of this.”

The only thing.

Kyle paced the length of his office, running his fingers
through his hair so it stood on end. He never did that—he was the epitome of
cool, calm, and collected. Well, all apart from this.

“Then I had a visit from MI6. Do you understand the enormity
of this?”

Max sighed. “I get it. I crossed the line, and I—”

“Crossed it? Jesus, Max, you fucked the prince.”

Max reined in his temper and attempted a civil tone. “I
didn’t
fuck
the prince,” he pointed out. “I fell in
love
with
Lucien.”

Kyle stopped his pacing and sat down in his desk chair. He
rested on his elbows, his chin on his hands, and closed his eyes.

“This could have been a diplomatic incident.”

“But it wasn’t.”

“You were supposed to be his bodyguard.”

Max tried to bite his tongue but couldn’t help the quip that
came out. “I did guard his body.”

The door to the office opened and Ross poked his head in. “I
have a Stefan Mortimer on line one for you. I told him you were busy, but he
said he’d hold.”

If Max hadn’t been so close, he wouldn’t have seen the
sudden tension in Kyle. He was used to it, the man was head over heels for Ross,
but Ross couldn’t see it. Then he saw how pale Kyle was and his amusement
morphed into concern.

“Kyle?”

Kyle said nothing. He picked up the handset and his finger
hovered over the connect button. “I need to take this.”

“Are we okay?”

Kyle looked distracted, confusion in his dark blue eyes.
“Yeah.”

“And MI6?”

“I can handle MI6,” he said.

“I’ll go, then.” Max began to leave but stopped at a soft
question.

“Max, tell me something, you really fell in love?”

Max turned to face his boss. “Completely.”

Kyle nodded. “Okay. I’ve got your back.”

Max closed the door behind him and found another man pacing,
this time in the outer office. Lucien.

They’d been together 24/7 for the last eight weeks, ever
since Bryce had been arrested for murder. With Lucien so close to finishing his
degree, they’d fallen into a routine of Lucien studying and Max working
crossword puzzles. This wasn’t the first meeting that Max had been asked to go
to with Kyle, but he hoped this was the last. Lucien’s family wanted him home,
but Lucien wasn’t ready to go. He wanted to stay with Max, and Max was one
hundred percent behind him.

“Are you okay?” Lucien asked immediately.

“I should be asking you that,” Max answered. “I’m not the
one wearing a hole in the carpet.”

“I found us a house, and I looked into all kinds of careers
for someone with a degree in English Language.”

That didn’t seem like he was really acting like a prince,
but Max didn’t say that out loud.

Max took Lucien by the hand and guided him out into the
walled courtyard at the back of the offices. This was a beautiful place to sit,
a tumble of hardy herbs and bushes all tinged with the sparkling April dew. He
guided Lucien to sit.

“Start from the beginning.”

“I’m not leaving. I love you.”

“Okay—?”

“And so I found a house, a quieter one, on a back road, near
the hotel we stayed at. We could start a life there. Oh and I looked into my
Masters after this degree or a career, and I do have some connections that I
can shamelessly use.” He ran out of words. “So what do you think?”

“Of a house, another degree, or a career?”

“Of us.”

Max could tease for the rest of the day, but he didn’t want
to. He wanted Lucien in his life for the longest possible time, forever.

“I think
us
is a pretty good idea.”

“So we’ll get the house.”

They spoke at the same time. “I’d need to sell mine—” “You
could keep yours—”

Max held up a hand to still Lucien. “If we do this, then I’m
all in. Permanent, us together for as long as we can be.”

Lucien’s concerned features melted into a smile.

“I like
us
.”

“I
love
us.”

THE
END

RJ
Scott lives just outside London. She has been writing since age six, when she
was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies and was
told to write a story. Two sides of A4 about a trapped princess later, a lover
of writing was born. She loves reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to
horror; however, her first real love will always be the world of romance. Her
goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach
happiness, and more than a hint of happily ever after.

Email:
[email protected]
  

Webpage:
www.rjscott.co.uk
  

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/author.rjscott
  

Twitter:
rjscott_author

Also from RJ Scott

For an up to date
list of all books please visit
www.rjscott.co.uk

CONTEMPORARY

Texas

The Heart of
Texas #1

Texas Winter #2

Texas Heat #3

Texas Family #4

Texas Christmas
#5

Texas Fall #6

Sanctuary

Guarding Morgan
#1

The Only Easy Day
#2

Face Value #3

Still Waters #4

Full Circle #5

The Journal of
Sanctuary One #6

Worlds Collide #7

Accidental Hero
#8 (coming Fall 2015)

Bodyguards Inc

Bodyguard to a
Sex God #1

The Ex Factor #2

Max and the
Prince #3

Undercover Lovers
#4 (coming soon)

Heroes

A Reason To Stay
#1

Last Marine
Standing #2

Deacon’s Law #3
(coming Fall 2015)

Flight HA1710

Retrograde
(coming Summer 2015)

Deefur

Deefur Dog

Deefur and the
Great Mistletoe Incident

Standalones

The Christmas
Throwaway

New York
Christmas

Jesse’s Christmas

Angel In A Book
Shop

The Bucket List

Valentine 2525

Child of the
Storm

Spirit Bear

All the King’s
Men

One Night

The Decisions We
Make

The Art of Words
(with Meredith Russell)

Heat (with Chris
Quinton)

For a Rainy
Afternoon

Alpha, Delta

Storming Love –
Blizzard, Seth & Casey

The Fitzwarren
Inheritance

The Soldier’s
Tale (book 2)

Sapphire Cay –
with Meredith Russell

Follow the Sun

Under the Sun

Chase the Sun

Christmas in the
Sun

Capture the Sun

Forever in the
Sun (coming soon)

Ellery
Mountain

The Fireman &
the Cop

The Teacher &
the Soldier

The Carpenter
& the Actor

The Doctor &
the Bad Boy

The Paramedic
& the Writer

The Barman &
the SEAL

The Agent &
the Model

Montana

Crooked Tree
Ranch

The Rancher’s Son
(coming January 2016)

PARANORMAL

Supernatural
Bounty Hunters

The Vampire
Contract

The Guilty
Werewolf

The Warlock’s
Secret

The Demon’s Blood

The Incubus
Agenda

The Third Kingdom

Fire

Kian’s Hunter

Darach’s Cariad

Eoin’s Destiny

Oracle

Oracle

Book of Secrets

In the Shadow
of the Wolf – with Diane Adams

Shattered Secrets

Broken Memories

Splintered Lies

The End Street
Detective Agency – with Amber Kell

The Case of the
Cupid Curse

The Case of the
Wicked Wolf

The Case of the
Dragon’s Dilemma

The Case of the
Sinful Santa

Standalones

The Gallows Tree

The New Wolf
(Building The Pack #1)

YOUNG ADULT

Love…

Love Is In the Title

Love Is in the
Hallways

Love Is in the
Message