Page 27 of Second Chance Prince
Suddenly, he was very weary. “Nevertheless, I thank you.”
Freddie turned his attention to Roberta, and Estelle finally let her go. A solicitous Karl arrived to help Estelle to her feet before leading her away.
“Roberta?”
She looked up, startled. “Freddie, I…Did you…Mr. Walter, did he…” She couldn’t seem to be able to finish her sentences.
Freddie leaned closer. “It wasn’t Mr. Walter. I had Mr. Walter quietly apprehended during the intermission. Are you listening to me? Is that why you risked your life to save the prince? Please,pleasedon’t do that again! If you were hurt, your brother would strangle me with his bare hands.”
Roberta hardly heard the last part, too focused on hearing that the assassin was not Mr. Walter. With a shaking hand she tucked back her dark hair, which had escaped its elaborate creation and fallen into her eyes. Niki reached to take her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. She stared at him in a dazed fashion.
“You have my heartfelt thanks,” he said quietly, “but Freddie is right. Please don’t do that again.”
Roberta nodded jerkily. “I just…I couldn’t let that man shoot you, not if I could stop him. I thought it was my fault.” Her face threatened to crumple, and she took a breath, trying to calm herself.
Niki shook his head. “You would give your life for mine? I would never ask that of you, Roberta.”
Her eyes were fixed on his, her hand trembled in his, and he couldn’t seem to look away. The idea that he might have lost her was unbearable.
“Niki?” His aunt’s voice broke through the intimate moment, and he glanced about him. The noise of the audience had risen to a fever pitch, and Matilda was at his side looking shocked, clinging to Freddie’s arm as if she was too shaky to stand. “Are you all right? I thought…”
“I am unharmed,” he assured her, forcing a smile.
Then the theater manager inserted himself into the group. “Sir. Your Highness.Your Grace.” He didn’t seem to know which title to use.
Niki felt an inappropriate desire to laugh and wasn’t surprised when Roberta gave a soft giggle.
“I cannot apologize enough,” the manager went on. “This is dreadful. Dreadful.”
Niki took a breath and pulled himself together. “I want you to carry on with the play. That is what everyone has come to see.”
The manager protested, but when Niki insisted, the man seemed relieved and trotted off to do as he’d been told. The audience would continue with their evening, but for Niki and his family, it was at an end. Those of them still lingering in the box now turned and left under the scrutiny of the wide-eyed audience.
When they reached the stairs, Matilda took the opportunity to hug him close, barely coherent in her shock and dismay. Niki tried to brush it off, but she would not be pacified. “Mr. Hart will discover who is doing this,” she said fiercely. “It must stop, Niki, it must!”
“Indeed, it must,” Freddie interjected from behind them. “If you still trust me with your safety, sir.”
Matilda turned to him, “I am sure Niki—” she began swiftly, only to stop when she realized this was not something she should answer. She glanced back to Niki, a flush on her cheeks, and he saw it then. Perhaps if they had not just been involved in a life-or-death incident, his aunt would have held her feelings more closely, but she was obviously rattled.
Did his aunt love the man? A commoner?
Niki said, still watching his aunt, “Discover who did this, Mr. Hart, and I will reward you with a title.”
The words were impulsive, but the sudden glowing look in Matilda’s eyes convinced him they were the right thing to say. Her dark gaze flicked to Freddie and away again, and her blush deepened.
But Freddie wasn’t so grateful. “No, sir, really, that is not necessary. I am only doing my job, and if tonight is any indication, then not very well. I am glad you are safe, but it could have ended differently.”
“Then this will be an incentive to try even harder,” Niki said dismissively, and turned to look about him. They had reached the foyer where his party was gathered. “Where is Roberta?” His heart rate rose alarmingly. He wanted her here, at his side, safe. His need for her was a visceral thing, setting his heart pounding. He had yet to recover from the terror he had felt when she threwherself against him and the gunshot went off, and he doubted he ever would.
“She is safe, Niki,” Karl assured him. He patted his brother’s shoulder. “I sent her home in our coach to Ashton House with her friend Miss Longhurst.”
Niki nodded, suddenly so tired he could hardly stand. “We should return home too,” he said.
It was only as he sat in the borrowed coach, on his way back to his aunt’s town house, that it occurred to him that if the perpetrator was unmasked, then there would be no need for bodyguards or Freddie Hart. And if the perpetrator was unmasked, then the fake engagement would become redundant too. There would be no need for Roberta. They would part ways, and go on with their lives, and…
Niki found he couldn’t bear the thought of it. In the short time they had been together, she had become as important to him as the air he breathed, and he did not want to let her go.
“You are shaken, Niki,” Karl spoke from the shadows. “It was a close call.”
