Page 49 of Second Chance Prince
“Nonsense,” she said, shocked and a little angry. “It is just that he doesn’t know you.”
Freddie said no more but she could tell he did not agree with her. Well, too bad. She would have a word with Tomas, and everything would be comfortable again.
Freddie rose from the bed at last. Matilda was sleeping, her lush, beautiful body half naked. He drew up the covers and tucked them in gently around her. It was hard to believe that after all this time, he had found someone whose company he enjoyed so much, in and out of bed.
When Matilda had asked him if he was willing to be her lover, he had thought he must be dreaming. Of course he had agreed, probably far too hastily, because she had giggled and suggested they begin as soon as possible.
Freddie was no innocent. There had been plenty of women since he left St. Ninian’s, but at the ripe old age of thirty-two, he was ready to settle down. He just hadn’t realized it until he met Matilda. It did not seem to worry her that he was a commoner from a dubious background. She liked him for who he was, and she showed it repeatedly, in and out of bed.
Until tonight, he had suspected she was just toying with him, but when she told him she did not want to end their relationship, he began to think that maybe she would agree to marry him. If he got up the courage to ask her.
Niki’s offer of giving him a title…Well, he wasn’t sure whether to believe that or not, and anyway, did he want a title? If that was the only way Matilda would marry him, then he’d be inclined to agree, but then he might wonder forever more whether she really loved him. The real him.
He was being ridiculous.
Freddie finished dressing and cracked open the door. The corridor was empty, and he headed toward the stairs. He could have stayed, but the only time he had done so, Tomas had given him a look that could have killed him stone dead, so he preferred to gohome and then return in the morning.
These days, “home” was a very nice apartment paid for by The Guardians, the organization he worked for. They were secretive—and understandably so, as they worked to hunt down troublesome elements who threatened to disrupt the government and its officials. The death of a foreign prince on British soil would certainly come under his remit.
It was unfortunate the prisoner had not been more helpful, but at least it confirmed to Freddie that the threat against Niki’s life came from his home country. Someone clever and organized, and not the poorly educated insurgents Matilda spoke of. Someone had paid for this man to come into the country, armed him, told him what to do, and then set him on his course. It was only by sheer luck that he had not accomplished his mission.
Freddie gave a shiver. If anything had happened to Roberta that night, he dreaded to think what Gabriel would have done. His friend was absurdly fond of his six sisters, and now that Charles was married to one of them, he seemed to have grown equally protective.
As far as he knew, Freddie did not have any sisters, or brothers either. He was alone in the world and had expected to remain so. He had certainly never imagined he would meet someone like Matilda Brooks.
He slipped out of the house to the mews at the back. expecting his horse to be waiting. No horse. Instead, there was a cloaked man who came running toward him.
“Niki! Wake up!”
Niki lifted his head from the pillow and groaned. The room was still spinning, and the small amount of sleep he had managed to get did not help. His stomach lurched as he squinted at the intruder. “Tomas? What do you want?”
“Mr. Hart is outside with a man. I saw them. They are whispering and—and I heard them say your name.”
Niki tried to shake his brain awake. “My name?” he repeated as he sat up. For a moment, it was touch and go as to whether what was left of his dinner would remain in his stomach, but after a shaky few seconds, he managed to keep it down.
“I followed him.” Tomas sounded as if he thought Niki might reprimand him. “I wondered what he was up to.”
“And what is he up to?” Niki said.
“No good,” the boy said darkly. “Haven’t you ever wondered why he let that man at the theater try to shoot you? It seems very strange the fellow slipped through all of those guards and got right up to you.”
Niki was awake now. “What are you saying?”
Tomas gave a shrug. “I am saying that if Mr. Hart is being paid by the people who want you dead, then that would make sense. He could be pretending to protect you and at the same time…”
“He would be in a perfect position to get the job done.” Niki sounded grim. He tried to remember what Hart had said to him in the coach back from Grantham, about sympathizing with rioters and rebels. He had dismissed his doubts then, or at least set them aside, but now his hackles were raised.
“Where are Hart and this man?” he demanded, getting to his feet as the room tilted again. Why on earth had he allowed himself to be persuaded to drink so much? And he hadn’t spoken toRoberta either, and he had desperately wanted to explain…
“I’ll show you.” Tomas was already at the door.
Niki stumbled after him, down the stairs and through to the back of the house, then out into the mews. It was dark, and dank, and empty. The boy looked about them, obviously disappointed. “Hewashere,” he insisted. “Both of them were. A dangerous-looking fellow in a cloak and Mr. Hart.”
Niki didn’t doubt him. Although…“What were you doing up at this time of the night?” Or was it morning?
Tomas shot him a watchful glance. “I heard him. He was—”
“You were spying on Mr. Hart?”
