"Oh, what rubbish!" he retorted. "I don't believe you. You're trying to put a fine face on it, but I daresay this is all typical female jealousy, plain and simple. You don't own me, you know."

"Nor you me." She stopped and turned to him with a withering look. "Sorry, Colonel. I think you were not the right man for the job, after all."

"Who is? The prince of Denmark?" he spat.

"Maybe." She tossed her head in defiance. "I hadn't thought of it, really."

"Sophia," Gabriel said flatly, "I am not letting you fire me."

"Sorry, my dear, but the one with the shiny tiara gets to make the rules. Good-bye."

"Don't be a fool! You need me!"

"You can be replaced."

Her words cut like a knife. "I'd like to see you get along without me," he shot back.

"I'll do fine. Again, I thank you for your service, Colonel. I'll see that Lord Griffith settles what you're owed."

"Don't bother," he snarled. "I was never in this for the money." He almost walked away at that point, cut by how nonchalantly she would banish him from her life.

Devil take the haughty wench, her life was in danger. How the h.e.l.l was he going to protect her if he was fired?

He clenched his jaw in a state of pure exasperation as she walked on. He shook his head, torn between disappointment in himself and a vague desire to wring her neck. So he had faltered, sampling Alexa's offerings-but come, was Sophia any better than him, kissing the prince?

Well, he thought stubbornly, he was not about to mention that little tidbit. Just as blaming Alexa for pouncing on him would have been beneath his dignity, he'd be hanged before he'd let Sophia know how insanely jealous he felt at the thought of that Norseman's hands on her.

No, he did not like that thought one bit. Nor did he like being scolded. He did not take it well.

Maybe he had erred, but after all that he had done for her from the first moment they had met, did he not deserve just an inkling of forgiveness?

His boot heels struck the cold flagstones in a terse staccato as he caught up to her again, staving off a wild impulse to shove her up against the stone wall and kiss her senseless in front of all the petty cl.u.s.ters of eavesdropping courtiers lingering here and there.

"Did you expect me to swear off women for your sake, Highness?" he inquired, not about to let her get away so easily. "Because if this was an unspoken rule of my post, I think I should've been informed of this requirement when I was given the commission papers to sign."

She sent him a warning look askance. "Do not be clever."

They pounded up a shallow flight of stone stairs.

"Please go without making a fuss," she said. "You will not change my mind."

"Sophia! I always deemed you a woman of sense, but you're being foolish, taking petty revenge."

She stopped and turned to him at the top of the stairs, her chest heaving, her dark eyes huge. "This has nothing to do with vengeance or my s.e.x. It has to do with judgment, Colonel! I'm sorry, but you have given me too much cause to doubt you. First, you take liberties with my person. Then you make ludicrous accusations against my loyal guards. Now I find you dallying with my lady-in-waiting. What am I to think? None of it bodes well. If you're not going to take this mission seriously, you might as well go home."

"That's nonsense-"

"That is my royal will!" she thundered, taking a step closer, completely unintimidated by his size or all the ways that he knew how to neutralize a person.

G.o.d, he loved her.

"Who are you to naysay me? A common soldier?" she shouted as she poked him in his chest.

Gabriel fell silent, glowering at her for a moment. "You didn't find me so common that night at the farm, as I recall," he murmured.

"That night," she answered through clenched teeth, "never happened." She pivoted and marched away again, but not before he glimpsed her pained expression beneath the regal bravado.

What on earth was going on in her head?

He felt like he was making progress, but she would not hear his apology and would not let him break through to find the truth. Still, he suspected grimly he knew what it was.

"Why don't you just admit what's really going on?" he demanded in a low tone as he caught up, matching strides with her again as they traversed the castle corridors-going where, he did not know. "You just want to get rid of me because you've decided you prefer the prince."

She lifted her eyebrows. "Now you're acting like a typical jealous male. And like all your breed, you understand nothing."

"Really?"

"This has become too dangerous for both of us, and you know it. I cannot work with you! It's just too hard. Gabriel, I don't want to do this, but being a leader means making the hard decisions. Can you honestly look me in the eyes and say that you're detached enough from all of this to keep me safe?"

She paused and waited for his answer; he could not find his voice.

"My people are counting on me!" she said, impa.s.sioned. "You were right from the start. This was not a good idea."

He stared at her, feeling as though the rug had been pulled out from under him. He could argue with her over the prince and his right to grope Alexa if he b.l.o.o.d.y well chose.

But she had him there.

For a long moment, he was silent, trying to find some basis to object. He could not.

She was right. It wasn't working. He wanted her too much, and it was only putting her at risk.

Good G.o.d, he could not believe he had found his destiny only to lose it.

Lose her.

He was the one who felt lost.

He did not want to accept this. He would try harder, kill his own needs just to stay near her. He would steer clear of Alexa and every other woman on the planet if only he could stay near her.

His heart pounding, he could not bear to look at her. He did not know how she'd react to the complete devotion that he feared showed in his eyes.

"What are you going to do about your men?" he muttered, studying the seams between the hard gray flagstones.

"I am perfectly confident in their loyalty," she said. "I always have been. I only went along with that ruse to humor you."

He glanced angrily at her.

"I'll promote one of them to security chief, and if Lord Griffith still insists on my having an Englishman in my company, then I'll take the captain from the garrison. You trust him to look after me, don't you? Gabriel-I'm not your problem anymore."

"You were never my problem. You were my hope." He gazed at her, wanting to take her hand, but forcing himself not to. "Sophia, I'm sorry," he whispered with his heart in his eyes. "I know I was an idiot. Can't you give me another chance?"

"No. Gabriel. I'm sorry, too." Tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry I ever involved you. Go back to your family. Go back to your farm. I've got a job to do. If you'll excuse me."

Just like that, she walked away.

"Sophia-"

"Go home, Gabriel," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand, not looking back.

"d.a.m.n it, don't you walk away from me!" he roared, his rebuke of Her Royal Highness reverberating down the old stone corridors.

She snapped her fingers, and her Greek bodyguards were there, all too happy to defend her from him. "Remove him."

"With pleasure, Highness."

With that, they grabbed his arms and piled on until they had wrestled him into submission.

It was only Sophia's withering look over her shoulder that convinced him to stop fighting. He plainly saw that this was not helping his cause. His chest heaving, he reined in his rage and stopped trying to pound his way through the ma.s.s of eight men. At last, they hauled him up to his feet again.

And then they threw him out.

Sophia walked into her royal apartments, shut the door behind her, and burst into tears. She dropped her riding crop and buried her face in her hands.

How was she going to cope with all that lay ahead without him? But now at least he would be safe.

That must have been the hardest conversation of her life. She was glad it was over. But G.o.d help her, she missed him already.

Trembling, she lifted her head again after a moment and rested it back against the closed door.

Be happy, Gabriel. Live a long, peaceful life.

As for Alexa-who was still hiding from her at the moment-maybe it was time to start making new arrangements for her reckless friend, she thought with an empty, brooding stare. She had done her best to keep Alexa out of trouble ever since they were girls. But she had just had about all that she could take.

No doubt Alexa would come soon and apologize, and simper and sob and do all of her familiar routine until Sophia took pity on her and told her that she was forgiven. But Alexa had to have known how much Gabriel meant to her.

She shook her head. Sometimes she thought Alexa was no friend to her at all.

By that evening, Alexa was giddy with triumph and nerves and hope that this would soon be over.

When she brought the pitchers of beer to Sophia's retinue of Greek bodyguards, who were celebrating having gotten rid of Colonel Knight, she almost couldn't believe how good doing wrong could make a person feel.

It was a powerful feeling unlike any she had ever known, outsmarting everyone this way. What an intoxicant!

She did not consider herself anything near a bad person-after all, she had been coerced into this. It wasn't her fault, but she was beginning to see how some people could be seduced by the sensation.

Especially when wrongdoing involved such pleasurable activities as kissing the likes of Gabriel Knight, and this sweet taste of revenge on all the men who had used her and tossed her aside, and taking down a peg her ungrateful mistress who always acted so superior.

All the men were congratulating her, cheering her.

"There she is! Our heroine!"

"Well done, Lexie!"

She nodded with a feline smile from ear to ear.

But then she remembered to frown. It would not do to let them know her real emotions.

"I know Her Highness is going to hate me now," she said with a little pout. "I didn't mean any harm."

"Of course you didn't, poppet." Timo pinched her cheek. "She'll get over him. Don't you fret."

She pulled away. "You say it as if you think I did it on purpose!"

"Of course you didn't, sweet pea!"

"You were just doing what comes naturally," Niko said, as if he thought she was too stupid to know she was being insulted.

The men guffawed and clinked their tankards together, sloshing splashes of beer onto the table like a lot of slobs.

She watched them furtively, secretly relieved as they gulped it down without showing any signs that they might taste the dosage of laudanum in it.

Alexa did not think it prudent to stay too long. She wasn't sure how much time must pa.s.s for the drug to start to work. But she didn't want to be anywhere near here when they started pa.s.sing out.

She stood near the doorway, hands on hips, letting them take their last admiring looks at her wonderful bosom. "Well, I'm glad you all are pleased that Colonel Knight is gone, but for my part, I feel just awful. I had no idea that Her Highness would have such a fit over it."

"Lex, you've never had an idea of any kind," someone said with teasing affection under his breath.

She pretended not to hear it as the men she had so often pleasured made sport of her.

We'll see who gets the last laugh.

"I'm going to check on Her Highness," she announced, but n.o.body even noticed when she walked out.

To h.e.l.l with them. Soon she'd be on to new pastures.

Before long, she arrived at Sophia's apartments. Her heart was pounding as she tapped with her knuckles.

No answer.

Slowly she opened the door.

The sprawling room was dark except for one candle left burning. Alexa closed the door behind her and tiptoed into the room.

Crossing it silently, she came to stand by Her Highness's bed. The never-to-be-queen of Kavros was fast asleep. The laudanum had already done its work.

The bottle of Sophia's favorite Greek red wine lay empty on its side on the nightstand, only a few drops left.

Ah, love.