The Bodyguard (Norcross #4) - Anna Hackett Page 0,46

his team okay?

“Rome?” A man knelt beside him. “Take it easy.”

Rome sat up and Hunt’s face swam into view. The detective’s brow was creased.

“Hunt?” He looked past his friend and his gaze focused on a huge chandelier.

Everything rushed back in like a flood.

“Sofie.” He gripped Hunt’s arm.

“She’s safe. She’s downstairs, with your guards and a couple of uniforms. She’s worrying about you.”

All the air rushed out of Rome.

“The paramedics are patching her up,” Hunt added.

Rome whipped his head around. “She’s hurt?”

“Like I said, she’s fine. Just a few cuts.”

“Cuts?” Rome heaved himself to his feet. He had to see for himself that she was okay.

“Rome, take it easy.”

Fuck that. He fought off the dizziness and fog of whatever drug they’d hit him with. He walked across the mostly abandoned dining room. There were a few cops helping crying people out.

“You hurt?” Hunt stuck close by.

“Assholes drugged me.”

“Hell, you need to get checked out.”

Rome grunted. What he needed was to get to Sofie.

Hunt muttered under his breath as they moved toward the doorway. A trio of firefighters rushed past them.

“She’s in danger,” Rome said.

“I know. Like I said, I’ve got two officers on her, and the Norcross guards. I called Vander.” Hunt paused. “She was chased by someone.”

“What?” Rome’s muscles went rigid and jerked to a halt.

“He attacked her in the ballroom upstairs. I assume he orchestrated this whole mess and took you down to get to her.”

Shit. She must’ve been terrified. This had to be her stalker. Rome’s head filled with mental curses. The fucker was going down.

“She hit him with a chair, broke a window, and jumped out.”

Rome’s heart did a hard squeeze. He ran through the hotel schematics in his head and met Hunt’s green gaze.

“You’re telling me that she jumped out of a second-floor window to escape the asshole terrorizing her?”

Rome’s deadly tone made Hunt wince. “She’s fine. Settle down.”

Rome rushed into the lobby, shoving through the crowd of people. Outside was chaos. There were crying guests, most of them red-eyed from the smoke.

Police cars and ambulances filled the street. Rome scanned, then spotted a small form in purple at the back of an ambulance. Two officers, Mike and Dan, and Vander, were standing nearby.

Rome didn’t say anything. He jogged through the throng, heading straight for her.

He bumped into someone.

“Hey, watch—” The man saw Rome’s face and wisely sidestepped out of the way.

As Rome approached, Sofie sensed him coming. A paramedic was wiping blood off her hands.

When she saw Rome, she leaped to her feet and pushed the man away. Her gaze locked with Rome’s.

Then she was running.

She dodged a couple and broke into a sprint.

Rome caught her, wrapping his arms around her.

“Rome. Oh, God. Oh, God.”

“Shh.” Rome dropped to his knees, and pressed his face to her hair. It smelled of smoke.

“He was hunting me…” Her voice broke.

“I’m sorry, beautiful. I should’ve been there.”

She lifted her head. “You were hurt.” She cupped his cheek.

“I’m fine. You okay?”

She nodded. But he touched the new bandages on her hands.

Her fingers stroked his cheek. “Just cuts. I’ll heal.”

If her stalker had succeeded, she could be dead.

Rome’s gut rebelled. No fucking way. He was not going to let her be hurt.

“Rome, we’ve got reporters around,” Vander murmured.

And Rome had the princess clutched to his chest like she was his.

She was his, but they didn’t need the world to know.

He rose with her in his arms.

“Rome, the stalker… He mentioned that he’s been watching the house. I…I can’t go back there right now.”

Dammit. Rome met Vander’s gaze. “I’m taking her to my place. No one will expect her to be there. I’ve got a good security system, and we’ll get more guards assigned outside. At least until Sofie has had a chance to calm down from this.”

Vander nodded. “Do it.”

“Can you organize some of her stuff to be brought over?”

“Sure thing.” Vander handed Rome a set of keys. “Go. Get her out of here.” He pointed to Mike and Dan. “They’ll tail you.”

Rome got Sofie into an X6.

“How many of these does Vander own?” she asked.

“A few.”

As they pulled out, he watched the guards fall in behind them, driving another X6. He scanned for anyone else following. He took a circuitous route to his place.

“My condo isn’t very big.”

She glanced over at him. “I don’t take up much room.”

That wasn’t what he meant. “My condo only has one loft bedroom. It’s not far from the Norcross Security office.”

“Okay,” she said.

Hell, she’d been born and raised in a palace. “It’s right for