which, given how we were raised, had more than surprised me. Georgia and I had spent our formative years being groomed by one of England’s most insidious crime lords to hate the Royal family and everything it stood for. I’d thought for years that no one hated them more than me, Georgia, and my surrogate father, Hammond. I’d been expected to work against them by Hammond until I realized I wanted nothing to do with him or his sins. I’d had to lose the thing I thought was most important to me in the world: my wife. Then, I’d had to discover my marriage had been a manipulation. That’s when I convinced Georgia to start working against Hammond with the help of the Royal family. But the deeper we dove, the uglier it got until Hammond delivered a game-changer to my door: Belle. I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with her. Alexander had been furious, concerned it would jeopardize his investigation into the assassination of his father. That’s when I realized my loyalty would only ever lie with Belle. But even that hadn’t been simple. It turned out that we were nothing but pawns in a much larger game. I’d won my freedom only to be dragged back into the fray when they kidnapped Belle’s best friend. I’d helped Alexander find his wife for Belle’s sake. Each time I got pulled back into that world, I wondered if I’d make it back out. This last time, my alliance with Alexander had felt dangerously like friendship.
It’s why I had to convince Belle to leave London. She was in danger as long as we remained near them. But keeping her from her closest friends was proving to be more than I could handle. It wasn’t that I wanted to isolate her. More than anything I wanted her to make new friends, settle into life in Sussex, and start over. Georgia could have helped with that, but I suspected that she’d actually fallen victim to caring about Alexander and Clara too much to walk away.
“Don’t drag Alexander into this,” Georgia advised. “This isn’t about him.”
“Everything’s about him,” I said gruffly. That’s how it felt in London.
“He’s the King, so it probably feels that way.”
“He convinced you to take a job working for the good guys,” I said, wondering how someone as chaotic as Georgia had found herself actively working for the Crown.
“The benefits are excellent,” she said with a shrug. “You should see my new ride.”
I raised an eyebrow. I’d much rather chat about cars than royalty.
“Porsche Panamera,” she said. “Black, naturally.”
“That seems a little fast and loose for Buckingham.” I had to admit I was impressed. The Porsche wasn’t just another armored vehicle. It had some style to it, as well as three millimeters of ballistic steel on its roof and floor board in addition to its bulletproof exterior. It was a good choice for someone who drove around the Queen, but not the safest on the market.
“He tried to get me in a Mulsanne, but I told him I wasn’t on my way to the Care Home yet, so he had to budge.”
“The Mulsanne is safer,” I said with a shrug. “It would have been my choice.”
Georgia whipped around to stare at me, her dark eyes, rimmed in coal-black liner, narrowed like she was dissecting me.
“What?” I shrugged.
“I’m trying to decide if you’ve been replaced by an imposter. The Smith Price I know would never choose that Bentley over a Porsche,” she said.
“I have different priorities now.”
“I guess we all have to grow up someday.” But she sounded less than enthused about my sudden maturity. “Did Belle take your balls as well as the keys to the Bugatti?”
“She wouldn’t let me sell the Bugatti. She’s rather attached to it.” I’d been willing to part with my former daily car, which would have nearly paid for our new home entirely, but my wife wouldn’t hear of it. Given the memories we’d made in it, I couldn’t exactly blame her. But that didn’t mean we’d be bringing our baby home in its boot. “We got a Range Rover. It made sense.”
“If you’re going to keep being so bloody rational, I’m going to need a drink, or at least a good whipping,” she said, but there was an edge of laughter in her voice.
Could it be that Georgia Kincaid found this funny? Maybe even charming?
She really had softened up during her time with Clara.
I raised my hand to call over the waiter, who