him. We were definitely friends who flirted with the idea of a romance, but we never really had enough time to figure out all the other stuff. We didn’t go on real dates that often because he was always in another country on another job. Maybe it could have been more, so I think I’m grieving the loss of what could have been had we just gotten more time. Not to mention losing the first man I’d really cared for and trusted in a very long time.”
“Obviously, you’ve had other boyfriends, right?” Jax questioned.
Because that was a topic I didn’t want to delve into very deeply, I replied in a lighthearted tone. “I doubt very many women get to my age without having kissed a whole lot of frogs.”
“No princes?” he teased.
I sighed. “Sadly, not a single one turned into two-legged royalty after I kissed them. I guess the closest I’ll get to knowing a prince is my conversations with Nick.”
Jax raised an eyebrow. “Nick? As in Crown Prince Niklaos of Lania? That Nick? You actually talk to that bastard?”
I was taken aback because Jax had suddenly gotten so serious.
I nodded. “Occasionally. We do video chats from time to time. He keeps in touch just to see how I’m doing. He actually owns a home in Newport Beach. We’ve spoken a few times about getting together when he comes for a visit.”
“Not happening. Ever,” he growled.
I turned my head sharply to look at his face to see if he was joking.
One look at his stony, stubborn expression gave me my answer.
Jax
“Have you forgotten that Prince Niklaos is the ruler of the country where you were nearly killed?” I asked in a guttural voice.
Christ! Just the thought of Harlow cozying up to Prince Nick made my blood boil.
Yeah, I’d only met the guy in person once, but I hadn’t trusted him then, and I didn’t trust him now.
Maybe my older brother Hudson was convinced that Nick had no part in the kidnapping of three of our employees, but I wasn’t. Since two of them had almost died, and the other one had been executed mercilessly, it was going to take more than just the prince’s word that he hadn’t been involved to change my mind.
Hell, even if he hadn’t participated in the event, the asshole was at least partially responsible since it was his damn country. Those rebels hadn’t just showed up in Lania right before the incident. They’d been hiding out in that country for some time before it occurred.
“It wasn’t really his fault, even though he feels responsible,” Harlow said. “The rebels were in a remote area, and it’s a really large island nation. The majority of the population is along the coastline and in and near the capital.”
“Not his fault?” I said irritably. “How can it not be his fault? Where in the hell was his domestic intel? He should have had some clue that there were still terrorist groups present. I lost at least a half dozen friends to that damn country and their rebels when I was a SEAL. They haven’t been a peaceful country long enough for them to have let their guard down.”
“Jax, their military isn’t sophisticated enough to function like ours, and their government doesn’t have an equal to our FBI and other governmental law enforcement. Give the poor guy a break. He hasn’t been the ruler of Lania for long, and it will take some time for him to turn things around there. Like you said, they were a country in a brutal civil war for a long time.”
“I can’t believe you’re defending him after all you went through,” I grumbled unhappily.
Harlow shrugged. “If I’m going to believe that all this was just a fluke incident, I can hardly blame Nick. I’ve spoken to him enough to know that he really does want to change things in Lania. He grew up and went to college in England, and he truly believes that Lania should be a democracy. He’d love to see things change until the royal family of Lania functions much like it does in England. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen overnight since Lania has been ruled by the royal family for centuries.”
Jesus Christ! Harlow had obviously been totally brainwashed by that royal prick.
I ground my teeth, trying to stay calm. “How do you know that everything he’s telling you isn’t all a lie? What if he wanted to stir up trouble so he could look like a hero when all