King's Ransom. Jackie Ashenden

      Leon would be pissed if he knew what I was planning, especially given his own past, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. This was my idea and not telling him would allow all the responsibility to fall on me if it turned to shit.

      The only person who’d get hurt here was William fucking White.

      I shifted against the wall, checking on Imogen again.

      She was sitting up so straight and still, her hands clasped in her lap, holding herself rigid, except for one little white-satin-covered foot that was tapping to the music that filtered through the ballroom. Then it stopped and she looked down at herself, colour staining her pale cheeks. As if she’d only just realised what she was doing and caught herself. As if tapping her foot to the music was a bad thing.

      Another man might have felt sorry for her sitting there all by herself, not even able to enjoy the music. But I didn’t. I couldn’t afford to. She was a tool for me to use. That was all.

      On the table near her was a glass of iced water that I’d paid one of the waiters to keep refilled. Eventually, given the amount of times she’d emptied the thing, she’d need to visit the bathroom and when she did...

      Right on cue, she glanced at her bodyguards and slid off the chair, gesturing towards the exit to the bathrooms. One of them nodded and jerked his head at the man standing next to him, the two of them then falling into place behind her as she moved towards the exit.

      Good.

      Taking on five of them would be tricky, but two? Easy.

      I stepped away from the wall and ducked out through a nearby doorway that led to the same corridor where the bathrooms were located, reaching the ladies’ bathroom in time to see her vanish into it. The two guards stationed themselves outside.

      Giving them a minute or two, I took out the cap I had in the back pocket of my suit pants and put it on, pulling it down to hide my face, then I moved in for the kill.

      I took them down as quickly and as quietly as possible then shoved their unconscious bodies into the empty men’s bathroom, pulling shut the door behind me and breaking the handle so they couldn’t get out.

      That done, I moved over to the ladies’ and stepped inside.

      Luckily it was empty, apart from White’s little Princess, standing at the bank of sinks opposite the door. She was in the process of washing her hands, her head bent.

      I closed the door silently behind me and locked it for good measure, then I leaned back against it, watching her, waiting to see how long it would take her to notice me.

      A good minute as it turned out.

      She was humming something under her breath, a cheerful-sounding pop song, completely distracted. And it wasn’t until she’d dried her hands and had leaned forward to study her reflection that her gaze met mine in the mirror.

      The humming stopped, her green eyes going big and filling with shock.

      ‘Don’t scream,’ I said calmly. ‘I’m not going to hurt you. However, I might change my mind if you try to call for help. Is that understood?’

      Her eyes widened even further, her mouth in a soft pink O. But she gave a very slight nod to show me that she did, staring at me in the mirror all the while as if I was the devil himself.

      I stared back.

      Her skin was pale, like cream, and her eyelashes were tipped with gold. She had a conventional prettiness that was saved from being bland by that quite frankly carnal mouth and the delicate little mole sitting just above it.

      There was an energy to her, an electricity that reminded me of a live wire about to spit sparks.

      Somewhere deep inside me, interest tightened.

      What would it feel like to put my hands on her and touch that electricity for myself? Would it shock the dead parts of me back to life?

      Shit, touching her wasn’t the point of the kidnapping, no matter the threat I was going to deliver to her father. Besides, pure princesses—live wires or not—had never been my type. I liked a woman who knew her way around a man’s cock and who didn’t mind getting rough with it, not a wide-eyed virgin like this one.

      I dismissed the thoughts. Right now, getting her out of here with the minimum of fuss was my priority.

      ‘W-where are my bodyguards?’ Her voice was clear with an inexplicably sexy roughness to it.

      ‘I dealt with them.’ I stepped away from the doorframe and straightened to my full height, her gaze following every move I made.

      The shock had begun to drain from her pale face, leaving behind it an expression I didn’t recognise. ‘Both of them?’ She sounded incredulous, as if I’d done something incredibly difficult.

      ‘Yes. They’re in the men’s room with the door locked.’ I took a step towards her. ‘They’re not coming to save you, little one.’

      She didn’t move. ‘You’re Ajax King.’

      ‘You’ve heard of me.’ I took another step.

      ‘Of course. My dad hates you.’

      ‘The feeling’s mutual.’ I was close now, standing right behind her, watching her face in the mirror.

      Her lashes lowered. Then she turned around, her head tipping back, looking straight up at me.

      She was very small, the top of her head barely reaching my shoulders, and the pale skin of her cheeks had gone pink, deepening the vivid green of her eyes. They were glowing. They were full-on fucking glowing.

      Maybe that’s when I recognised her expression, the one that wasn’t fear or shock or anger, or any of the other emotions I’d expected when I’d first stepped inside.

      No. What I saw in her face was unconcealed awe.

      Not the reaction I normally got. People were either afraid of me or they loathed me. But not this green-eyed virginal Princess. She looked at me like I was the second coming of Christ.

      For some reason, my cock liked that very much indeed.

      Fuck. That was all I needed. Desire wasn’t supposed to be part of this plan and I didn’t want it to be. The goal was protecting my city and my brothers, not screwing a wide-eyed little ingénue.

      Ignoring my disreputable dick, I gave her the stare I usually gave to those who thought they could argue with my decisions. ‘Okay, here’s the deal,’ I began. ‘You’re going to need to—’

      ‘Why are you here?’

      I blinked at her interruption. Another thing that people knew better than to do. ‘What?’

      ‘I mean, why are you here? In the women’s bathroom?’

      ‘Well, I—’

      ‘You do know it’s the women’s bathroom, don’t you?’

      ‘Yeah, I know it’s the—’

      ‘Are you here for me?’

      I gritted my teeth. ‘You’re going to have to stop interrupting me.’

      A line appeared between her pale silky brows, the electric energy of her intensifying somehow. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I just really need to know.’

      Hell, what was I doing, standing here letting her pepper me with pointless questions? I was supposed to be kidnapping her, for fuck’s sake.

      ‘Yeah,’ I growled, taking another step closer, looming over her, hoping she’d get the idea she was supposed to be scared and not keep looking at me like I was Captain fucking America. ‘I’m here for you.’

      Her eyes glowed even more and she’d gone even pinker, as if I was the man of her dreams and I’d just asked her out.

      ‘Don’t