Ah, there it was.
“I am well aware, Amelia,” I promised, letting myself look her over from head to toe and then back up again. I thought I was being subtle, but by the way her eyes narrowed on me I didn’t think she thought I was.
“Then I should be allowed to go on this mission. You’re as bad as my brother and my father and even my cousin for goodness sake. I’m not twelve anymore, I don’t need anyone fighting my battles or protecting me from the rest of the world.” Her stance was very casual as she leaned against the doorframe, propping her hip to the side, but by her tone I could tell it was all an act. She was rigid with irritation and self-righteousness. And while all I wanted to do was kiss her until she relaxed and melted into me, I couldn’t help but going on the defense just a little.
She might not be a little girl, but she still needed protection. My protection.
“Nobody is treating you like you’re twelve,” I said firmly so that there was no misinterpreting my meaning or my authority. “But you do need protection, Amelia. Hell, the entire Kingdom needs protection, but not everyone is as lucky as you to have so many capable people willing to give it to them.”
“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes. Actually rolled her eyes at me! “Lucky? Hardly. I am sheltered, and fussed at, and hidden away from the world while life happens around me. You, and my father and brother have all conspired against me to make sure life will just pass me by while I don’t get to enjoy any of it.”
Was she kidding me?
“Keeping you out of a mission is not locking you up in a tower,” I snapped. “So stop acting like a spoiled princess. Not three weeks ago you were on your way to Africa, and nobody stopped you. You are living life, a very full life, but I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we would all like you to keep living that life. This mission could be a death sentence for anyone of us and I refuse to put you in that kind of danger.”
She was silent for a long time, staring me down with her piercing rich, full brown eyes. I stood my ground, a position I had learned from being a leader for the last five years and not because I felt as strong as I appeared. Her gaze was unnerving and really intimidating if I was being honest. But I could not admit that she was getting to me.
Nobody got to me, so it was a little surprising that Amelia had been in my life for such a short time and could already unseat me with one intense glare.
This woman had power.
“Fine,” she gave in and I forced myself not to act like an ass in celebration. “I understand your concerns for the mission.”
“Thank you,” I conceded graciously.
“But I am still on my way to Peru for a Human Trafficking Summit,” she explained. “And before you can talk me out of it I will just tell you that there is nothing you can do to stop me. You and all of your forces will be there and my parents have already forced a Guard detail on me with Kiran’s help, not to mention I plan to meet up with Analisa and she has her own detail.”
“That’s very responsible of you,” I sounded like her father now and inwardly kicked myself. She rolled her eyes again.
“Anyway, I really don’t feel like taking the jet with all of the Titans by myself,” her voice softened and her eyes grew big with her petition. I was in trouble before she even asked what she really came here to ask. “So do you mind if I just tag along with you until we get there?”
And then she smiled.
“No, I don’t mind,” I agreed immediately.
She stepped into the room completely and I took a step toward her without even realizing what I was doing.
“Really? I mean, I think it will be fun. But I don’t want to be a distraction,” she admitted and her attitude was completely replaced by her flirtatious energy.
“Amelia, I’ll be distracted by you whether you’re with me or not,” I mumbled coming toe to toe with her.
She blushed a deep red. I lifted my hand to play with the end of one of her long waves, rubbing it together in between my fingers. She looked down at her hair in my hand and then up in to my eyes underneath her thick lashes. My heart did this kick start thing where I swear it completely stalled for a moment before it started thundering in my chest.
Something flickered in her eyes, like she was resolved not to be this close to me, but I was wholly set on kissing her. I licked my lips in preparation and heat flooded her gaze, deepening the color of her eyes. I dipped my head down to her, forcing myself to take this slow.
But before I could taste her she had bounced up on her tip toes and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
What the hell?
“I need to gather up a few more things,” she said in a rush already walking away from me. “I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.”
Damn it, what just happened?
Women.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Contrary to popular belief, or at least my belief, Amelia did not sit by me on the plane trip over to Lima. She barely even acknowledged me.
Which was weird.
She kind of stayed in her brother’s shadow and talked with Titus the whole time. I was not jealous of Titus. I mean, I didn’t need to be jealous of Titus. Amelia and I had this amazing connection, she wasn’t interested in Titus.
She wasn’t.
Titus and Sebastian had this weird bromance thing going on, and Titus had probably been around her a lot, spent a lot of time with her because of Sebastian. She was more than likely just worried about him after everything.
Reassuring myself of this every five minutes did nothing to pacify my rapidly declining mood though and by the time we had suffered through Peruvian customs, gathered our baggage and filed into taxi vans that would take us to our hotel I was beyond irritable.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jericho asked from the seat behind me.
We had ordered three separate vans, since we were traveling in such a large group. It wasn’t until baggage claim took two hours and we were settled in all of our different vans that I realized our entourage was way too big. Not to mention packed full of alpha males. I should probably split us up in some way, but right now we only had one lead to follow and so we were stuck together for now.