“I think my kitten has decided to move in with you,” Jaya said accusingly, settling herself next to Ndari on the bed where she was curled on her side playing with a string toy that had feathers on the end. Haty was doing her best to murder the feathers, scattering the pink, red and yellow fluff everywhere. “What did you do, promise her a lifetime supply of chin scratches and those treats that she’s addicted to?”

Ndari shrugged a shoulder and glanced up. “Just the blood of our enemies, starting with the Irishman. He stepped on her tail yesterday and she now wants his heart in a box.”

“Sounds like her,” Jaya agreed with a laugh. They both watched the adorable, chubby kitten with her too-big paws continue to roll around on her back and bat the toy while Ndari bobbed it in and out of reach. When Jaya looked back up it was to find the other woman’s eyes intent on her face as though studying her.

“You’re happy here now, truly happy?” she asked suddenly, her tone serious.

Jaya thought about it, wanting to give Ndari an honest answer. After what the two women had been through, she deserved that. “Maybe it’s the pain meds, but I think so. And I don’t know about happy exactly… not yet anyway. But I think it’ll come eventually. Once we work out the kinks.” She smirked, thinking about what she’d just said, specifically remembering the time Ivan’d zapped her while they were having sex. She tilted her head to the side. “Well, maybe not all the kinks.”

Ndari sighed heavily and reached behind her, into her back pocket. “Then this belongs to you.” She handed a phone to Jaya. Specifically the phone Jaya had lifted from the guy at the mall right before hotwiring the Maserati. She gaped at it for a second before looking up at Ndari. “I thought I’d dropped it while I was running!”

Ndari shook her head. “You shoved it down the front of your shirt. Ivan put you on my lap while we were waiting for his men to arrive in the garage. He was pacing back and forth like a madman, not paying any attention to me, just watching for them. I felt the phone while I was checking your pulse and put it in my purse when he wasn’t looking.”

“And you’ve had it ever since and haven’t said a word.” She tried to keep the accusation from her voice, but she had trouble imagining someone as open as Ndari keeping such a big secret.

“I’m sorry,” Ndari said, her own voice anguished. “I needed it close, like a security blanket. It was going to be our out if you decided you wanted to leave or if he did anything else horrible, like putting a gun to my head again.”

Jaya felt like a terrible friend at the reminder. “Of course you wanted it,” Jaya replied, softening her tone. “And so you should have a phone. I’ll talk to Ivan about getting you a legitimate one of your own now that he’s decided we’re going to try the trust thing. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Really?” Ndari said, excitement shining through. “Because I’ve been dying to call the palace. I can’t even tell you how boring that place is when I’m not around to shake things up. I need to make sure my half-sister, Alissa, stays out of my closet. That skank has terrible taste in clothing, yet she still borrows my shit.”

“Wow, I’ve missed you,” Jaya laughed and reached out to hug her friend, ignoring Haty’s outraged protest when she ended their game and sent the kitten scampering. “We’ve been much too serious this week.”

“Agreed,” Ndari said, squeezing Jaya back.

Once they settled back onto their opposing sides of the bed, Ndari studied Jaya with a calculating twinkle in her eye. “What?” Jaya demanded, becoming quickly acquainted with her friend’s penchant toward mischief.

“Well… you know how our last shopping trip got interrupted?” Ndari said. To her credit she didn’t say it in an accusing tone, as if she didn’t blame Jaya for reigning chaos down upon Ivan and therefore everyone in his vicinity. Jaya rolled her eyes, nodded and twirled her finger, as if to say get on with it. “Anyway, I was thinking we should try the shopping thing again! Your man still has the big bucks that need spending and, honey, not that you don’t look adorably quaint in that never-ending parade of saris you keep wearing, but it’s time to update your style.”

Jaya giggled and defended herself. “Okay, the saris aren’t my choice. Ivan saw me in one once at a ball and was smitten! Can I help it that I’m gorgeous in traditional gear? I’m usually a T-shirts and leggings kind of girl. In fact, I’m a hacker, I’m usually a pyjamas-unless-I’m-absolutely-forced-to go-out-in-public kind of girl.”

Ndari made a face and shook her head. “No girl, we definitely need to work on your style then. You’re about to become the wife of one of the world’s most notorious businessmen. Legit or not, Ivan Vogel is known internationally. You need to look the part.”

“This conversation is pointless anyway. He might trust me a little more now, but I doubt his trust is going to extend to another shopping trip the moment he stops threatening to murder everything I love.”

Ndari gave her a pointed look. “You’re pretty thick for a genius. Did he not just give you access to an entire world of online shopping and a princess who has spent her entire life as a professional shopper?”

Jaya’s mouth fell open.

“Exactly,” Ndari said smugly. “Do you suppose he has limits on his personal credit cards or do you think he’s one of those super rich guys like my brother who has unlimited funds?”

Jaya barely noticed when a shadow fell across her, blotting out the intensely bright sunlight. After a moment she forgot about the distraction and continued to pound away on the keyboard, her brand-new laptop perched precariously on her crossed legs where she sat on one of the pool lounge chairs. She wore a bathing suit and a pair of shorts. It had been a long, hard fought argument with Ivan to wear even this little out on the pool deck with his men around, but she’d finally won him over by promising to purchase a modest swimsuit, which she did.

“More packages’ve arrived.”

Jaya jumped and barely managed to grab her laptop before it took a nasty spill off the end of the lounger and into the pool. Her head swivelled up and she found herself staring at an amused Keane who stood towering over her. She wondered how long he’d been standing there. Now that she was back online she noticed that Ivan’s men seemed to enjoy sneaking up on her more and more often. She frowned. Maybe she should tell Ivan to put bells on them.

“The princess is opening them in her private quarters. Says she’ll put your stuff away in your room for you.” He drawled the word princess like it was offensive. Jaya wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between Keane and Ndari, but the tension between the two was becoming explosive. They came from two completely different worlds and though there was a definite attraction, Jaya didn’t see how any kind of relationship could be possible.

“Thank you for telling me,” Jaya murmured, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. There was absolutely no need for him to interrupt her to tell her about the packages. “What do you really want?”

“What’re you doing there?” he asked, nodding toward the laptop.

She eyed the computer then glanced back at him. After a moment she decided to tell him. “I’m locking a certain dictator who’s slowly starving his people and inflating the currency in his country out of his personal accounts so he can see what it’s like to go hungry. I mean, I’m sure he’ll gain access to funds somehow, but he’ll be uncomfortable for a few days.”

Keane chuckled. “Bravo, canary.” He shook his head. “Dangerous though, if you get yourself caught.”

“They won’t catch me,” she said confidently.

“We caught you, canary. And put you in a cage.” His blue eyes turned serious, piercing her with a warning.

She nodded and closed the laptop, setting it aside. “Yes, and now I have you and Ivan to protect me. Trust me, Keane, I won’t do anything stupid.”

“Like keep an unauthorized phone on the premises,” he said coolly, his gaze flattening.

She gasped, shock hitting her. She could feel adrenaline rushing through her limbs, screaming at her to run away. She had to force herself to sit still. She wasn’t under threat, not yet. If Keane had told Ivan about the phone, this would be a very different conversation. Why hadn’t he told Ivan about the phone? First though, she needed to know how. “How did you know?” she asked, her voice quivering.

“Saw you in the security feed at the mall,” he answered easily, dropping to his haunches beside her, his head now level with hers. “Boss asked me to see if you’d knocked them all out when you assaulted the system back at the jewellery store. It looked like you had. Wasn’t until a few days ago that one of our tech guys found a camera in the food court that hadn’t gone down.”

“Wh-why haven’t you told Ivan?” she asked breathlessly, her mind racing ahead to every possibility. Keane could still tell Ivan. Ivan could still freak out and decide to punish her through his worst threat, murdering someone she loved. She had to warn Ndari!

“Have to be honest here, canary. If I’d seen that tape a week ago you’d’ve been up shit creek. I’d would’ve handed you over to the boss and let him sort it out. But I only saw it two days ago. Which means you’ve had the phone for a week and haven’t done shit with it.” His voice was low. He didn’t want their conversation overheard. “I’m curious about your intentions, if you have any at all. Could be, you took it in the heat of the moment and now you don’t know what to do with it.”

Jaya took a deep breath. She didn’t want to drag Ndari into this mess, but she needed to be completely honest. She needed Keane to trust her. She believed it was going to keep the two women safe in this situation. She told him exactly what’d happened with the phone from start to finish. She also promised to give him the phone, relieved that she wouldn’t have it hanging over her head any longer.

When she was done telling him her side of the story, he nodded and said, “Good girl. I’ll be having a wee chat with the princess to make sure she corroborates what you’re saying. If she does, then this need go no further than the three of us. I’ll make sure the tech guy forgets what he knows as well.”

Though Jaya was relieved she also desperately wanted to run to Ndari and tell her to tell only the truth when talking to Keane. She suspected Ndari was going to either clam up or spout off at the unpredictable, potentially violent man and either scenario wasn’t going to be in her best interest. As if reading her mind, Keane stood up and grinned down at her. “Oh no you don’t. You best be leaving her royal highness to me.”