~Malia~
Sitting in the backseat of the town car with Louis was almost torture, especially considering I had to watch every little thing that I said.
I could tell that Louis was attempting to be flirtatious but it was impossible to pay attention to him at all when I was just worried about saying something that might tip off Gordon to the fact that I was aware of his connection to the King's Horses gang.
I wondered why he would allow his tattoo to show through when the symbol for that specific gang was all over the internet, and anyone with half a brain would link those two images together.
Louis had said something that I didn't catch as I had been lost in thought and I had to shake my head to clear my mind.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I asked you why you had said that you told that man goodbye already at his funeral..." he began, clearly confused as to why I had been acting so strange.
"Oh, that..." I trailed off, not sure where to start.
I looked up and caught Gordon's eye in the rear view mirror and turned away immediately, wanting to shrink down to the size of an ant and never be seen again.
"Gordon, would you mind putting up the privacy divider please?"
"Not at all your Highness," Gordon stated, his gruff voice matching his rough exterior.
I breathed a sigh of relief when the privacy divider went up between us, glad that I could finally look up without catching his eye on accident.
"Umm...where do I start? I guess it all began when Daniel and I dated when I was fifteen back home. He was a senior and I was a sophomore, and he had enlisted in the military since he turned eighteen while he was still in school. We had only been dating for nine months and he went away to do basic training.
"He came back home for a bit until he was called for deployment and was stationed overseas in the middle east when word came that he had stepped on a land mine and didn't make it. I was notified as well as his entire family and there was a funeral and everything, and I was heartbroken...he'd been my first real boyfriend.
"Then when word broke that he was actually alive and well, gambling and having a grand old time in Las Vegas, the press dug up our old pictures on my social media that I never deleted because I thought he was actually dead, and tried to say that I was cheating on you with him, which was impossible as we know."
Louis had never really been at a loss for words up until that point in my story. His blue eyes were filled with concern and I could tell there was more he wanted to say, but I pressed on.
"He came over last night to...apologize, I guess? He said that since the news broke and proved he was still alive, he figured that since the cat was out of the bag he would come and see me. He told me he got mixed up in some things he shouldn't have in the military overseas and that they forced him to fake his own death, and that if he didn't then they would have killed him for real, and he never elaborated on who these evil people were that made him do it in the first place...
"So, there's that story, which one do you want to hear next?"
He blew out a puff of air and ran a hand through his dark hair that I knew from personal experience felt just like silk.
"And now he's Henry's personal bodyguard...I wonder just who recommended him for the job..."
"What are you getting at?"
"This is just a theory, but I've had it for a while now. I believe someone from the gang I was telling you about is close to the royal family, but I can't be certain who."
It felt like he had pulled all the air from my lungs.
I pulled out my phone just in case Gordon could still hear what we had been saying. I went to my notes section and began typing.
Gordon has a tattoo of a horse with a skull for a head on his shoulder. It's the same symbol for the King's Horses gang.
Louis read the message and then quirked up a smile at the edges of his mouth.
"What?"
He knocked on the window of the car divider and Gordon rolled it down just as I slapped the side of Louis' arm to get him to stop, but it was already too late.
"Gordon, I think Malia has spotted your tattoo. I think it's time to tell your side of the story before she thinks you're going to kidnap us or something."
Gordon smiled in the mirror at me and for a second I could have sworn it was malicious.
"But I am kidnapping you, your Highness," he began mockingly before cracking up with laughter.
"Lady Spencer, I assure you, my loyalties lie with the Prince, and since you are important to him, then they lie with you as well. I got this tattoo when I worked with MI6 and was attempting to infiltrate the gang. They wanted to make sure that I was legit, so they made me get this tattoo. I ended up getting close to their second in command before they figured out I was a double agent and I had to make a quick escape."
"The majority of information we know about that gang is thanks to Gordon here," Louis stated and Gordon adopted a half smile and nodded his thanks.
"It was nothing, just doing my job."
"I'm so embarrassed...sorry for basically accusing you of treason I guess..." I trailed off, not sure how I was going to come back from that.
"Well at least now we know that you're not a double agent, considering you were willing to rat out a supposed member."
I laughed at that, wondering if he had actually suspected me of being apart of an actual gang.
"Yeah, now that I think about it, you do not look the type to be involved with them."
"Well, thanks I guess," I said to Gordon as we turned down a street that I didn't recognize.
"And just where exactly are you taking us?" I asked him, looking at Louis for clarity.
"Where I go every time I ditch school," he said. "Horseback riding."
"I am clumsy and have healing broken ribs," I began. "I'm not sure that will be feasible for me."
Louis lazily draped an arm across my shoulders and placed an easy smile on his lips.
"Then Princess, you can just watch."
I rolled my eyes and enjoyed the silence of the rest of the two minutes left in the car ride and felt my skin tingle with anticipation of being alone again with Louis as his hand traced circles on the side of the outside of my thigh, which was driving me absolutely insane.
I couldn't get out of the car and away from the sexual tension fast enough when we pulled to a stop in front of a large open field with a very large and very fancy looking barn in the middle of the property.
Louis grabbed my hand and Gordon took his place a good ten feet behind us as he surveyed the property, and I was more than glad that he kept his distance after that mortifying scene in the car.
We walked in short silence on the way to the barn and I took in the scenery before us: blue skies adorned the atmosphere and the sun shone warm rays of light on the verdant grass below our feet, cut to the perfect length and manicured to perfection, as I had expected from Louis.
The imposing barn doors were painted white, a stark contrast to the rest of the red building, but it wasn't unclean like I had pictured barns to be, like the barns back home in small town America.
It was like someone came out every day and power washed the side of the building and spray painted the grass a lush green to keep the royals happy...but thinking about it made me do a double take and realize that they probably did do just that.
"I like to come out here when I'm bored or just tired of everyone following me around and telling me what to do."
"It's gorgeous here," I said to him, and the horses chose that very moment to begin whinnying and snorting in their large stalls, stomping the ground and begging for attention.
We stopped at a stall that held a beautiful black stallion with eyes that held more than intelligence, but pure emotion. I had always loved animals but had never had much experience with horses.
"This is Raven. He's been my horse since I was about ten years old, and he's always been a little bit wild."
"Just like his owner, I assume," I joked, putting a hand to my ribcage to massage it a bit as it had continued its throbbing.
Realization dawned across Louis' features.
"You...you didn't get those injuries from a car accident, did you?" he asked, and all the humor from the situation escaped.
"No."
"It was your stepfather, Robert."
"Yeah...this happened the night the social workers took me away from him. He almost killed me that night. But Mar came for me, and they put him in jail. I guess it was just wishful thinking to assume he'd get what's coming to him, because not long after I got here, he escaped."
"Escaped? Just like that?"
I cleared my throat as my voice became thick all of a sudden.
"No, he had outside help from a local gang...that's why I was asking you about the crime leaders and what you knew, because I think he's going to come for me."
Louis didn't miss a beat.
"I won't let that happen Malia, do you understand me? I'll go home tonight and speak with some of my people and we have some of the best minds that can run him through facial recognition databases, track any people he's ever been associated with, and make sure that we are going to find him."
His sureness made me feel safe with him, and knowing that he was there for me was the most amazing thing I could ever ask for.
"Thank you...I don't know what else to say to you..."
A grim smile appeared.
"Then don't speak."
He swept me up into his arms in a flourish of movement and my heart fluttered in anticipation of his lips meeting mine.
If this was what kissing him felt like, then I never wanted to stop.
*******
Author's Note:
So what did you guys think?
Did you enjoy the direction this chapter took?
Did I throw you guys off the trail for a second? muahahahaha
What do you think will happen next??
What do you WANT to happen next?
Who are all of your suspects?????????????
Theories?!
Fave tv shows?
Mine right now is OUTLANDER!!!!!!!!
Until next time my lovely readers,
Kristen :)