The Princess and Her Mercenary: A Driven Hearts Novella

  The Princess and Her Mercenary

  A Driven Hearts Novella

  Nikita Slater

  Copyright © 2020 Nikita Slater Writing Services Ltd.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  Excerpt: Capturing Victory

  Also by Nikita Slater

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  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Ndari was bored, and when Ndari was bored things tended to get interesting. She wasn’t one to sit around and wait for exciting things to happen, she preferred to be the one to make them happen. Of course, this penchant often got her in trouble. But nothing she couldn’t handle. After all, the last time she’d fucked up big, her brother, the Crown Prince Sal Kamala, sent her to Jakarta to become the companion to the wife of one of his contacts.

  The entire experience had been amazing. She’d met and become good friends with Jaya Vogel, wife to an arms dealer. Jaya just happened to be the internationally renowned hacker, XSource, and was in the process of helping Ndari out of her current situation of being locked up in a palace with nothing to do and no shopping in sight.

  Source: I should be able to shut down the power long enough for you to get through the door locks. How’re you going to get off the palace grounds?

  Ndari: Think you could open the main gates remotely?

  Source: Child’s play. But you shouldn’t go through the main gates. Aren’t they crawling in security?

  Ndari grinned and replied: Exactly. Everyone’ll be running to the gates to figure out why they opened while I slip out the side door.

  Source: Diabolical, dear friend.

  Ndari: You know it. Still going to meet me in Paris for some shopping?

  Source: Ivan’s in Mexico so it shouldn’t be a problem. I have permission to go shopping as long as I have an adequate security team with me.

  Ndari: On another continent?

  Source: Meh, he wasn’t specific about where I should or should not shop.

  Ndari snickered. She suspected Ivan Vogel, husband to her talented friend, would become more specific when his wife jetted off to France without his permission.

  Ndari was laying on her stomach on the bed, her feet kicking in the air, her iPad in front of her. She and Jaya messaged almost daily. It helped alleviate some of the boredom, but Ndari longed to see her friend in person. It had been five months since Sal, or “Sally”, as she preferred to call him, summoned her home to attend her princess duties. Cutting the ribbon on a new bank, babysitting her sister Alyssa, and nursing their ornery aunt as she died with painstaking slowness from an unknown illness that had been killing her for the past fifteen years. Ndari suspected that the illness was boredom and the need to drive everyone around her insane. If she didn’t start dying for real, then Ndari was going to help her along with a little poison in her soup.

  Ndari’s attention was drawn back to her iPad as it dinged with an incoming message.

  Source: When do you want to do this?

  Ndari thought about it before replying: Tomorrow?

  She needed to pack a few things and get her hands on the Crown Jewels, the ones that belonged to her anyway. She couldn’t leave the palace without taking her babies with her.

  Source: Awesome! I’m so excited to see you! We’ll break you out of the palace tomorrow and meet in Paris the day after for a little R & R.

  Ndari’s heart soared. She was going to see one of her closest friends and go on an adventure. No more stuffy palace, no more autocratic brother, no more pretend dying aunt. She was going to be free and she couldn’t wait.

  Ndari: I’ll be there!

  Source: Love you, girl. Be careful, stay safe.

  Ndari: Back at you! XOXO

  Ndari rolled off the side of her king sized plus mattress and stood, closing the cover on her iPad and tucking it into a drawer. Thank goodness her brother had a terrible understanding of technology. Of course, he had a team to help with things like computers, security and any other technological needs. But the beauty of him being a technophobe was that he didn’t know enough to wonder what Ndari got up to. He might suspect she had plots brewing in her brain, but he wouldn’t think to have his team do more than check her emails and text messages. He had no idea she was meeting with Jaya in dark web chatrooms.

  She sang softly to herself as she opened her closet doors and walked into a space that was big enough to fit another bedroom. She hit the button on the wall and watched with sharp eyes as the racks slowly revolved, showcasing each of her favourite outfits.

  “Desert formal?” she pondered as a conservative outfit consisting of a long skirt, silk blouse and headscarf paused in front of her. She shook her head and waited for the next one.

  “Oooh, schoolgirl chic.” She touched the short plaid skirt that she knew did amazing things to her legs, giving them the illusion of length, then shook her head again. Too informal for planning the theft of her Crown Jewels.

  The third outfit was a gorgeous day gown. Well, she called it a day gown because she was going to wear it during the day, but it was actually a formal evening gown; more appropriate for an evening at the opera than lounging around a dusty old palace. It was dark blue with crystals set in the hem and around the waist, like a faux girdle. The colour of the dress made the crystals shine light blue. She hit the button on the wall, stopping the rack from taking another turn.

  The colour would complement her dark skin. She would wear it with her silver cloak, inset with feathers. Outrageously inappropriate for pretty much any occasion except visiting foreign royals, or possibly getting married, but Ndari had decided long ago that beautiful things were meant to be worn, not just looked at. She pulled the items off the hangers and examined them. Perfect for yet another day of lazing around the palace, caring for her aunt and torturing the palace guards.

  Tossing her chosen outfit on the bed, she began stripping out of her pajamas-- a short silk nightie with matching panties in royal blue. She kicked off her slippers and walked naked into her ensuite bathroom. The light flickered on as she entered.

  She paused to look in the mirror, admiring the soft curves of her body. She’d always been comfortable with herself. Ndari was blessed with her mother’s looks. Natalia had been a Malaysian Princess who was married to a Prince from a desert country far from her own. Rounded curves, long dark shiny hair, graceful posture and pleasant features defined both Ndari and her mother. The only standout was Ndari’s eyes. Like her father, Ndari had eyes that were so dark brown they looked nearly black. Ndari
knew she wasn’t exactly a head turner, but she was pretty enough. She loved the way she looked.

  She turned the shower on and adjusted the temperature before stepping in. She relaxed as soon as the hot water hit her body, working the tension from her muscles. She was feeling much better now that there was a plan to get her out of the palace. She loved her home, she really did. But she didn’t belong in the ultra-conservative country where every part of her was frowned upon as being too much. She was too outspoken, too outgoing, too mouthy, too opinionated. She was everything women were told not to be. And though her brother loved her, he loved the status quo more. He didn’t know how to manage his younger sister, so he locked her up and threw away the key.

  Well, Ndari was taking the key back and she was getting out. She would return eventually, because Sally always called her home, citing her duties as too important to ignore. And she allowed it, because she didn’t want the entire burden of the monarchy to fall on his shoulders. But before she took up the reins of her duties once more, she was going to go and have an adventure with her best friend.

  The moment that thought left her head the lights went out and Ndari was left standing in the dark in her shower. She frowned in concern.

  “One day too early, Jaya,” she said with a sigh and reached for a towel. She was going to have to get this show on the road if she wanted this escape plan to work. “Off to steal some jewels then!”

  Chapter Two

  He’d waited for the woman for four months, sixteen days and a handful of hours. Keane was fucking done waiting. Patience, his boss and friend, Ivan, had told him. Play the long game. Ivan wanted to make sure his second-in-command could extract the Princess without getting killed. What a joke. Keane had the luck of the Irish. He could hit a palace in some obscure country and be out in a matter of minutes. He had full confidence.

  Still, he’d waited. And he’d burned for her. He’d known at their first meeting that she was the one, yet he’d still been forced to let her go. Now, he pined after her like some love-struck pussy. He wanted her in a way he’d never wanted another woman. Sure, he liked to fuck around, had his share of women to keep him occupied. None of them were the Princess. She was a class unto herself and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her for real. No more teasing, as she’d done to him while acting as a companion to Jaya. Ndari was about to become his for real.

  Sure enough, minutes after he’d hidden himself in the palace, he heard the whisper of feet against the stone tiles, heading his way. He knew his woman, knew exactly where she would go if she thought the palace was under attack. Shouts halted the progression of the woman coming toward him and then he heard her voice filter through the door as she shouted back.

  “Carry on, gentlemen. It’s just a little power outage, I’ll be fine.”

  Keane melted into the shadows as she pushed open the heavy door to the jewel room and slipped inside. Her dark head was turned as though she was concentrating on something on the other side of the door. Then she closed and locked it, turning to face the room. A slow grin spread across her face as she surveyed her surroundings. She was visible in the dim lighting of the various display cases.

  She was fucking gorgeous, even more beautiful than he remembered. Her dark hair was loose and flowing down her back. Black with streaks of honey and brown. Her big eyes were a stunning, deep velvet brown. Her body was a mouth-watering picture of curves packed into a floor length blue dress with a slit right up to her thigh and running shoes on her feet. Loosely clasped around her shoulders was some kind of strange cloak with feathers. Trust the Princess to wear something completely inappropriate to a kidnapping. Of course, she didn’t know there was about to be a kidnapping.

  She approached the first display case, stepping right up to it and pressing her hands against the glass. “Greetings, my children,” she murmured, tilting her head to get a better look. Keane smothered a chuckle at the way her eyes lit up. Woman sure did love her jewels. He would have to make sure she stayed showered in them. The way to his Princess’s heart was through the shiny stuff.

  She left the first display case and prowled around the room checking on all the others. She paused here and there but only for a few seconds at a time before stopping in front of a glass case off to the left, the one closest to Keane’s position. She moved around the case until her back was to him, her hands on the glass.

  “Here we are little darlings, did you miss your mama?” she asked, her voice bouncy with anticipation. She tapped one long lacquered fingernail against the glass.

  “Don’t know if those bits of coloured glass missed you, but I sure as fuck did.” Keane stepped out of the shadows and into the light so she could see him. His heart pounded in happiness and anticipation as she whirled around, her hand clutching her throat.

  Finally, his princess.

  “Linton!” she gasped, calling him by his first name, something only his woman and his mother could get away with. Her eyes were wide and startled and she clutched a hand to her neck.

  Then, after a flash of recognition and excitement, she dropped her hand to her hip and gave him a small frown. “What are you doing here?”

  “Believe I told you I’d be coming for you,” he told her, stepping closer. “Just before you left Jakarta.”

  She pressed herself back against the display case, her hands wide on either side of it, as though protecting her precious jewels. “I thought you were joking!” she said incredulously. “Like a one-night stand who tells you he’ll call.” She seemed to think about what she said and then added, “Okay, it’s not like we ever… but still, I didn’t think you’d actually come here.”

  Keane took the final step separating them. His voice came out as a growl when he demanded, “Who didn’t call you? I’ll rip him to pieces.”

  She looked frantically around, as though searching for an escape, then glanced back up at him. “What? No, of course it wasn’t like that. I was always the one who promised to call and didn’t.”

  He roared with laughter. “Won’t be happening with me, Princess. You won’t be leaving me, so there’ll be no need for the obligatory call.”

  “Okay, whatever,” she said impatiently and brought her hands up, putting them on his chest and giving an experimental push. Of course, he didn’t budge, but he loved the feel of those fingers against him, even if it was through his desert jacket and armored vest. “You need to get out of here, right now. My brother is going to kill you if he finds you in here. Or anywhere on the premises for that matter. He’s been very touchy about having strangers in the palace after the coup attempt when my father died. The guards have an execute on sight notice if they find someone breaking in.”

  Keane touched her then, he couldn’t help himself. Her passion, no matter how it was directed, lit up her eyes and animated her gorgeous features. And here she was trying to protect him from the palace guards. She was adorable.

  It was the guards who would need protection from him. Keane wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her toward the door. “C’mon, we gotta go. Don’t want this to get messy unless it has to.”

  “My jewels!” she cried as he pulled her away.

  “Right.” He let her go and turned toward the display case, pulling his gun from the holster under his arm.

  “What are you - ?” He shot the glass before she could finish the question.

  Shattered glass hit the floor and, without pause, Keane took a handful of the jewelry and shoved them in his jacket pocket. Sirens split the air, an alert to the palace guards that there were intruders. Keane grabbed everything he saw, tucking them safely away in whatever pocket was handy. He picked up the tiara last. It was a stunning creation of fine looping silver and diamonds. He turned, stepped up to Ndari and set it atop her smooth head.

  “Perfect,” he announced, then grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the door.

  Ndari tugged her hands from his and walked up to another display case. She gave him a pointed look before punching in a code. The ligh
t on the display went from red to green and she was able to open a door in the glass, reach in and grab another handful of jewels.

  “You need to work on your burglary skills. Not very subtle, Keane,” she said drily, shoving what looked like rubies into a pocket in her cloak. She reached up to touch her crown, a sigh of satisfaction leaving her plump lips.

  “Yeah, I sort of got that.” He pulled another bulletproof vest from his jacket and shoved it over her head, careful to avoid the tiara. Feathers from her cloak puffed out from the arm holes. Ndari held her arms up so he could zip and buckle it.

  “Each family member gets their own code so we can access our jewelry for events and kidnappings. Maybe next time you ask me if I know a better way. Bullets aren’t always best.”

  Keane didn’t agree with the no bullets thing, but he got her point. “Ah, well that might’ve been a bit smarter.”

  “You think?”

  He was going to have to spank the sass from her once he got her alone in a room not surrounded by angry palace guards. But, for now, he would have to settle for a kiss.

  He wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her up onto her toes, bending down to plant a quick, hard kiss on her. Stunned, she stared up at him as he broke away, grunting his displeasure. While the kiss, their first, was as awesome as he knew it would be, it was also extremely unsatisfying. He wanted more. Much more.

  He didn’t have time for more. “C’mon, we gotta go.”

  “But - ” she protested as he pulled her from the room, gun still in hand. He searched the halls and then took off down the one that led toward the kitchen. He’d been pouring over blueprints of the palace for months. He knew every nook and cranny.