wanted. To be able to choose my own path, my own life. I couldn't say any of that though.
“I have to go. I have a train to catch in the morning.” I fixed my dress and allowed myself a glance at Reed. He was watching me with those dark eyes, an unreadable expression in them. “I'm sorry.”
I walked out without another look back. Tomas and Eli were waiting just a couple feet away from the door, their faces back in those expressionless masks they always wore. I didn't have to see what they were thinking to know it. They thought less of me for what I'd done. I kept my head up though. I had nothing to be ashamed of. A woman taking charge of her sex life wasn't something bad or wrong, and I wouldn’t let them make me feel bad about it.
“How did you find me?” I asked as we stepped into the hallway. I held up a hand before either of them could speak. “Never mind. I don't care.”
“Your father called,” Tomas spoke.
I was always surprised at Tomas's voice. He didn't talk much, especially to me, but when he did, it always made me want to laugh because it was so soft and almost feminine. At the moment, however, nothing was funny.
“He did?” I tensed as we stopped at the elevator.
“Mr. Mikkels has been monitoring the media.”
“Of course he has,” I muttered. Mikkels was my father's PR person. He'd been adamantly against me going to Princeton, sure that I'd be a public relations nightmare. Even after four years of model behavior, he didn't like me. He'd hated the idea of me going on a trip to Europe, making it clear that he thought I'd go wild the moment I stepped foot in London. To my credit, I had at least waited a while before I ran off to a club.
“It seems that there was a model at the club and you were in one of the pictures a reporter took,” Kai said.
Shit. That couldn't lead to anything good.
“Your father has decided that it is time for you to come home,” Tomas said.
“I have a week of my trip left,” I said, walking out of the elevator ahead of the men.
“King Raj was quite insistent that we take you to your train first thing in the morning. Once we arrive in Italy, we're to make sure you are on the plane immediately.”
“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath. Apparently me telling Reed I had a train to catch wasn't a lie after all. I caught Kai giving me a disapproving look at my use of language. “Do you have a problem?” I snapped at him.
“No, Princess,” he replied stiffly.
I would've felt bad for getting smart with him if I hadn't been fuming about my father's orders. Tomas and Kai had been stuck with me for over four years, away from home and everyone they knew. Neither of them were married or had kids, but I knew that Tomas had a large extended family, including several nieces and nephews, and Kai's mother was elderly and sick. I suspected he'd taken the job to pay for quality care for her. Saja had only two nursing homes on the entire island and it wasn't easy getting someone in there.
A limo was waiting for me in front of the hotel. Kai climbed into the passenger's seat while Tomas followed me into the back. The best thing about my bodyguards was that neither of them ever tried to strike up a conversation. That could be a bad thing if I wanted a distraction from the chaos in my head, but right now, I appreciated being able to think uninterrupted.
Well, not think so much as daydream. I didn't want to think about the future and what would happen when I got home. Right now, I wanted to enjoy the memory of my last vestiges of freedom.
While I'd had fun at the club, it hadn't been until Reed had approached me that I'd truly begun to enjoy myself. It had been crowded and loud, with people pressing all against me. I hadn't realized how much I'd gotten used to the little bubble of personal space that who I was had always accorded. Even at school, people hadn't tried to get close since Tomas and Kai had always been there, lurking in the background.
I wondered if Reed