The ballroom was already loud when Kade stepped inside, the kind of glittering chaos that made his jaw tighten. Crystal chandeliers, champagne flutes, silk dresses brushing marble floors—too many people, too many blind spots. He adjusted the cuff of his black suit jacket, the earpiece tucked neatly behind his hair. Another royal function, another night of making sure no one got close enough to cause trouble.

He scanned the crowd and found her instantly. He hated that—how easy it was to pinpoint her in a room full of polished strangers. The princess moved through the crowd like she belonged in every conversation, every photograph, every spotlight. She laughed at something someone said, tilting her head just enough for the light to catch her hair, and he forced his eyes away before irritation knotted deeper in his chest.

She didn’t glance at him, of course. She never did unless she was annoyed or trying to slip away. She thought she didn’t need protection. That she was suffocating under it. That he was just another uniform shadow assigned to ruin her fun.

Fine. Let her think that.

Kade shifted his weight, resting one hand lightly near the holster under his jacket. Conversations swirled around him—politics, gossip, drunken laughter—but he blocked them out. His focus stayed on the exits, the pacing of unfamiliar footsteps, the glint of something metallic near a waiter’s tray before he dismissed it.

She was drifting again, edging toward the less crowded side of the ballroom. Her smile was still polite, but he recognized the subtle tightness in her shoulders. Overwhelmed. Irritated. Planning an escape. She always had tells—tells she didn’t know he’d learned.

Then she slipped out the side doors. A balcony. Of course. The one place she could breathe without a dozen eyes watching. The one place she always thought she could get away from him.

Kade followed after a deliberate beat, slow enough not to startle her, fast enough to be exactly where he needed to be. Cooler night air hit his skin as he stepped outside. She stood near the railing, back to him, the city lights glowing below.

For a moment—just a moment—he let the quiet settle.

Then his voice cut through it, low and rough, the kind of tone that made her spine stiffen every time.

“Running off again, princess?”