Free All Her Men (The Queen's Men Book 1) by Brina Cary

he had plans for you. I will urge our Parliament to assist in seeing that Scotland remains whole; however, I do not hold sway as I once might have. Age is a fickle thing. My heir will see to it should it be necessary.”
    “You will really support me because of my father?”
    “Yes, why do you think I approved the sale of Balmoural Castle? He was a good man, even if he was a bit of a charlatan. One of my best paid guards too.”
    “He was your guard?”
    The Queen of England winked at her. “Once upon a time, he was.” She stood from the wrought iron chair she sat in. As she turned away from Amelia, hope fled her. Politics were beyond her reach. All of it was beyond her reach, it seemed. However, as the Queen halted, Amelia felt hope rise again. The Queen turned back towards her and smiled. “All by accident I would like to believe. However, it is quite possible that it was by design.”
    Amelia watched as the Queen walked away. “This was a bust,” she whispered. Picking up her crystal glass, she took a sip. As she reached out to set it back it shattered. The glass flew everywhere, several smaller pieces striking her.
    As the larger pieces flew to the left of her, she watched them go. Then the plate in front of her exploded. “Dear God!”
    The world tilted as something slammed into her, throwing her and the chair sideways to the ground. Someone grabbed her by her arms, roughly hauling her to her feet. “Go! Go! Go!’
    “Jacob!”
    He dragged her along as he took off at a run. Her feet caught up and she matched his stride. Gunshots. They were being shot at!
    “Get behind the building!” She ran towards the building he pointed at. “Will! Where are ye?” Silence told her that he was listening for a response. Ducking behind the building, she waited, breathing harshly. “Get here now! The shots have deadly intent. We must get the Queen out now!”
    “Jacob,” she whispered.
    “Not now, lass.” He waved her off, ignoring what she had to say. “Will…”
    “Jacob!”
    “What?”
    “The shots have stopped. They gave up.”
    “They never give up.”
    “This one did. He wasn’t aiming to kill me.”
    “How do ye ken?”
    “The glass and plate.” At his confused look she continued. “The glass exploded first. I didn’t move. Then the plate exploded. He would have had enough information about the wind to make a perfect hit with the second shot. He wouldn’t have missed.”
    “Will, the Queen has a point with her belief. We need to get away from the open. ‘Tis possible she may be safe. What do ye see?”
    As he listened to Will, she stood behind him and silently mocked him. She made motions with her hand and made faces. He turned and glared at her. She smiled sheepishly at him in return.
    “We are being shot at and yer making fun of me?”
    “Yes?” She grinned at his shocked look. If only he knew that this was just her personality — making the best out of the worst. It was how she had always had to be. Maybe with him she could show her true self… even if only for a little while.
    “I will deal with ye later fer that.”
    “You have to catch me first.”
    She was saved from his retort as a speeding car slammed on its brakes, halting a few feet from them. “Run,” she whispered as she took off towards the car, knowing that he followed right on her heels. She might be crazy, but he was the most interesting guy she had ever met and it seemed she was falling for him. He had managed to turn her head. It didn’t matter that they had only just met or that he had kidnapped her. That fact alone meant she was ridiculously insane for having slept with him. It was even worse that she wanted, ached, to do it again.
    Flinging herself in the car she sighed in relief as he slid in behind her, slamming the door behind them. “Go!”
    The car tires squealed as it took off. The leather interior stood out to Amelia as being more refined than she was used to. Her cars had cloth interior. Her last beat up