by V Vee
No. For the first time that he could remember, Alastair didn’t believe his parents about what had occurred. Something was going on and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Rising from the bed, Alastair walked through Leyah’s suite, gathering his clothes and getting dressed. Once he was finished he strode back to her slumbering form and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. His heart clenched in his chest, and Alastair ignored the unknown emotion that made him want to climb back into the bed with her, pull her close to his body, and fall asleep with her in his arms.
It wasn’t something he’d ever done before, and no matter how precious and amazing Leyah was to him, it wasn’t something he would do with her. Even if his entire being protested his leaving her to wake up alone.
“Sleep, miora ruĝa, you’re going to need all of your energy for what I plan to do to you,” he promised her.
Without another word or a glance back at her, he left the suite.
Leyah waited until she was sure Alastair was gone before she opened her eyes. Pushing herself up into a seated position, she tugged the sheets of her bed up to cover her naked breasts. Looking around the empty space, she let out a shuddering breath. While a part of her was disappointed that she was still a virgin, there was another, bigger, part that was glad Alastair had stopped just short of taking her. Being a virgin had been such a part of her identity, for so long, that she wasn’t sure what she would do once it was gone.
She shook her head and moved to climb out of the bed to go and take a shower. Her eyes fell on a slip of paper on her nightstand. Not remembering hearing the sound of Alastair writing anything, Leyah was confused for a moment. She picked up the note and read it, her heart thundering at the words written there in a confident, masculine scrawl.
Leyah,
You look absolutely delectable as you sleep, did you know that? It took all the self-control and power that I have to walk away and leave you to sleep. There are some things that I need to take care of, but the next time I see you, I am taking you out for a meal. After that, I’m going to take the one thing you’ve never given to another man. In return, I’m going to give you the most amazing pleasure you’ve ever experienced, and you will be mine.
Forever.
Be ready, Miss Meer. I’m coming for you.
Yours,
Alastair
Leyah swallowed the nervousness and anticipation that threatened to strangle her. While he was being extremely presumptuous for thinking that she was going to just give him her virginity, Leyah—who had never taken orders from anyone until the day she arrived at the palace in Malvidence—found herself strangely turned on by Alastair’s proclamation. What did that say about her? Was she so easily swayed by muscles, a handsome face, seductive eyes, and a tongue with magical skill?
At the thought of what Alastair had done with that tongue on her slit, Leyah shivered and grew wet and swollen between her legs.
She was so screwed.
Alastair waited for his brothers to show up in the secret room off his office, his eyes narrowed on the information he’d obtained from the palace guards. More than the two guards who had been killed on the night he’d been shot at were missing or unaccounted for.
Fourteen. There were fourteen guards who their head of security informed him had either abruptly left their employ for no reason—and by email or letter, not face-to-face, or by phone—or were missing. This was not a coincidence. The palace did not have a high turnover rate. Those who applied and trained to work as security for the royal family did not do so lightly. They were put through a rigorous training at a secure royal facility. Their minds, bodies, and spirits were broken. Their loyalties tested. They were interrogated and tested repeatedly and cut off from the world they once knew. Their family members, friends, and loved ones had no knowledge of where they’d been taken and were never to be told of the requirements and difficulties they’d faced to be a part of the elite, exclusive royal security guard.
After enduring all of that, it was highly unlikely that any of the guards would simply up and leave before their retirement. Not with the amount of pay they received, the benefits, and the admiration and praise heaped upon them from the people of Malvidence. Something was going on, Alastair could feel it in his gut, and his gut hadn’t steered him wrong yet.
He turned his head at the sound of the door opening and nodded his head at his four brothers who entered, each with varying degrees of frustration, impatience, and exhaustion on their faces. Alastair had put the room into tighter security protocols than it had ever been before and made sure each of his brothers had access to the room, but only them, in case they all arrived at separate times. He was happy they’d all come in at the same time, and when the door closed behind Andreas, he put the office into a temporary lockdown.
Algerone yawned and scratched at his chest. “This had better be good, Las. You disturbed my sleep and pulled me out of bed with my wife.”
“Agreed,” Augustus stated, his eyes narrowed on Alastair’s face.
“Trust me, once you hear this you’re going to be glad you’re standing here with me, rather than off doing whatever it was you were doing,” he gestured at Alfie who had lipstick smears on his neck. He picked up a napkin and threw it at his youngest brother. “Clean yourself up, man. God, can’t you look presentable for once?”
Alfie rolled his eyes and cleaned his face and after being directed by Algerone, his neck. “Don’t be mad at me for being with a lovely woman while you’re panting after the nanny and all alone.”
Alastair smirked. “I will have you know that I left the gorgeous Miss Meer in her bedroom not hours ago, very tired, and very satisfied.”
“Nice,” Alfie remarked giving Alastair a fist bump.
Alastair waved his youngest brother’s encouragement away at the look on Algerone’s face. “I was extremely respectful, Al. Probably more than you were with Valerie.”
Augustus threw up an arm to stop Algerone from pummeling Alastair’s face at his words. Knowing he’d gone too far, and only being able to partially blame the fact that he was still unbelievably horny, Alastair nodded and held up his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, bruthrar,” he apologized. “Now, can we get back to why I invited you all here?”
“Please,” Andreas spoke up for the first time. “I have somewhere to be.”
Alastair opened his mouth to ask his younger brother where he’d been rushing off to as of late but shook his head. Each of them had their secrets and their own lives. He would allow Andreas his, but if it caused issues or problems for the rest of them, he wouldn’t hesitate to beat the younger man’s ass.
“Here,” he said as he handed each of his brothers a copy of the report he’d received. “I want you to check out the number of missing or accounted for guards.”
Algerone shook his head as he flipped the pages in his copy of the report. “Fourteen? No. That can’t be right.”
“Why are we just finding out about this?” Augustus asked.
Alastair looked at his two older brothers. He nodded. “Yes, that number is correct, Al. I checked over it myself. Not one of the fourteen guards have checked in or been on their assigned shifts within the last two weeks.” He looked over at Augustus. “I suspect the reason we weren’t informed is because this is a security issue, and the head of the guard,” he glanced down at the report in his own had, “Reginald Voorhees was already aware of the issue. As a matter of fact, Reginald was surprised I even asked for the information since he was looking into it himself and trying to find replacement for the fourteen men.”
Andreas crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at Alastair, giving him a piercing look. Alastair shivered. While he knew his brother would never hurt him unless he really had to, Andreas had a way of looking at a person that made them want to confess to every sin, wrongdoing, misdeed, and errant, impure thought they’d ever had or committed. The very fact that Algerone was allowing the darkly silent man to spend as much tim
e with his son, Chikere, as he was, stunned Alastair. He loved his brother, he did, but Andreas gave him the creeps.
“What, Andy? What?” he finally huffed out.
“Why are you looking into this?” Andreas finally asked.
Alastair ran the fingers of one hand through his hair, tugging lightly on the strands. He sighed and shrugged. “My gut,” he finally answered. When his brothers simply stared at him, Alastair knew he had to give them a more elaborate answer than he had. “Something doesn’t feel right. It hasn’t since Algerone returned with his American bride and his half-Malvidencian children.” He held up his hands when Algerone growled at him. “Hey, hey, hey. These are not my words, these are some of the murmurings that I’ve heard from staff members when they think none of us are around, and from some of the advisors. As well as from the comments on the various articles.”
Algerone’s eyebrows rose. “They’re calling my children half-Malvidencians?”
“Worse,” Alfie grunted.
“What?!” Algerone’s voice was menacing. “What could be worse than that? Not that there’s anything wrong with being American, but my children are of Malvidence. They are Malvidencian royals.”
Alastair sighed. He really did not want to be the one to tell his brother the horrible things his wife and children had been called. Alastair wasn’t afraid—he was no one’s punk or coward—but even he’d winced and then grown enraged at the racist, bigoted, and hateful speech being directed at his sister-in-law and his nieces and nephews.
“Let’s see,” Augustus murmured, looking at his phone. Alastair groaned, knowing this was going to be bad. They all had the infamous Smythe temper, but Algerone’s could be destructive and the worse of them all if provoked. “They’ve called Valerie a sell-out, a white man’s whore, a nig-whoa, I didn’t even know people still used that word,” he frowned, his eyebrows pulled low. He hesitated, still reading, he let out an angry sounding grunt, his jaw clenching and Alastair figured his brother had just gotten to the worse comments. Augustus’s eyes flew up to find his. “Did you read this?”
Alastair nodded. “I’m handling it.”
“What does it say?” Algerone asked, pulling out his phone and moving his fingers over the screen as he went to look up the articles and comments for himself. He let out a sound of exasperation when Augustus tugged the phone away.
“You don’t need to read it,” Augustus told their eldest brother. He turned at pointed at first Alastair, then Alfie. “Fix it.”
Alastair lifted his hands. “I am.”
“Fix it faster,” he commanded.
Alfie huffed. “Yes, Your Highness,” he mocked. He rolled his eyes again. “Look, can we get back to why we’re really here? Las and I will take care of the ignoramuses, okay?” He glanced over at Alastair. “Now, what made you curious about this?”
Alastair scratched the back of his neck in a gesture of nervousness. “I was already looking into the shooting at the airport, and then my own shooting here on the grounds, but I was really interested after the ball incident.”
Alfie snorted. “You mean when you and Augustus came bursting into the ballroom, guns raised, ready to blast away our well-dressed guests?”
Augustus growled at their youngest brother and snorted when Alfie merely flipped him off. Alastair ignored them both and nodded his head.
“Oh, c’mon Las. Those were fireworks!” Algerone stated firmly. He slapped the back of his hand against the report he held again. “And I’m sure this can be explained as well.”
Andreas swung his attention away from Alastair and over to Algerone. “I’ve never known you to be dismissive,” he observed.
They all paused and looked at Algerone. The other man sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face. He shook his head. “Look, you guys don’t get it. I spent fourteen years barely with my family. I finally have the opportunity to be with them every day, for the rest of my life and the first thing that happens is my wife gets shot? After everything I put her through, I do not need something else to scare her or make her rethink her decision to give me chance number 14,281,032,” he said.
Alastair stepped toward his oldest brother and put a hand on the older man’s shoulder. “Bruthrar, I understand. We all do but putting your head in the sand is not going to fix anything. It’s just going to make things even more difficult when you finally do come around. Something is going on. There’s a connection between both of our assassination attempts, and the missing guards. I just know it.”
Algerone nodded and walked over to sit down behind a desk. Alastair inclined his head to his other brothers, and they all sat in the respective seats, all of them solemn and quiet for a while.
“Do you know why we didn’t notice a gap in coverage or a lack of guards around us?” Augustus wondered aloud.
Alastair shrugged. “I think it’s because we barely go out, and when we do, we’re all more than capable of taking care of ourselves. Not only that,” he turned to his computer and typed in a few words, the large television screen that hung on one wall turned on and Alastair projected his computer screen up onto the tv. He indicated the areas the missing guards worked in.
“Plus, there’s the fact that the missing guards all patrol the grounds. Very few of them would have any actual interaction with any of us. I doubt we’d have even been aware of them if I hadn’t been with Leyah when I heard the fireworks, or gunfire,” he shrugged.
“Fireworks, man,” Alfie reiterated.
“So, this is about the nanny,” Andreas muttered.
Alastair nodded. “To a certain degree.” He shook his head. “Leyah was terrified. Her entire body was shaking. It was as if she were reliving some horrible experience. And I know, I’m not as experienced as the rest of you when it comes to guns and the sounds of battle and war, but I know more than I’m given credit for. Someone somewhere was shooting at the exact same time you were all distracted by the fireworks. Only those of us in the library were close enough to hear it, and the sounds of fighting, and the screams, but, we heard it.” He looked over at Augustus who was nodding along with him.
“I think we were attacked and we didn’t even know it, because the person or people who did it, went after employees that we don’t personally know, or aren’t aware of.” When none of his brothers responded, all of them looking pensive and contemplative, he continued. “Which makes me wonder, if these people haven’t just switched roles with our guards.”
Algerone’s eyes widened. “What?”
Alastair nodded. “It would be… maybe not easy, but not exactly difficult for someone who was determined to take the place of one of our guards.” He indicated the screen behind him, where the missing guards’ posts were circled. “They would be able to blend in almost seamlessly and we would never be aware of it, until it was too late.”
Algerone leaned forward. “So, you’re saying we could have imposters, men bent on doing harm to me and mine, here in the castle?”
Alastair shrugged. “I’m saying that it’s possible.”
“Likely,” Augustus interjected.
Algerone blew out a breath. “So, how do we find out for sure?” he asked.
Alastair shook his head. “We don’t know what all of the guards actually look like, or even enough about them to suss them out ourselves. And if we’re honest, Kothrar and Kuthrar wouldn’t even know anyone outside of our family, and their immediate guards, if it weren’t for us.” He sighed. “We’re going to need help.”
“From whom?” Andreas asked.
Alastair shrugged. “I was thinking Danorian.” His stomach turned at the thought of asking the man who was so… close to Leyah for help, but Danorian had been with the family for decades. He’d spent time on the palace grounds, out in Malvidence as law enforcement, according to his records, before finally being assigned to royal family detail inside the palace five years earlier. Danorian knew everyone. He knew about all of the rebellious and contentious factions both within and outside the country. The man was c
ompletely loyal to them all.
If they were going to get to the bottom of this. They needed Danorian’s help. Alastair would just have to put his own distrust and jealousy of the man in regard to Leyah aside.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Algerone said with a nod.
“I will make… private inquiries as well,” Andreas remarked with a slow grin.
Alfie shook his head. “Solqiz fylqypt.”
Alastair had to agree. Andreas was a “crazy bastard.”
“Okay, we’ll get Danorian to look into things and let us know what’s going on, but we’ll be on alert as well. This is my wife and kids, I don’t care how much we trust someone, I’m not going to trust their safety to anyone outside of the five of us.”
Alastair nodded, agreeing. While Leyah wasn’t his wife—yet, his traitorous subconscious supplied—he didn’t trust anyone to protect her better than himself. A grin spread across his face. And in order to keep her safe, he’d have to be around her, and extremely close to her body.
This might be fun.
Chapter Fifteen
L eyah blinked and shook herself mentally when she realized Dahni had been tugging on the sleeve of her shirt for quite a while if the little girl’s sounds of annoyance were anything to go by. She smiled and handed the toddler the Barbie ™ doll she’d been attempting to grab. Her mind wandered again as she watched Dahni toddle off and flop down in the middle of the floor to play with her toys. It was a good thing she’d already put Eckha and Eliava down for a nap, else her distraction while watching her precious charges would really be a problem.
She just could not get the memories of her night with Alastair out of her mind.