by Katee Robert
The gunman wasted no time. He stepped into the house and shut the door behind him, never once breaking eye contact with her. To his credit, he didn’t ogle her nakedness, but considering he’d just forced his way into the house at gunpoint, she wasn’t inclined to grant him any brownie points.
“That’s far enough, Kozlov.” Galen’s voice came from her right. He stepped out from behind the wall, his own gun trained on the stranger. He had found time to throw on a pair of pants. He passed her a robe he held in his free hand. “You good?”
She hurried to wrap it around her and tie the belt. “I’m fine.”
Kozlov gave them both a long look and held his hands up, making a show of putting the safety on his gun. “I’m just here to talk.”
“Then talk.” Without looking over, Galen snagged her arm and pulled her over to stand behind him, putting his body between her and this Kozlov.
Hands closed on her shoulders and then Theo was there, moving to stand next to Galen. “Isaac. Been a long time.”
Kozlov—Isaac—started to bow and seemed to realize Theo was no longer Crown Prince. “Your Highness.”
“Not anymore.”
Isaac eyed Galen’s gun. “Phillip sent me to bring you in. He claims there are attempts on your life and he’s worried about you.” He slowly holstered his gun. “Struck me as funny. If he cared so much, why the fuck did he exile you in the first place. So that got me to thinking.”
“You should never think, Kozlov. It’s bad for your health.” Galen showed no signs of putting his gun down. His big back blocked most of her view of Isaac, but she wasn’t willing to peek around him for a better look. Obviously, they had history.
“Now, Mikos, don’t be like that. You know damn well that I could have walked in here and taken all three of you out while you slept. I’m the one who set up the fucking security in the first place. You think I can’t get past it?”
Meg blinked. Huh. Well that’s a twist.
Galen cursed and let his gun fall to his side. “What are you doing here?”
“Like I said, Phillip gave me an order. I’m obeying.”
Theo snorted. “Maybe the letter, if not the spirit. Did he want me trussed up like a turkey or just the traditional black bag over my head?”
Meg slid between them just enough so that she could actually see what was going on. Theo had his easy smile in place, but she knew him well enough to recognize it for the mask it was. Galen just looked like he was ready to shoot Isaac in the head and toss him into the sea. “I could really use some coffee.” She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until all three men looked at her. She swallowed hard and refused to wilt. “This sounds like it’s going to be a conversation they need to pay attention to, and coffee helps.”
Galen’s eyes flashed, but Theo nodded. “Coffee.” He motioned Isaac toward the table situated by the kitchen island. “You’ll forgive me if I ask you to put your weapons on the coffee table.”
“Of course.” Isaac strode to the coffee table and set his gun carefully onto it. Followed by another gun that had been tucked into his boot. And three knives he pulled from…somewhere. Finally, he walked to the dining room table and took up a position with his back to the solid wall perpendicular to the glass one.
Meg hesitated, but Theo pressed his hand to the small of her back. “Show no fear, princess,” he murmured. “Chin up.”
She could do this. She could drink coffee while a man who’d pointed a gun at her told her two lovers… whatever he’d come there to tell them. It wasn’t any stranger than being shot at or getting patched up in a cute little cottage in Germany or any of the other things that had happened to her since meeting Theo and Galen.
While she got mugs down from the cabinet, Theo sat in the seat directly across from Isaac. Galen took up a position against the kitchen island, just far enough back that he was almost in Isaac’s blind spot. Pinning him between them. He couldn’t possibly avoid attacks if they both came at him from that position.
Or maybe she’d seen too many action movies.
She brought coffee to the men and then retreated back into the kitchen. If shit hit the fan, she could duck behind the heavy cabinets or bolt out the front door. Though she doubted Isaac showed up here alone. That would have been stupid, and he didn’t strike her a stupid man. One in an impossible situation, most definitely, caught between his current monarch and the one he obviously had supported pre-exile. There was history with Galen to consider, too.
Better to be quiet and still and let the men take point on this. It had the bonus of decreasing the chances of one of them ordering her away and then her having to eavesdrop yet again to keep up on the current situation. Meg leaned against the counter and sipped her coffee.
Theo leaned back, as regal as the king he almost was despite his surroundings. “You have my full attention.”
Theo studied Isaac as he drank his coffee. “Let me see if I have this straight. My uncle wants you to retrieve all three of us and return us to Thalania… for our supposed safety.”
Isaac flicked a glance to Galen. “That about sums it up.” He leaned forward with a suddenness that had Galen reaching for his gun, but Isaac’s eyes were only for Theo. “He’s not my king. Edward could be if given a chance, but he won’t have that chance with Phillip playing puppet master.”
“What you’re saying is dangerously close to treason.” It was also exactly what Theo had feared. Edward was a good kid but his mother had pampered and sheltered both her children as much as she could. A gift, but one that had long since grown teeth. His skin was too thin, his control was too incomplete, he craved other people’s approval. None of those things were terrible in a normal person. He was seventeen. He’d outgrow a good portion of them when he figured out who he was.
But in a king?
Phillip would have no difficulty manipulating Edward into doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it.
Not that Theo would say as much to Isaac. He might have served as Galen’s second in command for the last ten years, but he was still sworn to serve Thalania, and at the moment, Theo and Galen stood in opposition to what the regent of Thalania wanted.
Isaac didn’t move. He barely seemed to breathe. “You’re trying to take the throne back. That’s why he’s determined to bring you back under his thumb.” The slightest pause. “He’s going to kill you.”
“To be fair, he’s already tried.” Theo leaned back, affecting a relaxed pose as he contemplated his coffee. “How long do we have before he gets suspicious?”
“Twenty-four hours. I’m the best, and he knows it.” He shot another look at Galen. “Well, second best. But I have an edge because I know Galen better than almost anyone. Phillip’s aware of that history. He’ll expect me to be able to dig you out of any hidey-hole you’ve crawled into.” He motioned at the house around them. “Case in point.”
Twenty-four hours wasn’t enough. They still didn’t know what the damn birth certificate signified, how it was the key to unlock the entire puzzle. If it was even the key. At this point, Phillip could very well have left it out because of some perverse desire to offer hope, only to snatch it away after Theo had gone through so much trouble to obtain it. “And after that you’ll follow orders.”
Isaac had the grace to look uncomfortable. “I might not agree with Phillip’s way of doing things, but your brother and sister are the royal family and the next in line for the throne.” Another of those micro hesitations. “If there’s a way for you to retake the throne…”
Theo held up a hand. “If there was a way, I wouldn’t tell you what it was because it’d put you in a shitty position. I respect you too much to do that.” He let his hand drop. “Just like you’ll respect our privacy for the next twenty-four hours before you do what you came here for.”
“I’ll respect your privacy.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “From a distance where I can see everything to ensure you don’t bolt again.”
He expected as much. Theo set his mug
down. “One last thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Meg stays out of it.” He wasn’t ready to end things with her, but if the alternative was to haul her back to Thalania and into more danger than they’d been in up to this point combined… No. Theo was selfish—he was the first to admit that—but he wasn’t that selfish. “We’re putting her on a flight back to New York. As far as you’re concerned, she was never here.”
Isaac’s eerie blue eyes flicked from him to Galen to Meg. “I have my orders.”
Galen shifted, breaking his line of sight with her. “Phillip’s more concerned with us than with her. He’ll be satisfied.”
“I have my orders,” Isaac repeated. He turned back to Theo. “You know he’ll just send someone to collect her if you try to dodge this.”
Yeah, he would. Theo made a show of looking at the clock over Isaac’s head. “Twenty-four hours. Isaac. I expect you to honor it.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” He stood, gave a half bow, and walked out the way he’d come, scooping up his weapons in the process.
Galen moved to the door and locked it behind him, for all the good it would do. It hadn’t kept him out the first time, and it wouldn’t do it a second time if he changed his mind or Phillip altered his orders. Theo sighed. “Our timeline just got a whole hell of a lot more complicated.”
Meg moved around the kitchen island to frown down at him. She was a vision in her short, white robe, her dark hair tangled around her face, her mouth looking distinctly just-fucked. The robe parted as she moved, revealing a slice of skin down to her stomach that drew his gaze. She snapped her fingers near her eyes. “Up here, Theo.” She frowned harder. “You’re seriously going to toss me onto a plane and ride off to meet your uncle, knowing that he’s planned something nasty for you?”
“I’m going to put you on a plane precisely because my uncle has something nasty planned.” Phillip would use the three of them against each other to obtain what he wanted, and then he’d make them all disappear.
Meg stared for several long moments. “I don’t like this.”
“No one does.” Theo pushed to his feet and took her hands. He glanced at Galen. “We promised not to let anything happen to you, princess. We’ve already fucked that up, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying—that either of us is going to stop trying.”
“What about you? If something happens to you…”
“Nature of the beast.”
Meg reached up and touched his face. “Don’t do that. Don’t act like it doesn’t matter what happens to you. It matters.”
Galen walked over and set his gun on the kitchen counter. “He’s right. There’s a decent chance Phillip will let you go if he’s got us both in his control. We’re Thalanian, exiled or not, which puts us under his jurisdiction. You’re American. If word gets out that Phillip Fitzcharles is ordering American girls snatched off the street, it will be a diplomatic nightmare. He’s too smart to risk that.”
Theo permitted himself a small smile. “I see you’ve been talking to Alaric.” If there was one thing his cousin was good for, it was running his mouth. Theo still hadn’t confirmed one way or another if Alaric was reporting directly to Phillip, but he had quite the internet following by virtue of being related to the late Queen of Thalania and being too handsome for his own good.
Theo just insured that, should Phillip make the wrong move where Meg was concerned, Alaric going public with it would benefit him greatly. He’d go publicly speculating on how very strange it was that Thalania had taken a particularly nasty interest in some poor American girl who just happened to date the wrong guy.
It wasn’t foolproof, or Theo would have put it into play earlier, but if Phillip already had what he wanted, he might hold off going after Meg to avoid bringing more trouble down on his head.
Galen shook his head. “You should have told me that you looped in that idiot. There’s got to be a less roundabout way to protect her.”
“Her is standing right here.” Meg stepped back enough that she could look at both of them. “This isn’t a decision you get to make without me.”
“This is what you wanted, princess. To go home, back to your life. To follow your plan.” She’d already sacrificed enough just by being with them. He still hadn’t gotten around to telling her about the money, but to be fair, he hadn’t told Galen, either.
Meg sighed. “This is so screwed up. I had a plan. It was a very good plan, and now…”
“It can’t matter.” Galen’s dark eyes held the same emotion squeezing Theo’s chest until he felt like he’d never draw a full breath again. Love. He loves her, too. Galen couldn’t tell her any more than Theo could. It would be unspeakably cruel to say those three little words before they launched her back into the life she’d claimed for her own. She’d grown up at the mercy of others’ whims, and she’d fought tooth and nail to free herself.
He wouldn’t be the one to wrap her in chains again.
Neither of them would.
Galen stroked her hair back from her face. “There’s not a way through this where our shit stays intact. No matter which way it plays out, compromises will be made that will break us. Better for you to go back now and resume your life. Get your degree. Be the best fucking accountant out there until you figure out what you really want to do with your life.”
He knew what came next. Find a man who worships the ground you walk on. Let him love you. Marry him. Make a family with him.
Fuck. He swallowed, his insides turning to shattered glass at the thought of Meg settling down with some asshole. Except he wouldn’t be an asshole. She was too smart for that. She’d find a nice guy with a little edge, one who wouldn’t bore her to death. It would take him a while to get past the many walls around her heart, but if he was worthy, he’d manage.
She’d be happy.
Happier than she could be in some compromised semi-secret bullshit of a relationship with him and Galen.
Meg stepped away from Galen’s touch. “Rationally, I know you’re right. This just sucks.”
“Yeah,” Theo ground out.
She pressed her lips together and squared her shoulders. “No use in arguing about it. Let’s just…” She gave herself a shake. “Let’s get another look at that birth certificate. You need a plan for when you go back there or you really will be walking into a trap.”
God, he loved her so much, it made his heart feel like it could beat itself right out of his chest. Theo cleared his throat. “Yeah. Sure. Let’s do that.” He walked to where they’d stashed their stuff and pulled out the folder where he’d kept the various documents they’d painstakingly collected over the last few months.
They laid them out on the kitchen island. Theo read over them for the millionth time, but nothing had changed. No secrets jumped out and smacked him in the face. No path forward revealed itself.
Useless.
“Hold on a minute,” Meg murmured. She picked up the birth certificate and held it next to the first marriage certificate. “These are both correct?”
“The marriage certificate is a copy we got from the courthouse in Las Vegas, so it’s official. Safe enough to assume the one Alexis gave us is, too.” It had the right marks, at least.
Meg pointed at the birthdate listed on the marriage certificate. “This is wrong, then.”
Theo frowned and moved closer. The marriage certificate listed Mary’s birth year as 1969. He lifted the birth certificate. It was so old and faded in places, he hadn’t even noticed that the last digit was different. It had just looked like a faded out nine. It wasn’t.
It was a seven.
He did some quick math in his head. “But that would mean she was—”
“Sixteen when she married her first husband. Which is technically legal if she had at least one parent’s written consent.”
“She didn’t.” That much, he knew. Mary had run away from home. Her parents didn’t even know she was in the States until she was already married.
Galen leaned forever to look. “Not to mention they would have the right birth year if she had parental permission. They didn’t. She lied.” He held Theo’s gaze. “She lied. It didn’t matter that she never got divorced because the first marriage wasn’t legal in the first place.”
Meg gave him a smile that barely wavered at the edges. “Congratulations, Theo. Or should I say, Your Highness? You were right. You’re the rightful King of Thalania.”
17
They drove Meg to the airport.
Galen stood next to Theo as they watched her work her way through the line to the ticket counter. In a few short hours, she’d be safe on a plan headed back to New York. On a plane out of their lives for good. “You sure about this?”
“Do you love her?”
Galen jerked around, surprise rocking him back on his heels. “What the fuck kind of question is that?”
“One you might as well have shouted your answer to.” Theo gave a small smile. “Have you thought about leaving it all behind? I know you liked New York.”
What was he on about?
Theo answered the question he hadn’t voiced. He held up his phone, the screen displaying an airline ticket with Galen’s name on it. “You should go with her.”
“What?”
“I took you for granted.” Theo slipped his phone into his pocket. “You’ve always been there, and I never put much thought into a day when you might not. It’s not fucking right, Galen. The only reason you don’t leave my side is because you feel like you owe me. You don’t. There was never a debt, and if there had been, you would have repaid it a thousand times over. I owe you.” His blue eyes held something akin to grief. “You’ve given half your life to me, sacrificed every chance at happiness you had along the way.”
He was going to fucking kill Theo. Galen closed the distance between them. “I love you, you idiot. You make me happy.”
“I made you happy. Made—past tense. It’s not going to work. Fuck, you know that better than I do.” Theo gave him a sad smile. “You deserve more than to be someone’s dirty little secret.”