by Katee Robert
“Who’s going to watch your back if I’m not there to cover your ass?” The thought of Theo moving through the tangled politics of Thalania without Galen at his six left him sick to his stomach. Who could he trust with Theo, besides himself?
He stopped short.
What the fuck kind of question was that? He had no business even considering how Theo would function without him, because he had no intention of going anywhere.
“I see that look in your eyes.” If anything, Theo’s smile turned even more bittersweet. “You’re just like our Meg, so focused on the path in front of your feet that you’ve never stopped to wonder if it’s the right one.”
“I’m not leaving you.” It was unthinkable. His life and Theo’s were inextricably linked. They had been for nearly two decades.
Theo cupped his jaw and stroked his thumb across Galen’s bottom lip. “Yes, you are. Go with our girl. I can’t have her—I can’t have either of you—but I think you two could be happy if you both retract your spikes a little.” He dropped his hand. “Besides, she’s going to need someone to stop her from hopping the next flight back to kick my ass the second she checks her bank account.”
For fuck’s sake. “What did you do?”
“Go to New York with her and find out.” He half turned away. “Ah, here he is.”
Kozlov walked up with a bag in hand and passed it to Theo. “Packed to your specifications.”
“Thank you.” Theo turned back to Galen and shoved the suitcase into his hands. “You’re checked in. Here are enough clothes to keep you for a couple days while you get your feet under you. The apartment’s already been switched over to your name only.” He chuckled, the sound dry and unconvincing. “I considered putting Meg’s name on it as well, but then she really would fly back to Europe to kick my ass.”
“Why are you doing this?” It was already decided. One look at Theo’s face told him that. If Galen tried to follow him, Kozlov no doubt had orders to knock him out and toss him into the cargo hold or something equally underhanded. No matter what he said, Theo would make sure he got on that plane.
Theo’s smile dropped as if it’d never existed and he let Galen see through all the bullshit to the staggering loss beneath. It was like an abyss opened right in front of him, and one wrong move would send him tumbling in. Just like that, Theo’s grin was back and his mask firmly replaced. “Two out of three isn’t bad odds. Marry her. Have a small horde of Mikos babies. Figure out what you both want without all the bullshit of responsibility and plans involved. Be happy together.” Someone has to make it out of this happy.
The words he didn’t speak lay between them like a live thing.
Galen took a step back, the chasm in his chest growing deeper, more jagged. “You’re not giving me a goddamn choice.”
“Wrong. I’m giving you every choice.” Theo nodded at Kozlov and headed for the doors. “Be happy, Galen. Do it for me.”
You son of a bitch.
Galen spun on his heel and stalked to where Meg had just emerged from the ticket counter, her bag tucked under one arm. Her eyebrows shot up at the sight of his suitcase. “What’s going on?”
“Theo decided to play matchmaker.”
“Wait.” She caught his arm, and he dragged her a few steps before he finally slowed and turned to face her. Meg looked over her shoulder to where Theo had stood a few moments ago. “I’m going to need you to explain what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Our favorite almost-king has upgraded to playing god. He’s decided that since he can’t have you, I should. I guess I’m the fucking consolation prize.”
“Not a consolation prize.” She bristled. “He’s being a noble selfless idiot, isn’t he? Just like he was when he decided that I’m getting carted off home. I didn’t hear you complaining about that decision.”
“Because it’s the right fucking decision. You don’t have a stake in this game. You’re just a walking liability, and you deserve better than to play second fiddle to whatever noble Theo marries.”
Meg looked up at him with hazel eyes that saw too much. “It sucks when someone else makes the call for you, doesn’t it?”
Fuck, he hated having his choices thrown back in his face, but hell if she wasn’t right. Galen clenched his jaw. “Fine. I’ll play. What would you do if we didn’t decide to cart you back to New York?”
“I love you.” She reached out, almost tentatively, and pressed her hand over his heart. “It seems stupid to say it like it means nothing, but it does to me. I love both of you.” Meg hesitated. “This was never in my plan, and I don’t have some neat little answer for you. I would have gone with you to Thalania. I would have done whatever Theo needed from me to help him take back the crown. And after… I don’t know what would have happened after. But I would have made my own decision about where I ended up.”
They turned almost as one to look at the airport security line. Galen had been following orders his whole fucking life. First with his father, and then to Theo’s father, and then to Theo. Granted, it was different with Theo. He loved that idiot, and Theo usually knew when to back down and let Galen’s expertise take over.
Not this time.
“If something happens to him, I’ll never forgive myself.”
She poked his chest. “That’s cute. Try again.”
Damn it, what did she want from him? But he knew, didn’t he? “We keep saying there isn’t a way for the three of us to be together, but we haven’t even fucking tried. Maybe it’ll blow up in our faces. Fuck, it probably will.” He caught the edge of her smile and it made something in his chest twist. “I love you too, Meg. Both of you.”
Theo did, too. He wouldn’t be this determined to see them happy if love wasn’t involved. The emotion made people do stupid, noble shit like sending them off to be together while he resigned himself to a life apart.
No. Fuck that. Galen wasn’t leaving.
Neither, it seemed, was Meg.
He did some quick calculations. “They’ll have driven. Kozlov hates flying and avoids it whenever possible. If we leave now, we’ll barely be an hour behind them.” He knew Kozlov well enough to know which route he’d take back. The man was cautious and he’d be overly careful with Theo as a passenger.
They might even be able to make it across the border before Theo did.
Meg’s eyes lit up and she gave him a grin that was downright wicked. “What do you say we go get our man?”
He hooked the back of Meg’s neck and pulled her to him. Galen kissed her hard, loving the way she melted against him. When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard. “I love you, Meg. I said it before, but I fucking mean it.”
“I know.” She nipped his bottom lip. “If you didn’t, you would have let me get on that plane and gone after Theo yourself.”
It would be complicated. He didn’t see a way forward for them that didn’t involve a shit ton of compromise and a healthy dose of pain.
Galen didn’t give a fuck.
For so long, his life had boiled down to one hard task: keep Theo safe. That wouldn’t change, but now there was somehow room for more. He’d make room for more.
He took Meg’s hand and tugged her toward the doors. “Let’s go get our man.”
When they drove across the border between Greece and Thalania, Theo expected to feel relief. Like he was finally coming home. Unfortunately, relief was in short supply.
Peace had left the building, too.
He had one chance to get this right or Phillip would no doubt build a dungeon just to throw him into it for the rest of his life. But all Theo could think about was Galen and Meg. They’d be close to landing in New York by now. Meg would want to go back to that threadbare little apartment, but Galen would growl at her until she snapped and agreed to go to theirs.
No, not theirs anymore. Galen’s.
Damn it, he made the right call. The only call. If Theo couldn’t have what he wanted, then he’d make damn sure the people he loved
could. They were both too stubborn by half, but they’d figure it out. Galen just needed to learn to give a little instead of stepping onto the battlefield, and Meg needed to be coerced into believing that bending was better than throwing herself against every problem she came across until she broke.
They’d figure it out.
They had to.
Isaac cleared his throat. “You’re sure about this, Your Highness?”
“Yes.” He checked his phone again. The heads of the seven noble Families in Thalania formed a Parliament that worked in conjunction with the King or Queen. They didn’t have the power of the sitting monarch, but that wouldn’t matter in this scenario. There was no sitting monarch, and there wouldn’t be for months yet. All he needed was for the majority of them to publicly confirm that the marriage between Theodore Fitzcharles II and Mary Mortimore was legal based on the documents they’d seen with their own eyes. Phillip couldn’t fight both the public and the Families, and Theo had already taken steps to get the public on his side.
One thing at a time.
“I’m not talking about taking the throne back—it was always yours. I’m talking about Galen.”
He didn’t look up from his phone, couldn’t risk Isaac seeing the way his whole body clenched in agony at Galen’s name. “There’s nothing to say about Galen.”
“He’s one of your greatest assets and you put him on a plane heading in the wrong direction.”
“Galen is much more than an asset and he deserves to be treated as such.”
Isaac exited the highway and stopped at a light at the bottom of the ramp. He turned to face Theo. “Forgive me for being blunt—”
“If you’re not blunt, there’s nothing to forgive.”
Isaac ignored that and kept talking, each word a hammer chiseling away at the wall Theo fought so hard to build around himself when he walked out of the airport and left behind what had become two of the most important people in his life. Isaac cleared his throat. “Forgive me for being blunt, but you made a dumb ass move leaving him behind. Probably the girl, too, based on how you looked at them. A king needs allies, people he trusts beyond all political machinations, people who are there for him and him alone. Do you really think you’re going to find it in Thalania when you just sent the only two people that applies to away?”
“I don’t remember asking your opinion.”
Isaac snorted. “Galen’s not here to offer his, so I figured I’d step in. You already know what he’d say.”
Yeah, Theo knew what he’d say. The same thing Isaac had. The same thing Meg had. That they wanted to come with him to face this together. He couldn’t allow it. If he let himself, he’d find a way to convince them to stay. To try to find a way forward.
He’d destroy them all in the process.
They would be happy together, damn it.
“What if there was a way?” Isaac kept going, kept outline possibilities that were beyond impossible.
Now more than ever.
Ten minutes after they hit the capital city, Ranei’s, limits, Isaac checked his phone and cleared his throat. “I need to make a stop.”
“What?” Theo twisted to look at him as he turned and then turned again, guiding the car into a little alley between two tall buildings. They weren’t far from the palace—another thirty minutes or so—but there was nothing in this area of Ranei that should have required Isaac to stop. Theo took a slow breath, centering himself like Galen taught him. “My uncle’s orders.”
His door was yanked open and strong hands gripped his shoulders and pulled him out into the alley. Theo swung. He wasn’t going down without a fight. If he had any say in it, he wasn’t going down at all. His fist connected at the exact moment he registered Galen’s angry dark eyes.
Galen’s head snapped back and a feminine voice cursed. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Theo?”
He turned, nightmare slow. Meg. “You’re supposed to be on a plane.”
“Yeah, well, plans changed.” She smacked his arm and slid between him and Galen to check his friend’s jaw. “Any loose teeth?”
“I’m fine.” Galen picked her up and set her aside so he could turn to face Theo fully. “Stupid move, letting Kozlov take you somewhere you didn’t want to go.”
Yeah, it had been. He glared. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”
“You’re not king yet, and I stopped being your head of security when we went into exile together. I don’t take orders from you.” He opened the back door and waited for Meg to climb in, and then he followed her and shut it with a snap.
Theo stared. “What are you doing?” When Galen ignored him, he jerked open the back door and leaned down, getting in his friend’s face. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“You need witnesses. I’m titled. Meg’s a civilian, but she works as a second witness.”
“Gee, thanks,” she murmured.
“Hush.” Galen turned back to him. “Phillip doesn’t care about the truth. He cares about being the puppet master behind the next king. He’ll kill you if he thinks he can get away with it.”
Theo clenched his hands to keep from reaching into the backseat and strangling the man he loved. “That’s wonderful, Galen, I most certainly hadn’t thought of that. Just like I hadn’t thought to arrange to have the entirety of the sitting Parliament at the palace waiting to witness the evidence I’m presenting.”
Galen gave him a long stare. “Be a shame to make them wait.”
He wasn’t going to get them out of this car without an all-out brawl. Theo looked at Isaac, but the other man seemed to find the steering wheel intensely fascinating. “You’re going to be punished for this.”
“Can’t wait.” Galen crossed his arms over his chest and nodded at the front seat. “Shall we?”
“I’m going to throw you in the fucking dungeon.”
Meg leaned over to peer out the side windows, taking in the city. “Kinky.”
Galen snorted. “That threat would be a lot more effective if the dungeon hadn’t caved in and been walled over about fifty years ago.”
“Don’t you dare say another word—either of you.” Theo turned around to face the windshield and pressed his fingers to his temples. Walking into this confrontation with them was out of the question. How the fuck was he supposed to keep them safe when neither Galen nor Meg seemed that concerned with following his expertly-reasoned orders?
The drive to the palace felt like it took ten times as long as it should have. Isaac parked in one of the lots several blocks away and led them into the apartment building that was manned entirely by security staff. No one looked directly at their little group, which told Theo all he needed to know—everyone was waiting to see how things fell out before they declared their allegiance one way or another.
He didn’t hold that against them.
This wasn’t their fight.
Isaac used his fingerprints to open a padlocked door that led down a narrow set of stairs. Theo had frequented this path more times than he could count as a teenager, usually with Galen by his side. Whenever palace life got to be too constricting, the large rooms filled with too little air and too many needs, they’d sneak out and spend a few hours walking the streets of Ranei. Theo’s father always sent someone to shadow them, but he’d given them the freedom they needed.
Fuck, he missed his father.
Ghosting their way through the tunnels that ran beneath the palace grounds felt like walking back in time. He half expected to come out the door at the end and find his father in his study, glasses perched on the edge of his nose, embroiled in some ancient history book. Theo rubbed a hand against his chest, as if he could physically draw away the pain blossoming there.
After his father died, everything happened so quickly. Phillip’s coup. The exile. The plan to reverse the exile and retake his birthright.
This chapter would be over soon.
For better or worse, he’d have to deal with the consequences.
A hand on
his arm drew him back to the present. Meg looked up at him with those pretty hazel eyes, her smile warm. “You aren’t alone, Theo. I get why you sent us away, but that’s not what this is. We’ve got your back.”
“What is this, then?” A question he should know better than to voice now.
Her smile went soft. “It’s love. And love doesn’t stop when it’s no longer convenient. This isn’t a battle we can fight for you, but we can stand at your back and support you while you fight it for yourself.”
The aching in his chest increased tenfold. In all his scenarios, he’d never once stopped to think that love might actually be the result. He’d loved Galen since they were kids. That relationship was as known to him as his own heartbeat, steady and sure and always present. Even when he sent Galen away, he never doubted their feelings for each other.
Meg was different.
She had a life that didn’t include him. She had goals and a plan that he didn’t factor into—goals and a plan that she’d staked her entire future happiness on.
When this started, he never planned on derailing her. He’d just wanted her and a window of time where they could all enjoy each other. Crossroads were supposed to be temporary, after all.
“You love me.”
“Yes.” So simple, that answer. No dicking around, no playing hard to get. She just met his gaze and gave him the one thing he never dared hope for. “And you love me, too.”
It was not a question, and why should it be? Of course he loved Meg. How could he not? “You know I do.”
“Yeah. I do.” She gave him another of those achingly sweet smiles and squeezed his hand. “You’ve got this, Theo. And we’ve got you.”
In front of them, Isaac slowed. They had reached the door to the palace.
It was time.
18
Meg fell into step next to Galen as Theo started up the stairs. Galen leaned down and took her hand, steadying her despite the fact her steps were sure. “Stay by me. Don’t say anything. Theo’s got this dog and pony show planned down to the last second, no doubt, but Phillip will lose his cool at some point and I may have to step in.”