Royal Watch

by Stacey Marie Brown

  “Don’t mistake your popularity in being covered with actual approval.”

  Ouch.

  Alexander’s brows turned down. “I’m sorry. That might come across harsh and cruel. I do not mean to be. I want you to understand perfectly what you are getting into. What your position will entail. What people will expect of you. You will need a thick skin to endure this. The focus on you will only get worse.” Alexander’s gaze slipped to Theo like he was looking to him for an answer. Theo gradually dipped his head in response. Alexander turned away, looking between us. “I will see both of you later. The event is at three.”

  Without waiting for a response, Alexander strode out of the room. His assistant, footman, secretary, and guard suddenly right next to him, handing him paperwork and items to look over as they strolled down the hall.

  Theo continued to eat, not looking up at me.

  “Theo…” I took a step to him. The clatter of silverware crashing onto the china plate caused my feet to stumble.

  “How could you do that to me?” He shoved the plate away, rising.

  “Do what?”

  “Leave me like that! Not a word.” Anger streaked over his face. “I had no explanation as to where my girlfriend went. Why she wasn’t answering her phone. It was humiliating.”

  “Humiliating?” I blinked, stunned by his response. He didn’t say he was hurt, but humiliated. “Maybe it was rude to leave without letting you know, I’m sorry, but El—”

  “Don’t put this on my sister,” he lashed out, his lids narrowing. “She’s young and needed you to be the adult, not her.” She wasn’t even a year and a half younger than us. “But you are supposed to be my fian—girlfriend,” he corrected himself. “You can’t be rebellious and stupid. You are at my side.”

  “What?” I sputtered. “I am not a dog, Theo.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “No. For once, explain it to me. You have been saying that a lot after insulting me lately.”

  He exhaled, his shoulders lowering. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that… I’m just stressed.” He rubbed his forehead. “Do you realize how much pressure is on me lately? That’s why I need you to help me, not add to it.”

  I had no doubt he held a lot of responsibility, but he seemed to think he was the only one.

  “I’m not a prop. Some girl who smiles and waves like a robot.”

  “I know that,” he snapped, then took in another deep breath. “Just ever since coming back from the RAF, everything’s been different. Everyone demanding something from me.” Vulnerability watered his eyes. “It’s just… a lot.”

  I moved to him, my hand touching his arm.

  “I need you to be by my side, Spencer. Have your unyielding support. We have to be a unified front, no matter what. Because they will try to topple us. So we have to be together on everything. Strong.” He swung to me, clutching my hands. “We can make it through this. No matter whatever my father, the media, or the polls say about us.”

  “What are the polls saying about us?”

  He glanced away.

  “Theo?”

  “There was a poll in The Post about you being right for me, right for this country.” The Post wasn’t some flippant little puff newspaper. It was the main one people went to for news. Even they decided to jump in and decide my worth.

  “What did it say?”

  “That’s not important.”

  “That bad, huh?” I flinched.

  “It doesn’t matter.” He squeezed my hands, pulling me into a hug. “I love you.” The three little words sounded rehearsed, like he was trying to remind himself as well as me.

  He pulled back, gazing down at me. “My father and I are attending a summit meeting being held today at the Seymour Hotel.” Hazel’s family owned one of the most prestigious hotels in Great Victoria, and it soon would be going global. Yeah, they weren’t hurting in the slightest. “I guess there have been some protesters out front, so we will have extra guards on us.”

  “Protests?”

  “A few of the leaders attending are known for their brutal regimes and are not well liked.” He scanned my face, his lips frowning. “As a leader, I will have to interact with rulers who go against every fundamental belief I have. That’s just how it is, Spencer. We can’t pick and choose who we deal with.”

  “I didn’t say anything.” My forehead lined.

  “You were thinking it.” He cupped my face. “I know you.”

  In fact, I wasn’t. I was not naïve. Of course leaders had to meet and engage with other countries whether or not you liked them.

  “Actually, I wasn’t.”

  He snorted as if I was lying, pecking me on the lips, the feeling we had been married for twenty years and were not young and virile, dumped down my body. We should constantly be wanting to tear each other’s clothes off, sneaking into a cupboard.

  When was the last time we had sex? A week ago? Two?

  “The event starts at three p.m. I’m sure your assistant will have an outfit ready for you. See you later.” He kissed me quickly again, turning away, heading out, his assistant appearing out of nowhere, handing him some papers as he moved out of the room.

  Identical to his father.

  A shiver darted down my spine.

  “Spencer! Spencer!” My name bounced under the awning, booming off the pavement, shredding my eardrums the moment the back door of the SUV opened. I hesitated to get out. Cameras flashed, the commotion raking at my already frazzled nerves. The rain only pressed more people in closer to the guardrails keeping them technically off the hotel property, but creating a claustrophobic atmosphere.

  The chants and drums from the protest in front of the hotel seeped from all around, unsettling me.

  When we drove up, there were a lot more protestors than I figured filling up the pavement and the park across the way, holding posters, banners, and pictures of dead children, tortured men, and raped women. It twisted my stomach to imagine a government doing that to their own people because they didn’t want to follow the same religious practices. It was vile and despicable. And Theo and Alexander had to make nice with them. Be silent to their abominable dictatorship.

  Maybe Theo was right; I couldn’t be okay with that. I couldn’t stand there next to these men and pose in pictures.

  “Hey.” A hand laid over mine, drawing my attention up to hazel-blue eyes. “You all right?”

  I gave a shrug.

  Lennox didn’t respond, but his fingers squeezed mine as if he understood every thought and emotion going through me. His gaze, full of strength, locked on me. For a moment, I had a flicker of staring into those eyes as I went up on my toes, wanting nothing more than to feel his lips on me. Everywhere on me.

  My head jerked to my lap, taking a deep breath. Was that real? A dream?

  “You got this, Duchess,” he whispered to me, tugging me to get out of the car. “Get through this, and I’ll get us a pizza on the way back.”

  “Oh god. Yes,” I moaned with craving, picking at the perfectly demure dress the PR team had laid out for me. I hated it.

  His jaw locked down as he swallowed, his serious bodyguard persona clicking in place. He barely touched me getting me out of the SUV. People were everywhere. Hotel workers, the king’s and prince’s entourage, press, public, protesters, other leaders’ guards and people. The chaos was so thick, I could barely make out Theo getting out of the car in front of me, Dalton at his side.

  Extra security kept Theo and me in different cars. The king exited his own bulletproof SUV at the front. Dozens of trained guards moved like a wave with Alexander and Theo, ready to crush anything in their path as they escorted them through a side door into the hotel. A ruler of one of the protested countries cut in between Theo and me as we all filed toward a back entrance.

  “We should hold for a moment.” Lennox frowned as the ruler’s huge entourage crowded through the door.

  “Spencer! Spencer! Is it true you were at the Church last night? Were
you on ecstasy?” A paparazzi yelled out at me.

  “Fuck,” Lennox grumbled, moving us to the door again, muttering in his earpiece with the other guards. Lennox kept me close, his arms ready to dart out in front or in back of me, keeping a perimeter around me. Screams for us blended as he shoved me through the door, stepping us into the large hotel restaurant kitchen. Line chefs and cooks moved around the hot kitchen, shouting orders, trying their best to ignore us, but seeing the prince and the king, many stopped, gaping at the royalty.

  “Phoenix is in,” Lennox muttered into his microphone.

  “Phoenix?” I eyed him.

  “Your code name.” He smirked.

  “Because I’m fierce and spirited?” A smile curled my mouth that he picked the spirited horse as my code name.

  “Suuure, that was the reason.”

  I shot him another look, but his attention darted around the space, taking everything in, his brain in full military mode. I could see him evaluating and weighing every noise and movement around him. Taking it in. Assessing.

  It was kind of hot.

  No longer able to see Theo, I knew him and the king were already far ahead of me, a foreign leader and his men clogging up the hallway where we were headed.

  Lennox’s nose flared, his eyes darting around.

  “What?”

  He didn’t answer at first, his gaze sharpening. For some reason, my pulse sped up, thumping against my neck.

  “Lennox...” I uttered.

  “I don’t know.” He licked his lips, his head snapping around. “Something’s off.”

  I followed his gaze. At that moment I felt it too. The shift in the atmosphere. Like a single spider’s thread being cut, but it vibrated through the whole web.

  My head snapped to Lennox, my mouth parting to speak.

  A single shout cut above all the noise, a yell of defiance.

  Of hatred.

  “No!” Lennox’s arms reached for me, his eyes wide, his jaw set.

  BOOOOOOOOM!

  The explosion tore through the space, shredding everything around me. Shrieks of people and metal, the vibration sliced through my chest as my body flew up in the air. It felt like forever and an instant before my bones crashed against a wall, my head cracking back.

  Muted screams and wails. Thick haze and debris.

  “Spencer!” My ears picked up my name through the ringing.

  My lashes lifted to see blue-hazel eyes over me, speaking to me. Dirt covered his face and clothes, a cut bleeding below his eye.

  “Get up,” he yelled, his voice muffled. My brain dazed, my movements slow, numb, he picked me up, shoving me toward a cupboard.

  BOOOOOM!

  Another bomb detonated right as we entered the room, flinging us to the ground and sliding us across the floor. The explosion shattered through the space. His body crawled over mine, shielding me from the rubble.

  The wreckage was thunderous, striking the ground like lightning. Clouds filled my lungs, ripping oxygen from me.

  “Spencer. Stay with me!”

  I stared up at him, wondering why he looked so frantic. Scared.

  “Spencer!” His voice drifted away, the blackness absorbing me, pulling me under.

  And there was nothing.

  No light. No thoughts. No sound.

  There was no choice to go or not.

  It took me, the darkness swallowing me whole.

  To be continued….

  WANT MORE SPENCER, LENNOX, AND THEO?

  Pre-order Royal Command now!

  Royal Command (Book #2)

  Thank you to all my readers. Your opinion really matters to me and helps others decide if they want to purchase my book. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on the site where you purchased it. It would mean a lot. Thank you.

  Also check out my Contemporary Romance and Paranormal Romance novels listed in the front of this book.

  Acknowledgements

  This was one of those stories that had been fluttering the back of my head for a long time. So glad, Spencer, Theo, and Lennox decided to finally step out onto the page. I hope you guys this story as much as I do. I would love to continue on with other character stories!

  A huge thank you to:

  Emily at Social Butterfly- Thank you for all your hard work! You are amazing.

  Hollie www.hollietheeditor.com

  Mo Sytsma: mo@TheScarletSiren.com

  Hang Le- https://www.byhangle.com/ These covers are everything! Thank you so much!

  Judi Fennell at www.formatting4U.com

  To all the readers who have supported me: My gratitude is for all you do and how much you help indie authors out of the pure love of reading.

  To all the indie/hybrid authors out there who inspire, challenge, support, and push me to be better: I love you!

  And to anyone who has picked up an indie book and given an unknown author a chance. THANK YOU!

  About the Author

  Stacey Marie Brown is a lover of hot fictional bad boys and sarcastic heroines who kick butt. She also enjoys books, travel, TV shows, hiking, writing, design, and archery. Stacey swears she is part gypsy, being lucky enough to live and travel all over the world.

  She grew up in Northern California, where she ran around on her family’s farm, raising animals, riding horses, playing flashlight tag, and turning hay bales into cool forts.

  When she’s not writing she’s out hiking, spending time with friends, and traveling. She also volunteers helping animals and is eco-friendly. She feels all animals, people, and the environment should be treated kindly.

  To learn more about Stacey or her books, visit her at:

  Author website & Newsletter: www.staceymariebrown.com

  Facebook Author page: www.facebook.com/SMBauthorpage

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  Twitter: @S_MarieBrown

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  Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6938728.Stacey_Marie_Brown

  Her Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/1648368945376239/

  Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/authors/stacey-marie-brown