by Lexi Blake
Brody laughed. “Oh, I thought you were talking about my weird dude. Tucker’s good enough as they come, but he’s got no life experience. He’s like a six-foot-three-inch toddler with the sex drive of a porn star. What have you got for me?”
“Remy explained that you wanted someone to do a rundown on a man named Alfred Dauterre.”
“And what did you find out? I know the background material,” Brody said. “He was born in the same town I was in Western Australia. Went into the Army at the same time.”
“So you’re friends.”
“I thought we were. I need to know what he’s been doing since he left the service. I know what he’s told me he’s been doing, but I don’t trust him anymore.” How could he? Alfi hadn’t bothered to tell him Steph was pregnant. They’d talked several times and never once had those words come out of his mouth.
“From what I can tell, he’s done a lot of odd jobs,” Wade explained, his fingers typing on one of several laptops around the room. “He spent time in his hometown. Looks like he went home for a couple of months and then his mother passed away. That prompted him to start to wander. He set up shop in Darwin as a security consultant. That’s where his business is still based. I use the term ‘business’ loosely. I think a better word for it is mercenary.”
“I’m sure he would call it soldier of fortune or some nonsense.” Alfi was forever trying to pretty up the dark side of life with fancy words and phrases. He had quite the imagination.
“And he had his fingers in a lot of pies, as far as I can tell,” Wade said with a shake of his head. “Did you know he was hauled in by the police for fraud? He’s been accused of running cons in a couple of places, but nothing stuck.”
Brody sighed. “He was always trying to make a quick buck. Hell, he conned me right and good.”
And that hurt. He had to wonder why. He knew Alfi had been upset when he’d left the Army, but they’d still been friends. How could Alfi have kept that secret from him for all those months? Had he meant to ever tell him?
Worse, he was starting to worry that Alfi had used the job Brody had been paying him to do to facilitate his never-ending quest for cash. Steph would never forgive him if he’d sent in a man who’d worked with those criminals and gotten her friend killed. “I sent him in to check on Steph after my mission was over.”
“Yes, you were the one who facilitated the rescue of Theo Taggart. I heard stories about that, though I’d only started in at Sanctum at the time. I wasn’t working for McKay-Taggart proper yet. It was a long-term op, right?”
“Exactly six months, four days, and eight hours undercover.” How that half a year, four days, and a few hours had flown by. He’d dreaded it in the beginning, but known he was the best man for the job. He had no ties to Theo at all. No ties to the Agency, and he’d been quiet about his work in London.
“That’s a long time to work with a woman. Seems odd that you would duck her calls afterward.”
“At the time I thought I was saving her from something. Well, I thought I was saving her from herself, I guess. I wasn’t good enough for her. It made sense to me. She’s a doctor. I barely got an education. I didn’t see what I could give her.”
“You gave her working sperm.”
Brody had to chuckle at that. Proof of what he brought to the table was currently sleeping against his chest. It was easy to put a hand on his son’s back and feel him breathing, feel how small and warm he was. “It’s odd how the world changes. One minute I was miserable and the next I looked down at him and I couldn’t be miserable anymore. I couldn’t think of all the reasons I’m not good enough. I can only think of how to be better. And how to murder my former best friend for not bothering to mention I was going to be a father.”
“Any chance he didn’t know?”
“Not at all.” Brody was certain of that. “He knew how much I cared about her. It’s why I sent him, and he was supposed to tell me if anything happened to her. I think having a baby qualifies as something happening.”
“So you hired him to watch over her?”
“Not exactly. I hired him to check in on her,” he explained. “I wanted to know if she needed anything.”
“But you weren’t willing to check in yourself?”
“Again, I was a bloody wanker and I’m paying for it now. She’s certain there’s no future for us. Looks like I convinced her.”
“Hey, I think that means you’re good at something,” Wade quipped. “You know if you were that good at ignoring her, you could be even better at chasing her down. I’ve found there’s very little in this old world that can’t be fixed with hard work. At least that’s what my dad always used to say.”
It was good to know someone was optimistic. “The good news is I’ve got a reason to stick around her.”
“And hey, you’re around her enough to make her scream, so there’s that.” Wade’s mobile chirped and he pulled it out of his pocket, staring down at the screen. “She in the lifestyle?”
“She’s certainly curious about it.” It was another thing in his favor.
“Then bring her by the play party tonight.” Wade typed something on the screen. “You can even bring the kiddo. They have nursery workers on play nights. You should totally come out. We’re doing a whole costume-fantasy theme. Make her forget everything for a while.”
“I thought we couldn’t come here because of the royals.” Having a few hours where she was under his command might do them both good. He had Master rights at Sanctum and she wasn’t a club member. She would likely be allowed in the club because of her relationship with Avery and Liam. But if she wanted a Dom patron, she would have to look to Brody.
Sex was how he could win her back. Sex and pure groveling, if it came to it. He could grovel. He could be the best fucking groveler in the world if it meant getting his girl back and keeping his family together. He was in the wrong here. It didn’t matter how it had started. He should have answered that call. He’d owed it to her.
“We couldn’t put you up here because the royals are taking up the rooms that work as bedrooms, but if everyone’s at the party, there’s no reason you shouldn’t come. Besides, then we don’t have to split our resources. We can have the whole team watching one building instead of two. I can talk to Remy about it, but I think we would all feel better protecting you at Sanctum.”
“I don’t want to bring the royals under any more danger than they already are.”
“Good, then don’t break up the team,” Wade insisted. “This will be the most secure place we can keep the two of you. I suspect the king and queen will hightail it out of here the minute Simon and Jesse figure out who the traitor in the palace is, and then Big Tag will want to move you two in here anyway.”
Brody held a hand up. Wade was right. “We’ll be here. I’m sure Serena’s got something Steph can use as a costume. Now, have you found where the bastard is? The last time I talked to him he said he was in a pub somewhere.”
He’d been partying. Steph had been on the run and Alfi had been living it up.
“Yeah, I got him,” Wade said. “I tracked him out of Guinea. He headed straight for Berlin. From there I lost him for a bit, but I picked him back up when he hopped a plane in Brussels for…wait for it…”
“He’s coming here.” The fucker was coming for Steph. There was no other explanation. The question was why was he coming to see Steph and who else was he working for?
“He landed forty minutes ago,” Wade replied.
Brody needed to get to the airport. How far could he have gotten? He needed to drop Nate off somewhere safe. “I have to get to the office.”
“Why? Remy’s bringing him here. I thought you would want to talk to the guy so I sent Remy out to nab him the moment he gets off the plane. He texted me two minutes ago and he should be pulling in now. You want me to tell him to turn around and head back to downtown?”
There was a brief knock and then the door opened.
“Hey, mate, no need to push. I�
��m perfectly capable of walking and…” Alfi walked in, Remy’s big body pushing him along. He stopped when he caught sight of Brody and his expression changed. “Brody! I’m right happy to see you.” He frowned back at the Cajun guard. “Now you’re in for it. That’s Brody Carter and he’s been my best mate since we were kids. He’s not going to let you push me around. Bloody Americans. What the hell has happened to your country? Bastard shows up and doesn’t even offer me a meal. I’m starving. Do you know what airplane food is like? And I had to fly bloody coach. Got wedged in between a grandma who smelled like spearmint and tried to convince me to date her spinster daughter and a man I’m pretty sure was really a shaved bear.”
“Does he ever shut up?” Remy asked, the end of his patience obvious.
Nope. Alfi never shut up. He could talk for hours and hours and he could make himself sound like an expert at almost anything. Mostly because he never let anyone get a word in edgewise. Only one thing ever managed to make the man go quiet.
Brody stepped up and popped his former best friend right in the face.
Nate gurgled and seemed to giggle, obviously enjoying the way he bounced from the activity.
Alfi yelped and covered his nose. “Damn, mate. What was that for?” He frowned and then sighed. “Fine. I probably deserved that. Is that the little nipper?” He was back to grinning. “Aw, you remember me. I’m your Uncle Alfi. Looks like you finally met your dad. Now, is there any food around here? Man needs to keep up his energy.”
Remy shook his head. “Can I gag him?”
Brody sighed. “Won’t work. He’ll find a way to be annoying. Besides, I could use food, too. Come on, then. Let’s sit down and you can explain why you’re such a bloody bastard.”
“Or I could shoot him,” Remy muttered under his breath.
Alfi was on his feet, trying to follow. “No need to get violent. Besides, I got intel. I can be helpful. Hey, tell me there’s decent beer here. The plane was a barbaric place. Did I tell you about the hairless bear I was forced to sit next to? Oh, that man smelled to high heaven, I tell you.”
Alfi followed Wade out and Brody kind of wished he’d let Remy have his way.
Twenty minutes later, Brody leaned over and kissed his son’s sleeping forehead. He’d found the fully functional nursery while Wade had taken Alfi to the small kitchen, which was well stocked since there were two guests somewhere else in the building.
He picked up the mobile part of the baby monitor and made sure it was on. He looked around the room, wondering if he should stay.
He had a job to do. He’d never hesitated to do his job. Not once. He would toss his personal life aside in a heartbeat. He’d broken dates, hung up on his mum (which never ended well), and once left a doctor’s appointment in the middle of an exam because his job had called him. But Nate wasn’t his personal life. Nate was his son. Nate was more important than any bloody job. Nate was his job now, the only one that mattered beyond taking care of Steph.
“It’s perfectly safe,” a soft voice said.
He looked over and a lovely woman with pitch-black hair was standing in the doorway. She was dressed in cotton pants and a long tunic that looked comfortable and oddly exotic. There was only person she could be. “Your Majesty.”
The queen of Loa Mali stepped into the room, a book in her hand. “Please, call me Day. I’m not used to the royal thing. You must be Mr. Carter. I was informed you might be in and out of the club. And this young man?”
“My son, Nathan. Nate. I’m worried about leaving him alone. His mum might get upset.”
The queen smiled, a peaceful expression. “Well, the good news for you is I happen to have a bit of time. I’ll stay and sit with him.”
Was it a trap? “You shouldn’t be expected to do that simply because you’re a woman.”
She laughed, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. “Well, you’re a well-trained one, Mr. Carter. Perhaps you can spend some time with my new husband and train him.” She sobered. “It would be my pleasure. I would find it peaceful. I happen to adore children. Whether or not that has anything to do with my gender, I don’t care. I’ve found a woman can be many things as long she accepts herself.”
If only his woman could do that. “Yes, I’m sure that solves a lot of problems.”
“Well, it solves the ones I can handle myself. Getting acceptance from others, that can be the hard part.” She settled into the rocking chair. “Go on. The quicker you deal with the charmer in the kitchen, the faster my life goes back to normal. The last thing I need is my new husband trying to deal with a serial flirter. Not that he isn’t one himself, but I’ve found we’re less tolerant when we find our own foibles in others.”
“Opposites attract, huh?” Brody asked quietly. She seemed easy to talk to for a royal. Not that he’d ever met one.
“I think it’s important that we find our natural mirrors,” she said with a sigh. “Someone who can show us who we are when we forget. Of course, if that person can’t also see or accept who he or she is, well, that’s when the trouble occurs.”
“And if they can never accept themselves?”
“We must always have hope.” But there was the saddest smile on her face. It made Brody wonder if there was more trouble than an assassination attempt in her marriage. “And we must know when the time has come to move on. Not everyone can be saved from themselves. And you have a greater duty now. You have a son. Everything changes when you have to raise a child. Children learn how to live from us. They learn our good points, but they also come to accept as normal things they shouldn’t.”
“I won’t have my son growing up believing he ain’t good enough,” Brody swore. “But that means I have to feel like I’m good enough. That could take a bit of work.”
She smiled and this time it was a brilliant expression. “But you’re ready to take it on, aren’t you, Mr. Carter?”
“Don’t have a choice, the way I see it.” Boys needed their dads. No. Children needed their dads and their mums, or however that love showed up. They needed someone who could put them first always.
Could Steph do it? Or would her penance always come first?
“I won’t be long and I’ll be sure to explain to Alfi that you’re off limits,” he said, her words playing through his brain.
“Oh, I can handle him, but like I said, my husband is itching for a fight. I would not give it to him.” She turned back to her book.
Brody walked down the hall. He knew after last night that he could be enough for Steph, but did she know it? Did she understand what they could have together?
He had to come to terms with the fact that he might have to give up the one thing he loved. His job. He might have to sacrifice his job to make sure she didn’t kill herself while trying to make up for something that had happened when she’d been a kid, something that had been a bloody accident.
He let the thought drift away because Alfi was holding court.
“So I’m walking along the beach when I hear this terrible scream. Naturally I stop everything and start running toward the sound. That’s what we do, right? This saltwater croc is coming up on a gorgeous blonde. Well, she was far too pretty to become some nasty croc’s dinner, you know. So I jumped right on its back.”
Such bullshit. “He sure as hell did not. Those fuckers are twenty feet long and they’d swallow him in a heartbeat. He did save a pretty blonde when she got stung by a jellyfish. He peed on her. That’s about the extent of his beach heroics.”
Alfi puffed up a bit. “Hey, the lady was in pain. I did what I had to do.”
Tucker frowned. “You should have found a bottle of vinegar. Peeing on a wound like that won’t actually help and the pH balance of the urine changes from human to human, depending on diet. You need a heavy acidic pH to neutralize the alkaline nature of the jellyfish venom.” He sat up, a surprised look on his face. “How do I know that?”
“You read a lot,” Brody pointed out. “Now, can I have a moment alone with Alfre
d?”
Wade stood up. “Are we keeping him here?”
Not after what he’d found out from the queen. “No, he can come back to the guesthouse with me, but he’s staying around until I figure out exactly what part he’s playing in all this. However, if the bullets start to fly, you can duck behind him. After all, he’s bulletproof, as I’m sure he’ll tell you.”
“I’ll make sure there’s room in the guesthouse. He can bunk with Shane and Riley. They’ll make sure he doesn’t wander off,” Wade promised. “I’ll be around if you need me. Come on, Tucker. You can meet the king. I think he’ll find you amusing.”
The minute the swinging door closed, he turned to the man who’d been his best friend for most of his life. “I thought you were my friend.”
Alfi shoved the chair he’d been sitting in back and strode to the sink, tossing out the contents of his mug. “You know I am.” He picked up the kettle and filled it. “You want a cup? The American microwaved mine. Barbarians.”
“I don’t want a cup of tea. I want answers.”
He chuckled, though it wasn’t an amused sound. “Oh, Brody, I don’t think you can handle the answers, though they’ve always been staring you in the face. You’re too noble to see it, I suppose.”
He turned the range on and set the kettle on it before turning to prepare two mugs.
“Too noble to see what? I gave you one job and you couldn’t do it. One fucking job. You weren’t ever going to tell me about my own son, were you?”
“You didn’t want Steph. You didn’t want Nate either. You sent me there to fix all your problems. I was doing you a favor.” He kept his back to Brody.
“I sent you there to look after her. I sent you there to protect her if she needed it.”
“You sent me there to ease your bloody conscience and that was all.” He turned, his eyes looking far older than they had the last time Brody had seen Alfi. “You never intended to talk to that woman again. You tossed her out like a bit of rubbish.”
His hands fisted but he forced them to his sides. “I wouldn’t send my best mate to check in on rubbish, you fool. I was trying to save her. I thought I was wrong for her.”