If I really wanted, I could reach my bedroom in stealth and unleash Eva, but I thought better of it.
She might kill Barclave, which would complicate matters for everybody.
“You look dead on your feet,” Eva said, shucking off her suit jacket and tossing it on the nearest chair. “Which is much better than dead.”
“You won’t hear me arguing with you over that. I’m also going to loudly protest relocation scenarios for the next while.”
“And we’re going to have to adjust how we do them in case someone touching the back of your head causes issues. It very probably will. I’ve been told you don’t remember what happened?”
“I don’t. The last thing I remember was a scuffle in my office with Meredith and Agent Hollacks. Next thing I knew, I had the worst headache of my life and was lying in a dirt dugout under a tree and rock.”
“It was a clean hit. In and out, done by a professional unit. I’m surprised they used lethal force on you when they used non-lethal force on your detail. There’s something fishy about that. They won’t let me see the limited footage. It seems Meredith believes if I get a look at any of your attackers they won’t live long enough to be brought in for questioning, and she’s of the opinion I have a strong enough talent I might be able to track them by appearance. I’ve never done something like that before, but I’m game to try. I told her I’d stick to non-lethal force if she let me be on the team.”
I chuckled and crossed the room, heading for the primary bathroom, which had a jet tub large enough for two. “You have other work ahead of you.”
“Like what?”
“Taking a bath with me. That’s just for starters. When given an entire suite to share without supervision, a wise couple takes advantage of it. The bathroom and bedroom will be unmonitored, but if we’re particularly noisy, there won’t be any hiding our activities.”
Eva chuckled and joined me. “I see someone wants more than another kiss.”
“I think I’ve earned at least a kiss.”
“You survived and found your way out of trouble, so I’m inclined to agree with you. And from what I’ve been told, you and your detail were caught blindsided, so it’s not like you could’ve done anything to prevent it. Meredith wouldn’t lie about that, not to me. Not about this.”
“Not when your life is equally at risk.”
Eva sighed and nodded. “Well, any doubts about our status as a bonded pair has been laid to fucking rest, that’s for certain.”
“Gail’s going to go after you.”
“Not from prison she’s not.”
“She’s a lot of things, but I really don’t doubt she’s already paid someone off to deal with you. You’re a threat to her plans, and that she was willing to go that far tells me you’re just a loose end for her, but one that could cost her the throne she wants.”
Eva sighed and shook her head, closing the bathroom door behind us. “I’ll be careful, but if she hired the same people, it’s going to be tricky to catch them. However much I fucking don’t want to admit it, the fuckers have skills.”
“Barclave told her it was a bad idea to go after an RPS agent. I think he planned to ship you out of kingdom after he secured his hold.”
“What a fucking moron.” Eva narrowed her eyes to slits and looked me over. “You have two choices, Your Highness. We can keep talking, or you can fill the tub and we can stop talking. Make bubbles and turn the jets on. Warm water, but I don’t feel like becoming a fucking lobster today.”
Relaxing, I went to do as ordered. “You’re all right?”
“I’m fine. I wasn’t the one hurt, although if your father is to be believed, I’m currently classified as delicate. I couldn’t even bring myself to beat him to make him stop hovering, either. He’s figured out what you’ve been trying to tell him all along. As long as I stayed up and kicking, you were alive somewhere. Don’t expect me to cut that nutter slack often, but consider playing nice with him and your mother for a while.”
“Considering that your typical response is to knock sense back into people, I’ll take that under advisement. Anything else I need to know?”
“Yeah, there is something you need to know.”
I tensed. “What is it?”
“There might be a reason that woman wants to get rid of me. And she’s right. I am a threat to her.”
I frowned, considering Eva and biting back my initial impulse to tell her she’d done nothing wrong to deserve being in Gail’s sights. For me, being born had been enough to turn me into a target. Secrets had a way of haunting those who kept them, and I wouldn’t make assumptions about Eva’s secrets. “Beyond being a skilled woman with a terrifying amount of courage, how are you a threat to her? Oh, and being my wife. That part’s important.”
Then, afraid her secret could be something that could put her in the sights of my psychotic ex-girlfriend, I held my breath and waited.
“My uncle is a king.”
I choked on my own spit. “What?”
“My uncle is a king.”
Fuck. I hadn’t misheard her the first time. “You’re part of a royal family.”
“Technically not. My uncle cut ties with my mother because my mother’s an asshole who married another asshole, and the royal family didn’t want that pair polluting their bloodline. She was evicted from the royal family because she’s that much of an asshole. I’d just been born when she was evicted from the family, so I guess my uncle didn’t want me to suffer by completely revoking her rank. She was granted elite status for my sake. That doesn’t change the most important part, though: the royal family didn’t want her in it.” Eva hesitated and shrugged. “For just cause. I’d evict her from the family, too, in his shoes.”
“You’re King Jacques’s niece.”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve been on international television about my abdication.”
Eva’s eyes widened. “Well, yes.”
A mountain of problems and challenges rose before me, and if I screwed up anything, Eva would pay the price for them. “Gail is the least of your problems right now, Eva. What sort of resources does your family have? Would they try to take advantage of our relationship? Or will they use the publicity to find you? You didn’t want them finding you.”
“I don’t know. I left at fifteen. They wanted to marry me to an old man. I refused. Then I ran.”
Of the challenges I faced, Eva’s parents marrying her off to an old man took top spot as the one I’d address first with extreme prejudice. “Did you sign anything?”
Eva’s face flushed. “No. I didn’t even sign any disowning paperwork. I refused. I didn’t trust them to not attempt to sneak in marriage documentation in on it.”
“Wise. All right. So, if Gail did background research into you, what are her chances of discovering this?”
“I don’t know. I’ve told Meredith and Christian my familial name, which is different from my uncle’s. I don’t know how hard it would be to find the connection.”
“But if she did find your connection to King Jacques, she’d consider you a threat for certain.” I kept an eye on the tub, dipping my hand in the water to confirm the temperature before turning on the jets and hunting for shampoo or bubble bath to fulfill her every request. I found a bubble solution in the closet and added too much, resulting in a cascade of foam on the tiles. “She’d definitely want you out of the picture. If she found out about this attempted marriage, what is the possibility she might go to your family to have you relocated back to Nevada? Or have you assassinated?”
The assassination part worried me almost as much as the relocation element. If someone kidnapped her, she could be rescued.
If she died, I died. If I died, she died.
“I don’t know. I didn’t stick around to find out how determined they were to have me marry the old fucker.”
“Any chance he’s dead? I’d be all right with that.”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“Don�
�t be sorry. Fuck, I’d run, too. I should’ve left Gail long before I found out she was cheating on me. But unlike you, I’m an idiot.”
“You’re not a fucking idiot. You had good reason to try to make it work. Your life depended on it. Literally.”
“Well, it would’ve been a very short and unhappy life if I’d continued trying,” I replied, yanking my father’s sweatshirt over my head. “We’ll call it even on circumstances, and I’ll pay King Jacques a personal call to handle this. And don’t bother arguing with me on this one. This is a fight I refuse to lose. There are ways to handle situations like this, and I won’t leave you unprotected. If your family discovers your worth or wants you to continue with that old marriage proposal, I need to solidify your position here and in Nevada. King Jacques is typically reasonable, and he likes me.”
“You’re the one Your Highness almost everyone likes. It’s actually disturbing how many people like you.”
I shot her a look. “What do you mean by that?”
“You’re insufferably nice, considerate, and handsome. All around, you’re the sort of prince kings and queens use as an example for their younger princes. I’ve been treated to the lecture numerous times as a result of going to watch those damned sessions in Congress. I swear, if another one of those obnoxious senators attempts to flirt with me, I’ll hit them.”
“They’re probably trying to earn your favor because you have a connection with me, Eva.”
“You mean they don’t want me for my beauty?”
I laughed and winked at her. “I want you for your beauty, but you’re going to laugh at me and tell me I’m blind because you don’t think there’s anything beautiful about you. But I doubt it. They want me for my beauty, and they want to flatter you because they’re terrified you’ll beat them up.”
“I think we’ve done enough talking for one day, Your Highness.” To make sure I understood what she wanted, she stripped out of her shirt with admirable speed and tossed it at me. By the time I’d escaped the white, silky fabric, she’d escaped the rest of her clothes, leaving me with a glimpse of tanned skin before the bubbles blocked my view.
I gave credit where credit was due; Eva outclassed me in the game of seduction, and she watched me with a bright smile, which promised she’d enjoy every moment I spent undressing for her entertainment.
I took my time to indulge her. She’d more than earned it.
A persistent knock at the door woke me, and while loathe to leave Eva, I muttered curses, grabbed a bathrobe, and hurried across the suite so they wouldn’t wake her. I peeked through the hole to discover Christian and my parents in the hall. I muttered a few of my wife’s curses, moved the jam out of the way, and unlocked the door. “Shh. Eva’s sleeping.”
“Good. She needs the rest,” Christian replied, leading the parental invasion force. “We come bearing a gift of news, and breakfast will be along for you both.”
They also came with a gift of Meredith, who carried a metal briefcase, and I smiled at the head of my detail. “Meredith.”
“You’re looking good for someone who dodged death by a hair.”
“How are Greene and Ithaca doing?”
“Dr. Thorton’s attending to them both, so they’ll be fine. Dr. Thorton was concerned you’d stress over their condition, so he invaded the hospital two hours ago to make certain their recovery went smoothly and without impairment.”
I closed the door behind everyone, locked it, and headed for the loveseat in case Eva woke up. “Have Barclave and Gail been dealt with?”
“Both are in custody along with the man who’d taken Barclave’s place. We’ve already started the process of going through their financials to find out as much as we can about their plot.” Meredith took the seat beside me, set the briefcase on the table, and opened it. “We have some cause for concern. Both have made substantial payments to a mercenary firm, and your ex-girlfriend made some additional payments to an outfit in Nevada.”
“She’s trying to get rid of Eva, and she’s likely going to try to bring Eva’s family into it,” I speculated. “Protecting Eva is my primary concern.”
“We do believe she’s going to be a target, but I have reason to believe it’ll be a live capture.”
I could work with a live capture; it protected her. I wondered where things had gone wrong with my capture, but I had my suspicions, and they involved a vengeful ex making an additional payment to override Barclave’s planning. “What are our chances of getting a confirmation of the plan out of Barclave’s replacement?”
“Good. He’s already singing like a canary, and we’ve already pinpointed a few key discrepancies.”
“Gail paid the mercenaries extra to make sure I didn’t show up again?”
Meredith shot a glare at me. “Did you sneak out of here and eavesdrop on our work?”
“No. I’m just picking my worst-case scenario guesses and rolling with them.”
“Well, your worst-case scenario guesses are accurate so far. There is good news: the outfit they used has no problem killing royals, but they won’t kill registered RPS agents. Some of their members are former agents. Some want revenge against royals, but they are hesitant to attack active agents. That’s what spared your detail’s lives during the attack.”
“That explains why they were able to infiltrate the compound.”
“Yes, that’s what we believe. Agent Evangeline should be safe enough. Our canary won’t talk about the outfit itself, but he’s vocal enough about the plans they’d made. It’s a good strategy on his part. We’re getting good intel out of him; it won’t lead us to the outfit, but it will help us firm our security at the compound and the castle.”
“The mercenaries will walk?”
“Unless we get lucky, yes. But he’s informed us they won’t hit Illinois again, not for a long time. It’s a good way for them to get caught, and most of the outfit has already bailed.”
I eyed Meredith’s briefcase, wondering what she’d brought with her. “And you believe him?”
“We have reason to.”
“Truth seer?”
“Among other reasons.” Meredith popped open the case and pulled out a stack of papers. “The preliminary trial is tomorrow, but we’re confident none of the accused will be granted bail, not with the overwhelming evidence of guilt, and due to the nature of their crimes, they’ll be kept in maximum security with prison-grade suppressors until the completion of the trial.”
Some viewed the suppressors as a form of cruel and unusual punishment; when worn for too long, they carried a chance of nullifying the wearer’s talents. “An understandable precaution with his illumination talent. But does Gail’s talent warrant it?”
Meredith pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to me. “Gail’s been aiding the scheme with a mutated illumination talent of her own, unregistered. That’s why they were working together. It was her talent that was boosting his.”
The sheet confirmed the presence of a mid-strength illumination talent verified by a truth seer as being capable of creating convincing illusions. “Barclave’s talent was the one capable of tricking the cameras?”
“Correct, Your Highness.”
“What do you need from me in the meantime?”
“You’ll have to stand witness, but honestly, you remember so little your session won’t last even an hour. Dr. Thorton’s testimony will cover the physical reasons for your memory lapse from the event. He’s going to have a model made of your skull to show the work he had to do, so you’ll need to go in for imaging before the trial. The discovery phase of the trial will take several months due to the volume of information and the severity of the case.”
While relieved I wouldn’t have to be part of the trial for long, I didn’t look forward to the months of research and questioning I’d endure to ensure Barclave and Gail stayed behind bars where they belonged. “All right. I need a favor.”
“What is it?”
“I need to make an unofficial trip to Nevada to spea
k to King Jacques personally.” I shifted my attention to my father. “Can you make it happen?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down his nose at me. “Why?”
“Because he’s going to be brought into this mess and deserves a fair warning, as it will inevitably involve his court.”
My father’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
Meredith chuckled. “Figured it out, did you?”
“He didn’t figure it out,” Eva announced, emerging from the bedroom wearing the other bathrobe. “I told him. You’re a pesky Your Highness.”
I grinned at my wife. “Did you really think I’d sit around and do nothing?”
“I was fucking hoping you would. Why can’t you be a lazy nutter about this?”
“I don’t want to, that’s why. You’re not stopping me, not this time.”
“Oh, you’re being assertive.” She smirked and perched on the arm beside me. “I’ll have to thank Dr. Thorton for making some adjustments while he was working on you yesterday.”
“I’m not a car,” I complained. “He didn’t make adjustments. This is just something I can do, so I’m going to do it.”
“Do you think it’s necessary?”
“Without doubt.”
Eva scowled, then she sighed and shrugged. “All right. Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. I’m not going to create a security gap. You can keep my parents company and keep them out of trouble.”
“You’re asking for miracles today.”
My conversation with Eva earned us both glares, and I grinned at having nettled my parents. “What?”
My mother flung her hands in the air. “How can you be in such a good mood?”
My father arched a brow and stared at my mother. “I think it’s obvious. Someone had a nice evening.”
Nice was one way to describe it, and Eva snickered. “Damn straight we had a nice, quiet evening.”
It was my turn to arch a brow. “Quiet?”
Eva narrowed her eyes and poked me in the chest. “Hush, you.”
My mother sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I regret having asked. I don’t want to know.”
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