Bad Nerd Rising

by Grady, D. R.

  “Why four o’clock?”

  “Because I asked them to give the cleaning agents we used time to evaporate, and dissipate before they actually treat the well.”

  “No point in cross contaminating, if we can help it,” Jorge said.

  “Right. Also, I wanted anything we missed to have time to drip into the well, that way when they do treat, they can clean everything up.”

  “How long will the treatment last?”

  “As long as it takes,” Tia answered.

  “That means we’ll be testing that well for ages yet,” Helena said.

  “Yes, but I think Anson is perfectly capable of testing it regularly.”

  “You’re going to set him up with his own little testing lab?” Maria asked with a smile.

  “That’s what I hoped. He can do it, he’d love it, and it would take the burden off all of you.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  “Well, I do have a job in America. I’m only here as a consultant.”

  The other three blinked at her and then each other.

  “What?” she asked suspiciously.

  “We all thought there was a romance going on between you and Aleksi,” Maria said, not quite meeting her eyes.

  “What?” Tia exclaimed. How had they known? She and Aleksi had been extremely discreet.

  “We see how he looks at you,” Jorge said. The fact that Jorge had noticed made her eyes bulge.

  “And your lips were definitely swollen when you arrived back, late, from lunch today,” Helena inserted triumphantly.

  They all beamed at her, while her heart sank.

  If they hadn’t been able to keep their secret kisses from her lab staff, it probably meant they hadn’t kept it from the palace staff either.

  That meant all of Rurikstan knew about her and Aleksi.

  Nick was probably the sole person here who didn’t know, and since he was touring the place with Emerson, he’d soon blast into the knowledge loop.

  Tears prickled. If the entire principality knew, then why had they said nothing?

  How would she be able to look Aleksi in the eyes after this without blushing?

  Her cheeks heated now. Then an alarming thought occurred to her. What if Aleksi just wanted to kiss her, keep her happily occupied while she was here, but secretly couldn’t wait for her to leave?

  What if he’d never had permanent intentions?

  He needed his wells fixed, and they were on their way now to being normal.

  He didn’t need her any more.

  That terrible thought felt like a stab through the heart by a serrated knife.

  Chapter 20

  With Plan A section 1 close to completion, Aleksi nearly rubbed his hands together in glee. Now he could initiate Plan A, section 2. That consisted of the final courtship of Dr. Tia Morrison. His wells were on their way to being fixed, and now the only major problems he had were the lead pipes, his mother’s illness, and finally, his lack of an heir.

  He had the lead pipes under control. The plumbers assigned to the task of replacing them were more than competent, and understood the seriousness of their jobs. His mother was undergoing treatment that was already helping her. Therefore his only problem now was his heir. And he needed Tia for that.

  There shouldn’t be any problem with convincing her to stick around. His people loved her, since she’d fixed their wells, and they wouldn’t have to boil their water any longer. His mother would come to love her, once they cleared the lead poisoning from her system. That left only Tia.

  Aleksi started to whistle. Life looked good.

  ***

  “So what’s happening in Hershey these days?” Tia figured she might as well get the gossip from home while her brother was here and currently finished with his tour. Not that he was always the best source of information but he’d have to do.

  Nick shrugged. “Cousin Julie is trying to avoid some man sniffing around her.”

  “Julie as in Ben’s sister?”

  “Yeah.” Nick took a sip of the drink in his hand. His interest appeared to be with the lines of the palace rather than their conversation. He was an architect, so that made sense.

  “What man?”

  “Some SEAL who’s worked with Ben. This last project or whatever they were on, they worked with a woman who wanted to find her daughter.”

  Tia frowned. “You mean Julie’s birth mother wanted to locate her?”

  “Yeah.” Nick looked relieved at her figuring the situation out.

  “Why’d she give Julie up in the first place then?”

  Nick looked pained. “I don’t have all the answers, you know.”

  She ignored him and repeated her question.

  “I guess because like Greg Gilmore, she was some sort of secret operative, and had to give Julie up. That’s classified information, by the way.”

  That meant she had to keep that information within the confines of the Morrison family. She lived in Rurikstan, who else would she tell? “Greg had to give Ryan up.” Also classified information.

  “Yeah, same thing.” Nick took another sip of the iced tea in his glass and squinted up at the ceiling. Tia figured she had about half his attention, which was probably more than she normally received.

  “So this guy is trying to do what with Julie?”

  “How should I know?”

  “Well is he good looking?”

  Nick’s expression could only be described as exasperated as he scraped his attention from the details of the ceiling to stare askance at her. “How should I know?”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. You wouldn’t know good looking if it fell over you.” Tia rolled her eyes.

  “I do too. I married Macy, didn’t I?” Now he just sounded smug. And rightfully so. Macy was perfect for him.

  “That you did. So, back to Julie,” Tia glared at him. “Pay attention, I’ve got questions.”

  Nick’s gaze returned to the ceiling. She should have known this palace would fascinate an architect. “Is this guy interested in dating Julie?”

  He shook his head. “The aunts and Mom didn’t know. I think that’s what they were trying to figure out.”

  “But you said he was sniffing around Julie.”

  “From a man’s perspective, I’d say he was definitely interested.”

  “You’re definitely a candidate for Captain Oblivious.” Tia tried to figure out what held such fascination for him about Aleksi’s ceiling, but then decided she didn’t want to know. He’d launch into a boring dissertation she didn’t feel like enduring.

  Julie’s love life, on the other hand, was far more interesting. “So is Julie encouraging this guy?”

  “Nope.”

  Tia grinned. That sounded like Julie. “He has his work cut out for him then, doesn’t he?”

  “He doesn’t appear to be the type to give up easily.”

  “Is he after Julie or does he just want to tell her all about her mother?”

  “I think the jury’s still out on that one.”

  She laughed. “So what else is happening?”

  “Leo has a new friend.”

  Just the way Nick said that caused Tia to turn and stare at him. “A new friend?”

  Nick grunted. She reached out to poke him so she could figure out what kind of “friend” Leo had snagged.

  “Yes. She’s actually really cute and a doctor of some kind.” He shrugged like doctors were a dollar a dozen.

  After a few blinks, as Tia tried to process Leo in a relationship, she turned back to her oblivious brother. “He’s not dating her? They’re friends? Or are they dating and friends?”

  “Yes,” Nick said and took another sip of tea.

  She let out a frustrated growl that caused him to turn wide eyes on her. “What?” he asked with usual brother belligerence.

  “They’re friends or they’re dating? That question requires an answer that is not yes or no.”

  Nick paused in his perusal of the walls to turn blank eyes on her. �
�I don’t know.”

  “You brought this subject up,” she reminded him. The thought of her best male cousin in a relationship seemed a little weird to her. It was nice, but it seemed odd.

  Not that Leo wasn’t a cutie, because he was tall, muscular, and sweet as a lollipop. Not to mention with his dark hair, Morrison blue-green eyes, and square jaw, as handsome as any man running around Hollywood. Still, he hadn’t shown much interest in women before.

  Tia sighed. This all indicated they were growing up.

  “I don’t think Leo knows he’s dating Katy.”

  That ripped Tia’s thoughts right down the center and it was her turn to set blank eyes on him.

  Upon seeing her expression, Nick grinned. “Yeah, that’s sort of how he looks at her, too.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Her obnoxious brother let loose with one of his long-suffering sighs. She was so used to them she ignored it. “Leo and Katy meet, right?”

  “Right,” she agreed, used to the way Nick’s brain worked.

  “So they’re instant best friends.” Nick took a swallow of tea, swirled the glass, and fortunately for him, kept talking. “They’re together all the time now.”

  “All the time?”

  “Yeah, he brings her to Morrison family functions and picks her up for work when the weather’s bad, and they stay in contact all the time, but as far as we know, they don’t kiss or anything.”

  “Huh,” was all Tia could manage. Leo de Vosse in such a relationship amused her. And made her a little sad she wasn’t there to witness this. The downfall of Dr. Leo de Vosse would be rather fun to watch.

  “It’s kind of funny to see. He has no idea they’re in love.”

  Tia’s lips tripped up. “He’s in love?”

  “Oh yeah. It’s easy for those of us who are in love to tell this. Leo, dummy that he is, has no idea.”

  ***

  When Jorge’s shoulders slumped again, and he shook his head, scratched his ear and tapped the computer keys, Tia grew suspicious. She rose and padded across the lab to perch on the stool behind him. Watching the numbers on the screen in front of them, she frowned as they started to make sense.

  Then wished they hadn’t.

  “Jorge, is this telling us every well we just cleaned is still contaminated?” Her voice sounded sharper than it should have.

  He jumped and with a guilty start, wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I keep running the numbers, but the tests all say the wells are still polluted.”

  Tia thrust a hand through her hair. What? Those wells had all been cleaned, even the leaded ones. By trained professionals. There was no reason why they should still be contaminated.

  But numbers didn’t lie. And the evidence was right before her eyes. The numbers looked to be off the charts in some of the wells.

  “What about well twenty-six?”

  Jorge hit a few keys and she read the data. They had taken a sample of it before they left.

  “That’s the only one that appears to be clean.”

  As she read those numbers, Tia relaxed her shoulders a fraction. That well was fine. The numbers looked as they should. A few scattered colonies, but nothing that shouldn’t be there.

  But why were the others reading so... wrong?

  Maria and Helena drifted over to where she and Jorge frowned at the screen. “Why would these numbers be showing like this?”

  “I don’t know.” Tia shook her head. Now what were they supposed to do?

  “Only half of the wells are showing as not potable,” Helena pointed out. One long finger tapped the screen.

  “But the numbers are still high.”

  “What I don’t understand is how they can be higher now, after cleaning, than from before.” Jorge’s sigh was long and loud. Tia appreciated his frustration.

  “The people are going to throw shoes and tomatoes at us,” Helena said in the most mournful voice Tia had ever heard her use.

  “They’re going to kick me out of the country,” Tia added her own gloom and doom to this depressing conversation.

  “Only Aleksi can do that,” Maria soothed and patted her. It didn’t help that Maria not only sounded unhopeful, but there was a tinge of despair in there, too.

  Tia forgot about him. The Prince had hired her to do a job. One she had obviously failed at miserably. One didn’t receive kisses and accolades when one screwed up. Especially this badly.

  Numbers didn’t lie.

  With a sinking heart and a nauseous tummy, Tia turned to head out the door. No time like the present to inform Aleksi they still had a problem.

  He would wonder what he’d ever seen in her, a complete idiot and moron. A microbiologist who couldn’t even clean up water wells properly. If she couldn’t do her job ...what good was she?

  ***

  “What do you mean my mother is here?” Aleksi stared at Emerson like he’d never seen him before.

  “She’s here. Or she will be in a moment. I sent a car to the airport for her.” Emerson raised an eyebrow at him, but Aleksi ignored the inquiry.

  “She’s supposed to be in London.”

  “She’s not,” Emerson announced. Thank you for the obvious, Emerson.

  “Why is she here?” Aleksi scrambled from his chair to peer out the window. Emerson didn’t answer because he had already left the room to greet her.

  He watched the car sweep to a stop in front of the palace stairs and the chauffeur open the door. His mother definitely exited from the back of the car.

  Why? She should be undergoing treatment in London. He watched, but his aunt apparently wasn’t with her. Did Loletta even know she had left?

  His mother tugged at her suit jacket, smoothed her skirt and breathed deeply. She looked both ways, as if seeking an escape.

  Aleksi frowned. His heart sank as he stared at her. This didn’t seem right. Why would she want to escape her own home?

  Emerson showed her into Aleksi’s office and he didn’t miss the look his friend sent him. Aleksi didn’t know how to respond. He had no idea what was so important that she left important, necessary medical treatments for.

  Tia treaded down the hall toward them and Aleksi, finally galvanized into action, leapt across the room. He needed her here. The sinking feeling in his stomach and his mother’s odd behavior told him he needed support.

  “There’s no need....” his mother started, but she fell silent. The tension knot in his stomach increased threefold. Like she understood he needed Tia. Even if she didn’t understand, he still needed her. Tia sent him a questioning look, but must have felt the undercurrents in the room, because she squeezed his hand but didn’t say anything. He thought her mouth seemed a little pinched.

  He wanted to kiss the tension he felt in her spine when he pressed a hand there to guide her into the room. What was bothering her? Did she and his mother know something he didn’t?

  Aleksi indicated to Emerson to remain as well. Might as well have several support systems in place. Emerson glided to the door and shut it with a decided snap. His mother had a secret, he was sure now, and it seemed she wanted to share that secret. Today. He understood what his aunt meant when she thought that secret might include him. The nausea bubbling in his stomach threatened to erupt. This was not princely behavior.

  Swallowing helped alleviate the problem, some. When no one spoke, Aleksi decided to simply ask what was going on. “What is wrong, Mother?”

  “You’re not your father’s son.”

  Chapter 21

  Denial, deep and adamant, raced through him. Aleksi’s bottom hit the chair behind him and a heartbeat later Tia dropped onto his lap. Because he retained a death grip on her hand. Even though his brain was unable to unravel the details, couldn’t settle on any coherent fact, he knew enough to wrap both arms around her and hold her close.

  “Not his father’s son?” Emerson repeated, his eyes wide, shock written on his face as his spine stiffened. He stared at Aleksi’s mother like she’d just crawled out
of a swamp and declared she planned to take over the world.

  “Not his son?” Aleksi repeated because he was sure he’d heard wrong. That was illogical, and ridiculous. If he wasn’t his father’s son, then he wasn’t... the Prince.

  His mother shook her head and raised a beseeching hand to him. “I can’t prove that you are not,” she whispered, her voice raw with unshed tears and regret.

  “If he is not Aleksandr’s son, then whose is he?” Emerson demanded, staring Aleksi’s mother down. Aleksi was grateful he asked Emerson to stay. Even if Aleksi couldn’t figure out the correct questions to ask, his best friend was rarely at a loss for words.

  “I think Aleksi might be Graham Wellington’s son.”

  Aleksi started, and his arms tightened around Tia. She squeaked when he apparently cut off her air. He relaxed his arms, but held her tight as he stared at his mother. He was Graham’s son?

  Without any idea what to say, he blinked at his mother and turned his gaze to Emerson; aware of Tia’s hand smoothing up and down his thigh in a soothing gesture. Emerson stared back at him with an assessing look in his eyes. “Aleksi and Maks do look amazingly alike,” he muttered as he stroked his chin and his eyes appeared a little glazed as he stared at Aleksi.

  Tia, who hadn’t uttered a word, but kept watch over the situation perked up. Now she leaned forward to ask a question. “Didn’t you say Helena’s boyfriend was all fired up about something? Could it be that he suspected Aleksi was his father’s son?”

  His mother’s spine tautened and her hands trembled. “It’s possible,” she said, her voice low and pained.

  “You told Vladimir, Mother?” Aleksi burst out. She’d tell the black sheep of the Wellington family but not him, her own son?

  “I didn’t tell him. But I wondered if he suspected. You have many of Graham’s mannerisms...” his mother’s voice trailed off.

  “Did you tell Aleksandr about this?” Emerson asked Gracia.

  Aleksi’s heart dropped. His father would have been devastated.

  “No,” his mother whispered as she wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock back and forth.

  “He didn’t even suspect?” Tia asked in a gentle voice. She reached out and covered one of his mother’s trembling hands. That meant she stopped soothing him, but he approved because his mother needed all the comforting offered.