The Medici Queen

by Emily Bex

  Kate looked to the front seat where Dante was driving. She knew the staff was discreet, but that didn’t mean they didn’t hear everything. "Well, you get the picture."

  Turning in his seat, he needed to give Kate some insight. "I want you to listen to me. I have no idea what the hell went down with those two, but it explains now why there was so much tension at that table. Max and Rissa had a thing before Alec, I do not pay attention to that shit. I never have. I only notice when a master selects a mate, because who he selects can have a big impact on the balance of power. And Lein brings Max great power. Their mating makes me sit up and pay attention. Do not take this personally, but Rissa was a mortal, and she was nothing in the eyes of the vampire community. Meaning she brought nothing to Alec in the way of new territory, power, or money. His mating with her did not change his standing, nor did it advance his status. I don’t care what the hell went down back there but be careful around Rissa. Don’t let her pull you into this.”

  "I’ve learned to be cautious of Rissa. And I’m too busy at Bel Rosso, and now with Lorenzo, to get pulled into her world.”

  Shade lit a cigarette then lowered the window a crack. “Max's mating does concern me a great deal. We need to talk about that before they visit us. We sit in the fucking center of his territory."

  Kate watched him fidget, clearly not comfortable with the idea of their visit. “This Lein, you knew her before tonight? Is she someone...from your past?"

  He tossed the cigarette out the window and closed it. Turning to her, he kissed her softly. He had pledged there would be no more secrets going forward.

  "Let me give you some details on her and her family. First, Lein. It was thought many years ago that we would make a good mating simply because her father is royal blood and a great warrior. It would have made me wealthy beyond description, and extremely powerful. I was not interested in settling down, but I was pressured a great deal by those closest to me, even Council. My parents were dead, and I was making it on my own, and there was a lot of pressure to produce an heir. So, I met with Fan Shen to discuss an arranged mating. I was invited to attend a few events where we could meet, and she was always accompanied by her familia, as is their tradition.

  “We met several times, talked, but I felt nothing. I could not bring myself to commit to a mating that secured the future of Medici but left my heart feeling cold. I told Fan Shen his daughter was a great beauty, and she deserved to be mated to one who would love her. He dismissed my comments, telling me a warrior does not marry for love, but power. I left there, and never thought of her again, until tonight. But I am sure she got as much pressure to mate as I did. She is a huge prize to be won by any master. Fan Shen has no male heir; she holds all the cards. And now those cards have fallen into Max's hands. So, before I tell you of her padre, do you have any questions about Lein?"

  Kate sighed. She was glad to hear Lein wasn’t on his list of conquest. He’d spoken to her in the past about arranged marriages, and how the vampires had used them, just as the historical mortal royals did, to secure alliances and expand their power.

  "No, I have no questions. What do I need to know of her father?"

  "Fan Shen is the Master of China, Thailand, and Malaysia. My coven is nothing in comparison to the size of the territory Fan Shen controls. He has five times as many warriors, and they are equally skilled. They are an ancient coven and excel in sword and shuriken. They fight to the death. It is honorable to die fighting, to never surrender. His dynasty was handed down through generations and he took the reins with both hands, just as Lorenzo will do from me. My own padre was always concerned about Fan. The size of his territory alone made him a threat.

  “And now we have Max in the picture. He is a warrior as well, with his own territories of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. We are in a very precarious place. Max and I need to work out an arrangement that allows him to feel safe with me sitting in the center of his Virginia territory. Max’s warriors, combined with Lein's Eastern troops, Medici will be outmatched. I do not say this to scare you, mi amore, but I want you to understand. This is serious, deadly serious. Alec knows it as well. Max's mating just changed all the fucking rules."

  Kate looked at him with concern. "But you’ve done nothing to Max. I mean, we mean him no harm. Do we? I understand Bel Rosso sits inside his territory, but he already knew Alec owned that land. He knew the land had been transferred to you. Surely, if he’d had an issue, he would have spoken up sooner."

  "Think about this, mi amore. At the time, Bel Rosso was nothing. But that is no longer the case. It holds something that is a huge threat to him—the warrior camp. Think of what it looked like the first time you saw it.

  “Now look at it. If he wants it, he will fight for it. I do not intend for that to happen. Max usually has a level head, so I am going to do all I can to talk this through first. But rest assured, I will fight to my death to save Bel Rosso. So, when they visit, and they will, we must be careful of our words, and careful of our actions. Max is a fox, a sly one. Lein was raised to keep her head down and her mouth shut, but she hears and sees all. Females like Lein look very meek and mild, but they are well trained to take it all in and report back. If you want to keep Bel Rosso, we may have to go to war. I hope to hell that does not happen, but if it does, be prepared, because I will win and take all of Virginia with it or die trying."

  Kate felt his energy fill the car. Since she’d been with him, he’d never waged a battle for his own coven. She’d seen him and his warriors fight for Alec, and even that had ramifications for them when the rogues attacked Bel Rosso. But this was different. What he was describing was a turf war between masters. She’d heard him speak of them before, but for some reason she assumed it was something that occurred in the past. She assumed in these modern times, the masters had the territories defined and pretty much left each other alone. The idea of someone taking Bel Rosso made her fearful, but she found her anger overtook her fear. The idea that someone might attack their home, put Lorenzo's life at risk, brought out every maternal instinct she had and made the small hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

  "I’ll be careful, Shade. No one will take what we’ve worked to build."

  Sliding his hand over hers, he felt such pride for her. "And that is why you are my queen. I need you to understand, I will let no one take what is mine. My figlio is born to reign and conquer, and I will see it through."

  She curled up close to him. "I don’t want a battle. But I’ll not let anyone destroy what we’ve created. Please don’t provoke Max, but if he challenges us—comes after us—I’ll stand at your side."

  He wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head on his chest. She had no idea of what lay ahead for them.

  107

  After Shade and Kate had left the reception, Alec went in search of Rissa. He saw her talking with other guests, her smile painted on, but he felt her anger. He had no idea what had gone down in the ladies’ room, but it was enough to have all three women exit in turmoil. Rissa and Lein looked like they wanted to rip each other’s heads off, and Kate had looked pale and shaken.

  Stepping up behind her, Alec asked Rissa to dance and escorted her onto the dance floor. The floor cleared for them as the band played as he swayed with her. Every guest pulled out their cell phones to take a picture. The invited members of the press were also taking shots.

  Alec held her close and whispered, "I have no idea what happened back there, but keep up appearances until we can get out of here. Too many cameras present to capture whatever is going on between you and Lein. So just smile, darling."

  Rissa’s nerves were rattled, and he felt it. They danced together beautifully, creating the perfect image for the photographers shooting them from every angle. She looked at him like any new bride—with complete love.

  She smiled coyly. "Don’t worry, this is our night and no one will take it from me. I love you, Alec."

  They danced the evening away, mingled with the socially elite, cut the elabor
ate wedding cake, and watched as their mortal guests downed the expensive champagne. The crowd cheered as he knelt before her and slipped the garter from her leg. The men wolf whistled and howled as Alec tossed the garter into the crowd of eligible bachelors. As the evening came to a close, the women gathered in the center of the room to catch the huge bouquet of white lilies and roses.

  Rissa scurried away, escorted by Hyde, back to the private room to change out of her wedding gown. She packed up her things that were to be delivered back to the house. She dressed in a tailored suit of winter white as she exited the dressing room and joined Alec. The crowd had moved outdoors to throw the traditional rice as the couple made a run for the limo. Alto ushered them inside the car and closed the door, heading to the airport and their private plane, where they’d be flown to Bora Bora for a week.

  Rissa had hoped they’d stay longer, but Alec didn’t want to be out of the public eye that long. He sighed as he settled into the seat, closing his eyes.

  "So, my darling, what the hell went on in the ladies’ room that had all three of you in such a state? Kate had to leave, for Christ's sake, so don't tell me it was nothing."

  Rissa huffed. Not one word about the wedding or the reception. The first thing out of his mouth had nothing to do with the ceremony, how perfect it was, or how beautiful and stunning she was...but that fucking Asian bitch and Max. And now he’s worried about Kate? She slowly turned her head to him and stared.

  "Since when have you ever cared about Kate? She has that sniveling little brat now, even though we successfully rid her of the first one! Seriously, Alec, it wasn’t anything, I handled it!"

  Alec cast a sideways glance. "Calm down, please. Max is a rival. A very powerful one and the stakes have been raised significantly with this mating. We’ve always maintained a civil relationship, not through any bond of friendship or brotherhood, but because it was in both our interest to do so. I can't afford a confrontation with him right now. Very bad timing. I'm sure you handled it, but I need to know exactly what it is you handled."

  Sliding off her shoes, she pulled out a gold cigarette case from her handbag and handed it to him. "I think we both deserve one of these, tonight. Alec, I promise you, I said absolutely nothing to provoke her. You were at the table, you heard every word. She walked in there and threatened me, told me if I messed with Max she’d take me down. I have no idea what the hell that was about. I’ve not had anything to do with him since I was in college. Apparently, Max must have told her about our relationship and she felt the need to claim her warrior. I made it perfectly clear to her that she had stepped into my master's territory and crashed our wedding, uninvited, I might add, and then approached me unprovoked to tell me to keep my hands off her man. Kate was scared out of her mind. She better learn where her claws are if she’s going to be the Medici Queen. My God, she was like a little mouse shaking in the corner! Whatever it was, it’s over and done with. Maybe she was jealous. Maybe she didn’t want to come here in the first place, and Max insisted. Maybe she thinks he still feels something for me. Hell, I don’t know, Alec, and I don’t care."

  Alec took the cigarette, lighting it and taking a deep drag. "So that's it then. You're telling me to drop it. There’s nothing to worry about. I don't need to fix anything with Max."

  "That’s what I am telling you. I came from the bathroom and didn’t return to the table right away, as I didn’t want to stir up anything. I kept my distance for a reason. I surely didn’t want the photographers to capture something."

  Shrugging, she took the cigarette case, lit a cigarette, and laid her head back against the seat, taking a long, much needed drag. "She never acknowledged Kate, like she was invisible. Maybe Max was here for Shade. He’s the one sitting in the middle of Max’s territory. I’d not want to be in his shoes. But that does beg the questions. Why do you think Max was here? I know you don’t tell me everything. He came here for something."

  Alec shrugged. "I have no idea why he's here. I hadn't even heard he was mated. But I'm not feeling good about it. Somehow, I doubt his purpose in showing up was to spread good cheer." Alec put out the cigarette. "Anyway, nothing I can do about it now. I'll probably call Shade. Give him a heads up. Make sure he remembers Max wasn't on the guest list if he hasn't figured that out already. I gave him a copy so his warriors would know who was in attendance. But hell, no one is going to block a fucking master who shows up for our wedding, guest list or not. The warriors are all too smart for that. It would have created an altercation that would have just drawn attention to his presence there. The warriors did the right thing by letting him in and just keeping an eye on him. But enough about that, this is your wedding day, our wedding day, and a beautiful one at that. Don't you think it's about time we thought about consummating this union?"

  Her laugh trickled throughout the limo. “Took you long enough!"

  108

  Kate was pleased that Lorenzo was adapting so quickly to his new routine. She and Theresa had been sharing the responsibility of feeding him and tonight, he’d fed for the first time from Nita. Lorenzo had been moved from their bedroom to the nursery, and Theresa slept in his room, for now, on the sofa-bed.

  She stood at his crib as he cooed and responded to her voice. Turning to Theresa, Kate asked, "How will we know his gift? He doesn’t sleep through the entire day. Does that mean he's a day-walker?"

  Theresa shook her head. "Not necessarily, my lady. He wakes during the day because of his need to feed. We’ll not know his gift until he’s older. If it’s essential, you can have Malachi taste his blood, but typically, families just wait until the gift presents itself.”

  Kate lifted him from the crib. He was dressed in a onesie now, and his chubby little body filled out the knit garment. Kate giggled at him with his full cheeks and his wide blue eyes, always inquisitive.

  Gi came to the doorway of the nursery. "My lady?"

  Kate turned to face him, holding the baby close. "What is it, Gi?"

  "It is the wolf, my lady. Aegis. She’s been more persistent than usual tonight, pawing at the back door. She and Night-Stalker have come to the door every night since you have returned from Florence."

  Kate sighed. "I know. She wants to see the baby, but it’s been so cold." She looked at Theresa. "Don't we have a little snowsuit we can bundle him in?"

  Theresa nodded and ran to the baby’s closet to retrieve it. Kate sent a message to Shade in the camp, asking if he could join them in the house.

  ***

  Shade had been a bit on edge with the appearance of Max at the wedding. He’d informed the warriors of his possible visit with his new mate, and what it might mean for them. He was confident this could be resolved in a friendly manner. After all, Max had always been aware of his presence here. But either way, he knew his warriors were behind him. They’d fight and die for Medici, if it came to that.

  Working with the new recruits, he heard Kate ask if he’d join them in the house and teleported to them immediately.

  "Kate? What is wrong?”

  "It’s nothing. We’re fine. You worry too much. I'm afraid if we don’t take Lorenzo out to see Aegis and the other animals soon, we’ll be replacing the back door. Aegis paws at it every evening. I thought you’d want to be with us. Do you have time?"

  "Oh si, I always have time for my figlio."

  Looking at Lorenzo, he scrunched up his face, put his hands on his hips, glaring at bel. "What the hell is that contraption he’s wearing? How the hell do you expect him to move?"

  Kate laughed at Lorenzo stuffed into the snowsuit, his little arms and legs held rigid and away from his body. "I don't think he's supposed to move. It’s just to keep him warm."

  She handed the baby to Shade and saw the light of recognition in Lorenzo's eyes as he stared at his father.

  Shade shook his head. "I know, little warrior, I do not understand it either, but let’s be compliant with Madre's wishes, si?"

  Lorenzo looked at him and smiled and Shade laughed. "Come, we must
meet the beasties. Do not be frightened, Padre is here to protect you."

  As they walked to the first floor, Shade carried the immobilized Lorenzo in his snowsuit and wondered what idiot mortal invented this thing. No warrior would ever be able to fight in this. "Are there pups, mi amore? I know Aegis was to have them. Have you seen them yet?"

  Kate walked with him down the stairs. "There are pups. But they were born about two months before Lorenzo and I haven’t seen them in a while. I imagine they’re getting quite big by now."

  They walked to the back of the house and out the back door onto the patio. Kate called out to Aegis and the wolf came bounding through the garden with Night-Stalker at her side and four smaller wolves following behind them. Kate knelt down to greet Aegis who licked at her face before moving to Shade and standing on her hind legs, trying to get a glimpse of the baby.

  Shade admonished the wolf. "No! Down! Cazzo, bel, please you need to make her understand. She will scare the fuck out of him!"

  He pulled Lorenzo tight against his chest and heard him begin to cry as he struggled to break free of Shade's grasp. "Lorenzo, it is fine, Padre has you.”

  Kate stood and took Lorenzo in her arms, shushing him. "Lorenzo, listen to me."

  Lorenzo stopped crying and looked at Kate as if he understood her words.

  "You have many warriors who will protect you. You have met daddy's warriors. Now you must meet mommy's warriors. This is Aegis, and her mate, Night Stalker. She guards us all and when you get older, she and her pups will play here outside with you. You have nothing to fear.”

  Kate squatted down and let the wolf approach as Lorenzo lifted his hand to the wolf's snout. Aegis licked the tiny hand. Night-Stalker cuffed one of the pups on the ear as they wrestled with each other, calming them down before joining his mate to look at the baby.

  "See, Lorenzo? They are your warriors too."