“Ah, about a six?”
“Raina,” Gavin chastises. How he always knows when I'm lying, I have no idea. Guess it's all that black ops training he's had.
“Okay, it's really been an eight, sometimes a nine.”
Gavin looks horrified, but I don't really know what to say, so I just shrug indignantly. The doctor frowns further, the lines in her face now riddled with concern, but she doesn't say anything. Just continues her examination of my foot. I try not to wince, but it's so hard not to.
“Okay. So it's not broken, just a really nasty sprain as far as I can tell without an ultrasound. I’ll write you a prescription for some strong anti-inflammatory and something for the pain. Lots of rest, and also elevation is required. It will help with the swelling.”
“Well that's mostly a relief.”
“I'll drop the prescriptions at the front desk and someone will fill them. You should have them to you later today, hopefully.”
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure. If you don't notice any improvement in the next few days, go to the local hospital and get it scanned. Yes?”
“I will.”
The doctor stands, and I shake her hand and follow her to the door, thanking her again before she leaves. I turn on Gavin, before he can even begin to dictate anything, knowing full-well what he is about to try.
“Now, where were we?” Gavin is not getting away without telling me everything. Foot be damned. “Ah, yes. You were about to tell me every sordid detail about our Mr. X, and all that you know about the missing money.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Gavin
Raina can be so infuriating sometimes. Most of the time, actually. She can't ever let anything go. Sometimes, I swear she is worse than a dog with a bone. Chew, chew, chew, right down to the quick.
“Your Highness, please be reasonable. You need to think of your well-being first. Come sit down and see to your foot.”
“I thought I was being pretty damn reasonable, Gavin.”
“No. You're being impatient, as always.” The petulant child part I leave unsaid. She scoffs, but I continue before she can verbally object. “I've said I'll give you the information you want, and you know I am a man of my word. I will tell you in due course, but you need to sort out your foot first. That is the priority right now.”
“It's fine. Stop with the fussing, will you? I'll deal with it once I get the meds. Now spill. Stop delaying, Gavin. Start talking already.”
She's not going to relent. I can see it in the set of her shoulders and the tightness in her jaw and eyes. I resist the urge to sigh and scrub my face with frustration.
“At the very least let me strap it and ice it.”
“Nope. Men can't multitask. So unless you can talk and work at the same time…”
This makes me want to laugh, but I grin instead. Does she not know me at all. I maybe have myself to blame for that, though it is a necessity, I can't help wish she knew me as I know her. I shake myself. It's meant to be this way.
“You should ring for ice to be brought up, while I go get the spare wraps from my duffle bag.” I hold up a hand, pausing her pending argument. “And I’ll talk at the same time. I can multitask, Princess. I wouldn't have this job otherwise. That's the deal—leave it or take it.”
“Fine, it’s a deal,” she says reluctantly, reaching for the phone to dial room service.
I head to the room next door and fish out the bandages and ointment I'd pilfered from the cabin bathroom while we were there, and head back to Raina’s room just as the phone is answered on the other end of the line.
“Ah, yes, hello. I’d like some ice please. No, just the ice. Oh they will? That's great—yes if someone could bring it up—wonderful. Thank you very much.”
She hangs up the phone with a sigh.
“I take it your prescription has been filled?”
“No, not yet. But we should have it in an hour or so. Someone will bring it up once it’s ready.”
“Great.”
“This place is something else. I wonder if they are always this helpful or if—”
“If it's just because you are royalty and they are treating you differently?”
“Yeah. I'm use to a level of helpfulness and eagerness, but this is beyond anything I've ever experienced. It's kind of a lot, and it makes me a little uncomfortable if I'm being honest.”
Some days I really think it's quite cruel how some people are destined to do great things and thrive in an environment like this, and others, like Raina, would be more suited to a quieter life. Not that I don't think she's capable of doing great things with her reign; I just know she wishes she wasn't royally born and bred.
“I think it's partly this resort, and also partly because you're the highest-ranking guest they have staying here at the minute. When you are with your parents, that isn't the case.”
“Oh,” she says, her eyebrows furrowing in thought as she lets what I've said sink in. “That makes some sense.”
I can't help but notice Raina looks … different. Something about her in the last few days has changed, and I can't put my finger on it. It can't be that she's no longer a virgin; surely that's not it.
Maybe it's that she’s finally starting to realize what it means to be out from under her parents wing. I've noticed since we've arrived how thought provoked she's looked. How it's all different for her being on her own for the first time since I've worked for the royal family. Maybe this trip wasn't such a bad idea after all. Well, other than the near-death experience and the defiling of the future queen. All that aside. Raina might be growing up, or into her role more now being in the wild on her own.
There's a knock on the door, which makes me smile at the promptness of it. They really are going all out. I receive the ice and thank the man at the door, promptly closing it before he's able to get a look inside the room. It doesn't miss my notice how disappointed he seemed before the door closed, presumably because he didn't see the Princess in the flesh.
I join Raina on the settee with the ice and bandages in hand. She shifts to allow me better access to her ankle, and promptly drops it in my lap, almost heeling me in the balls.
“Oops,” she says innocently, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, but I don't miss the wince either. Silly girl, woman.
I remove the earlier wrapping as slowly and carefully as I can, but a thought comes to me as I see her bare skin. I fight not to picture other parts bare as well. It’s a losing battle. I fail miserably.
“You should possibly shower first before I strap it. It won't be easy to do once it's all wrapped up. Or to get undressed.” Don’t think about her naked, don’t think about her naked…
“Gavin,” she whines. “I don't want to shower first, unless you are offering to help?” I raise a single eyebrow in response, and she deflates a little, having already known the answer to her ludicrous, but rather tempting, remark. “Fine. I'll just have a bath and poke my foot out of the tub. Problem solved.”
“As you wish.” I’ll probably just end up having to cut her leggings off when she realizes she can’t get them off. Oh, Jesus. I don’t like this plan at all.
“Now, start from the very beginning and don't leave anything out. I will kick you in the face if you don't comply, and I don't care how much that might hurt me in the process.”
This makes me chuckle. I have no doubt she would too. If the notion took her fancy. So I do as I'm bid and start from the beginning, cleaning and wrapping her foot all the while.
“Before I worked at the palace, I did a sort of special ops type training stint.” Her eyes widen at this. “If you talk and interrupt, Princess, I will try stop.” She nods profusely, and I continue. “It’s a rather intense training, almost boot camp-like, and as such, you tend to form tight friendships. Lifelong brother-type friendships.
“When your father had first explained his suspicions to me and all that had happened with Edgar, I knew partly why he was telling me was because of my background. I
contacted my brothers, a few of which are still in the business of knowing and finding out hard to find things, and set some things in motion from the get-go.
“It's taken some time to get to where we are today. And the main reason I agreed to your crazy idea of driving off to Switzerland was because I wanted to come out here myself, but there was no way I was going to leave you behind unprotected. Not that I wanted to bring you here in the first place, mind you.”
“I'm glad you did,” she whispers softly, then immediately mimes zipping her lips closed, sitting there still as a stone, looking sweet and innocent. Her eyes will tell you a different story completely, though.
I don't respond to the remark because it would be a lie to say that I don't feel the same way, but there is no way I can admit that to her. What's the point?
“Two nights before you asked me to bring you here, my contact had reached out to tell me they'd tracked down the man in question to this resort.
“We’ve been looking into the financials for a few months, tracking the ins and outs, and we believe without a doubt Raul is responsible. The finer details are being ironed out, but we have it on good authority that the money is in the Swiss bank in the neighboring town, not five or so miles from here.”
“Holy shit, Gavin. You're incredible!” she exclaims, leaning forward and throwing her arms around me.
“Hold on a minute, Princess. We haven't actually located the money, or one hundred percent proved that Raul stole it just yet. We are close, very close. The thing that's bugging us the most is we haven't worked out his motive. That would be the quickest way to pinpoint all this on him.”
“He clearly wanted to get rich. What more of a motive does one need?”
“Possibly, but doubtful. There are quicker ways to get rich. This was far more calculated and clever. Incredibly well-thought-out and planned down to the last detail if we’re having difficulties.”
“Okay.” She pauses, absorbing all this new information before her eyes go wide. “So let's go to the bank first thing tomorrow. We can flush it out, find the money, and backtrack it to him. Job done.”
“Easy, tiger. I know what your mother said, but I have to disagree. I don't think it's a good idea at this stage for you of all people to be seen at the bank and causing a stir. I have a few of my boys working on it. Don't worry about that. If the money is there, they'll find it.”
“Oh. Okay, then. Well, what now? What's our next step. Has Mr. X, sorry, Raul, been seen today?” Raina asks eagerly.
I’ve been too concerned with Raina, making sure that she is safe and the room secured, that I haven’t even reached out to my local contact to check in about Raul’s whereabouts.
“Let me make a quick call, and I can get an update on what's been happening while we've been in radio silence.”
I leave Raina on the settee, twitching away with her eagerness to do something, and head into my room to grab my burner phone.
I’d hired my brother from another mother, Darien, to make sure that Raul wasn’t able to leave the resort without eyes on him at all times when we finally located him. There was no way we were going to have to continue chasing this crook all over Europe.
I suspected that he wouldn’t want to stray far from here anyway, since that would mean he’d be parted from his money; which we are more than certain is hidden in deposit boxes at the very bank in the town nearby. It's the only explanation for not being able to find a paper trail just yet. The money is in the bank, just not in an account.
Raul was smart. I’d give him that much. That’s the reason it has taken us so long to find him and figure out he had taken the money in the first place.
We’ve looked for accounts with the money, but when we found none, and knew he couldn’t be carrying it around, we searched other possibilities. All of his real estate holdings. Any shell corps in his name. And then bank accounts for all.
The most we found was the safe-deposit boxes in Switzerland. And since he came skiing here at least three times a year for long weekends, it all came together. It's the only plausible conclusion.
In the evidence collection process, I had my men search it. We’d discovered he bought a place on the water. A pricey piece of real estate if there ever was one. We searched there too with a fine-toothed comb. We found absolutely zilch. But I guess that's to be expected. The guy owned the house for all of a few weeks, at most.
We thought it odd he could afford two places, but the man was single, never having married, and didn’t have any children. So, he could possibly afford more frivolous purchases. I wondered if this was how my life was going to turn out when all was said and done in the end.
After spending a night with Raina, I wasn’t sure I could stand being married to anyone else. I’d always be thinking of her, her touch, her eyes, her scent and sounds, and the way her skin feels beneath me. I will forever remember what it is like to be with her, and will no doubt be replaying it as often as I safely can without losing myself completely to the absolute longing and loss of her. The memories are going to have to be enough for the rest of my life.
The phone call answers on the third ring, thankfully silencing my inner ramblings.
“Is it safe to talk?” I ask, skipping all niceties. We are all well past that nonsense most days.
“Yeah, brother. We’re all good and in the clear. It's good to hear from you, man. We'd gotten a little concerned.”
“You lot, concerned? Now surely hell has frozen over, and no one has said anything.” I chuckle to myself at my lame joke. “But yeah, it was almost something to be concerned about. We got hit pretty bad with the flash snowstorm and had to bunker down. We’re at the resort now.”
“I know,” he says with a cocky flair.
“Does Raul?”
“No, not a clue. He doesn't suspect a thing. He's just happily munching down on his expensive lobster lunch and champagne in the resort restaurant. Without a care in the world, fucking bastard.”
“Could he be any more pompous or flashy that he’s come into some mega-money.”
“Yeah he's not that smart. He's definitely been living the high life since he checked in. Did you see the photos of his beach pad?”
They'd been emailed over to me last week. Completely overindulged opulence. He splashed out big time. Too big for a banker.
“Yes. They screamed new money and lack of class.”
“Exactly. What a joke.”
“What's the plan?”
“If you're ready, we confront him with all that we have tonight, while we can. Bluff him into confessing what we don't know, basically scare the shit out of him until he coughs up all the details. It shouldn't be long until Miguel and Joseph crack the safe-deposit boxes and get the solid proof we need.”
“Sounds good. Let me know where and when you're ready. I want to be in that room when the verbal diarrhea starts.”
“Alright, man. You got it.” He laughs quietly.
We hang up, and I pocket the burner phone. I'm almost as eager as Raina to confront this asshole. We’ve managed to arrange to check into the room adjoining Raul’s. He won't suspect a thing when we bust in through the joining door.
It might seem a little gung ho, but there really isn't any time to waste. He's spending the money like it's an endless pot, and we have almost enough evidence to pin it all on him. With enough pressure applied, he'll dig his own grave. I’m sure of it.
“So, what's the update?” Raina asks, practically bursting out of her skin as I walk into her room.
“He’s still here, hasn’t left, and is spending more money than he has sense. He’s sticking out like a sore thumb. We’re going to bust in on the guy and get him to confess everything. We have the room next to his booked. It'll be like taking candy from a baby. He won't know what hit him.”
“I can't believe this is all happening. You're incredible, Gavin. This is all because of you. I don't know how I was going to try to achieve even half as much as you and your boys have.”
&nbs
p; “You are resourceful and clever; don’t doubt yourself just because I have all the connections. But you don’t need to thank me. I will always put you and your well-being first. This is an important part of that, and securing it for long after we are both gone.
“And totally not part of your job description.”
“The job description was rather vague.” I chuckle a at that. “So, I figured I had some flexibility with it.”
“So, now what do we do?”
“Wait. It’s all we can do now.”
“Okay. I guess as I have nothing better to do…” her undertone message loud and clear, I want to laugh; instead, I feel a little hot under the collar. “I might as well have that bath.”
“Good idea. You may need to cut your leggings off, though.”
“Offering to help with that?”
“Not if I can help it. I need to make a few more phone calls. But if you truly need my help, I will.”
She looks a despondent at that. “I’m a big girl. I’m sure I can manage.”
“Alright then, enjoy, but be careful. Then, it's showtime.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Raina
I'm so excited, nervous, and hopeful that I could scream, or explode into a thousand tiny pieces. I can’t believe Gavin has managed to track down the man responsible for stealing our family fortune. It almost feels too good to be true. But I can't think like that. This is the break my family needs. This is the break I desperately need if I want to be free. And I need to be free because I don’t think I can live without Gavin. I have to fix everything so we can be together. I will not marry some crappy prince-lack-there-of-charming.
We've been waiting for what feels like forever, but in reality is only a few hours now. Waiting to get the signal that Raul has returned to his room. Then bam! We go in guns blazing and bust his ass.
Gavin plans to confront this man on his own, but there is no way I’m not going to be part of this too. It's my life on the line.
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