Resisting Alexandre (Knight Security 0.5) (13 page)

“And you were already involved with someone else, so don’t presume to judge me.”

“Considering what you’ve got yourself mixed up in, it sounds as if I’ve had a very lucky escape.”

“You self-righteous prig,” she said vehemently.

“I am warning you, Stazzi, just one mention of my name to the media, and I will sue you and your lover prince—”

“Oh, go swivel on it, Will.” Stazzi put an abrupt end to the call. The last thing she wanted was to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was crying.

Oh, not because of Will’s tirade; she had already known she couldn’t rely on him to be in the least sympathetic to her plight. His call now had only confirmed it.

No, Stazzi was crying because the icy dam that had formed inside her when Lissa told her the paparazzi were outside the building, hoping for an exclusive on Alexandre’s admission to a clinic today, had now melted. Leaving Stazzi completely open and vulnerable to the pain of losing and parting from Alexandre. To the knowledge he somehow thought she was responsible for the story now circulating about the two of them, and possibly even for his having been taken ill in the night too. She couldn’t think of any other reason why he had become so cold and distant.

“Is everything okay…?” A hesitant Lissa stepped into the bedroom. “Obviously not,” she snapped as Stazzi looked up and she saw the tears tracking down her cheeks. “What has that bastard done now?”

“Talking about me again…?” Asher appeared in the doorway behind her.

Lissa turned to glare at him. “Now who’s the one who believes everything has to be about him?”

He gave an uninterested shrug before turning to look at Stazzi. “I think you need to come back to the sitting room.”

She tensed. “Why?”

He grimaced. “Alexandre’s driver just called up to say Gerard St Sebastien has arrived and is on his way up, and I may need some help when he gets here.”

“Why?” Stazzi frowned her puzzlement.

He raised his eyes toward the ceiling. “Why is it that women always have to question everything? Can’t you just accept that I’ll need your calming presence once Gerard arrives?” His voice softened persuasively. “Alexandre may appear in control on the outside, but I know his temper from our school days together, and right now, he’s beyond furious. Without you and Lissa there, we could have a murder on our hands after all, and it isn’t going to be Alexandre’s.”

Stazzi didn’t even pretend to know what he was talking about, and neither did Lissa from the irritation on her face as she frowned at the enigmatic Asher. But if Alexandre needed her, for whatever reason, Stazzi wasn’t about to continue questioning why.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Gerard,” Alexandre was telling the other man when the three of them returned to the sitting room.

The older man looked down his nose at his surroundings. “You have merely added fuel to the media speculation by being here.”

“And who created the media speculation in the first place…?”

Gerard St Sebastien’s gaze swept contemptuously over Stazzi as she stood at the back of the now-crowded room. “I don’t believe we need to look far for the answer to that question.”

“No, I don’t believe we do,” Alexandre returned with deceptive mildness. “Even as we speak, the jet is being refueled and readied for returning to Androcco later this evening.”

Stazzi felt a painful jolt in her chest at the knowledge Alexandre intended leaving England so soon. She had half expected it, but it still hurt to know he was leaving.

Gerard looked smug. “A good decision.” He nodded. “I’m sure that once you’re back on Androcco, the speculation regarding this unpleasantness will die a natural death and—”

“The jet’s for you, not me.” Alexandre eyed his cousin with icy disdain.

“Me?” Gerard looked startled.

Alexandre felt numb inside as he looked at the man he had known all his life. The man who had been his childhood friend. His cousin by blood. His trusted adviser for the past two years.

“How did you know where Anastazia lives, Gerard?” he prompted mildly.

The other man looked confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Answer the damned question,” Ash growled.

Gerard looked at him coldly. “I understand that you’re a friend of my cousin, and that he has always allowed you a certain…familiarity, but I’ve never liked you. As such, you will not address me in such a fashion.”

“I’ve never liked you either, you jumped-up little bastard, and
as such
,
I’ll address you any way I damn well please!”

“Ash,” Alexandre warned softly. “You will answer the question, Gerard.”

“This is ridiculous,” his cousin snapped. “Of course I found out where Miss Carmichael lives once I became aware the hotel is swarming with reporters. There are at least a dozen more outside this apartment building. I really think it would be for the best if we went straight to the airport and left some of your bodyguards to pack and bring the rest of our things later.”

“The reporters are at the hotel and outside this building because of you, damn it,” Alexandre rasped. “You’re the one who told them Anastazia was at the hotel with me last night when I was taken ill, that I was admitted to the clinic for several hours, and the address of her apartment.”

Gerard gave an exasperated sigh. “You’re talking—”

“The truth,” Alexandre bit out tersely. “Do you have the proof I asked you to find, Ash?” His gaze remained fixed on his cousin as he spoke to his friend.

“Right here.” Ash produced a bottle from the pocket of his jacket and held it up.

Stazzi frowned as she listened to the exchange, having no idea what was going on. Except to know Alexandre looked grimmer than ever. Asher challenging. And Gerard less sure of himself than he had been a few minutes ago. “What is that…?”

“This?” Ash gave the bottle a considering glance. “Seafood flavoring. More precisely, a strong crab extract.”

She gave a slow shake of her head. “I don’t understand…”

Ash gave a hard smile. “A liquid seafood flavoring that when mixed with another strong-tasting liquid, such as a medicine, is virtually undetectable.”

Stazzi’s eyes widened. “Is that— Was that—”

“Yes,” Ash confirmed grimly.

Stazzi felt her face pale at the implications of the bottle Ash held up.

A bottle containing a flavoring that was capable of killing Alexandre.

That had almost killed him?

Chapter 12

Stazzi gave a slow shake of her head. “Where did it come from?”

“Would you like to answer that, Gerard?” Ash taunted. “Or shall I?”

The Androccan looked down his nose at the other man. Not an easy feat considering he was several inches shorter than Asher. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“No?” Ash mused. “Strange, considering I found this bottle hidden amongst the things in your bedroom at the Meyers Hotel.”

The older man’s nostrils flared angrily. “If you did, then
she
must have planted it there after attempting to kill Alexandre—”

“No, Alexandre!” Asher stepped forward, blocking Alexandre as he would have lunged at his cousin. “He isn’t worth it, man.” He placed a hand against Alexandre’s rapidly rising and falling chest.

Alexandre bared his teeth. “But I’d feel so much better.”

Ash shrugged. “I can’t deny I’d like to put in a few punches myself, but I believe between the two of us, we can come up with a much more…fitting punishment.”

“How dare you go through my things?” Gerard St Sebastien obviously didn’t know when to shut up. “Who gave you permission—”

“I did.” Alexandre’s eyes glittered furiously. “Once I’d realized the only person who stood to gain anything if I died was you. Strange how so many other things fell into place, once I’d accepted that as being an option for what’s been happening to me during this past year. My recurring illness, no doubt building up to the grand finale of my death last night. The doctor you personally engaged and brought to Androcco. His inability to find the reason for my illness. The medicine he prescribed for an ulcer, which you’ve ensured I take on a regular basis. That would be the medicine I took at one o’clock this morning because I’d forgotten to take it after dinner earlier in the evening. The same medicine
you
had put in a strong enough dose of the seafood flavoring to kill me.”

“Oh dear God…” Stazzi gasped.

Alexandre’s expression softened as he glanced at her. “I never for a moment believed you were involved in any of this.” His face hardened as he turned back to Gerard. “Was it just that I was born to the eldest son and so was always the heir apparent, or is your hatred of me more personal than that?”

Gerard seemed to be fighting an inner battle with himself as his eyes glittered with that hatred, only his fear holding him back from expressing it. He had to know that Alexandre and Ash were both dangerous men in their own right, but there was also an armed Androccan bodyguard in the room, sworn to protect Alexandre to the death.

“I have always hated you.” His cousin finally lost the battle and came down on the side of his true feelings. “The beloved prince,” he sneered. “The spoiled and pampered heir to Androcco who grew up to be an equally spoiled and willful man, always bringing the name St Sebastien into disrepute with your scandalous exploits,” he continued, seemingly unconcerned that the bodyguard had now removed his gun from his shoulder holster and was aiming it at him. “You are not fit to be the ruler of Androcco.”

“But I’m guessing you think you are?” Ash taunted.

Hazel eyes flashed with dislike as Gerard glanced at the other man. “I know I am. I have always been more worthy, more deserving of ruling Androcco, than Alexandre ever has or could be.”

“Modest much?” Ash scorned.

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you.” Gerard spat his vitriol at him now. “You and your three equally overbearing brothers.”

Ash shrugged. “Probably more so than you, at least. None of us has ever tried to overthrow a ruling prince by poisoning him, for one thing,” he added harshly. “I don’t believe you’ll find any of us feel that same reluctance when it comes to the cousin of that ruling prince, though.”

Alexandre knew what Ash had been doing these past few minutes, and he would be forever grateful for it. Ash taunting Gerard had allowed Alexandre the time needed for his temper to cool. “Why now?”

Gerard eyed him scornfully. “Because you said you were going to consult with another doctor here in England.”

“No, I meant why have you waited until this past year to try to kill me?” It made Alexandre feel ill to think how much trust he had placed in Gerard, a man who had obviously always hated and been jealous of him.

“Because your ministers and the people are urging you to marry. To produce an heir.”

“One more person in the way of you becoming ruler of Androcco.”

“Exactly.” Gerard snorted. “I hadn’t expected Uncle Claude to die so unexpectedly in a car crash. But once he had…”

“There was only me standing in your way.”

“Yes!”

Alexandre sighed heavily, more sickened now than angry. “The jet will fly you back to Androcco tonight, under armed guard. You will be placed under house arrest until I’ve had a chance to talk to my Minister of State and governing council. You will be informed when we have decided what your fate should be. Now get him out of my sight, Christophe.”

“I’m so sorry,” Stazzi murmured.

Alexandre looked up from pouring single-malt whisky into two glasses. “You have nothing to feel sorry about.”

Alexandre had insisted that Stazzi accompany him back to the Meyers Hotel once Gerard had been taken away by two of the bodyguards. Ash went with them to ensure Gerard St Sebastien’s safe exit from England.

Stazzi had no idea why Alexandre had brought her here. The two of them hadn’t spoken on the drive to the hotel, Stazzi because she had no idea what
to
say, Alexandre lost in thought, his expression not encouraging conversation.

His silence hadn’t ended until after they had reached the hotel and fought their way through the reporters thronging outside. Once inside the building, Alexandre had instructed his men to take Stazzi up to the penthouse floor, while he stayed on the ground floor to talk with Daniel Meyers.

He looked slightly less grim when he joined Stazzi in the sitting room of the penthouse suite, but she still felt she had to say
something
about the things that been revealed at her apartment earlier.

She was utterly incredulous that Gerard St Sebastien had attempted to kill his own cousin so that he might become ruler of Androcco.

“No,” she acknowledged. “But I can’t imagine how it must feel to know that your cousin…betrayed you, in that way.”

“He tried to kill me,” Alexandre corrected her as he crossed the room to hand her one of the two glasses before taking a large swallow of the amber liquid from his own glass. “Worse than that, he tried to implicate you for his crime,” he added in disgust. “So don’t let’s either one of us feel in the least sorry for Gerard, hm?”

“Oh, I don’t feel sorry for
him
,” Stazzi assured him with feeling. “Believe me, I would quite happily have waited in line behind you and Ash for a chance to hit him. I’m just sorry that he hurt you.”

Alexandre nodded. “Daniel Meyers is now aware of at least some of the situation. He assured me just now your job here is secure.”

She blinked. “I… Thank you.” Being reinstated in her job was a double-edged sword, as far as Stazzi was concerned.

On the one hand, she not only needed this job, she also enjoyed it.

On the other hand, she wasn’t sure she was going to enjoy it quite as much when she had to come to work day after day and be reminded of the brief time she had spent here with Alexandre. That could prove to be a very painful experience.

“It was the least I could do in the circumstances.” Alexandre sat beside her on the sofa before leaning back and stretching out his long legs. He turned his head sideways on the cushion to look at her beneath lowered lids. “Why did your ex-boyfriend call you earlier?”

She pulled a face. “To warn me not to mention his name if I spoke to the press; otherwise, he would sue both of us.”