Royally Ever After (Royals of Valleria #7) (9 page)

R
ebecca
, still slightly perturbed with Alex, strode swiftly next to him on their way to the dining room. Showered and dressed, he felt somewhat refreshed, but could still use a good night’s sleep.

“Are you done being angry with me yet, darling?”

Her shoulders stiffened. “I’m not angry with you. Exactly.”

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tugging her to his side as they walked. “You’re adorable when you’re angry.”

“Alex,” she warned.

“Don’t worry about me, all right? I heard you loud and clear.”

“Did you?”

He nodded. “You’re right. I shouldn’t take on so much by myself. Even my father has all of us to help him with royal duties. I guess I just felt I needed to prove myself. To Papa, to my siblings, even to you.”

“You don’t need to prove anything to me, or any of us. You know how this morning, you told me you knew I’d make a great queen?”

“Yes.”

“No one will ever look at you and think anything but what an excellent king you’ll make.”

“The Council might disagree with you.”

“The Council knows that better than anyone. Why do you think they keep trying to usurp the family’s power? The public loves you, and they’ll never compete with that. Their best chance is to destroy you somehow.”

Alex stood stunned for a moment. “You might be right.”

“I am right. Do I need keep explaining why you don’t need to prove anything to anyone?”

He stopped them in the hall, and kissed her temple. “No, darling. Thank you for reminding me.”

“Will I need to remind you again?”

“Probably not.”

“I’ll take that to mean I’ll need to remind you again.”

“You won’t.”

“I will.”

He growled. “You won’t.”

“I will.”

“I can’t believe you’re arguing with me about this.”

Rebecca tugged him and they began walking down the hall again. “Well, I am.”

“Do you want everyone to see us arguing when we get to the dining room?”

“They won’t, as long as you realize that I’m right.”

“You’re not right.”

“I am.” She patted his chest. “But, if it makes you feel better, you can pretend to be right.”

“Rebecca,” he said in a low, warning tone.

“Alex,” she said, in a perfect imitation of his low, warning tone.

Alex halted his stride, then burst out laughing, his resonant voice echoing down the hall. He wrapped her into a hug. “God, what would I do without you?”

“That’s the same thing I should be saying.” She gave him a gentle, sweet kiss. “Come on. We’ve all got a long night ahead of us.”

They entered the dining room a minute later. Everyone was seated and enjoying mini-fruit tarts for dessert, along with copious amounts of coffee.

“Nice of you to finally join us,” Nate teased.

“We had wondered if you’d ever turn up,” Lorenzo added on.

“You can blame Rebecca for that,” Alex replied as he helped her to her seat.

Rebecca’s face flamed. “Alex.”

Alex grinned as he took his own seat, and decided to tease her a little more. “Rebecca forced me to take a nap. Then, when I woke up, she was busy telling me off. Once she gets going, it’s hard to stop her.”

“
Alex
.” Rebecca slapped him on the arm, then took in the surprised looks around the room.

He just chuckled and draped his arm over her chair. “I didn’t say I minded it, did I?”

Rebecca shook her head, and slapped a hand to her forehead.

“Rebecca,” Cat began, “perhaps you–”

“There’s no need to scold her. I deserved it, if you want to know the truth.”

“Yes, you did,” Rebecca said in a whispered hiss. “You’ll get some more, too, if you don’t shut up about it.”

He wagged his eyebrows. “I can’t wait.” Chuckles rang through the room.

Rebecca looked up to the ceiling, then sighed. She signaled to one of the servants and a few moments later their food was brought out. “Eat your dinner. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”

“You going back to the hospital?” Ethan asked, then frowned when Alex ignored his question. “Papa’s doctors are on top of it. Though I’m not specialized in cardiology, they didn’t recommend anything I wouldn’t have. I think he’ll be home in a day or two.”

The wedding day. He could be home by the wedding day. Rebecca and Alex shared a glance, then Alex turned to his other brothers. “Did any of you tell the rest?” They shook their heads.

“Thought we’d wait for you,” Lorenzo said.

Alex nodded as he finished a bite of succulent steak. “The Council are up to something. We think they’re planning to disrupt the wedding somehow.”

Exclamations broke out across the table. “They can’t do that!” Cat said.

Alex sipped some wine; he wouldn’t have much of it, but a little, after a hellish day, was completely called for. “They can and they likely will.” Alex went on to explain the situation, and the reason for the Council meeting tomorrow.

“Bastards,” Nate said.

Alex carefully put down his wine glass. “You said it. Rebecca and I will get married the day after next. I’m counting on you, on all of you, to help me see that priority through.”

“You know we’ll help,” Marcello said. “But the Council could just be the tip of the iceberg. What with Zinnia and Gerald, not to mention–”

Cat gasped. “What about Zinnia? And Gerald? Has he done something?”

Marcello cursed under his breath, then told them all about Zinnia’s request. “I haven’t found out much about her. She’s kept quiet for the last few years, even before Gerald tried to kill some of us. I did find out that some of Gerald’s privileges are being revoked in two days.”

“He had privileges?” Alex asked.

“Just a few. One of those privileges was being allowed family visitors under certain controlled conditions. We, as the royal family, could grant leniency and allow it once the prison revokes it. My guess? The prison informed Zinnia of this, so this is the last time she can visit him without getting permission from us.”

“She still wants permission to come into Valleria, though,” Alex said.

“She wants it, but she doesn’t explicitly need it. We flagged her in our systems, but all that means is she gets someone following her once she enters the country; she’s not barred from entering. There’s nothing – except her relation to Gerald – to suggest she’s a threat. She did the right thing approaching us first, though. She probably thought it’d be easier to get permission to enter Valleria, than it would be get permission later to both enter the country and visit her father.”

“Does Papa know about this?” Carolina asked as she toyed with one of her bracelets, a nervous habit she’d never been able to break.

“We haven’t told him. I’m not sure that we will, either,” Alex said. “What good will it do? I don’t want him worried about a threat against the wedding.”

“He’s worried about that anyway, Alex,” Marcello chimed in. “We talked about it when I stopped by to see him today. I didn’t mention Zinnia, but he’s not an idiot. He knows the wedding will be a good time to try something, if someone or some group were so inclined.”

“So you think we should loop him in on this?” Nate asked.

“I think he knows something’s going on, so we might as well,” Marcello said. “Ask his advice, see what he thinks.”

“I’ll think about it,” Alex said after a pause. “In the meantime, keep looking into her background. There’s something we’re missing. I know it.”

“Will do. In the meantime, don’t stress out too much about it. Once the rest of the family arrives, they’ll know right away if we’re hiding something.”

“We’re always hiding something from them,” Alex said easily. “They’re on a need-to-know basis and, since most of them have loose tongues, I’d just as soon they didn’t hear anything.”

“Not even about Zinnia?” Sarah asked. “I know a couple of our cousins have stayed in touch with her. They’re bound to make a comment about her not attending the wedding, or about Gerald.”

A foul taste coated Alex’s tongue at the sound of Gerald’s name. “If anyone mentions that name in my presence,” he began regally, “they’ll find themselves thrown out of the palace with nowhere to stay, particularly since every hotel in Valentia has been booked up since the wedding date was announced.”

“Oh, no.” Rebecca put a hand to her forehead. “I’ve forgotten to change the arrangement with the Gara Hotel.”

“We can give them a call tomorrow. It’ll be fine,” Cat reassured her.

“Maybe.”

“What arrangements?” Alex asked.

“Well, that’s where I’ll be tomorrow night, the night before the wedding. We were going to have my bridal shower then, but we should cancel that now. I can’t believe I forgot.”

Spend the night without her? Was she mad? “What’s this nonsense?”

Rebecca blinked. “What nonsense?”

“You staying at a hotel the night before the wedding.”

She smiled. “Alex, you know it’s bad luck. I’ve told you about this before, and your mind simply refuses to acknowledge it.”

“It is bad luck for the bride and groom to be
separated
before the wedding. I won’t stand for it.”

She chuckled and said, in a placating tone, “All right, Alex.”

“I’m serious.”

“Of course you are.”

“Rebecca.”

“Alex.”

His eyes narrowed on hers. “You’re not going to give in, are you?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry I’m not. The hotel is very close to the church. Logistically, it makes sense. If I didn’t stay there, I’d stay with my parents, but they’re staying with me at the hotel. I’ve got the top suite of rooms to get ready for the wedding, and they, along with some of my family, are in the rest of the rooms at the hotel. We booked the entire hotel, at considerable cost, I’ll remind you.

“And, before you go all ‘Alexander’ on me, you should know that security – our Royal Protection agents – will be all over the hotel.”

Alex quirked a brow. “Go ‘Alexander’ on you?”

“You know. When you get all broody and serious and impossible to deal with.”

Holy hell
. “And you’ve named this behavior after me? My name is now a verb?”

Lorenzo grinned. “Sorry to tell you, big brother, but we’ve been using that for a while.”

“What?”

“Yup,” Nate added, leaning back in his chair. “Don’t remember who said it first, but now we’ve got Rebecca saying it, too.”

Alex crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t like this. Not one bit.”

Marcello gestured to Alex with his thumb. “There it is. He’s going ‘Alexander’ on us again.”

As laughter broke out across the table, Rebecca joined in. Alex was used to his brothers busting his balls, but now he was king. Shouldn’t he be treated with more respect?

“Just go with it,” Rebecca whispered.

“Why?” he whispered back.

“Because they love you. Not because you’re king, but because you’re you. Let them remember you’re their brother first, and their king second.”

Alex sighed. His fiancée had a point. “All right, darling.”

“Pardon me, Your Majesty, Your Highnesses, Ladies and Sirs,” a butler announced. “Some of the family guests have begun arriving. They’ll be in the Royal Wing in the next few minutes.”

“On that note,” Alex said, rising from his chair, “it’s time for me to go prep for tomorrow’s meeting. If I can manage it, I’ll stop by and see the family later.”

“I’ll meet you down there,” Nate said. “I want to greet the family with Charlie first.”

“I’m doing the same with Grace,” Marcello said.

Rebecca stood up and wrapped her arms around Alex for a moment. While conversation rose around them, and chairs scraped back, they seemed in their own little world. “You’re not really upset at me about the hotel, are you?”

“No, darling. I understand why you have to spend the night away from me. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“If it makes you feel better, I won’t like it much, either. I miss you when you’re gone, you know.”

He missed her already, and he hadn’t even left yet. “Will you be all right to deal with the family on your own? I can stay if you need me to.”

“I feel like I need to do this myself. I’ll let you know if that changes.”

“All right, darling. Kiss me so I can go.”

“Your wish is my command.”

“Say that again on our wedding night,” he murmured, then met her lips halfway. The kiss was chaste, but he felt better. He hoped she did, too.

“Alex, can we talk before you go?” Ethan asked.

Alex gave Rebecca a squeeze. “Give me a minute, darling.” She nodded and stepped away.

Ethan looked abashed. “I’m sorry about my behavior earlier, Alex. You know I’ll do what you tell me to do. I’m not going to argue with you, not now, not later.” He shook his head. “God damn it, I know how Arianna feels. How do you think I felt for twelve fucking hours stuck on a ship at sea with a patient I couldn’t leave, while both my father and sister lay in hospital beds?”

Any anger Alex still felt at Ethan ebbed away. “Ethan–”

“No, it’s my turn to talk. What good is it being a doctor if you can’t help your family during a time like this?” Ethan ran a furious hand through his hair. “We’ve all got our duties, Alex. It’s not just you. You’ve got the most, but you’re not the only one in this family with responsibilities pulling him away from family.”

Alex jerked Ethan to him, and locked him in a hug. “I’m sorry, Ethan.”

Ethan wrapped tight around Alex. “Christ. I’m sorry, too.”

Alex still had a hard time believing his youngest brother was now a grown man, and a doctor. They pulled back. “So, Papa was looking good when you saw him?”

“As well as can be expected. You know, I’m used to seeing patients hooked up to all sorts of things, but I’m not used to seeing my father that way.” He paused, then added softly, “He looked frail, but he’s in good spirits.”

“Hopefully, Arianna will be the same.”

“Speaking of, we’re off as well,” Ethan said, pointing to himself and Carolina. “I’ll let everyone know once I’ve touched base with Arianna’s doctors.”

“She was doing okay last I spoke with her,” Rebecca said as she neared Alex again. “Still no more bleeding, though her pains started up again for a while.”