Present Day…
Vallerian Royal Palace
Bunker
Ethan held Anda’s hand as they made their way down long corridors, each one leading them deeper into the bowels of the palace towards the bunker. It had been a while since he’d been back home, and years since he’d needed to come to the bunker. In the past few years when his family had needed to come here, he’d been at sea, or his family had supposed he was at sea.
After their biometric scanning, they stepped into the bunker, which was humming and alive with conversation and action. The first room was surprisingly large for an underground room, and contained a long table filled with people, including some from the various armed forces and security agencies, Marcello’s deputy at the head, and his parents and siblings, too. His father and Alex were on phones at the other end of the room, and only Rebecca, Grace, and Charlie were missing; they must be in one of the other rooms. The bunker held an extensive range of conference rooms of various sizes, as well as a long hallway filled with bedrooms, kitchens, and other necessities.
As soon as they entered, Marcello strode to the head of the room to check on the status of things. Ethan did a visual check of everyone first. Though he’d seen everyone else get out of the ballroom quickly, he still scanned for visible injuries and found none.
Suddenly, all eyes turned to him and Anda, then slowly lowered to lock on their joined hands.
Anda tried to pull away—as she’d tried to do since they’d left the car—but he made it clear he wasn’t going to let go of her, and she just gave up.
His mother’s eyes narrowed on them while other eyes widened.
This wasn’t how he imagined introducing Anda to his family, but this was just the way it would have to be.
He started off friendly. “Anyone hurt?”
Marcello was still at the screens, swiping and zooming in on different parts of the ballroom as another bomb squad team scanned it. “Only you, Ethan.”
Fucking Marcello. “I’m fine. Anda’s hurt, though.”
She shot him a look of anger and exasperation. It was cute and surprisingly sexy, but she needed proper medical attention now that they were in a place where he could provide it. The bunker had a full functioning med bay, for all intents and purposes.
His mother rose and walked over to him, and put a hand to his cheek. “Are you truly well?”
“Yes, Mama. Perfectly fine.”
She gave him a ‘mother’s stare’, which meant after one second, he was intensely uncomfortable and wanted to confess every awful thing he’d done, but managed to keep quiet.
After a few more moments, she nodded. “You’ll still see a doctor once we’re out.”
“I am a doctor.”
“No argument.”
To which, of course, he couldn’t really argue with her. Damn it.
She gestured to Anda. “Now, introduce us properly.”
Anda again tried to pull away but he wouldn’t let her. “Everyone, this is Anda Salamanca, the woman I love. Anda, this is…well, everyone. If I started saying their royal titles, we’d be here all night.”
Anda shot him a frustrated look, then turned her movie star smile on everybody else. She curtsied low once in the direction of his father, again to his mother, and a third to everybody else before she rose, though she winced a little while she did it. “It’s an honor to meet all of you.”
His mother gave Anda a soft smile. “Well, it is lovely to meet you as well. Now, where did you two meet, my dear? Come, sit down and let’s have a chat.”
“She’s not sitting down with you,” Marcello called from the other side of the room.
“Oh?” his mother said. “Why ever not?”
Marcello didn’t even glance their way. “Because she doesn’t deserve to know you. She’s aformerVallerian intelligence agent.”
Ethan growled. “Marcello.”
Marcello still wouldn’t look at him. “Save it.”
