As he shifted to move away, she caught his arm. “Stay for breakfast, then go.”
Some of the tension left him, and he smiled. “All right.”
The food arrived a short time later, and they ate together in their small dining room. She feigned drinking some tea while he got dressed and, once she’d kissed him goodbye for the day, she returned to their bedroom.
She slipped under the covers and took a deep breath as she stared at the high ceiling above her. Finally she was alone.
No expectations from anyone, no pressure. No demands on her or her body or her time. No pretending she wasn’t in pain when she was. She could just fuckingbefor a little while. It was just silence—pure, beautiful silence.
Ever since the surgery, she didn’t seem to care about things as she used to. She felt distanced from everyone and everything, even herself. It was almost as if she were viewing her life from above, a casual observer rather than an active participant.
Was she depressed? Maybe. She’d certainly had a lot of hard moments recently, but she wasn’t sure if that was the reason, or maybe it wasn’t the only reason. If she cared enough to find out, she’d schedule an appointment with her therapist before they left on the tour, but she just couldn’t be bothered.
On that thought, with a deep, long sigh, she pulled the covers up and went back to sleep.
ALEXANDER
He went back.He knew he shouldn’t, knew she wouldn’t like it, but something told him to go back and check on her.
The Vallerian Royal Protection agents opened the door to his apartments, and he immediately heard silence. Either she’d left or she was resting.
He didn’t see her in the various rooms he passed on his way down the hall. He did notice that she hadn’t picked up their dishes from the dining table, which was unlike her. She always tried to make things easier for the staff when she could.
He paused in their bedroom doorway and saw her sleeping form on the bed. He wanted to go to her, to hold her again and tell her everything would be all right, but it would be a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep.
They’d once promised total honesty with each other, but they were drifting away from it again. Now, they needed to find a way to drift back. They’d done it barely a week or two ago, and theywoulddo it again.
Yet something else was at work here. His wife wasn’t quite the same since the surgery, and he wondered if she recognized it. Perhaps he’d have a chat with the doctor again, surely she’d have some insight. He’d have to talk to Rebecca about it soon but, for now, he let her rest.
When his phone buzzed in his pocket, he quietly closed their bedroom door and made his way quickly down the hall, speaking low as he answered. “Marcello.”
“Get to the Situation Room. We’ve had a threat, and some are suggesting we cancel the tour.” His brother sounded both serious and tense, which wasn’t a good sign.
“I’m on my way.”
twelve
ALEXANDER
Alex entered the Situation Room and saw Marcello gathered with several high-ranking and high-clearanced officials, as well as their father, Gabriel, and their youngest brother, Ethan, and his love, Anda. Alex nodded to each of them or acknowledged their bows or curtsies, then took a seat beside his father.
“Rebecca?” his father whispered.
“She’s resting.”
His father nodded and squeezed Alex’s hand. Even at his age, the small comfort from his father did a lot to set his heart at ease.
Marcello pointed to one of the many large screens in the room displaying various kinds of information. “Thank you for coming so quickly everyone. I’ll get straight to the point. We’ve intercepted some chatter about a potential attack against the group traveling to the States. It’s not unexpected—we imagined something similar would pop up, as it always does during royal visits abroad. What’s interesting about this is that the threat isn’t just targeted at us. Withso many traveling to the All Nations meeting, others were included in the threat.”
Marcello pointed to a different screen highlighting various text messages. “As we would with any royal visit, we coordinate safety with the host nation and we each communicate any relevant threats received. The Americans, Valleria, and other European nations also intercepted similar messages. The Americans in particular said the messages are from a group they’re already following, but wouldn’t say more. They’re going to do some recon, and we have a follow up call with them later tonight.”
“I’m disappointed they won’t share more at this point,” their father said. “I expected better cooperation.”
“Your Majesty,” Mirabel, the head of the Vallerian Intelligence Agency began, “this is not uncommon. We would do the same in their position, and gather more information before discussing how to manage the threat. For example, we’d want to confirm if we have any undercover agents there before passing on any information that could compromise their position or potentially harm them.”
“Perhaps, but things were different during previous royal visits there.”
Marcello nodded. “It’s a different U.S. administration. Different rules. Also the logistics of security for the All Nations meeting makes it different too.”
