“Huh?” I walked to the edge of the pool and sat down, slipping my legs into the cool water.
“I asked why he’s pissed at you.”
“I’m guessing it has something to do with the, uh, email we all got.”
Kai moved in to Lucien’s side and kissed his cheek. “I’m going to go…swim a little.”
Lucien aimed a soft smile his way before nuzzling into his neck and making Kai laugh, and I thought how nice it must be to be so in sync with someone. Kai knew the exact moments Lucien needed privacy for his job and never made him feel shitty about it, and Lucien never made Kai feel he was somewhere he shouldn’t be or hearing something he shouldn’t. Like he wasn’t an imposition. Like his needs were just as important as the other person’s. That he wasn’t second to everything else.
“You talked to Theo, then?” Lucien asked as Kai headed toward the other end of the pool.
“I did. It was either me or King, and I’m pretty sure Theo would’ve rather it came from me than a jet-lagged King.”
Lucien grimaced. “I think any of us would prefer you in that scenario. I assume he didn’t take it well?”
“Seemed more annoyed I was questioning him in the first place than by what I was questioning him about.”
“But come on, you don’t actually think it was Theo in the video. I mean, he’s crazy, but he doesn’t show that side to the world. He knows the stakes.”
“I know. But King is furious, and the video is pretty damning. If it gets out that the Prince of Monaco is running around blowing up buildings for Tyrone Kingston, we’re fucked.”
“If it’s him.”
“Ifit’s him. Exactly. And that’s what I told him. But you know Theo—he flies off the handle, only listens to what he wants andthen ignores everything else. Generally the parts about keeping a cool, calm head.”
Lucien chuckled and ran a hand through his slick black hair. “Yeah, I think you’re mistaking him for yourself there. Theo has never had a cool, calm head. More like chaos in a suit. I think what we should be working on is who sent it. Or made it. Concentrate on that, not fighting amongst each other.”
Lucien was right. Working out who’d sent the video was just as important as finding out whether Theo was the one in it. Someone was clearly trying to fuck with us, and sowing this seed of doubt had immediately made us turn our suspicions in house.
But Theo had said it wasn’t him in the video, and until I found out otherwise, I needed to trust him. He was my brother, for fuck’s sake, a fellow King—something I needed to remember even if he was hellbent on irritating me at every given opportunity.
“You’re right, but you know how King is about shit like this. The possibility of our being identified, or Libertine’s being discovered?—”
“Isn’t a threat he’d take lightly.”
“Exactly. He wants to get to the bottom of this as quick as possible. To hell with anyone’s feelings.”
“And that’s why he’s the boss.” Lucien shrugged. “He protects us as fiercely as he demands our loyalty.”
That was true, but there were times where King’s expectations were too rigid even for me. Or should I sayespeciallyfor me. That was one of the reasons we’d ended. He’d wanted to keep everything private and professionalallthe time, whereas I wanted more. I wanted a public life with him. But with our both being so recognizable, and having so many secrets, he’d thought it too risky.
Apparently fucking his former TA and student was less of a risk.
Whatever. That was in the past, far behind me. But having to see it day in and day out wasn’t the easiest pill to swallow. And following his orders, as his second-in-command, was getting harder and harder too.
My phone vibrating in my pocket dragged my thoughts back from the edge.“It’s Alessio,” I said, and got to my feet, eager to know what our resident tech genius had uncovered. I answered the call with a sharp greeting, and Alessio must’ve been feeling the same pressure I was from our illustrious leader, because he didn’t stop to give me shit, just launched into what he’d found.
“Got some info for you on the video. The building’s location is Istanbul.”
Istanbul? What the hell?We didn’t have any current business there.
“But Theo’s tracker shows him in Monaco at the time of the bombing.”
“That’s good, then, right?”
“Usually I’d say yes.” Alessio paused for several seconds. “I’ve looked at this video for hours on end, and there’s no unnatural facial movements, weird lighting, distortions, or inconsistencies.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
