He directed her toward the private elevator to the penthouse and noticed that two other men joined two of his own at the doors.
“It appears your security team is just as thorough as mine. I wouldn’t be surprised if your men are already in place when we exit the elevator as well.”
“Of course they are,” she replied. “You don’t get to be a woman as successful as me by not taking your safety seriously, even in the presence of kings.”
The elevator reached the penthouse floor. The doors opened following a soft ding, and just as he’d surmised, in the corridor there were extra security members he assumed were part of her team, standing side by side with his own.
He didn’t know how she’d managed to get clearance to do this, but there was something enticing about the fact that she wielded enough command to thwart a king if she chose to.
Possessing so much power himself meant Aléx always had to be mindful of the positions he put people in, making sure he wasn’t taking advantage of the immediate dynamic that came when you were the ruler of a nation dealing with a common person.
Reigna stepped into his suite and sat in an armchair in the living room before he’d even offered her a seat, crossing one thick, enticing leg over the other while offering him a captivating smile. It was a power move; he was certain of that. Reigna Devereaux didn’t ask for permission. She simply did what she wanted because she was always in control.
Reigna Devereaux was not a common person. How he’d missed that fact in all their polite exchanges over the years, he didn’t know. But tonight, more than anything or anyone else, Aléx understood that this woman was both temptation and a threat tied together in a sexy bow.
“Considering we’ve said less than a handful of words to one another over the years, how did you know I would welcome your little ruse to get me away from Lady Katia, Ms. Devereaux?”
Regina Devereaux relaxed a little in her chair. Hearing him use her surname meant she wouldn’t have to keep reminding herself to answer when he called her by her twin sister’s name, Reigna.
She’d agreed to represent Gemini Queens by pretending to be Reigna at this fancy gala while the real Reigna was playing the part of the dutiful new queen of Nyeusi. Yes, Reigna and her husband, Jasiri, were the newly installed king and queen of Nyeusi. Jasiri’s ascension to the throne was an unexpected event devised to save the kingdom from his power-hungry uncle. With the Nyeusian monarchy so unstable, Reigna had begged Regina not just to take her place, but to pretend to be her at this gala.
According to Reigna, Aléxandros was a staunch stick-in-the-mud who demanded the heads of the top-selling foreign companies in his country meet once a year at this gala. It was essentially a way for the king to put faces to the people Obsidian Island did business with. It seemed a bit micromanage-y for Regina’s tastes. However, with as much revenue as Gemini Queens garnered from this particular business relationship, Regina had given in to her sister and agreed to cosplay as Reigna the way no other person in the world could.
Her sister was the one who loved the limelight and exuded confidence in social settings. Regina was self-possessed, but usually in numbers and scientific formulas and equations. Dealing with people was an altogether different matter. But when she’d seen that woman pushing herself uninvited into the king’s space, something protective in her flashed hot, forcing Regina into action.
“I’m a woman in corporate America; I can spot uninvited and inappropriate attention and action a mile away. Even with your cool facade, you seemed tense. That was especially true when your speaking companion touched you. I figured I’d do for you what’s been done for me dozens of times when I found myself in similar situations, where cursing fools out or smacking fire out of them would cause me and my business more harm than good.”
The king mouthedsmacking fire out of themas if he were testing the weight and meaning of the phrase, and Regina couldn’t help but chuckle. This man was a king. He’d probably never encountered such language, figurative or otherwise, in his rarified circles.
Regina gave herself a mental shake at the wordrarified. She was part of a billionaire family; she too moved in rarified circles. But the Devereauxs had kept their feet, and their sensibilities, firmly planted in Brooklyn, meaning it wasn’t every day they were seated in the private company of actual royalty.
Reigna was going to owe her big-time for this particular game of twin swap.
Not only was being the face of Gemini Queens far outside her skill set, but this king with his thick midnight-black hair and Caribbean-blue eyes was seriously messing with her John Stamos fixation.
For anyone who hadn’t noticed, John Stamos was fine long before he was Uncle Jesse onFull House. Although it was before her time, she’d found a couple of clips of him onGeneral Hospitalplaying the character Blackie Parrish on YouTube. Yes, he was fine even back then too.
King Aléxandros was, for lack of a better word, HAWT!
Yes, HAWT.
His level of sexy, with his rippled muscles peeking through the expertly crafted tuxedo, coupled with that distinguished yet powerful gentleman affect he was giving off, could not be contained or explained in the simple three-lettered spelling of the word. It needed an extra letter, an alternate spelling, and exaggerated pronunciation just to scratch the surface of how attractive and enigmatic this man was. Attractive enough that while she’d faithfully worshipped at John Stamos’s altar of fine, the king was making her seriously think of switchingher allegiance from the Hollywood heartthrob to this revered monarch.
“Ms. Devereaux.” The king’s rich voice broke through her thoughts, bringing her attention directly to his face. His jaw was strong and clean-shaven, and along with his overall countenance, just exuded authority. “As a king, people scurry to attend to my commands or what they think I want. Very few people look beyond the crown to consider what I might need.”
The lines around his face softened as he unbuttoned his jacket and sat on the ottoman directly in front of her. The cool scent of his cologne tickled her senses, forcing her to fight the powerful urge to shove her nose in his neck and fill her lungs to their capacity with the smell of him.
“Thank you for looking beyond the crown and seeing the man in need.”
He was sharing his vulnerability with her, and that fact made desire twist a knot in her gut. A man who held might at his fingertips but still managed to understand and express his own vulnerability? She was sure it had to be stronger than any controlled substance on the planet.
She’d never been tempted once in her life to indulge in substance abuse. But everything she’d seen from this man tonight, especially now when he was laying his guard down, it made her want to crawl into his lap and wrap her arms around those broad shoulders she was certain were holding the weight of the world.
“I know what it’s like for people to not see you, to never allow you to be your authentic and individual self. I’m just glad I happened to see what was going on. No one should be touched without their consent. You being a king or a man shouldn’t mean you’re excluded from that expectation.”
A flash of fire in his eyes called to the twin flame burning in her gut. After she’d just told this man no one should touch himwithout his consent, all she wanted to do was touch him—hell, taste him, if he’d allow it.
God, why must I have home training and be so principled? Why can’t I be like that thirsty heifer downstairs and just take what I want?
