As soon as they heard the sound of car doors slamming outside, Ledger let out a whistle. “That’s got to burn.”
“She’s been telling anyone who will listen that Pavel kidnapped her Royal Consort,” Madden filled them in with a grin. “I have to agree, this will be a major blow for the Imperial family. She’s going to be a laughingstock for a while.”
Pride was everything to an Imperial like Lyra, that was why she’d wanted to keep their relationship a secret in the first place. If she’d gone around telling the world Zane was her Royal Consort, only for him to show up engaged to someone else? Yikes.
She would lose all respect. Business deals would be harder since they wouldn’t take her seriously, and even her friends, the ones who used her for social status, would pull away and leave her high and dry in the face of all that negative social scrutiny. The Emperor, their older sister, might even be tempted to remove her from some of her political positions to avoid permanent damage to Vitality.
“You sure you want to do that to her?” Zane asked, but Kelevra merely arched a brow at him.
“I didn’t make her do or say any of those things. If she suffers later from her own actions, that’s not on me.” He inspected Zane closely. “That being said, she is still my sister and still the Imperial Heir. I know your policy—”
“Knowing she’s both infuriated and humiliated at my wedding will be enough to satisfy me.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.” It’d pay her back for all those times she’d used and humiliated him. As for shooting Pavel…Zane would put that on the back burner to keep the peace.
For now.
He sighed. “I know it’s not a good enough compromise. If it was me in your shoes, I’d want blood in return for hurting my man. Unfortunately for us both, she is a step above me in the line of succession. There’s only so much I can do here.”
“I understand.” He really did. “Honestly, the fact that you came through at all means a lot. I didn’t think you would care enough to bother.”
“We’re friends,” Kelevra said. “I may not be able to do anything more where my sister is concerned, but I can speak for the entire family when I say no one would lose any sleep if something were to happen to dear old cousin Wells.” He shrugged a single shoulder. “Just a friendly suggestion.”
“As far as consolation prizes go,” Pavel chimed in. “It’ll do.”
“Keep it discrete,” Kel warned.
“Always.”
“Cool, are we going to talk about how you’re a shapeshifter?” Madden asked. “No? Seriously? Did everyone else know but me?”
“I didn’t know,” Rin said.
“Sorry about that. It didn’t seem important.” Kelevra held out a hand to Rin. “Everything seems fine here, Flower. If we leave now, we can still make it to that double date your brother begged us to go on.”
“Begged is a bit strong,” Rin took his hand, “And actually, I was hoping we’d miss it.” He motioned to Zane. “Do something that needs attention so we have an excuse to stick around.”
“I—” Everyone erupted into cries of outrage before Zane could finish, and when he turned to find out why, he saw that Pavel had slipped his cock free of his pants. “Put that away, are you crazy?!”
“Not that kind of attention!” Ledger yelled, darting from the room with his hands over his eyes.
Madden was close behind.
Kelevra growled in the back of his throat and Rin, who had the prince’s hand covering him, stated, “I didn’t even get thechance to see anything. You moved too quickly. Let go so I can take a peek.”
“Don’t you dare,” Zane growled, then turned back and yanked Pavel’s pants on. “And you, no more flashing your junk. From here on out, I’m the only one allowed to look, understand? No more modeling for the art department, and no more filming—”
Pavel sealed their mouths together, effectively cutting him off. His tongue pressed against the seam of his lips, demanding entrance, and when Zane sighed and allowed it, he fucked in wildly, with the same passionate frenzy he typically used to screw.
“We’re leaving,” Kelevra announced as he and Rin headed for the exit. “I’ll see you both tomorrow. I’ve rescinded your leave of absence, Zane, so don’t be late for class. That threat to withhold treatment from my sister only works if you actually become the Royal Doctor.”
“I don’t think he’s listening,” Rin chimed.
“Not my problem. I’ve wasted enough time here.”
Zane shoved Pavel back against the table and then lifted himself so he was straddling his waist with a knee at either side, only barely processing the other's words as they vanished out the door.
