“Was it Jonathan?” I asked evenly.
Godric’s nose scrunched. “Maybe.”
“You’re not sure?”
“No, I’m not. He’s loyal to my father.”
“Meaning?”
“No one fucks with my father. He would take great offense to someone trying to hurt me. So, essentially, being loyal to my father is being loyal to me too.”
I nodded. “And it would be too obvious. Jonathan was the one interrupting us. If he’s a clever person, he would have been certain not to put himself in a situation to be caught.”
Godric stayed quiet for long moments before he blinked with a thought. “How exactly did you get out of my room without being seen by my guards?”
“There’s a hidden passageway…” I trailed off, my eyes widening. I tapped my bracelet again and pulled up the image. I studied the angle further and pointed. “The bedroom door was more that way, wasn’t it?”
Godric was bent, reviewing the photo too. His golden eyes narrowed. “My men didn’t take this.”
“You’re right.” I nodded. “This was taken from the bathroom. That’s where the hidden passageway is.”
Godric straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. His lips curved in a pleased, evil grin. He chuckled ever so softly, and it was frightening. “That means it came from your father’s, and there’s only one man who would benefit directly from this.”
My forehead crinkled. “His men are loyal.”
“It’s like a puzzle, pet. Think a second.”
Deep in thought, I ate more nuts. I stared off into nothing as I thought about that night, replaying it in my mind. I thought about the people in power directly underneath my father. The people who knew about the passageways. I blinked as if I were waking up.
“It’s Brandon.” I jerked my excited regard to humored golden eyes. “My father said he arrived early. He saw you and me leave together after we were in the bar with your entourage of guards. All the soldiers know the layout of the base, and the higher-up officials are briefed with exit strategies in case of an attack. He would have known about the hidden passageways.”
“Keep going…” Godric rested his hip against the counter, a proud glimmer in his eyes. “You’ve almost got this.”
I shook my head in amusement. “He was getting intel on you. It’s wasn’t me. But he figured out who I was soon enough when we met. The girl with the great Mr. King was his own fiancée.”
Godric rolled his finger. Waited.
“News has spread that I left my father to join the Corporate Army. The timing that my father received the image means that Brandon was keeping track to see if I was accepted or not. And he knows if we’d married, it would have sealed his future as the next general. But I was accepted into the CA, so no marriage for him.” My brows bounced with the giddiness of being correct. “His future as a general was in jeopardy, so he took matters into his own hands. He wants my father dead so that he can secure his place again.”
Godric slowly clapped. One. Two. Three.
Then he dipped and pressed his lips to mine.
His kiss was indulgent.
I grinned against his mouth. “So, big man, how did a man sneak into the bedroom with a shifter who has a great sense of smell?”
Godric nipped my bottom lip. “You tell me.”
“The shifter was finally getting some after one hundred years of no pussy. He was a little preoccupied.”
He chuckled, tilted his head to lick along my bottom lip. “You would be correct, pet.”
A masculine throat cleared behind me.
I didn’t want to move, so I didn’t. I placed my forehead against Godric’s chest and inhaled his unique scent while he straightened to deal with whoever had interrupted us. Wild spice and cherries surrounded me, calming my shattered nerves.
Godric’s arms embraced my frame, his hands rubbing on my back in comfort. He stated gently, “Poppy?”
