My smile was gentle and kind. “I don’t mean to be harsh. It’s just their reality. And I don’t want any of you hurt.” And the fact they still weren’t over their long-dead love. I turned and walked to the exit, waving my left hand over my shoulder. “If you need me, I’ll be in my bedchambers reviewing the file you sent about the attack, and then I’ll be heading to the conference room again.”
* * *
In a huff, I sat next to the asshole king. I didn’t glance up at anyone in the conference room since not everyone was here anyway. I kept opening emails and answering them as quickly as I could. My brows drew down over my eyes as two more emails came in while I was answering one.
At this rate, I’d be glued to my phone for eternity.
I growled under my breath and opened a new email.
This one I couldn’t answer immediately. I’d need to look at the database for the vampire population numbers in London first. I closed that one out and opened another email, this one petty but manageable. I tap-tapped away on my phone and kept on scowling at the screen.
King Niallan leaned in my direction, asking, “What’s put that look on your face, your majesty?”
“Nothing,” I snapped, in no mood for civil conversation with the druid. “Leave me alone.”
“All right,” he drawled, extended and deep. He held his hands up in pacification as he pulled away from me. “I’ll leave the testy queen alone right now.”
I sniffed. “Maybe you are smart.”
“At times.” He chuckled quietly.
My eyebrows dipped even further as four new emails pinged into my inbox. I lifted my cell phone to my face and hissed at the screen, baring my fangs at the damn thing. Then I pulled it away…and opened another email.
And another five landed in my inbox.
“Oh my goddamn God,” I shouted, giving up. I turned my cell phone to the lords, all having arrived now and taking their seats. “Okay, Overlords, tell me how the hell you did it when you ruled. How did you manage all of these messages? I need guidance.”
Lord Xenon muffled a laugh with a drawn-out cough, but he finally answered, “Your assistant should be handling those messages, then sending you one email at the beginning of the morning for clarification on the ones they couldn’t answer themselves the day before.”
I stared. “Oh.”
My head snapped down to my cell phone, reviewing the emails more closely. All of the emails were being forward to me…from my assistant.
I looked back up at the Overlords, and stated seriously, “I think I may need two assistants. Is that feasible with the budget?” I really didn’t want to fire Harmony.
Fuck, she’d probably kill me if I did.
Was it normal to be scared of one’s own assistant?
Maybe?
Hell, I was going with maybe.
That was the quickest answer, instead of looking too deeply into the fact I continually held an assassin’s—very large—paycheck in my hands.
Lord Otto shook his head in the negative. “You donotwant to be known as a high-maintenance queen. That will follow you your entire life.” Another shake of his head. “And it’s not in the budget.”
I whined, “Fuck.”
Lord Pippin snickered quietly. “Harmony having some transitional issues?”
I dropped my head back and stared at the ceiling while tossing my still buzzing cell phone on the table. “If you mean that my office is currently unserviceable, and I want to use my cell phone for target practice now, then, yes, she’s having some transitional issues.”
Lord Pippin laughed harder. “She’s never been anyone’s assistant before. It’ll take time.”
“Lotsof time,” I grumbled, and raised my head back up. I grabbed my phone that was vibrating so hard with every new email that arrived that it was traveling over the table into Lord Belshazzar’s space where he had sat next to me. I turned the fucker off and pocketed it again. “Dammit. This is not what I need right now.”
My father lifted his pointer finger off the table where his hands rested. “I can send Joshua to your office to train her if you would like, your majesty?”
