We saw each other every few days, each outing drawing more and more media attention. Is this the one? the Normal news asked. Dark news dug into Jade's life and how well she could fit in with royalty. After over a month of being seen around town together, a lot of people were starting to talk about us being an official item.
I realized I still needed to text Jade about what time the car was picking us up for the DarkRDays concert. DarkRDays was a popular singer Ty raved about. He bought four tickets and insisted we go with him and Jyl. I wasn’t really into rock, but Ty had hoped my being there could get him backstage, so I’d caved. I had started my text message when my burner phone rang.
Alecia. I frowned and picked up the phone.
“What do you want?”
“Hello, bat brain, did you miss me?”
“Nope.” I honestly hadn’t.
“Dad and I are back in town, and he wants you here tomorrow morning for the trip and business review.”
“No problem, what time?”
“Eight o’clock sharp at the house office. Mom said if you want to join us for breakfast to be here by seven o’clock.”
“Eight o’clock it is, then.” No way was I spending more time than necessary there.
“Oh, Father asked me a few weeks back to do a background check on the chick you are seeing—Jade, is it? He wasn’t pleased to hear about it in the papers first. You should’ve at least told Mom.” I could feel her smirky smile behind the phone.
“Why would she care?” I asked indignantly.
“Mom is a queen. You can’t just be with any gold-digging hussy now.”
I sighed. “I think they will approve of Jade. She works at the Boutique, but you already know that, don’t you?”
“I’m surprised someone of that caliber would hang with you. At least I know she could easily kill you off.”
“Pretty soon it will be part of your job to protect me,” I reminded her.
“Still, is she LeBete worthy?” she continued, ignoring me. “I can’t wait to hear what Mom thinks.”
“I will be there tomorrow.” I hung up the phone before Alecia could say anything else.
I couldn’t go to the concert now. I needed to finish reading the paperwork Dad had given me before he left for Mexico. He would undeniably ask for my opinion and a recommended solution to a production problem we were having in Romania. I was mad at myself—I never waited until the last minute to do work and now I had to scramble.
“Call Jade,” I commanded my main phone.
“Yes?” Jade answered.
“I can’t go to the concert.”
“Why not?” Jade snapped.
“Family business, but maybe one of your Boutique friends can go with you? Veronique?” I suggested.
“Maybe I’ll ask another guy to go with me.”
“If that is what you want to do,” I said blandly. I wasn’t in the mood for the obligatory games right now.
“Have you told Ty?”
“Not yet.”
“Ha!” she cackled. “He’ll have you killed.”
“I know.”
“Maybe even get me to do it.”
“I’m sure Ty's capable of killing me himself,” I said flatly, giving into the game.
“Well, I’ll be sure to have lots of fun tonight.”
“You do that,” I said and hung up the phone.
I wished I could talk to her normally. I wanted to know if she truly wanted to go to the concert or not, but I couldn’t. The only time we could talk sort of freely was when she was at my place since Mom had assured me it wasn’t bugged. Jade was still paranoid, though. My mom cautioned me up front about getting her a burner phone. She was worried Jade wasn’t accustomed to using one. If she accidentally used the wrong phone, it would ruin everything. It was so hard for me to tell what was real these days. Skyla, I mean Jade, seemed to actually enjoy drinking and smoking the last couple of times we went out, but, then again, that's what she was trained to do, right? I was overthinking this. I looked down and realized I had absentmindedly been biting my ring finger cuticle and abruptly stopped.
I called Ty. He promptly hung up on me when I told him the news.
It was never good when Ty got super mad. Two years ago he slashed a guy's tires after he had forgotten to add Ty to an exclusive nightclub guest list when he said he would. He probably wouldn’t go to such extremes with me given my mom's status, but he’d give me the cold shoulder for sure. Between him, the ever more wild Jade, and the report to my father, I was beginning to feel stressed. I decided to have a cigarette. In the past, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but the smell of cigarettes on my fingers, breath, and clothes had been bothering me lately. After a couple of puffs, I stepped out onto my balcony and drank in the energy of the city. Time was ticking. Nearly five months had gone by since mom had said she had six months to pull off her plan. Five weeks was all we had left. I needed to tell Father that I wanted him and Mom to meet Jade to show my intent to partner soon. Father would need to be in a decent mood. He was never in a good mood, but he could certainly be in a bad one. This meant my work strategy needed to be stellar. I took one last inhale of my cigarette, snubbed it out on the balcony floor, and stepped back into the apartment. The door closed behind me with a push to a button. I scrubbed the scent of cigarettes off my fingers and then went to work on the report.
The Morning After…
The morning's meeting progressed with no major hiccups—not that I expected a lot of drama. Father liked his staff to only speak when spoken to during meetings, so it was never a boisterous crowd. After hearing everyone's weekly reviews and discussing his trip to Mexico, Father turned the floor over to me to discuss the situation in Romania. I summarized my take on the report and offered three possible courses of action. I then sat back down to listen to the staff's thoughts on the best approach. Father always wanted to know the expected timeline and estimated cost. I sat next to him at the head of an oval granite table, focusing on keeping the expression on my face as cold as the stone slab. Even though the room was dimly lit, I could see my sister sitting in one of the chairs along the wall reserved for secondary staff, looking irritated. She hated sitting in the back. Mom often sat by her when she attended the meetings, but she bowed out when she became queen. She was too busy and probably didn’t want to overshadow Father's authority. I was glad Mom wasn’t there, as it might have thrown me off as well. It was much easier to look at Alecia's pouty face; I remembered all the nasty things Alecia had done to me growing up and it helped me feel dark. To prep for the meeting, I had woken up on four hours of sleep, taken some kava, and gotten ready by sorting through bad memories, bitterness, and anger. I donned an expensive black tailored suit, light-gray shirt, and black tie, then stepped back to see myself in the mirror. Father never imposed a dress code. Several staff members worked alongside Normals every day and needed to blend in with current trends. That said, he was old school and preferred dark colors, so I always had as well. After the meeting, Father turned to me and coolly ordered me to his office.
I followed him past the team, slowly exiting the room, stopping only when he paused to bark orders at a maid about needing to replace candles in the foyer. Father's office was on the first floor to the right of his conference room, so it wasn’t a far walk, but to enter it was no small feat. A palm print, a retina scan, a voice-recognition password, and a second authorization code for a guest, all along with a badge swipe on a keypad, were needed to enter. Only Father, his personal butler, his deputy, and recently, Mom, had been granted full access. Father kept his guns and his largest safe, filled with company plans, blackmail materials, gold, and darkness knew what else, in this room.
He walked directly to an ornate console table with gold-embellished legs and a green marble top and pulled a crystal stopper off of a vintage crystal whiskey decanter containing a seventy-two-year-old Macallan he recently purchased at an auction. “Whiskey?” he offered as he poured some into a crystal tumbler.
“Sure,” I agreed. It was only ten o’clock, but, then again, I couldn’t pass up this Macallan. Father rarely shared anything.
I walked over to get it. He then poured himself a glass and motioned it toward his desk, his gaze following to signal me to take a seat by his polished mahogany desk at the center of the room.
Father sat down behind the desk and took a sip of his whiskey. He raised the glass and looked at the color.
“Not bad,” he commented to himself, leaning back in his expensive leather chair.
I paused and sat down. It was customary never to sit down before the highest-ranking person in the room. I wonder if Jade knows this? My mind trailed off momentarily.
Father opened a top drawer in his desk and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lighter. He kept his desk clutter free, with only a black pen and a laptop in the center. His cell phone, an in-house phone with each staff member clearly labeled, and a landline phone were on his right. On the left was a leather coaster, now with his drink on it, a bronze ash tray, and his secure video phone he used with his inner circle and informants. I had one in my apartment and it always freaked me out when he called me on it. Seeing him on-screen was like he was there in my apartment.
“I am going to make the announcement today that you will be the official heir,” he announced, his deep voice ringing with authority.
“It is an honor,” I said, nodding my head in appreciation.
“You will start shadowing me tomorrow. You will take over in two years.” Father started doling out guidance. Apparently he believed the Council would invite him to be part of the Council now that Mom was a queen, so he was eager to get me trained to take over.
“I understand,” I said after every command.
“Did you need anything from your old office?”
“No.” I shook my head, then panicked inwardly for a second—did I?
“Too bad if you did,” he smirked, as if sensing my thoughts. “Someone is already there cleaning it out. Your manager knows you won’t be coming back.”
“It's all trash,” I said as nonchalantly as possible.
“Alecia might give you a hassle at first,” he said slowly. “You have my permission to put her in her place.”
What did he mean? I looked at him like I understood.
“Don’t touch her face or hands, though,” Father continued, now lighting a cigarette. “Normals will notice and give us bad press. Remember to save face in both worlds.”
“Yes, Father,” I nodded. I guess he meant I could beat her to a pulp. Tempting. I wouldn’t do it though. What kind of monster would say such a thing to his son about his own daughter? Suddenly, I was so grateful he wasn’t my real father. I pressed my nails into my hand and refocused.
Father opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small black box. He opened it up as if to make sure he had the right item, closed it back up, and tossed it to me.
“You need to designate a deputy.”
I opened the box and saw the coveted LeBete “2T” pin. The person assigned by the new heir wore it until they became the official deputy, and then wore the “2” pin. Currently, Jay O’Conner, Father's head of intelligence, wore our two pin.
Dark! I had forgotten that the heir always chose a second in charge. This was a trusted agent, someone who attended meetings and made decisions on my behalf if I was unable to attend. This person was supposed to be my closest ally. Jay O’Conner could stay on as head of intelligence after father stepped down, but he would need to relinquish his deputy duties unless I reinstated him under my reign. A deputy must be named before the heir takes over. That's why neither Alecia nor I were considered—we hadn’t even been born.
“You will also need to find a partner soon to establish your legacy,” Father carried on.
“I’m working on that.”
“Yes, I noticed,” Father said slyly. “Let's talk about this one, shall we?” He opened a lower desk drawer, pulled out a paper, and tossed it to me.
“If this is going to be the one you present us, then you’d better get her under control,” he smirked, pushing the desk drawer back in.
I gave him a quizzical look and picked up the paper.
There on page six of the Normal paper was Jade sitting on DarkRDays's lap, a bottle of champagne wrapped in one of her hands. The caption read: Moving on: rock star better than a LeBete? I felt my face flush warm with fury. I crumpled the paper up in frustration and threw it across the room.
My father smoked his cigarette in silence for a minute. “You need to keep anyone you date or partner with in check,” he finally said.
“I completely agree,” I nodded lightly. It was probably good Jade did this, as it was keeping my feelings dark. But what was she thinking?
“I’ll eliminate her myself,” I muttered. I took a sip of the whiskey I had been holding and enjoyed the slow burn as it trickled down my throat.
“No need,” Father dismissed. My heart pounded. Did he already send someone after her? “I don’t care how many people your partner sleeps with—what matters is discretion.”
He swiveled his chair slightly toward the window behind his desk and mindlessly toyed with the blinds that were closed.
“In an…odd twist of fate, your sister came to Jade's defense.”
“Alecia?” I asked in disbelief.
“Unless you have another sister I’m unaware of.” He turned back to face me.
I stopped short of thinking about Alecia not really being my biological sister.
“She argued at breakfast that this was easily containable. Jade just needed to make a statement saying she was out partying and her intentions were still fully set on a LeBete. Your mother decided that if, after you question Jade, it is determined that she is willing to denounce this…rocker…then she can be let off with a warning. She was pleased that I had already ordered a full background check on her and demanded you both test, as well.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. I know Alecia didn’t stand up for Jade to help me. She was probably only interested in getting discounts at the Boutique.
Father snubbed out his cigarette and finished his drink. “If your Jade doesn’t comply, well, you know what to do.” Father rose and walked past me, so I stood and followed.
He stopped short at the door, turned, and said, “I expect an answer about your choice as deputy today. If Jade agrees to our request, then you both will test. Your mother wants you both here on Saturday for dinner.”
The butler was waiting for Father in the hall. “Your workout clothes are laid out on your bed, sir.”
My father turned to me. “I’m headed to the spa. Be here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.”
I did a slight head bow to show him I was at his command. I stood in place, watching him stride purposefully down our family's portrait-lined hall around the corner to the master bedroom corridor.
Wanting to escape the house before any team members stopped to talk to me, I decided to go the opposite direction. No one ever really chatted with me, but I was certain someone would ask about Jade, and I wasn’t in the mood. I planned my exit. I could go through the kitchen and use the door on the side of the house where deliveries came though. Surely no one would be around there.
Much to my chagrin, there was Alecia next to my car. She was setting something into it on the front passenger side.
“What are you doing?” I yelled, jogging over to my Maserati. I suspected it was something stupid, like drugs, so that she could give the cops an anonymous tip as I drove home.
“Oh, hello there, dear brother.” She took a step back from the car door and grinned.
“Since you’re here, I might as well show you my gift.” She faltered for a moment. “Dad told me the news about you being the heir.”
I watched her skeptically. “It's not really a surprise, Alecia.”
“I agree,” she said in a mockingly sweet voice. She reopened the door and pulled out a piece of paper, strutting over to hand it to me with a gleeful smile.
It was a picture of Jade and DarkRDays from the newspaper, cut out in the shape of a heart.
“You can have it framed,” she taunted.
She was trying so hard to push my buttons that I decided against telling her I knew she had stood up for Jade.
“OK, you got me,” I sighed with annoyance, holding up my hands. “I’ve already been given the lecture by Father, so please—feel free to pile on.”
“Is that what I think it is?” Alecia asked, distracted by the box I was carrying. “The deputy 2T pin?”
I nodded.
“Who's it going to?”
I told her I was thinking about Jasper.
“What? He's, like, one of the lowest-level security guards! He doesn’t know shit about anything!”
“I trust him. Besides, he would be trained.”
“Well, there goes the LeBete empire.” She turned and started stomping away.
“Hey!” I yelled.
“What?” She whirled around impatiently.
I tossed her the box. “I was just kidding about Jasper. I want you to be my deputy.”
“What?” She gaped at me, hands frozen around the box.
“You.”
“Why? I hate you and you know it.”
“True. I hate you as well—just to be perfectly clear—but there's no denying that you’re loyal to the family, know what's best for our dynasty, and will take the job seriously.”
Alecia looked flustered. I could tell she was uncertain how to respond.
“I’ll send Father a text so he can announce it along with the heir information.”
She nodded—quite meekly, as I smugly observed. “OK, then. I guess if I can’t be the heir, at least I can still influence and finally be respected.”
“Exactly,” I said, shutting the passenger door Alecia had left open. “Oh, and you’ll become the new head of intelligence as well. It's not unreasonable to ask Jay to retire in five years. He's older than Father.”
Alecia turned and walked slowly back in to the house, clearly stunned.
I hoped I hadn’t crossed a line. Would Father suspect something by me appointing Alecia? I bit the inside of my upper lip for a second and got into my car. If my father asked, I could always say it was a strategic move. He would certainly agree that it was better to keep someone like Alecia close.
I really had thought about Jasper, but Alecia knew the business and would do what was best for the family first. Wait, why do I care, anyway? I won’t really become the heir, will I? I should be done with all this dark crap in a couple of weeks. I sent both my parents a quick text about Alecia and then took a deep breath. Now to deal with Jade.