“This is Nix. Talk to me.” Lan picked up the phone with absolutely no regard to the fact that the person on the other end of the line had probably called to talk to Dane. He wasn’t willing to let Dominic Anthony wait until Dane got out of what seemed like the longest shower of all time.
Of course, Dane and Cooper were in the shower with Alea, so it could still be a while.
A deep voice came over the satellite phone. “Nice to know you’re alive, Nix. Have you talked to the sheikh yet, or am I your first call now that you’re back from the dead?”
Back from the dead? If that had been death, he didn’t want to be alive again. All he could think about was how closed off Alea had become, as though she was shutting down a little more with every mile that stupid boat had put between them and paradise. He’d been surprised she’d allowed Dane and Cooper to usher her into the bathroom of their hotel on Koror, an island in the Palau chain. “Her Highness has already spoken with her cousins.”
“I assume the plane crash was an attempt on the princess’s life.” There was no uncertainty in Dominic Anthony’s voice.
Why question an undeniable truth? “Oh, yes. There’s no doubt about that.”
“I’ve already worked up a profile on the pilot. He was being treated for chronic back pain. It wasn’t life threatening, but several members of his family had heard him talk about not wanting to live with it anymore. Surprisingly enough, his wife said she found twenty thousand in euros in a safe at their house the night he died.”
That had been the payoff. Cheap. Twenty thousand for six lives. Of course, the pilot had only actually managed to take out himself and the hostess. “Well, it was smart to pull cash.”
“Yeah,” Dominic agreed. “Hard to follow that trail. I have a few ideas. I’ve been pulling all the CCTV feeds from around the palace and in the surrounding city for the days before the crash. The wife claims the money wasn’t in the safe when she looked two days before her husband died, and we got his day planner. He was supposed to have a meeting with someone, no name, of course, the day before the crash. All I have is the time the meeting supposedly took place in the al Mussad marketplace.”
Which about twenty thousand people walked through each day, so it would be damn hard to find the culprit, even if they knew who they were looking for. “Damn it.”
“Riley’s got some hotshot facial recognition software. Let’s give him some time.”
Lan didn’t have a choice on that front. “Let me know if you find anything. In the meantime, we want you to look into everyone who knew she would be on that plane, starting with that British asshole who let her take his place.”
“Thurston-Hughes? Absolutely. I started that investigation the minute I heard the plane hadn’t made it to Sydney. The funny thing is, ol’ Oliver claims that his brother received an e-mail the day the plane went down, claiming responsibility for killing him and his wife. Anti-monarchists, supposedly. I thought it was rather convenient, especially since we can’t really trace the e-mail. Best we’ve managed so far is to determine it was sent from somewhere in the Middle East.”
Where Oliver was currently spending his time.
“And why would the pilot go through with the job once he was in the air? I get that he might not have gotten an updated passenger list. He’s not the one who loads the fuel and takes care of meals and drinks, but the hostess would have informed him.” It didn’t make a lick of sense to Lan. He’d been involved in a lot of operations, and rule number one was to take out your intended target.
A long sigh came over the line. “Yeah. I thought about that, too. This pilot routinely flew to London, so he could have connections there, but it doesn’t make sense to continue that job if the targets aren’t on board. People who hire assassins tend to want their money’s worth, and they wouldn’t have a problem coming after a pilot’s wife to get their dough back.”
“Do you have anything incriminating on Oliver? If he’s lying about this so-called threat, he’s probably doing it to cover his own ass.”
Lan was thinking about offing the guy any way he sliced it, but having an actual case might help at his eventual trial if he got caught. He hadn’t liked the way the Brit had been sniffing around Alea. If the asshole had really wanted her, maybe he’d been the one to have her kidnapped and kept for him. Perhaps he’d decided, since the first plan had failed, that if he couldn’t have her no one could. He’d made it perfectly plain that he didn’t appreciate her guards. Maybe he’d known she had a thing for him, Coop, and Dane, so he’d decided to kill her.
“We’ve had this case on hold for a few weeks while Law and Riley aided in the search for the princess. Riley can do some amazing things with other people’s satellites. The wreckage wasn’t deep and the water is fairly clear in that part of the world. He narrowed the search to a hundred possible sites, and we’ve been checking every single one of them, combing all those little islands. Law was going to take the plane up and go over that particular chain, but the government of Palau told us it’s some sort of eco-sanctuary, and today was the day their scientists came out to check on birds and shit. They were not happy to see you. Apparently, you four are a plight on the delicate ecosystem. How many fucking pigs did you have to kill?”
He’d been hungry. He would fucking do it again. “I want you back on the case.”
“Already on it. And I’m on my way out to the palace right now. Lawson is on Koror attempting to keep the press in line, but you should know they are all over this story, and some of it isn’t good, man.”
He moved away from the shower. “What do you mean? People are really that upset that I killed some pigs to survive?”
“No.” Dominic hesitated. Lan hated those nasty little pauses because he knew that whatever came next would be shitastic. “It’s about Her Highness.”
He felt himself go cold. “What about Alea?”
“Ah, there it is. I thought you were going to keep up the professional pretense forever, but I was pretty sure something was going on there. So you three finally got the princess to come around. Good. She’s going to need you.” Dominic sounded satisfied, as though he’d thrown out a bit of bait that had gotten a nice-sized bite.
“Tell me.” Lan didn’t have the patience to play games.
“The press started out good. I mean, good as in everyone was worried about the princess, but somewhere along the way some asshole reporter picked up the story of her kidnapping and found three of the other girls that the Lennox brothers saved from the same brothel. Two of them wouldn’t talk, but one has been all over the fucking media spilling about how the princess would watch them be tortured and do nothing to help.”
“She couldn’t help.” Lan found the words hard to grind out of his mouth. His vision was starting to go red. “She was a victim.”
“Yeah, well, the press loves a juicy story, whether it’s the truth or not, and they seem to want to make the princess the villain of this piece. Sells more copies of their rags. You know how it goes. No one loves the one percenters these days. And you three won’t be kept out of it, you know.”
“What do you mean?” What did the press want with them?
“They know your names. They’ve been all over your family members. You don’t have a family, but they’ve been to the town where you grew up. Nix, you should know that they’re asking all kinds of intrusive questions, making nasty assumptions.”
He couldn’t care less what they said about him. Alea was a different story. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” There was a knock on the door. Law Anders. “Your boy is here. I’ll catch you at the palace. We’ll do a debrief there.”
“Good. And you should know I’m investigating the girl who’s singing to the press. I hate to put a bunch of heat on a victim, but I don’t buy her story and I don’t like how much she seems to be enjoying her fifteen minutes. Riley’s running some reports on her as we speak.”
Lan opened the door to let Law Anders in, and it looked like the man had gotten what they needed. He was carrying a case that had to contain a nice shiny new set of guns. They’d tried to save their own, but after getting wet and being exposed to the elements, Lan had preferred new ones. Not that they’d needed them on the island. There it had felt better to have a spear in his hand. Now that they were back to reality, Lan couldn’t wait to armor up because someone was still coming after his girl.
Law stalked in, setting the case on the bed as Lan finished up with Dominic. He hung up the phone and went straight for the SIG.
Law Anders took a step back. His suit jacket came open, and Lan noticed he was already armed to the teeth with two semis in shoulder holsters. “Hopefully they’re adequate. It wasn’t easy getting handguns on this godforsaken island. I had to have them imported. Can we get back to concrete and shit soon? All this tropical crap bugs me.”
Yeah, he was a peach, but he had good taste in guns. Lan felt the weight in his hand, a welcome friend. “When’s the plane getting here? And who’s the pilot? You can’t expect me to put her on another plane with some random asshat.”
He didn’t want to put her on a plane at all, but the revelation about the press made it impossible to stay here. They needed to get her back to the palace where they could shelter her and start the damage control. No doubt, Tal would get his PR people on it soon, but the longer they hid from the press without floating a story of their own, the longer those reporters would repeat whatever the hell that stupid snitch told them.
Law gave him a sarcastic salute. “I’ll be flying that baby. The sheikh is having his private plane sent. It should be here in a couple of hours, and it’s been under guard twenty-four seven. I’ll check it out myself and take the controls. I’m licensed to fly just about anything. We’ll be back at the palace tomorrow morning, then Riley and Dominic will want a full report on everything that happened. Well, all the non-naked stuff. So, you going to give this whole sharing thing an actual go?”
Lan heard the shower cut off and the sounds of Cooper and Dane talking softly to Alea. He thought about telling Law to mind his own fucking business, but there was something about the way he asked the question. And he remembered how close the guy had seemed with his brother. Even despite their dumbass fighting, he would bet those two boys had shared their toys a time or two.
“Yeah. We haven’t made anything formal yet, but we’re going to marry her.”
Law stepped up to the window and looked outside. “Weird little country, Bezakistan. Back where I come from, me and Riley are kind of freaks. Throw Dominic in and we’re just a parade of crazy. Women like it for a night, but they will jump right off the train when you try to make it permanent.”
“You looking?” He was a little surprised at that. Law Anders looked to be a tough guy, the kind who wouldn’t want to settle down.
Massive shoulders shrugged up and down. “I want what everyone else has. I just can’t have it on my own. I got wired wrong, I guess. Anyway, the plane should be here in a couple of hours. I’m trying to find some extra security, but this place is full of like divers and shit. If I wanted to go swim with a fucking dolphin we would be set, but finding someone who knows how to keep the crowds back is a different prospect. The way I heard it, the press is on their way as we speak. Some of them were already set up here because it got leaked that the princess is staying here.”
The door to the bathroom opened, and Alea emerged looking soft and sweet and vulnerable all wrapped up in her fluffy robe. Dane and Cooper came out after her. Dane wore a towel, but Coop had changed into the sweatpants the concierge had hustled up.
It was weird not being naked with her.
Lan watched as Alea moved into the suite. She was bundled up, but there was a hint of a smile on her face. She reached for Dane’s hand as he walked up to her. Lan watched as their fingers tangled together and was surprised that he didn’t feel a hint of jealousy. All of that emotion had burned off on the island as they had found their unique roles in her life and she’d settled into her place as the sun in their sky. She was theirs, and they had to do everything they could to protect her. Including shielding her from the press.
Law softened around Alea, proving he wasn’t as much of an asshole as he seemed. “Princess, your cousins are really happy you’re alive. The queen has been beside herself.”
Alea nodded, pulling the lapels of her robe together tightly. “It was very good to talk to her. Thank you for everything you’ve done in searching for us.”
“But you didn’t want to be found, did you?” Law asked the question almost sadly as though he understood.
Alea paused and sighed, her hand squeezing Dane’s. “I will only say that the island wasn’t so bad. If you’re ever going to have a plane go down, I would highly recommend the accommodations.”
“Most women would have gone crazy out there,” Law said. “But you look like you bloomed.”
“Hey, look at her less, buddy,” Cooper said, crowding her other side.
But Lan realized that Lawson Anders wasn’t hitting on their woman. He was longing for what she represented. Warmth. Love. Acceptance. “You do look gorgeous, darlin’.”
She flushed beautifully. “I’m glad you think so. Could someone order tea?”
He’d already done that. “It should be here any minute. I ordered tea and some snacks. It’ll be good to get some carbs, you know? And Law here promises me that Tal is sending us the big bus. It’s going to be first class all the way home.”
Alea nodded, but he could see the strain on her face. She could probably still remember how it felt to have the plane plunge and to wonder if they were going to make it. Hell, he didn’t want to get on the plane and he used to jump off the fuckers.
There was a knock at the door. The tea service. He hoped they had gotten the order right, and there were some Cokes, too. Because he didn’t do dainty teacups and cucumber sandwiches.
Alea moved for the door.
“Hey, I’ll get it,” Lan said, blocking her.
“I can get a door, Lan,” she said with a smile.
“No. Not this one.” He moved to the door but she stayed right behind him. As he pulled the door back, there was a flash and the quick sound of a camera shutter going off at high speed.
“Princess! Princess, is it true you have three lovers? What happened on the island?”
“Would you like to comment on the accusation that you aided your kidnappers in torturing young girls in Colombia?”
“Princess, the world would love to know what you were wearing when the plane went down.”
There was a mob of them with cameras and video equipment, the light coming from the hall nearly blinding him. They were vultures, every single one of them. Rage popped through his system, adrenaline flooding his veins. They had no right to be here.
A microphone was shoved into his face. “Are you the guard? What are you getting paid to be the princess’s lover? How many of you are there? How does it work?”
“Are you bisexual?”
The questions peppered against him like rapid gunfire. He reached for the first camera he saw, blocking the doorway to keep the fuckers off Alea. He could make damn sure these reporters didn’t get at her again. They would have to get through him, and he was going to let them know that wouldn’t be an easy task. He reared back a fist, anger nearly choking him as they shouted crap about the woman he loved.
Before he could connect, something jerked him back into the room.
“Shut that fucking door,” Dane snarled, still grabbing his biceps.
Law jogged to the door. “I’ll take care of this. You don’t open this to anyone but me.”
Cooper moved in and locked the deadbolt. Lan saw red. His heart pounded. His fists clenched. Fuck, he had to get control of himself. He would check on Alea, then he was going to take apart some reporters. He would rip a couple of heads off and mount them at the end of the hallway, and maybe the next set of vultures wouldn’t be so eager to knock on their door.
“Don’t.” Dane pulled him back.
“I’ll do it quietly.”
“You can’t. They’re reporters. Do you forget who we are? I don’t just mean our names. Now we’re both the princess’s guards and her lovers. You can’t beat the shit out of people anymore. Everything we do reflects on her. Ultimately, we represent the sheikh and his family. Let Law handle it.”
Fuck. He hadn’t thought about that. He forced himself to calm down. Never once during his pursuit of Alea had he thought about the dark side of royalty being his problem if he actually caught her. This was her life, and if he wanted her, it had to be his, too. He would have to put up with all the questions, the reporters, and the constant speculation. Oh fuck… Dane was smart; he could handle it. Cooper was charming enough to slide by. But he’d just about walked out into the hallway and started tearing reporters up. It would have all been caught on camera for the world to see. Shit!
Lan looked up, and Alea was staring right at him, her dark eyes burning a hole through him as though she knew exactly what he was thinking. “Lea?”
“That’s the way it’s always going to be now.” She wouldn’t look him in the eyes. Her face had flushed, her hands trembling slightly. “You won’t be able to have a normal life if you’re with me.”
His stomach sank. God, why hadn’t he just slammed the door? “I don’t want a normal life.”
“That’s just the start, Lan. They will come at you every day. They’ll drag you down with me,” she said, her voice tight.
“Lea, come on. Let’s dry your hair.” Cooper reached for her hand and started to lead her back to the bathroom.
She walked with him, her head held at that regal angle she used for state appearances.
Damn it. He started to go after her. He had to explain…what? That he was sorry he’d nearly started a new scandal for the entire royal family and made things much worse for her?
“Don’t.” Dane stood in his way. “Let Coop handle her right now. You need to decide.”
He hated the fact that Cooper was with her and not him. “I nearly fucked everything up.”
“You should have known this was going to happen. You’ve been guarding this family for over a year. You know how the press can be.”
He did, but he’d never been in the middle of it. He’d never had all that attention focused on him.
Dane frowned. “What did you think would happen? What do you think is going to happen when we marry her?”
“I think I’m going to have to get a grip on my temper. But they said some horrible things about our girl. How can I not defend her?” He needed to get a fucking grip and wrap his head around it all.
Dane took a long breath and held his hands up, backing away slightly. “We have to find new ways to defend her because lashing out will only make things worse. Sorry, man. I think we’re all on edge. We need to back off and reconvene after we’ve gotten her safely back to Bezakistan.”
Lan nodded. He could still hear the reporters clamoring outside the door, and over it all, Law’s shouts. “I wish they’d never found us.”
Dane’s shoulders slumped. “Me, too, man. Me, too.”
* * * *
Alea felt numb as she was led into Tal’s office. She’d pretended to sleep all the way home, keeping her eyes closed and ignoring the conversations around her.
But all she could hear in her head was those reporters and all she could see was the look of horror on Lan’s face as he’d realized what he’d really gotten mixed up in.
She’d managed to read some of the press surrounding her disappearance, despite Dane and Cooper’s attempts to prevent it.
They were calling her all sorts of names. And despite the fact that it had been tradition in Bezakistan for hundreds of years for brothers to share a wife, her men weren’t being considered brothers. Because they shared no blood, the press seemed to think they could deem their relationship kinky rather than traditional and savage it.
And who had even told them they had a relationship in the first place? Who the hell was this palace source they kept talking to?
And the worst part was the girl from the brothel recounting all the ways Alea had failed. According to Brittany Hahn, she was worse than a coward. The girl was telling the world that Alea had actually participated in the other women’s torture to spare herself. It was a lie, but she still saw those women in her nightmares, their eyes pleading with her to help. She hadn’t tortured them, but she hadn’t been able to save them either. Had she tried hard enough?
“Lea!” Piper nearly ran across the space that separated them, throwing her arms around Alea, tears streaming down her face. “Lea, I thought you were dead.”
She returned the hug, but Alea felt like she was on autopilot. She’d tried to think of any way to spare her men the pain of the hell they were all about to endure, the constant exposure to the vicious side of the press. But every road led back to one conclusion. They were better off without her.
Her cousins were standing around Tal’s desk, all of them showing signs of the strain the last month must have placed on them. Rafe and Kade looked like they hadn’t slept, and Tal had a grimness about him she hadn’t seen since he’d married his Piper.
Piper stepped back, smiling at the men who had filed in behind Alea. “Dane, Landon, Cooper. Thank you so much for taking care of her. I heard how you managed to land the plane and get her to safety. You’re heroes.”
They were her heroes. How could she drag them into her world? It had been so simple on the island, but this was reality, and she feared that none of them were really ready for what it would mean to be married to her. Perhaps if she’d never been kidnapped, they would only have to deal with reporters taking pictures and asking intrusive questions about their love life. But now, these “journalists” were out for blood and called her very morality into question. How long could the press ask these questions before Dane, Cooper, and Lan would get tired of comforting or defending her? How long before they wondered if the reports were true? She had no doubt they would stand by her, but they would get hurt. How long before they resented her for their loss of privacy?
Tal walked around shaking hands with her men. “They are indeed heroes. The royal family cannot repay this debt to you, gentlemen. I will only promise this, no matter what happens in the future, you will always find aid and shelter in this house. I consider you family now.”
Alea let her eyes close briefly because she was about to blow everyone out of the water. Damn. Damn. Damn. She didn’t want to do it, but she didn’t see another way to ensure their happiness. She hadn’t been able to help the women she’d been trapped with, but she could help the men she loved.
She’d known the minute they’d been rescued, seen the speculative looks on the scientists’ faces, that it wouldn’t work. Not here. The island had been different. She’d been able to let go. There was no pushing away the past here.
The men began talking among themselves, and Piper started ordering food, talking to the staff about a fine welcome home dinner. Alea drifted to the window, staring at the gardens.
But all she could see was that young woman’s face. She’d managed to pull up one of the many TV interviews Brittany Hahn had given to various media outlets. Apparently she’d been taken to the same brothel Alea had been held in. Brittany had been on a spring break trip to Mexico when she’d been taken for her youthful blonde beauty and sold into prostitution.
Alea didn’t remember her. She’d been one of a hundred girls Alea had been forced to watch be raped and beaten as part of her “training.” In the beginning, Alea had fought and screamed, but she’d quickly learned that they took her defiance out on the girls she was watching and not her. Oh, they would slap her, beat her silly, but the real pain happened to those young women.
Though she didn’t remember Brittany, the girl remembered her. And hated her. She’d blamed Alea for her rape, claimed Alea loved watching others be hurt. She’d called the Princess of Bezakistan nothing but a sadist and hinted that other girls had claimed Alea herself helped hurt them.
Why was she spreading lies? Why was this happening? Pain ripped through Alea. She needed…god, she didn’t even know what she needed, but she couldn’t stand the waiting anymore. And she knew damn well, she wasn’t going to bring these men into her hell.
Piper was right. Dane, Landon, and Cooper were heroes. They had saved her, and what did they get in return? Cameras shoved in their faces and their lives ripped apart in the press.
She’d seen that, too. The press had been busy, interviewing their families and the people in their hometowns, asking all kinds of intrusive questions.
Dane’s BDSM leanings had been splashed across the papers, his military career coming into question again. His family had publically disowned him, even when they thought he’d been lost in the crash. He’d been labeled perverse by his ex-wife, who seemed to have taken special delight in detailing all his flaws.
Cooper’s family had been inundated. As far as she could tell, they had been busy trying to keep reporters off the ranch.
Only Landon had been spared since he didn’t have family, but that wouldn’t last. The hotel had proven that. They would be all over him, and he wouldn’t be able to handle the unrelenting pressure.
None of them should have to.
“How was the flight back?” Piper asked, walking up beside her. “I was worried that it would be hard on you.”
Her men had done everything they could to make it safe. They really were the best. “It was fine. Mr. Anders is an excellent pilot.”
Alea turned slightly and saw that all three of them were watching her even as they talked to her cousins. This was going to be so hard, but she had to do it. Their time on the island was over, and Brittany Hahn had been right about one thing. She really hadn’t done anything to help those other girls. She should have fought harder, found a way out, but no, she’d given into the drugs they’d put her on. She’d closed her eyes and just prayed to die.
She didn’t deserve the heroes who claimed to love her, and they definitely didn’t deserve this pain. But it seemed like pain and heartache was all she was capable of giving them.
“Tal, can I speak with you privately?”
Piper frowned, obviously upset, but Alea was resolute. After this was done, she was going to lock herself away and just try to stay out of the public eye.
Tal’s eyes narrowed. “Of course. Brothers, Piper, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“I’ll go and get everything ready in the board room,” Rafe said. “Dominic Anthony is scheduled to arrive in the next hour.”
“I’ll help,” Kade offered. They took Piper’s hands and led her out.
Dane, Lan, and Cooper stayed right where they were.
“I would really like to speak to Tal alone, please.” She would explain her position to Talib. He would understand. He, more than the others, knew what it meant to be in the public spotlight.
“Lan, Coop,” Dane began. “Why don’t you go and find the Anders brothers and get things set up. I want to get a full update as soon as Dominic lands.”
They nodded reluctantly and left. Then she stood alone with Tal and Dane.
“Please, Talib. Completely alone.”
Tal shook his head. “No, Lea. At least for now, you won’t be alone. At least one of your guards must be with you, even in your locked rooms.”
“That won’t be a problem, sheikh.” Dane stepped forward, his expression a bit grim as though he knew he was about to go into battle. “We’ll be moving into the princess’s suite this evening. She won’t ever be alone.”
“Excellent,” Tal said, and there was no way to mask his sigh of relief. “I’ll call the contractors tomorrow. Her suite is too small for all four of you. We’ll start the expansion plans as soon as possible.”
She was rapidly losing control. “No, Tal. They can’t move in with me.”
The room got very quiet as both men turned to her. It was obvious she had their full attention.
“Alea, where did you think we would stay?” Dane asked quietly, his voice icy cold. “Did you think we would go back to our own rooms? Just meet in the middle for a little rendezvous?”
“Explain yourself, cousin. The way I heard it, you’ve settled your relationship with your men. Are you telling me you haven’t?” Tal asked.
“They’re not moving in with me. It’s not a good idea.” She couldn’t quite meet Dane’s eyes.
“Really? So yesterday in the shower was good-bye, was it, Lea?” Dane asked.
“Could you be a little more discreet?” She couldn’t help how her face flushed.
Dane towered over her. “Not a chance, and it’s going to get uglier. If you had wanted to keep this between the four of us, you shouldn’t have brought your cousin into it.”
“He’s the head of my family.” And she was counting on the way things worked here in Bezakistan. They might be modern, but when it came right down to it, Tal made the decisions. If she could get him on her side, she would be home free and there was nothing any of the guys could do.
Dane seemed to grow a couple of inches as he watched her, his whole body going into battle mode. “Is he? Let me tell you something, Alea, because I apparently wasn’t clear. I am the head of this family since you seem determined to go old school with this. I’ve been extremely patient so far, but you need to think about what you’re doing and stop. Nothing has changed. We’re together, and we will get through all of this together. As a family. Making decisions together. If you continue down the path I think you’re taking, you’re going to put me in a corner and you won’t like how I fight my way out of it.”
Tal had stepped back, frowning as he watched them.
She felt her anger starting to simmer. “Everything has changed, Dane. You know it. You can’t be so naïve as to think that anything is the same. You were in the hotel room when the press arrived. The island was just a little vacation, a dream. It’s time to wake up now.”
His face opened up, pure surprise hitting him. “What are you talking about?”
Dane wouldn’t understand. She knew exactly how this would go down if she tried to explain herself. He would never admit that this relationship wouldn’t work. He would force the issue, and they would all be torn up and miserable. “I don’t want to have a relationship with you in the real world.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? The real world? Because the island felt pretty fucking real to me.”
“It wasn’t. We had all been through something frightening, and we bonded over our shared survival. That was all it really meant,” she lied. “Dane, you couldn’t expect me to marry my guards.”
Alea held in her tears. It had been everything to her. It had been the best time of her life. She would hold those memories to her heart forever.
Dane stepped up, not respecting anything so civilized as personal space. “Shared survival? We’re just your guards? Yeah, that doesn’t fly with me, baby. There’s nothing on the books that states you have to marry another royal.”
She steeled herself. God, she hated this. “I don’t want to marry anyone, but if I do, I will marry someone who’s lived in my world and understands it better.”
“Like Piper understood this world when your cousins married her? She was a research assistant from Texas. She wasn’t royal and she definitely wasn’t rich. What the fuck is this really about, Alea?”
How could she make him understand? “Did you see what happened with Lan? He’s going to get hurt. Do you know what’s going on back in America? They’re going after your families, Dane. We need to be realistic. We had a wonderful time. I will never forget it, but it can’t be more than a fling.”
“Are you talking about all that sex, Alea? Is that the fling you mean? Should I remind you just how many ways we had you? And I don’t have that family anymore, Lea. I have you, Lan, and Coop, and we will get through this together.” He took a long breath. “Baby, calm down. I know being back here and being hounded by reporters is a shock.”
It was more than a shock. Tears clouded her vision. She turned to Talib because talking to Dane would get her nowhere. “Would you please listen to me, cousin? I would like to make a formal request to have my security duty turned over to other guards. I will submit to any security detail you deem fit. I will cooperate with the investigators and I will live a quiet life that will bring no further scrutiny to our family.”
The press’s accusations could hurt her cousins. They had kept everything so quiet, and now all the ugliness was out in the open. What would her people think? There would be some who would view her as sullied. Some parts of the country were still quite backwards.
She turned back to Dane, her head held regally. “Dane, you have to understand that my cousin’s throne and our entire family is judged based on our actions. Any scandal hurts us. Our traditions might seem odd to the outside world, but in many ways our people are very conservative. The very fact that I was abused will make some people view me differently.”
Tal ran a hand across his scalp, ruining his perfect hair. “Lea, you can’t think about them. They’re the mountain people. The citizens in our cities won’t see you differently. It’s one region of the country. Everyone knows they’re out of touch with modern ideals.”
“But they’re not completely out of touch with the media. They will hear the story and they can cause trouble. It will be worse when they find out about my affair. If I cut it off now and go into seclusion, I can mitigate the damage to all of us.”
“There won’t be damage if you make it legal,” Tal drawled. “I rather assumed there would be another wedding. Did you plan to live with my cousin, in my palace, without offering her your name, Dane?”
“Of course not,” Dane shot back. “None of us would do that, and you know it. It has always been our plan to properly marry her with full Bezakistani rites. We talked about marriage on the island, in fact. We respect this family and would never do a damn thing to dishonor it.”
“I can’t marry them.” She knew what Tal wanted, but couldn’t he see how wrong it was to bring the men she loved into their world, especially now when the press seemed intent on ripping her apart? “Tal, please try to understand. You would try to protect Piper.”
A small smile crossed Tal’s face. “Piper is strong, Alea. And so are your men.”
Dane tried to reach for her. “Lea, we don’t need protection.”
Which just went to prove that he could be naïve. What if Brittany Hahn wasn’t the only one who had resented Alea’s “privileged” treatment? What if more women came out and accused her of cowardice or outright collusion? How could they build a family when she was covered in scandal? “I won’t marry anyone.”
Dane proved he knew their customs way better than she’d given him credit for. “Your Highness, I would like to make a formal declaration of intent to marry your cousin. I meant to do this later and with proper pomp and circumstance, but she’s not giving me room for that.”
A single eyebrow arched over Tal’s right eye. “Really? You want to put her in a corner like that?”
Alea turned to Dane, her eyes widening. “You’re trying to force me to marry you?”
According to strict law, because she’d been formally adopted into the royal family and bore their name, she was actually considered to be Talib’s property. It was an old law, but still a valid one. Dane wasn’t asking her to marry him. He was petitioning Talib to force the marriage.
“I believe I mentioned you wouldn’t like how I fought. And don’t think I’m alone in this. I have no doubt Landon and Cooper are ready to sign the paperwork, too. We’re not going to let your fear rip us apart.” He took a long breath and reached for her. “Lea, I don’t want to do it this way. Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk this out, you, me, Lan, and Coop. We’ll hash this out.”
So calm. So reasonable. And he’d just threatened to treat her like property. “I am trying to do what’s right for all of us. You can’t think for a second that my cousin is going to force me to marry you.”
“I will admit, I would prefer not to,” Tal commented.
“But he will because I haven’t played my best card yet, baby. I’m begging you not to make me do this.” Dane spoke to him, but never took those predatory eyes off her.
His best card? What the hell? Her blood was pounding through her body. She’d been treated like a sack of meat before, and she wasn’t about to let anyone curtail her freedom. She’d been willing to offer it up. She’d meant what she said to Tal. She was willing to hire another guard and to submit to all of their security protocols. She would do it because it helped her family and it protected her men, but she would be damned if Dane and Tal decided her fate.
“Alea, what is this really about?” Tal asked, his voice softening marginally. “I don’t understand what’s going on here. This is between you and your men, truly, but you’ve forced me into this situation. I believe Dane when he says he doesn’t want to push the marriage rites on you, but I also think he will do it. Don’t put me in a position where I have to choose between my family and my very good friends. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I won’t marry them. After this, I won’t even talk to them again.” The words sounded stupid and stubborn, but she couldn’t give in. They deserved good lives with someone less broken, with someone who wouldn’t always have a horde of reporters trailing after her, intent on ruining her life—and everyone around her.
“Did you or did you not sleep with these men?” Tal asked, though she was certain he knew the answer.
Alea knew immediately that her sweet cousin had left the building. This was the Royal Sheikh of Bezakistan addressing her as the head of her family, and she felt like she was five years old all over again.
“I don’t see that it matters.”
“It matters, cousin. I will not ask again.”
She felt her fists clench. “This isn’t fair. It’s not like you, Rafe, and Kade were pure on your marriage bed. No one expected you to marry that first girl the three of you shared.”
“This isn’t about us, cousin. This is about you. You gave your body and, I believe, your heart to Dane, and yet you will not do him the courtesy of talking to him. It is a disgrace and not worthy of the woman I know you to be.”
“I guess you don’t know me as well as you thought.” It was nothing less than the truth, but her heart broke at the thought.
Tal sighed, a weary sound. “Please, Lea. Don’t make me turn them out.”
“It’s for the best.” God, she felt the burn of Dane’s furious stare all over her and wanted this to be over so she could lock herself in her rooms and scream and cry and start to mourn them.
Tal turned to Dane. “I am sorry, old friend. I cannot force her to my will. This scandal will pass. The family will survive. The press will turn around when the new baby is born.”
Dane had gone cold as ice, his whole body perfectly still. His voice was frigid. “Are you talking about your child, sheikh, or mine?”
Alea felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She turned to Dane, her feet unsteady. Oh, god, she’d thought about it, but it was like a little whisper in the back of her mind. She’d known that she could become pregnant. How many weeks had gone by? She’d lost count. Time seemed to flow differently on the island, but now it was speeding up like a carnival ride. It was making her sick.
Talib had gone an angry red. “My cousin is pregnant?”
Alea shook her head. “No. I’m not.”
Was she?
Dane’s smile was that of a man who had just tossed down the winning hand when everyone had thought he was played out. “We were on the island for over a month. She never had her period.”
Oh god. She hadn’t even thought of that until now.
“Perhaps you didn’t notice,” Tal tried.
“I was inside her every day, sheikh. I would have noticed. We didn’t use protection. She’s pregnant by one of us, but I assure you, we will all claim the child. We believed she loved us and had pure intentions. We always intended to marry her with full respect to her culture. I understand that you shouldn’t have been placed in this position, sheikh, but you should understand that I have no intention of allowing my child to grow up without his fathers. If you choose not to honor my rights as the man who impregnated her, then Cooper, Landon, and I will be forced to petition your courts to have our rights recognized. Since she was in a relationship with the three of us, according to your laws, we all have rights to the child.”
Alea felt sick. She managed to stay on her feet.
Tal was still talking, his voice rough. “If the doctors confirm a pregnancy, then the marriage will take place as soon as possible. We’ll keep it private, but afterward, we will announce the union to the press. In a few months, we’ll publicize the princess’s pregnancy.” Tal turned to her. “I have no choice. You were right about our people. We could handle an affair. The heat would be on us for a few months, but we would survive the scandal. We cannot handle a princess with an illegitimate child. This isn’t England or America where people just accept royalty and celebrities as human. If you don’t marry, they will blame me for not protecting my family. It will weaken my position. Did they rape you?”
Honesty would be her death knell. Alea knew it. Yet she couldn’t lie. “Of course not.”
“Then you made your bed, cousin, and you will lie in it. I know it’s not fair, but there are conservative factions in this country that would do anything to topple my throne and set us all back a thousand years. I cannot allow that to happen. In this, I must be the sheikh and not your cousin. I have to keep my throne stable for everyone in Bezakistan. You will marry them if you’re pregnant. I would offer to allow you to marry someone of your choice and pay off these men, but I have a feeling they cannot be bought.”
“Not for anything, sheikh,” Dane confirmed, his face grim but resolute. “We will not back down and we are united in this.”
“As brothers should be.” Tal reached out and shook Dane’s hand. “We’ll sit down and talk about all the details this evening after dinner. Alea, I’ll send the doctor up to you in a bit. You should rest until then.”
“You can’t do this to me, Talib. You can’t do this to them.” Her voice sounded small and lost.
“You chose to sleep with them, knowing how they felt. You chose to not use protection. And now you’re throwing a fit because there were consequences to your actions. I have to take charge because you’re acting like a child and not a woman about to become a mother. You’re still clinging to the pain and the guilt like they’re security blankets. I know because I did the same thing, but I cannot allow it now. I’m not stupid, Alea. I know your refusal has something to do with what happened to you, and I am so sorry it is being dragged up again, but your time to hide is over. You have to face what happened and decide if you are going to allow it to defeat you or if you will grow beyond it and move on. I love you, my cousin. I pray you can heal and embrace the future.” He walked away, pulling out his chair and sitting behind that big desk where his fathers once worked.
“Tal?” She’d just lost something precious and she hadn’t meant to. Tears threatened.
He didn’t bother to look up. “You’re dismissed, Alea. I have to prepare for the meeting with the investigators and then I must start the paperwork for your marriage. It’s a matter of state, after all.”
She felt tired. So weary. She’d been trying to protect them, but it had blown up in her face.
Dane wouldn’t look at her. He kept his attention on Tal. “I will see you in the meeting, sheikh.”
“Cousin, please. You’re family now, Dane. Address me as Tal or cousin as is your right and my privilege. Let Cooper and Landon know I expect the same from them.”
Well, it was great that they were getting along. She felt more on the outside than she’d ever felt in her life.
“Alea, we’ll see you in our room. I believe you’ll find one of Talib’s personal guards waiting outside to escort you. Obey him. And I wouldn’t attempt to lock us out if I were you. I will kick the door in. This wasn’t the way I wanted to start our marriage.” Dane walked away without looking back.
Alea watched him go and then went to join her guard, her heart heavier than ever. She placed a hand on her belly. She could pretend all she liked, but she knew the truth. She could tell herself that she had been trying to protect them, but she’d really been protecting herself. It had been easy on the island because she didn’t have to deal with reality. She could simply be. No future. No past.
But the future was knocking at her door, and she couldn’t lock it out.
“I understand the impulse to push them away, Alea,” Tal said from his desk. “I really do. I thought it would be best to push Piper away. I thought I was too damaged for her, too dark. She was far smarter than I was. I wasn’t too dark for her. That broken part of me was no match for her love. Her love was far stronger than any torture I’d ever endured.”
“You weren’t getting savaged by the press when you married Piper. Would you put her through this, Tal?”
Her cousin’s eyes grew misty, and he took a long breath. “Yes. I wouldn’t have said it at the time, but now I know the truth. If you love those men, if you want to share a life with them, then you owe them the chance to stand by you. Would you walk out if one of them was in trouble this way?”
God no. She wouldn’t. Couldn’t. But she hadn’t given them a chance. “No. I love them.”
“Then honor them by sharing all of your life. This is marriage, Alea. It’s good and bad and everything in between, and it only works if you’re in it together. Learn from my mistakes. Don’t waste a minute of your time. Go upstairs and see the doctor and wait for your men. Talk to them. Be honest.”
She nodded, but couldn’t seem to make her feet move.
“Alea?” Tal was softer now. “Alea, do you need help?”
They had been asking for over a year. Do you need help? She’d seen it as pity then, viewed her silence as strength. But all she’d done was shut out the people who loved her and closed herself off. “Yes, Talib. I believe I do. I would very much like to see the counselor again. If you could make the appointments, I would appreciate it.”
“Absolutely. I can have her here this evening.” He got to his feet. “Lea, I love you. I know where you are. I don’t want this life for you.”
This life she’d been living could hardly be called a life at all because it allowed for no love, no future, just an endless stream of meaningless todays with no tomorrows. The past was an anchor that never allowed her to move on.
This was the life of a victim. But Piper’s words of wisdom came back to her again. Suddenly she realized that her cousins’ wife was right. She could choose. She could move from victim to survivor. Her choice. Her rules. She could defeat the bastards who had stolen her innocence by refusing to allow them to steal her future.
“I don’t want it either.” How long had it been since she’d asked herself what she wanted? She wanted her men. She wanted this baby, and suddenly she began counting days and was almost sure that she was pregnant. What they had found on that island couldn’t possibly have been left there. No. The love they had made had purpose and meaning, and she was full.
Alea rushed to her cousin and threw her arms around him like she had when she’d been a child.
“Welcome home, Alea.” Tal held on to her, his arms tightening and his voice shaking. “I know I call you cousin, but you’re my sister. Welcome home.”
Alea cried because she’d been gone for so, so long.