Alexander & Rebecca (Royals of Valleria #1) (27 page)

“Day after next,” Alex said. “After the family knows.”

“I’ll draft the press release myself, if that suits you,” Gabriel said.

Alex smiled. An announcement like this coming directly from the king’s office, rather than his own, would solidify the royal approval of his choice in bride. “It suits perfectly, thank you.”

As conversations sprung out around the room, Francine used the noise as an opportunity to whisper to her daughter. “Are you really all right?”

Rebecca nodded. “There’s still a lot of pain, but I’ll heal. I’m more terrified that in two days I won’t be ‘Rebecca’ anymore; I’ll be a future princess and queen instead.”

“Oh, my dear girl,” Francine said as she gingerly hugged her daughter. “You’ll always be ‘Rebecca’. Don’t ever forget that. No matter title they stick on your name, it’s still you, and that’s a wonderful thing.”

Alex woke the next day to find himself alone on the hospital bed. After a moment of sheer panic, he heard the water running in the bathroom and relaxed.

“Rebecca?”

“I’ll be out in a minute,” a hoarse, muffled voice replied.

“Do you need any help?” he asked as he stood just outside the door.

Rebecca stepped out a moment later and Alex felt his heart clench when he saw the purpling bruises marring her cheeks. “I’m not an invalid, Alex,” she said as she caressed Alex’s cheek for a long moment. “I won’t break.”

Alex nodded and Rebecca started to shuffle towards the bed again. She may not be broken, but apparently her ankles still hurt enough to make walking difficult. Alex scooped her up in his arms.

“What are you doing?” Rebecca said with a smile.

“Helping you. I intend to do it for the rest of our lives, so you’d better get used to it.”

A ridiculous grin spread across her face, the grin of a woman in love. “Can’t wait.”

“Me, either,” he said as he placed her gently on the bed and kissed her forehead; he missed kissing her lips. “I’ll be right back. Do you need anything?”

“I’d love something to eat and maybe some coffee.” She winced. “I’ll probably have to have both through a straw I suppose.”

“Then we’ll get you the best smoothie money can buy, full of caffeine.”

“Thanks, Alex,” she said as she gripped his hand.

He brought it to his lips for a kiss. “Be back in a few minutes.”

He left the room, and paused just outside to lean against the wall. He raked his hands over his face and through his hair. He knew he must look a mess right now; certainly nothing like a prince should.

The few nurses and staff working in this part of the hospital were chatting quietly at the nurses’ station nearby, and security was present wherever he looked. Marcello had upped the security, particularly now that Rebecca was to be princess and, one day, queen.

A wave of love and possession crashed through him. She would finally be his, forever, just as he would be hers.

Alex sent off a quick message on his phone as he started walking towards the hospital staff, signaling to the doctor he needed to speak with her.

“How is the patient this morning? I’ll do a quick checkup in a few minutes,” the doctor said.

“She seems okay. Still having trouble walking, but she’s hungry. I’ve ordered a smoothie for her, if you have no objections.”

“Sounds perfect. Her lips may take up to a week to heal, though sometimes it takes only a few days. Keep applying the medicated lip balm, and it should work quickly enough. Did she have any more nightmares? The nurses didn’t indicate any.”

“No,” Alex said as a shudder ran through him. He could still feel her trembling in his arms as she relived the horror of being kidnapped and almost assaulted. He did not think that he would ever forget the tears she had shed in her sleep because of it. “The sleep medication you gave her last night did the trick, and she seemed okay this morning.”

“Well, I’ll give her some to take with her, just in case. My recommendation is that she speak to someone, a trained therapist, to help her through it.”

Alex nodded. “If you’ll send me a list of names you recommend, I’ll have them vetted and talk it over with Rebecca.”

The doctor gave him a curious look. “And how are you feeling this morning?”

“Me? Perfectly well,” Alex said, a little affronted.

The doctor laughed. “You don’t need to look so angry at the question. You didn’t get much sleep either, did you?”

“I’ll be all right. Once we’re back in the palace tonight, we’ll all sleep better.”

“Still, though. Have a seat and let me do a quick checkup.”

Alex reluctantly went into an empty room sat down on the pristine bed while the doctor did some poking and prodding. “How are Rebecca’s parents doing?”

“Just fine,” the doctor said as she took Alex’s blood pressure. “They’re being officially discharged as we speak, then they’ll be over to see Rebecca. Your blood pressure’s a little high.”

“That’s hardly surprising.”

“Perhaps. I’d like to see it monitored, however.”

“I’ll let the doctors at the palace know.”

She smiled. “Lovely. Then I’ll just send them the notes from our checkup so they’re aware of what I recorded just now.”

Alex cursed silently. He’d hoped to avoid seeing them, but now there was nothing for it. “An excellent idea,” he said, barely missing a beat.

“I’m going to examine Rebecca. You’re welcome to the coffee and pastries we’ve got in the waiting room.”

“Thank you,” Alex said as they walked out. Alex watched as she disappeared into Rebecca’s room before heading back to the waiting room. He was startled to find Marcello there, as well as Tavin. Anger bit through him, hot and sharp, at the sight of his chief of staff.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Alex said as he strode up to Tavin.

“Just a minute, Alex,” Marcello said as he stepped between them. He noticed the security agents move towards them and Marcello simply shook his head; they returned to their posts.

“Please, Your Highness,” Tavin said as he clasped his hands together tightly. “I just wanted to see how Rebecca was doing and apologize.”

Alex took a deep breath. Rebecca did not need any more violence in her life, and that was the only thing keeping him from destroying Tavin as thoroughly as he had destroyed Rebecca’s captor last night. “I don’t know if she’ll want to see you. In any case, I don’t want you to see her.”

Tavin nodded. “I understand, sir. I take full responsibility. I’ll never forgive myself for what happened.”

Alex knew that Tavin did not know even half of what had happened. The press had merely reported that Rebecca had been kidnapped, not the details of it all. Still, he could not allow Tavin to take the full blame.

“You’re not completely responsible for what happened. Lafayette is dead. You are, however, liable in what happened.” Frustration broke through. “What the fuck were you thinking? Didn’t you even have your security agents vetted before they started working for you?”

“Yes, Sir, yes, I did,” Tavin spoke quickly.

“He did, Alex,” Marcello spoke quietly and some of the fight left Alex. “The truth is that Lafayette had a clean record before this. He’d been planning it for a long time, had been working his way up in personal security for years. Years, Alex. No one would have suspected it unless they knew how twisted he really was.”

“What about Gerald? He knew he had an illegitimate son and told no one?”

“Father had a very one-sided conversation with him last night, as did I and the security team that showed up on his doorstep this morning. He’ll never set foot in Valleria again.”

Alex sighed and collapsed into a chair, and put his head in his hands. Marcello dropped a hand on his shoulder.

“Let me get you some coffee and a bite to eat. You’ll need your strength for Rebecca,” Marcello said. Alex lifted his head and nodded.

After Marcello stepped to the other side of the waiting room, Alex gave Tavin a hard stare, who sat pin straight in a seat facing him, fear evident in his eyes. Tavin had been invaluable to him for several years now. He was an excellent chief of staff, and had been duped just as they had. That fact did not make it any easier to look at him.

Alex found himself thinking about what Rebecca would do in this situation. She was not just his heart, it seemed, she was also in his head now, too.

“I’m not going to fire you,” Alex said finally, after some more internal debate. “I should, but I won’t. You’ll go on probation for the next year, which means your security clearance will be remedial, at best. You’ll need to train someone else to handle the more serious situations.”

Tavin released a sigh of relief. “Yes, sir. I’ll start on that right away. Thank you, sir. That’s very fair.”

“Well, I have no doubt the press will, unfortunately, vilify you enough. We’ll see how the year progresses and reexamine things at that time.”

Tavin nodded just as Marcello returned. Alex took the coffee and pastry and asked, “What about the other kidnapper? What’s happened to him?”

“He’s in prison, awake, and doing well physically. He was just a pawn in the whole scheme. Another distant relation he’d recruited for this.”

“I didn’t recognize him.”

“Neither did I. He’s technically a cousin, many times removed. I’ve already questioned him and confirmed that there was no one else involved. Apparently, Lafayette wanted to recruit others but when an opportunity came up to insinuate himself into Tavin’s security, he just decided to proceed with his plan.”

Tavin shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Marcello continued. “When Lafayette picked up on you and Rebecca, then he started to make his move.” Marcello paused. “I’ll need to talk to Rebecca, get her statement.”

“No,” Alex said simply before he took a sip of coffee.

“It’s not up for debate, Alex. It needs to be done.” When Alex’s eyes narrowed, Marcello said, “We don’t have to do it right now but, believe me, it’s always harder the longer you wait. The sooner she gets it out, the better off she’ll be.”

Alex frowned. He knew from his own military experience that what Marcello said was true. It did not make it any easier for him to accept it, though. “I’m staying in the room with her.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? She’ll need you there for comfort, not anger, Alex.”

Alex put down his coffee and stood up. “I can be calm.”

“This is you ‘calm’, is it?” Marcello mused.

Alex cursed under his breath and Marcello laughed. “You do have it bad, don’t you?”

“A man should have it bad when he’s going to get married.”

“Married, Sir? Oh, congratulations! Such wonderful news,” Tavin said, genuinely pleased.

Alex turned his scowl into a half-smile. “Thank you, Tavin. All right,” he said as he faced Marcello. “Let me see if she’s up to it now. She may want her parents there, too. They should be released soon.”

Marcello nodded and they began walking back to the room.

“How are you doing?” Alex asked him.

“Pissed off. It’s my job to take care of security, for our family and our country, and I let everyone down.”

“Marcello,” Alex started but Marcello held up a hand to silence him.

“There’s no use denying it. This whole situation was one security breach after another, one disaster after another. They’ll try to throw me off the Royal Council for this.”

“They’ll never get anywhere. Papa and I won’t allow it.”

“You may not be able to stop it. This isn’t just a damn video, Alex.”

Alex took Marcello’s arm, causing them both to stop and face each other. “What happened was terrible, but it’s an opportunity, not a defeat.”

“Are you deluded? Maybe we should have the doctor examine your head.”

“Use this,” Alex said, ignoring his comment. “Tell the Council you can’t do your job effectively with the funds you have, and the staff you have. Use this to get what you need. I can tell you right now, Papa and I will never settle for anyone less than you as the Minister of Security and Defense. If you don’t want that role, then that’s another story.”