The Duke and the Assassin (The Royal Agents of MI6 Book 1)

by Heather Slade

  The ponds where I’d frolicked in the water as a child and ice-skated in the winter beckoned me to walk across and leave my tracks on the ice. When I was a boy, Wellie would test the surface to see if it was solid enough for my siblings and me to traipse on. To think the duchess had threatened the man’s job just because her daughter was involved with his son. Wellie’s family had lived here, and knew every inch of this estate, for generations. If anything, the man belonged here more than my mother did.

  I shook my head, knowing that I’d have to leave my poor attitude out here on the lawns, or I’d never get the outcome I sought from my impending conversation.

  My mother’s reaction, odd as it was, was illogical. The woman had recently reminded us about her desire for grandchildren, and yet, when she first saw Kazmir, she’d fled rather than embrace the gift she’d been asking for.

  That Losha and I weren’t married couldn’t possibly be the reason, could it? Was the duchess really that out of touch with the reality of the modern world? I doubted it very much.

  Even after the duke’s strokes, my mother still maintained an active social calendar, albeit a fraction of what she’d done in the past.

  The flat in London where Wilder would stay wasn’t the only one the Whittakers owned. Our main London residence, a flat located in Kensington near the palace gates, had been the location of several parties, small and large, when I was a child and teenager.

  My parents’ friends included the prime minister and several members of the royal family—who had certainly survived scandals far more interesting than Losha and I having a baby out of wedlock.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket, and when I pulled it out, I was surprised to see it was Rivet’s assistant, Patsy, calling.

  “Happy belated Christmas, Pats,” I answered.

  “Shiver, I’m glad I was able to reach you.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked, startled by her somber tone.

  “I’m sorry to bring sad tidings, but I wanted to let you know that Sir Ranald’s wife, Anna, has passed.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. What can I do?”

  “I know the timing couldn’t be worse, but we need you here, Shiver.”

  “Understood.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Let me make the arrangements, and I’ll let you know when I’ll be in.”

  “I appreciate this.”

  “Say no more, Pats. It’s my job.”

  “But you’re a duke now.”

  “Doesn’t change a thing.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I smiled, imagining that Patsy had just saluted me. “I’ll be in touch shortly.”

  Patsy was right, the timing couldn’t be worse. Before I went into the main house, I called Wilder and told him I’d received a call from Rivet’s assistant.

  “Have they called you in because of Rivet’s wife passing?” he asked when he answered the call.

  “Affirmative. I need to think this through, Wild. Can you alert Pinch?”

  “Will do.”

  “Give me thirty minutes, and we’ll meet at Dorchester House.”

  “Understood, Shiv.”

  “How are Losha and Kazmir getting on with Wellie?”

  “They’ll be adopted within the hour. Although it’s hard to say which one will be the adoptee. Wellie is definitely in full-grandfather mode.”

  It warmed my heart to hear it. It wasn’t that my parents were cold or unloving, but they weren’t as open and affectionate as Wellie had always been with us. I didn’t remember Pinch’s mother; she died when her son was quite young, maybe even still a toddler. Wellie had never remarried, but he was as fine a father as he could be to his only son.

  I took a deep breath and opened the front door of Whittaker Abbey, prepared for whatever the duchess hurled at me.

  Twenty minutes of searching the house for her later, I went into the garage to see if she’d gone out.

  “Yes, sir,” reported Thomas. “The duchess left at least thirty minutes ago.”

  “Did she say where she was going?”

  “To town, sir.”

  “What the bloody hell?” I muttered, walking out of the garage. I felt a bit like a juggler with too many balls in the air. I’d gone from an MI6 agent, bachelor, and marquess, to a duke, father, and next in line to run Section 6 of British Military Intelligence, in less than two months. The enormity of the change in my responsibilities was staggering. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe myself up to the challenge, I just wished I’d had even a few more days to get used to it all.

  I went back to Dorchester House and waited for Wilder and Pinch to arrive.

  “How’d it go with the duchess?” asked Wilder, walking in the front door.

  “It didn’t.”

  “Meaning?”

  “She went to town.”

  “Do you know why?” my brother asked.

  I shrugged, wishing I knew.

  “What’s happening, then?” asked Pinch.

  “Rivet’s wife, Anna, passed away.”

  Pinch scrubbed his face with his hand, which seemed curious to me. Had he had many interactions with Rivet? Even I, who had worked with Sir Ranald since the beginning of my career, didn’t know that much about the man’s personal life.

  “What’s that about?” asked Wilder, obviously having the same thoughts I was.

  “Bugger me,” Pinch muttered.

  “Come on, tell us what’s got you so worked up.”

  “It’s nothing. Sad news for Rivet.”

  I shook my head, not in the mood to pull information out of Pinch. “Excuse me. Before we get started, I need a minute to check in with Losha. We have a lot to discuss, and once we’re into it, it may be an hour or longer before we are finished.”

  “Do you want me to bring her here?” offered Wilder.

  “Thanks, but let me check with her first.”

  The two men nodded, but both looked perplexed. Pinch had something on his mind, and whatever it was, I hoped that when I returned, he would be ready to talk about it.

  “Hi,” Losha answered, sounding as though she’d been laughing.

  “Having fun?”

  “Oh, Shiver. I love Wellie.”

  “You’re not alone in that.”

  “Your sister is here as well.”

  “Darrow?”

  “Do you have another sister?”

  I chuckled. “No, my darling. What does she think of Kazmir?”

  “Like everyone, except your mother evidently, she thinks our son is the most beautiful child who’s ever graced the earth.”

  My breath caught when Losha said “our son.” It was the first I’d heard the words, and they warmed my heart better than a shot of Wellie’s brandy would do.

  “Wellie pulled out some photos of you as a baby, Darrow’s too. He was right; Kazmir looks a great deal like both you and her. That might have something to do with your sister’s high opinion of his looks.”

  I could hear Darrow and Wellie in the background, laughing along with Losha. How I wished I could let everything else be damned and join them.

  I was about to sign off when I saw Wilder leave through the front door, slamming it behind him.

  “What the bloody hell?” I said as I had when my mother pulled her disappearing act. “I’ll call you back shortly,” I told Losha, rushing to go after Wild.

  “Let him go,” Pinch said from the drawing room.

  “What did you tell him?”

  “You might want to have a seat.”

  “Spit it out, Pinch. I’m in no mood.”

  “I believe your mother may be on her way to see Rivet.”

  I sat. “Start at the beginning, and make it damn quick.”

  32

  Losha

  When I said I thought Kazmir might be hungry again, Wellie made up an excuse to check something outside.

  “Can I stay?” asked Darrow.

  “Why would you leave?”

  She shrugged. “I thought you might like privacy.”
<
br />   “Only if it makes you uncomfortable.”

  Darrow shook her head. “So my brother really didn’t know the baby was his until this afternoon? Is he really that daft? I thought the man was a spy.”

  “I’ve been trying to tell him, but every time I planned to, something happened that prevented us from talking.”

  “He didn’t know the minute he saw him?”

  “To be honest, a lot of people have said Kazmir looks like me, but I don’t see it either.”

  Darrow bit her bottom lip. “I’m not sure what I’m permitted to ask.”

  “You can ask whatever you’d like.”

  “How did you and Thornton meet?”

  I laughed.

  “What?” pressed Darrow.

  “It’s a long story.”

  She punched in the pillow nearest her on the sofa and rested her head on it. “Okay, go.”

  “I used to work for an organization called United Russia.”

  Her eyes scrunched. “Are you Russian?”

  I nodded.

  “You don’t sound Russian.”

  “I’ve worked hard not to.”

  “While your accent is very hard to place, I never would’ve guessed Russian.”

  “Part of what made me good at my job.”

  Darrow cringed. “Which was?”

  “I was an operative, but primarily an assassin.” I wasn’t sure what I expected her reaction to be, but I certainly expected the woman to have one. Instead, she rested her head back on the pillow.

  “Go on,” she said, appearing nonchalant.

  “Being able to speak with many different accents or dialects, made my infiltration of enemy organizations far easier.”

  “You said you used to work for them. Who do you work for now?”

  I leaned down and kissed Kazmir’s brow. “I am retired.”

  Darrow smiled. “Okay, but you haven’t answered my original question. How did you and my brother meet?”

  “I was hired to kill him.”

  “I see. Well, I guess that didn’t happen.”

  I laughed again. Darrow really wasn’t affected at all by what I was telling her, other than being amused. “No, it didn’t. What it did do was mark the beginning of the end of my career—almost my life.”

  “Really?” She sat up and leaned forward with her elbows on the knees. “Why?”

  “As evidenced by this little angel, your brother and I had an affair. One that began shortly after we first met, and carried on until UR put a ten-million-dollar bounty out on my head.”

  “Oh. My. God. This is fascinating. Neither Sutton nor Thornton, nor even Axel, will ever tell me anything.”

  “While I love Kazmir with every fiber of my being, I never planned to get pregnant. The last time your brother and I were together, we agreed that for my safety, we needed to end our affair. It wasn’t quite that simple…”

  She sat back against the pillow and sighed. “Is it ever when men are involved?”

  “I suppose not. But it does explain how I was able to keep the child from him.”

  “Keep going.”

  “I had already gone into hiding when I realized I was pregnant. Being so made it necessary for me to be more careful, move more often, cover my tracks better. It’s one thing for me to protect myself. It was another thing entirely for me to protect my unborn baby. After Kazmir was born, the need to stay underground intensified.”

  “What happened next?” Darrow asked, eyes wide.

  “Shiver negotiated the release of the bounty.”

  She sat up again. “Wow. You’re joking.”

  “I’m not. He didn’t do it alone. Both SIS and the CIA were involved. I don’t know all the details, but the person who was offered up in exchange was someone UR wanted far more than me.”

  “Who was it?”

  “A man named Makar Petrov. He had faked his death years before and had been living in America under an assumed identity. That of a man he’d murdered.”

  “I am in awe of you right now.”

  “I had nothing to do with it. You should be in awe of your brother.”

  “Oh, I am. Both of them actually. I wish they could tell me more than they do.” She scrunched her brow. “You aren’t going to get in trouble with him for telling me this, are you?”

  “I haven’t told you anything I shouldn’t have.”

  “Okay. Good. Go on, then,” Darrow muttered.

  “There was another assassin who was on UR’s hit list, someone who is a very dear friend of mine. More like a sister.” Kazmir fussed, and I moved him to my other breast. “Anyway, Shiver, along with some other people he works with Stateside, was able to deliver Petrov.”

  “So United Russia no longer wanted you dead?”

  “Oh, they wanted me dead all right. Probably still do, but they stand to lose a great deal of money if they kill me or my friend.”

  “It must be quite a sum.”

  “Billions.”

  “Again, I’m in awe. You’re worth billions to them?”

  “Not at all. It’s just part of the deal that was made. Again, nowhere near as simple as the story I’m telling you.”

  “Understood.”

  “At first, my excuse for not telling Shiver about the baby was that I was in hiding. He and I had agreed that until we figured out how to make UR’s bounty go away, we’d stay out of contact. Once it had been lifted, I stayed on the run. Both because I didn’t trust United Russia, and because of my baby.”

  “You were hiding from Thornton too?”

  I nodded. “After Kazmir was born, I was afraid he wouldn’t forgive me for keeping him a secret.”

  “Did he?”

  “I suppose you could say that. Your brother vowed to protect us, even before he knew Kazmir was his son.”

  “He loves you.”

  “I believe he does.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “With all my heart.”

  Darrow put her hand on her own heart. “This is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. It should be a book, or better—a movie.”

  “I don’t know about that.” I wondered if I was going too far, but given I was here, and likely bringing danger to Shiver’s family, I continued. “Shiver found me before your father died. Right after he did, he was called back to London. Once he was gone, someone planted a bomb where I was staying.”

  Darrow sat straight up, no longer smiling or laughing. It was almost as though she had a personality change. “You and Kazmir could’ve been killed.”

  She didn’t pose it as a question, but I nodded anyway. “We don’t know who was behind it, and that’s why I’m here.”

  “My brother won’t let anything happen to the two of you. You know that. He’ll die first.”

  Those were the words he’d used, not that I would tell Darrow that. There was no reason to; she knew her brother.

  “Tell me what happened with our mother?”

  I shrugged. “I got the impression she didn’t want us here. Perhaps she disapproves.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve got you beat. I’m sleeping with the groundskeeper’s son. Which reminds me, what’s happened to Wellie?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to see if he’s still outside. It’s bloody cold, not that he’d think so.”

  “He’s asleep,” I whispered, looking at my baby.

  “I’ll be right back,” Darrow whispered too.

  33

  Shiver

  By the time Pinch told me what he’d told Wilder, I was ready for a drink.

  “I’m not saying there’s anything going on between them. I’m only saying that I believe that’s where she went.”

  I studied the man seated in front of me. Pinch was like a brother to me. I had no reason to doubt a single thing he told me, about anything.

  The “friendship” between my mother and Rivet was baffling, and that was an understatement, but there was no reason for me to doubt its validi
ty.

  “What did you say that made Wilder angry enough to leave?”

  Pinch shrugged. “He didn’t let me finish.”

  That didn’t sound like Wilder. Not in the slightest.

  I shook my head. “I wish I could spend time unraveling this, but I have far more pressing matters to deal with.”

  “How can I help?”

  “I’ve been called to London to fill in for Rivet during his bereavement leave. Prior to Patsy’s call, my intention was to keep Losha and Kazmir here with me, but now I won’t be here.”

  “You don’t want them to go to London with you?”

  “Not particularly. It makes it far more difficult to ensure their safety. It would require twenty-four-hour protection, along with limited movement. Here, at least, the round-the-clock protection isn’t as obvious.” I didn’t need to explain; Pinch had been the one to set up the security in advance of our arrival.

  “You could commute.”

  I’d thought of that, but with over an hour each way, plus the inconsistent hours I’d need to be at SIS headquarters, I’d have very little time with Losha and Kazmir as it was.

  “Have you talked to Rivet?”

  I shook my head. “Patsy is the one who called and asked me to come in.” If what Pinch said was right and the duchess did go to town to see Rivet, then I definitely didn’t want to call him. “We need Wilder back here.”

  “I’m here,” said Wild, walking into the drawing room of Dorchester House.

  “What the bloody hell?” I asked, getting really tired of hearing those words come out of my own mouth.

  Wilder walked over to Pinch. “I’m sorry, mate. Wasn’t anything you said. I mean it was, but I wasn’t angry with you.”

  “What were you angry about?”

  “Don’t we need to talk about Losha and the baby, Shiv?”

  “The more I think about it, my only option is to take them to London with me. Is the duchess staying in the Kensington flat?”

  “I would have no way of knowing for certain, but that would be my assumption,” my brother answered.