The Royal Roommate

by P. G. Van

  “I can understand why… I still found you with my connections with the government here.”

  “Wait… you aren’t my real roommate then? What happened to my real roommate?”

  “Well, I was able to intercept and get the roommate moved to a different location through the agency, and I showed up.”

  “Who the hell are you, dude?” She slapped his chest with the back of her hand.

  “The dude who couldn’t keep his hands off your tight ass the minute I laid eyes on you.” He laughed.

  “Not funny.”

  “I had no choice. I was the closest to your location, so I had to do it myself, and I… I’m so glad I showed up.”

  “I am, too.” She kissed him on his cheek. “So, what did the guy steal?”

  “He downloaded a file with classified information about the royal family onto a memory card. We found that in your minivan when we pulled it apart.”

  “You ran into my car on purpose, you idiot. You should have told me, and I would have let you search it. How could you?” She was angry and started slapping her palms on his chest.

  “Amy… baby, I had no choice… that was the only way we could check the car to see if we could find any links.”

  “Did you look through my things when I was at work? I should have known when all my things seemed out of place.”

  He shook his head smiling. “We did search the apartment when you were in your room.”

  “Huh?”

  “Sleeping.”

  “You fucking asshole, did you drug me that day so you could search my apartment? How did you drug me? I don’t remember drinking anything that morning.”

  “Relax, Amy. Please, I’m sorry… I was just doing my job.”

  “Ridiculous. Why did you drug me?”

  “I couldn’t take the risk of searching when you were away. If you were linked, your apartment would be watched, and I couldn’t take the risk.”

  “How did you drug me?” She was in disbelief.

  “I sprayed it on you when I ran past you that morning.” He smiled sheepishly.

  “You’re such an asshole,” she growled punching him in his core which felt like she ran her knuckles into a wall.

  “I’m sorry, I had a task to do, sweetheart.”

  “Whatever! How much of what we did was part of your so called task?”

  “None of it, that was me. Sid, the man who thinks you are the sweetest and smartest person ever.”

  “I don’t want my parents to know any of this. You are my roommate, and we kinda like each other.”

  “Not happening. I can’t lie.” He shrugged.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. You create a fake identity and situations, and you can’t lie to my parents?”

  “I never lied to you. Everything I told you is the truth. I told you I couldn’t speak to it when I didn’t want to tell you the truth.”

  She thought for a moment about everything he said to her. She then realized he was telling her the truth including the time he told her he had drugged her, but she was so emotionally high on her desire for him to realize what he meant.

  “Is that why you were fighting your feelings all week?”

  “I don’t like my work mixing with my personal life. It’s a huge rule of mine I broke last night, but I’m not sorry.”

  “Why didn’t you show up on time last night?”

  “I was waiting.”

  “Waiting for?”

  “To make sure you weren’t in any way involved… I needed to make sure you weren’t playing me because I’ve never felt this way about anyone.” He pulled her closer to him.

  “What did you find out last night before you came to me?”

  “I thought the homeless guy you put on the bus to Lanesville was an accomplice.”

  She was clearly taken aback. “What? How is Jason part of this, and how did you know where he was going?”

  “I had three things that needed to be cleared. The memory card we found in the minivan had traces of blood on it that belonged to the guy you saved. I knew by late afternoon why you let the guy into your car and didn’t just call 911. I just needed to know what the link was with you and the homeless guy, and I just lost it when that guy went missing.” He ran his fingers through his hair at the memory of the highly tensed few hours.

  “The perfect storm… how did you know I had no signal at that spot?”

  “I had someone drive through the area with a phone from your network provider, unlike the first time.”

  “So, was it just my carrier that doesn’t have coverage in that area?”

  “Yup, yours and our rebel group guy’s phone.” Sid shook his head.

  “This is unbelievable!”

  “I needed to be very sure you weren’t a hot-assed trickster.”

  “What if I was, and I cast a spell on you to get in bed?”

  He laughed. “You didn’t really need to try, my balls were turning blue just by looking at you.”

  “It’s cool I have that effect on you, but I don’t want to take you home if you are going to pack your bags and go back to Edenridge.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I can’t until I convince you to go with me.”

  “Please tell me you’re kidding. If the reality of this is for us to… to not be together for any reason, I’d rather do it now than later.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes!” She looked away from him.

  “Look at me when you talk to me,” he commanded making her look up. “Now tell me you want me to leave.”

  She looked into the deep darkness of his eyes and put her arms around him unable to speak.

  “For whatever reason, we feel the way we feel about each other, so let’s not walk away from it. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I know I can’t walk away from you.” He knew the feelings he had for her were stronger than his hatred he had for her as a child.

  “Don’t you dare leave me even if I ask you to leave,” she pleaded burying her face into the softness of his t-shirt.

  “I promise.”

  “Will you take me to my brother’s birthday party this weekend?”

  “My pleasure!”

  “You can interrogate Jason while you’re there so you can clear me one final time,” she teased.

  “I would like that but not for the reason you mentioned.”

  She pulled away to look at him with a puzzled expression.

  “I want to see the homeless shelter you built in Lanesville.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t, my dad did.”

  “But it’s your idea.”

  “Everyone has ideas, but it takes someone like my dad to make it happen. My dad has done everything in his power to keep my brother and me happy.”

  “I can tell.”

  “I just tell the homeless guys they could have a better life if they took a bus to Lanesville. It’s my mom and dad who do everything for them. My mom treats them while they are at the shelter, and when they are in good health, my dad either gives them a job on the farm or in town on his construction projects. A lot of the homeless guys are Army vets who suffered from PTSD. After recovery, they work as physical education teachers in the local schools.”

  “That’s great!”

  “I can’t wait for my mom and dad to meet you.”

  “I’m looking forward to meeting Aaron the most.” He laughed.

  “I don’t like the sound of it.” She scrunched her nose.

  “You’ll be fine.”

  “I better be. I can form my own rebel group even if I’m not connected to the group you’re interested in.” She gently elbowed him.

  “So, one other reason why you were suspected to be connected was something he said to you just before he was taken into the hospital.”

  “He didn’t say anything, he thanked me for taking him to the hospital.”

  “Something about a man in the middle of a field about to die.” Sid rubbed his forehead.

  She lau
ghed when she realized Sid had read too much into a sentence with no context. “Who told you that?”

  “One of the paramedics remembered something vaguely and remembered it because it seemed odd to him.”

  “This is so funny and not so funny at the same time. So, I think the dude was a doctor or some medical professional because he told me he had to stay awake to survive and asked me to keep talking to him. I didn’t know what to say to him so I started with the riddles, and the one he had gotten stuck on was the dead man one, and I gave him the answer as they rolled him in.”

  “Holy moly! This is unbelievable.”

  “Do you know the riddle?”

  “What is the riddle?” His eyebrow raised high.

  “A dead man lay in the middle of a field, and he didn’t walk there, but he knew he was going to die as he approached the field.” She winked.

  “That’s why you said parachute?”

  “Yeah!” She laughed shaking her head.

  “I need to let my team know, so they don’t chase every man in the middle of a field, and you fit the profile because your dad has a farm.”

  “This is a ridiculous amount of coincidence, and I’m glad it’s over,” she declared.

  Sid shook his head but did not say anything.

  “Now that I think about it, his accent was very similar to yours. Is that guy from Edenridge, too?”

  “I would think so since he is connected to the Barkha Group.”

  “Why are you after him?”

  “He is an accomplice of a traitor who worked within the system and got away with information that could jeopardize the future of a country.”

  “That sounds scary.” A shiver passed through her.

  “The Barkha Group was a protected community under the protection of the Crown, and they went rogue when the King passed away forming when the King’s son took over. The group got so accustomed to being outlaws, they went to the extent of mass killings and killed every member of the royal family.”

  “Unbelievable. What do they want?”

  “Their own country and all the resources in the area.”

  “That’s just ridiculous. How can they not be bound by law?”

  “They make their own laws, use all the natural resources in that area, encroach neighboring countries until…”

  “How can you stop them?”

  “A royal family member needs to be crowned.”

  “Yeah, find your king!” she cheered.

  “Or queen!”

  “Yeah, queen!” She laughed. “Kick their butt.”

  “Yes, what else do you remember from that night?”

  “I remember everything he said in the car.” She shrugged at his surprised expression.

  “What did he tell you?”

  “He didn’t tell me anything just what he was saying to himself like he was motivating himself to stay up. He was chanting names of people, maybe his family members.”

  Sid shifted uncomfortably next to her. “What did he say?”

  “Something about a goal, a kingdom, and its ruler.” She swore he shuddered, but she continued to speak. “He was hurt, and I thought he was hallucinating, but he kept mumbling like he needed to hear himself speak.”

  “What else?” Sid seemed angry.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Amy, what else do you remember?”

  “He… he said something about how close he was to home… no close to returning home, and then he stopped and asked me to talk to him.”

  Sid was suddenly alarmed. “What does he know about you?”

  “Umm… that I was headed to San Francisco. Why does he care about me?”

  “He shouldn’t… he shouldn’t,” he murmured and shook his head like he needed to clear it.

  “Sid, I really don’t want to talk about that night anymore,” she finally said after a long silence.

  “I’m sorry. I got into my work mode.”

  “Yeah, I need you to get out of that mode and get us some breakfast.”

  “Coming right up!”

  Sid stepped into the kitchen typing on his phone.

  Sid: I want triple the security around the cove.

  Sid: Switch out every security personnel in her path. I want the core team; bring the Ambassador’s security, too.

  Sid: Get me an appointment with one of the lawyers at Amy’s law firm.

  John: Yes, sir.

  John: Do you want me to head back to San Francisco?

  Sid: No, secure the Guardian. I will bring the Swan.

  John: Security detail will be updated in the next thirty minutes.

  Sid: Wipe out registration details on Amy’s van.

  John: The van has a fake registration, too, sir. They can’t get to her.

  Sid: The Guardian is good, John.

  John: Yes, sir.

  Sid put his phone away and called out to Amy. He was finally about to do what he trained his entire life for, protecting the Queen.

  The queen of his heart and his kingdom.

  Chapter 10

  “What the heck is going on?” Amy scrunched her nose looking at the security guards stationed outside her work entrance on Monday morning.

  “You’re asking the wrong person.” Sid laughed as Amy reached to her left to kiss him on the cheek.

  “Thanks for the ride.” She smiled getting out of the car.

  “Dinner at seven?”

  “No, don’t count on me to go out with you during the week. I’ll probably see you on Friday.” She winked. “It’s not easy being a law intern.”

  “I’ll see you sooner, and I will have dinner with you at seven.”

  “Not happening.”

  “I own your hot ass tonight if I see you sooner and if I have dinner with you,” he growled making her hot.

  “At seven!” she challenged knowing there was no way she would leave work before nine.

  “See you sooner, baby.” He winked before driving off. She stood staring at the diminishing image of the behemoth army-like vehicle smiling like a fool. She shook her head when a little voice asked if she was falling for him.

  “Just attraction,” she murmured to herself as she walked past the guards who seemed to be standing like statues by the door.

  She walked past the front desk smiling at the woman who looked extremely nervous with a guard in uniform standing behind her.

  She walked into the conference room where all the interns were situated for the summer. She approached the group of interns who were whispering in a huddle.

  “Hey, guys, what’s happening?”

  “No idea.” One of the guys shrugged.

  “Why do we have a bunch of security guards all over the building?”

  “Rumor has it they may be letting a bunch of people go, and they need guards to escort people out of the building,” another guy chimed in.

  “Oh, that’s sad. Can we review the notes from the case from Friday?”

  The guys who were in the conference room looked past her, their faces turning pale. “What’s up, guys?”

  “Why are all the partners at the firm going into that conference room?”

  She turned to look and saw the law firm’s senior partners file into a conference room.

  “I bet you it is a new case that we will be working on this summer,” she declared with excitement settling into her chair.

  Two hours later, Amy waited in a huge hall with three hundred other people waiting to be addressed by one of the senior partners of the law firm.

  “What the heck is going on?” one of the girls on the intern program leaned closer to Amy and whispered.

  “I guess they’ll tell us now.”

  “Whatever!” Everyone was getting impatient.

  An eerie silence fell over the room as the senior partner walked toward the center stage. The elderly man tried to appear calm, but Amy could tell he was either overly excited or nervous or both.

  “Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to announce we will be working on
our first intercontinental case. The legal case will be against citizens of various countries making this one of our biggest international clients.”

  Amy realized the senior partner was so excited he was having trouble breathing.

  “The security you see around the building is to protect the evidence you will be collecting and analyzing over the next few months. This client will make us known in Europe and Asia opening up opportunities for people to work on international law.”

  “Wow!” Amy breathed out with excitement.

  The elderly man continued to beam as he spoke. “For starters, the client wants us to start working on the laws which govern the rights of an American citizen to press charges in a different country. This will be a great opportunity for the interns to get exposure to international law.”

  The interns celebrated, and Amy cheered with her team but she had too many questions. She raised her hand to vocalize her thought.

  “Mr. Barry, I’m elated to work on international law, but we need to understand what kind of a treaty America has with the country. What country is the client from?”

  The interns grumbled their annoyance at her question, and the senior partner looked at her like she was nuts.

  “I got this, Mr. Barry,” a deep and overly familiar voice boomed from the back of the room.

  She watched the heads turn in the direction of the voice, but she couldn’t get herself to turn to look, not at least immediately. When she slowly turned to look, like she couldn’t turn any faster, her amber eyes met sparkling jade eyes that darkened with mockery.

  “Hello, Commander Bose! What a pleasant surprise!” the senior partner cheered sheepishly.

  Amy stood frozen taking in the breathtaking view in front of her. Sid was a few feet from her dressed in the most majestic Army uniform with a matching peaked cap adorned with a gold emblem at the center. She held her breath at the masculinity his body emitted as he walked toward her.

  “Commander Sidney Gerald Bose, ma’am.” He held his hand out.

  “Amy Watson.” Her voice wavered as he took the back of her hand to his lips. She felt the warm breath on her skin as he pecked her hand before letting go.

  “Ms. Watson, I am from the beautiful Kingdom of Edenridge. Are you one of the interns who will be working on my case?.”