Turning to whisper in Thearon’s ear, Lavinia wondered, “Did you really clear the store in the middle of a Friday afternoon for me?”
Thearon placed his mouth next to Lavinia’s own ear to answer, “You asked for secure—this is as secure as it gets. Each of the staff was given a background check. They’re all human and utterly boring. You’re safe and sound.” He finished his statement with a light lick of the edge of her ear and was pleased to see that the action brought color into her otherwise pale cheeks. Before Thearon could repeat the action, Jonas the Third swept onto the main floor.
Approaching Thearon with wide-open arms and smile, the man was a Gucci-clad bomb of charisma. Bowing to each in turn he said, “Welcome Omega, Queen Lavinia, I had been hoping my services would be needed sooner rather than later. I trust you are enjoying your twin eternity bands?”
The man’s sharp eyes flicked down to Lavinia’s hands where the thick rings sparkled in the store’s light.
“May I offer to clean and inspect the diamonds while you enjoy browsing our current collection?”
Lavinia moved to take the bands off her ring fingers, surprised to think that this was the first time she had removed them since they had been slipped on during her wedding ceremony. Dropping them onto a velvet-lined tray, she smiled at the man, “Thank you very much. I would appreciate that.”
Jonas grinned back, “Our pleasure. Now I have been told we are to match a dress…”
Lavinia fumbled for her phone, not wanting to let go of Thearon’s arm to locate it. “Ahh, yes, I have a picture.”
Jonas waved her off, “Oh my dear, we have done better than a picture—a lovely woman named Callia has sent it over. I always think it’s best to do these things in person, no? And with a glass of champagne of course.” Jonas snapped his fingers and a cool bottle of Cristal appeared along with two gold-tipped champagne flutes.
Lavinia looked up as her dress also appeared on a dressmaker’s mannequin.
“To better see how the necklaces will lay with the neckline,” Jonas explained, answering Lavinia’s question before she could even ask. The rest of the shopping session happened in the same magical manner. Diamonds, sapphires, and opals appeared for her inspection, one after another, each more beautiful than the last.
Slowly, Thearon and Lavinia worked their way around the glittering cases. They started with subtle pieces like pendants and delicate filigreed sets before moving on to the grand collars and heavy chokers of gemstones and diamonds. Eventually, they even moved into the casual and everyday—trying on watches and studs just for fun.
The champagne was slowly drained and accompanied by caviar and madeleine cookies. By the time Lavinia had settled on an art deco choker of diamond, amethyst, and opal, she had also managed to find a watch and matching cocktail ring too.
Getting ready to leave the store, Lavinia was bolstered by the high of beautiful jewelry and champagne bubbles. Plus, she was hungry.
When Thearon reentered from a back room with a small stack of black boxes, Lavinia met him with a kiss, “This is a day that will live forever in my memory, thank you, husband.”
“Thank you for choosing me to be the one to escort you out of the palace. I am honored with your trust.”
Lavinia looked up at him and teased, “Of course. You are the Omega of the Tribe. I think, now that I am out and about, that perhaps I might be up for some lunch, too.”
Thearon blinked.
Lavinia felt her confidence start to leave her in Thearon’s silence, “Well, I mean unless there’s nowhere safe to go. I’m sure we can just do lunch back at the palace. Parker will want an update on the big outing ASAP…”
“No. No, actually we have a spot picked out.”
Now it was Lavinia’s turn for a silent pause, “Am I that predictable?”
“I was hopeful,” Thearon said seriously, “And the new rule of thumb for security is to be over-prepared. How do you feel about a good sandwich?”
“That sounds perfect.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Octavius put down his telescopic camera as the couple moved down the street. They were trailed by three armed guards who were forcing pedestrians to move aside as they walked past. It was obvious that the days of the casual, plain-clothes guards were gone.
As far as Octavius knew, this was the first outing the Queen had made since the shooting. He was heartened that it had taken her so long, but the woman was too well guarded and too self-assured looking for his comfort. They would have to move quickly if they wanted to strike while the LeKing Tribe was still vulnerable.
George came up beside him, lugging his own camera equipment along.
“I got some decent shots from outside the store before the guards moved me along. I just said I was paparazzi and they let me go without a second look.”
“What did you think of the Queen? Did she seem to be fully recovered?”
“Well, after they were inside, she didn’t seem to need any help—leaning on the Omega must have been for moral support rather than physical. Also, she’s pretty ripped now. The dress hid her body for the most part, but her arms are toned and her gaze seemed sharp.”
Octavius grunted. He hadn’t liked the looks of things when the couple had headed down the street to a sandwich place that had a private garden in the back. Very easy to guard and impossible to spy into. No wonder it was a favorite amongst celebrities.
“Well, now we wait,” Octavius said finding an empty seat at a coffee shop across the street from the restaurant.
George sat as well and looked through the photos he’d taken earlier, his frown growing with every click.
“Sir, perhaps we should just shoot her again now. A surprise attack. I think they’ve grown comfortable in her accomplishment of coming outside without incident. We could strike now while there might still be a hole in her security.”
Octavius scanned the restaurant, crowd, and the street around them before looking back at George.
“Do you really not see the breadth of this situation?”
The Werehorse’s frown deepened, “What do you mean? I see a woman who is obviously so physically recovered she’s stronger than before. I also see a woman who, with a successful day outside the palace under her belt, is on her way to being more emotionally recovered as well. We’re giving them time to strengthen their security all the way around. We’ll have to wait months to get as close as this again and years before they start to become lax.”
“George, we aren’t close at all. Look around you—what do you see?”
George turned casually in his seat, first with just his bare eyes, and then with the camera to better see the details.
“I see one guard posted at the mouth of the restaurant.”
“Wrong.”
“Oh no Octavius, he’s there. He’s all in black with a semi-automatic. There’s no mistaking that.”
Octavius took a deep breath to calm himself. “No, you imbecile, I’m not saying that there isn’t a guard there. You’ve just missed at least half a dozen other security experts in your line of view, though.”
Through clenched teeth Octavius continued, “There is an unmarked van that has been sitting on the street all day whose antennae follow the Omega and Queen as they move. There are plain clothes guards at all of the tables outside the restaurant and several of the tourists moving up and down the street are guards as well. Surely you noticed the man in the travel vest pass by ten times.”
George narrowed his eyes at Octavius. “It’s hardly fair to ask me to decode what you’ve been watching all day. If you’ve forgotten, you posted me at the window of the jewelers to keep an eye on the couple directly.”
Octavius uncrossed his arms and stood as the Omega and Queen exited the restaurant. “But for all of that, I do agree with you on one point. We have to strike while the iron is hot and it can’t be an obvious ploy.” Then, motioning to George, the assassins stepped into the crowd.
*
Lavinia felt high as a k
ite. Shopping and lunch had gone perfectly. The restaurant had been as empty inside as the jewelers, and instead of it making her feel like a foregone conclusion, Lavinia felt as though she had risen to everyone’s expectations. Thearon had been right in his pep talk: she was strong and she was ready.
When walking out of the restaurant, Lavinia barely hesitated to rejoin the crowd. It helped that they were preceded out of the restaurant by all three armed guards who kept a perimeter while she and Thearon walked toward the town car.
The sidewalk was especially wide in front of the restaurant due to the extra room for outdoor seating and, try as they might, the guards couldn’t keep a completely clear path for the Omega and Queen. The busy sidewalk hampered them with every step, people on cell phones and those toting cameras and children bumped into the royal group without even looking.
With every jostle and close call, Lavinia felt her nerves pull taught. Lifting her eyes, Lavinia started scanning the crowd herself, remembering to follow Thearon’s advice that she was her own best line of defense. She tried not to take all of the families and business men for granted, instead judging each on their ability to scale an attack.
All at once, from the corner of her eye, she spotted a man coming toward her; unlike the other members of the crowd, this man was looking directly at her with serious intent. He was large, a Werebeast for sure, and he didn’t look like he was planning on stopping for the guards. Before the black-clad men surrounding her could act, Lavinia let her defense training take hold.
Stepping forward on her non-dominant leg she used the loose material of the maxi skirt to hide a round-house kick to the man’s head. When her foot made contact, she barely felt the force of the strike, her adrenaline was so high. Bringing her dominant foot back down to the ground, Lavinia used her forward momentum to hit the man with a one-two punch to his jaw. As he started to fall to the ground, Lavinia grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the balls. The man sunk to the concrete in a groaning heap of Were.
Turning with a fierce grin to Thearon, she was surprised to see him staring at her with a slack-jawed gape. Confused, she turned to take the measure of the guards who were also standing still in shock. Whether they were proud of her or angry, Lavinia wasn’t quite sure. Perhaps she had taken down one of the Royal Werebeast group and they were amazed at her prowess. Perhaps, Lavinia thought powerfully, she had finally saved herself.
Thearon snapped out of it first. Reaching forward for her hand, he directed her back toward the town car, “Lavinia, my Queen, come quickly with me.”
Lavinia joined Thearon, rushing to the car but couldn’t help looking over her shoulder to see what was happening with her attacker. The man was still on the ground with two of the guards hovering over him. However instead of restraining him, the guards seemed to be assessing his injuries. As the door swung shut, Lavinia noticed that now the man was being helped up and patted on the back by the guard.
Open mouthed, Lavinia watched as the guards helped the man into the guard car parked behind her own vehicle. Confused, she turned to Thearon, “Why are they helping him? Isn’t that man part of the Werebeast group? He was going to attack me.”
Thearon cleared his throat and spun his phone around in his hand, “I want to say first and foremost that your attack was perfect. Swift, disabling, and decisive. That’s exactly what we want to see in your personal defense.”
Lavinia crossed her arms and gave Thearon a narrow look, “You can thank Parker for training me well. Where does that leave that man?”
“Actually that man is one of our plain clothes guards. When the crowd became thick, we called him over to help. He’s usually one of the guards in rotation for your personal protection. When you noticed him, I assumed you had recognized him.”
Lavinia was stunned, “No... Oh gods, no... I didn’t recognize him.”
Thearon extended a hand and patted Lavinia’s knee. “It’s okay. Everyone was very impressed with your reaction, even if it was misplaced.”
Lavinia groaned and covered her eyes, “That is so embarrassing.”
“Oh, no, my Queen, It’s a good thing. Now we all know that you’re capable of defending yourself.”
Lavinia wasn’t convinced, but she allowed her husband to try and soothe her. How could she admit that it wasn’t so much that she hadn’t recognized the man? Though, that was embarrassing in and of itself. No, it was her ego that had taken a hit. In those moments after she had literally kicked the man to the curb, she had felt so much pride in herself. Lavinia really thought that she made a stride in the right direction; in becoming more powerful. But as they moved back toward the palace, Lavinia wondered if perhaps she was now just a paranoid loose cannon.
***
As soon as Parker heard that Thearon and Lavinia were back, he dropped what he was doing and headed to their suite to see how it had gone. Thearon had been in contact until they left the restaurant and once they were in the car he had only received a cryptic “Small incident. Safe, we’ll talk when we’re home.”
Incident. Parker didn’t like that word at all. Incident. That single word meant that something more had happened—he wasn’t sure if it was a good move or a bad more. What he was sure about was the need to see both Thearon and Lavinia in the flesh.
Moving down the hallway, Parker fended off entreaties from various assistants and servants with a smile and a nod. Entering the suite he was surprised to find it, well, empty. Spinning around on his heel he ran into one particularly persistent assistant.
“Alpha, if you would just stop for a second…” the assistant began.
Parker cut the man off, “I’m so sorry. At the moment, I’m just trying to find my husband and wife. I’m sure everything else can wait for a little bit?”
Parker moved to dodge the man, but the assistant only stepped back into his path. “Alpha, I was sent by…”
“Honestly, my man, if you would just wait in my office, I promise to hear you out in an hour. But I am going to take the next sixty minutes to reconnect with my family if only I can find them.” Parker placed a reassuring hand on the man’s shoulder and attempted to move around him only to see Thearon enter the room.
“Omega, well, you’re half of who I wanted to see. Where have you been? Where is Lavinia?”
“I was dropping Lavinia off at the recovery wing so she could apologize to the guard she beat up earlier. You would know this had you let the man standing in front of you get a word in edgewise.”
Both Parker and Thearon turned to look at the harried assistant, “I’m sorry,” Parker said to the man. “I will say that you tried your best. I was simply on, uhm, a mission.”
The man cleared his throat and gave a small bow, “If you’re no longer in need of my services?” Thearon gave a decisive shake of his head. “Well then, thank you, Alpha and Omega. Omega, I will see you later at the debriefing.”
“Yes, thank you.” Thearon checked his phone as the security assistant left the room.
“Oh, he’s one of yours,” Parker said checking his own phone.
“Yes, he’s one of mine. He was supposed to track you down and let you know that Lavinia needed a minute with the guard and I needed a minute with you to fend off the inquest.”
“Inquest? I was not about to perform an inquest. I just want to know what’s going on. You’re the one who sent a text with the word ‘incident.’” Parker looked at Thearon accusingly.
Thearon sighed, “Just take a seat. I wanted to explain it all to you before you cornered Lavinia. She’s dealing with it all quite well, I think the fact that she wanted to apologize to the guard instead of hide is a good sign.”
Sitting, Parker took a deep breath and put away his phone, “Okay, start at the beginning—why does Lavinia need to apologize?”
Thearon related the entire afternoon to Parker. He started with how well the shopping experience had gone and continued with the low-stress lunch, paying special attention to how the new security features had been enacted as well as the
different bugs they had encountered and overcome. Finally, he came to the incident. Thearon praised Lavinia’s ability to defend herself even if it was misguided.
“She really beat the guard up? He wasn’t taking the hits because she was the Queen?”
Thearon raised an eyebrow, “You’ve been with her on the mat. You tell me if you think she can throw a punch.”
Parker let out a low whistle, “No—the girl can pack a punch when she wants to. I’m proud of her.”
“We’re all proud of her. What I’m scared of, is that she’ll let this incident scare her from attacking again. I’d rather disarm guards than let a real attacker get past our defenses. I know the guard she attacked is telling her the same thing.”
“You’re right; Ben is his name, and Ben was very forceful in telling me that I did all the right things. Also, that I should stick with the roundhouse to start—it was unexpected and effective.”
Parker and Thearon turned at the sound of their wife’s voice. Lavinia stood in the doorway, still clad in the black maxi dress though her hair was now in a messy knot on top of her head. The look wasn’t indicative of her mood, however, as she appeared brighter than she had in months. Both men stood from the couch as she walked toward them.
“Lavinia, Thearon was just telling me what happened. I’m so proud that when you suspected a threat, you acted upon it.”
Lavinia tucked a stray hair behind her ear, “Thanks. I’m still a little embarrassed. I mean, the man trails me six times a week, I don’t think I’ll ever get over not recognizing him. But I am proud that I was able to react the way I did on instinct.”
“I think it was all that time in the gym,” Parker said with a wink.
“I will admit that I think that was time well spent,” Thearon acknowledged.
Simply Bears: A Ten Book Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance Collection Page 78
