Alexander & Rebecca (Royals of Valleria #1)

by Knightly, Marianne

  Alex read them over. He’d read other death threats since he had come to work full-time in the royal offices after university. Threats against him, his father and mother, even his siblings. Every one still made his blood curdle and his heart race.

  “Do we know who it is yet?” Alex asked, though he already knew the answer.

  Marcello shook his head. “We’ve got our people analyzing the original photos and letters; those are copies. We’ve already scanned your apartments, too. Found the cameras. There were none in your office, and no audio equipment anywhere, so let’s say thanks for small favors.”

  “Yes, let’s be thankful they only spied on me and didn’t hear anything,” Alex said dryly.

  “You know if they’d heard you, it would be an entirely different situation. We would have been dealing with a serious threat to national security and a loss of state secrets. You’re always working and on the phone, even when you leave the office.”

  “What about the corridors?” The palace, particularly the wing where the family lived, was filled with secret corridors.

  “They’re clean. No breaches.” Marcello paused. “You know what I need to ask you next, don’t you?”

  Alex knew. Had he been alone in his apartments? Would photos of him with another woman surface? “Do we know when these were taken?” Alex asked.

  Marcello crossed his arms over his svelte but muscled chest and gave him an assessing look. “You tell me. You’d be able to recognize when these were taken sooner than us.”

  Alex picked up the photos again, despite his instinct to keep them as far away from him as possible. He felt violated and betrayed as he looked at images of himself, images that the press would love a little too much and which would cause embarrassment to the family and the Royal Council. He suppressed a shudder when he caught a glimpse of a particular tie. He threw the photos on the table, and they slid swiftly across the polished mahogany.

  “A month! A fucking month! That one,” he said pointing to a photo teetering precariously near an edge. “Was taken at least a month ago. The Swedish prime minister gave me that tie as a gift and I had to wear it for our state dinner during his visit. I haven’t worn it since. Did you sweep the other rooms? Cat’s? Our parents? Who else is home? Carolina or Sarah? If some sick son of a bitch has got photos of our sisters or anyone else, I swear.”

  Marcello held up a hand. “You don’t have to tell me. I would kill them myself. Trust me. We swept everyone’s while they were out. Only your apartments were flagged.”

  “Can you trace the cameras? It had to be someone who works here. Only a few people have access to our royal apartments inside the palace.”

  “I’m looking into it.”

  Alex sighed and sat down again. He saw a mention of himself and Rebecca scroll across one of the televisions, and the video appeared soon afterwards. As he watched it, his body reacted each time she fell against him on the screen. He thought he even smelled lavender.

  Alex checked his watch and realized that dinner may have already been delivered to her. Alex needed her, wanted her, lusted for her. Right now, however, he just wanted her comfort.

  Where did a future king go to feel safe, when he was too old for comfort in his mother’s arms or for his father to chase away the nightmares? Alex had been alone with his thoughts and fears for years. Too long, really. He was tired of being alone.

  “The others will have to be told,” Alex said finally, referring to their siblings.

  Marcello nodded. “At dinner in a couple days, unless things progress sooner. Arianna and Ethan are still out of the country, and Lorenzo’s still at the castle in Masillia,” Marcello said, speaking of their brothers and sisters. “If we told them now, they would only worry until they came back. We can tell our parents tomorrow. Besides, we may know more by the time of our family dinner.”

  “We will know more by then.” Alex ordered, then paused as another opportunity presented itself. “What about our staff? Are they in danger?”

  “I don’t think so. Tavin has his own security, anyhow.”

  “I’m not concerned with only my staff. I want all the chiefs of staff protected.”

  Marcello gave Alex a shrewd look. “That’s expensive. It’ll be hard to convince the rest of the Royal Council something like that is necessary.”

  “Then it’s a good thing that several members don’t have a high enough security clearance to be involved in intelligence matters.”

  “That was your doing, wasn’t it? I don’t recall Papa passing that rule with a Royal Order.”

  Alex smiled deviously. “Yes, it was. It’s lucky that as heir apparent, I am allowed to issue Royal Orders.”

  Marcello snorted. “Regardless, even the council members that have clearance will want justification for the protection.”

  “Then spin it. You know what to do.”

  “All right. I’ll see what I can do, but it won’t happen until at least tomorrow, when the next council meeting will be held.”

  “Convene a special meeting tonight.”

  Marcello shook his head. “I’d rather not draw more attention to this right now.”

  “I’ll trust your judgment then.” Alex stood and made his way towards the door, stopping just before he reached it. “There won’t be any pictures of me with anyone else.”

  “Are you sure? Not even a photo that could be misconstrued like the video of you and Rebecca has been? No one in the last month, or during the summer?”

  Alex shook his head. “No one for much longer than that.”

  “How much longer?”

  “A lot longer.” Alex thought of all the long, lonely nights he’d spent dreaming of Rebecca. They might have photos of him tossing in his sleep and his morning erection, but they’d never heard him whisper her name, as he was sure he’d done. Too many of his dreams had been filled with her.

  Marcello uncrossed his arms and looked at Alex disbelievingly. “No one? You’re kidding, right?”

  Alex turned and gazed at his younger brother, saved from the crown by a fate of birth. “A future king must be discreet.”

  “Discreet I get. You’re acting like a monk.” Marcello walked over to Alex and placed his hands on Alex’s arms. Alex’s suit was crisp and fresh, despite the fact he’d been wearing it for hours, even while traveling. Marcello noted the dim circles under his brother’s eyes, and the uncharacteristically leaner look of him. He’d lost some weight. When had that happened? What worries did his strong shoulders carry, that he refused to share with anyone else?

  “You don’t enjoy life enough, Alex, and don’t give me some bullshit about being a ‘future king’. You deserve some happiness. You’re a man, too.”

  Knowing Marcello would keep his secret, Alex said, “I know I’m a man. The trouble is that I’m a man who’s been in love for a long time with a woman who doesn’t know it yet.” Until that moment, Alex hadn’t realized how much he needed to say that out loud, how much he had needed to admit that.

  When Marcello’s hands fell away, Alex opened the door and left before the shock on his brother’s face disappeared and morphed into questions. He didn’t have time for them now, though he didn’t doubt they would come later.

  As Alex started down the hallway, with his one, most-trusted security agent trailing behind, Alex focused his thoughts on Rebecca. As a leader, he had become adept at compartmentalizing, and shifting his thoughts from one crisis to the next, one issue to the next, and one person to the next.

  Tonight, he would leave his job behind for once, and focus on this time with Rebecca. Just the thought of her filled him with a sense of peace and expectation, and a rush of love he still hadn’t learned how to channel. He knew they were meant to be together. Now, he had to find out if she could ever feel the same.

  Chapter 5

  Rebecca grimaced when she heard the knock. Catharine was forcing her to eat something, though her stomach was still in knots. She’d managed to clear away a good chunk of her work but there were
still several tall, sticky piles of it waiting for her.

  Rebecca opened the main door to Catharine’s suite of offices and watched in shock as kitchen staff rolled in carts full of food. Even with both her and Catharine eating a portion, there would still be plenty left over.

  After the food had been setup along a side table in the conference room, Rebecca walked over and began lifting up silver lids on large dishes of pasta, bread, salad, and dessert. When another knock sounded, she wondered if more food was coming.

  When Rebecca opened the door, shock crossed her face again as she found not the kitchen staff, but Alexander. It took her a moment too long to recover but when she did, she curtsied and said, “Your Highness.”

  “Good evening, Rebecca,” he said in a low, soft voice and that sent shivers through her. She liked her name on his tongue just a little too much. He walked inside and closed the door, his security agent taking position just outside, leaving them alone.

  “The Princess is not here at the moment, sir, though I’m happy to help with anything you need.”

  “Are you?” he asked, his gaze locking with hers. Uncomfortable and unable to hold it, she shifted away.

  “Yes, Sir, of course, though the Princess is expected shortly.”

  “Well, at the moment I’m in need of several things, Rebecca,” he said. “First, however, I must inform you that Catharine will not be coming this evening.”

  Confusion dotted Rebecca’s eyebrows and mouth as she checked her phone. “I didn’t receive that message, Sir.”

  “I’m delivering that message to you.”

  She couldn’t fathom why the Prince would deliver such a message to her. “Is the Princess unwell?”

  “She’s perfectly fine, no need to be concerned. You’ll have to forgive me.”

  “Forgive you, Sir? Whatever for?”

  “I arranged that dinner be sent for you. Well, I should say for us.”

  “Us, Sir?” She almost couldn’t breathe.

  A faint smile etched across his lips. “Yes. I think the two of us should have dinner,” he said simply.

  “Why?” she said before good sense could intervene.

  Alex chuckled and the sound sent tingles across her skin. “I’ll tell you over dinner. We wouldn’t want to offend the kitchen staff, now would we, by sending the food back uneaten?”

  Conveniently boxed in, her nerves began working overtime. “Of course not, Sir.”

  His eyes twinkled. “Excellent.” He gestured for her to lead them into the conference room.

  She took a step forward, then stopped. She was about to have dinner with Prince Alexander, the man she’d dreamt of and thought of in an entirely inappropriate sense. “Um, do we need to invite anyone else to this dinner, Sir?”

  “No.”

  She frowned lightly. She must be dreaming, she decided. Any moment now, she would wake up and find herself asleep at her desk. Yes, it was all just another dream. It couldn’t be real.

  Alex smiled and stepped closer. Rebecca gasped when as his fingers caressed her cheek, soft as a breath. Her eyes broke contact with his to glance at the camera in the corner of the room. Though it cost her to do it, she stepped back. Alex’s eyes narrowed.

  “Sir, there are cameras in the offices here.”

  “So there are. They’ve been taken care of.”

  “Taken care of?”

  “Yes. No one will know we were here together.”

  “I see,” she said, though she wasn’t sure she did. Why did he want to keep this meeting a secret? What was his purpose? The knots in her stomach tightened for an entirely new reason.

  “Do you?”

  “Perhaps, Sir.”

  “Stop calling me ‘Sir’ so much. It will make our dinner conversation very tedious.”

  “I don’t know if I can do that. Sir.” Protocol might be the only thing keeping her together right now.

  “Well, try it in any case. Shall we?” he asked as he gestured to the conference room once more.

  Rebecca walked, her movements jerky and nervous. She had no idea what Alex’s intentions were, and she didn’t like it one bit; she hated the unknown.

  Alex held out a chair for her at the head of a conference table and she had no choice but to sit down. She waited uncomfortably while he filled two plates with food and brought them over. The Prince was serving her food; she could not quite grasp that.

  “Wine?” he asked as he held up a bottle. Unable to speak, Rebecca merely nodded. After he poured, she still hadn’t moved and her hands were clasped tightly together in her lap.

  “Eat,” he said lightly as he sat down to her left. “You’ve got to be hungry if you haven’t eaten all day.”

  “I can’t eat until you do. Sir.”

  She watched as Alexander’s eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath. He pulled her clammy hands into his, seeming to ignore the embarrassing sweat lingering there, and brought them to his lips. Rebecca was sure she would pass out, she was so overwhelmed. How often was a girl alone with a prince who kissed her hands?

  “Rebecca. From this moment forward, anytime you’re alone with me, ignore protocol.”

  “I can’t,” she responded instinctually.

  “You will,” he said in a tone meant to tolerate no argument. Softer, he said, “I know it will be hard for you at first, but I think you’ll get used to it over time.”

  “Time, Sir?” she said instinctually again and shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  He still held her hands, his thumbs drawing soft circles over the back of them. “I meant to tell you a little later, after you were more comfortable with me. Perhaps it’s best if I tell you now. I have been planning this meeting between us for quite some time.”

  She tried to pull her hands away, but he held on. “What do you mean?” she whispered, her eyes wide while hope and confusion warred within her.

  “It’s very simple,” he said as his gaze held hers. “I like you, Rebecca. I wanted to spend time with you, just the two of us. I wanted to give you a chance to get to know me.”

  Rebecca pulled quickly away, and this time Alexander let her hands go. She whirled out of the chair and retreated to a corner of the room. If she was of a higher class, she’d know what he was telling her. However, right now, though it was everything she wanted to hear, it was nothing she could believe.

  “I don’t understand,” she said.

  “I want you to know me as a man, Rebecca. To know me as Alex, not as a prince. Or not only as a prince.”

  She shook her head again as she faced away from him. “I don’t know what it is you’re asking of me.”

  Alexander stood and walked slowly to her. She recognized his scent first, rich and male and musky, uniquely his. He smelled wonderful, always had. When his hand touched her shoulder lightly, she tensed, and he turned her to face him. He waited to speak until she met his eyes. “I want you, Rebecca.”

  Her heart fell. A fling? Sex with no strings? Is that what he wanted? She shook her head. “I’m not that kind of girl, Your Highness.”

  His eyes flashed, then cooled before he spoke. “What kind of girl is that?”

  “I don’t do one night stands. Nor am I the type of girl who can become a-a-a mistress, if that’s what you’re looking for. Sir.”

  His hands gripped her arms tightly, but were not bruising. “I’m not that sort of man, either, Rebecca, and I would have thought you knew that, even if you knew nothing else. You think I want a whore on tap? Is that what you think? Do you think I’m that sort of man? How dare you even think of yourself that way?”

  Rebecca was scared, not of Alexander but of the words he’d said. Did she think so little of herself and of Alexander? “I didn’t mean to offend you, or myself.”

  “You did offend me, but you offended yourself more. You’re worth more than that to me. Moreover, you should be worth more to yourself. No man in his right mind would ever consider you mistress material.”

  Despite herself, Rebecca was
slightly offended. She may be the prim, proper, dependable Rebecca Campo, but she was attractive and alluring. She may not have the sex appeal of other women, but men could desire her. “Then I don’t understand what this conversation is about. You said you wanted me.”

  “Yes, you,” he said, shaking her arms a little. “I won’t lie and say I don’t want your body, but I want you, as my girlfriend.”

  “Girlfriend?” she said in complete and utter astonishment. “Me? But, I’m a nobody.”

  “You’re not a ‘nobody’ and I don’t ever want to hear you say something like that again.”