Alexander: Prince (Members From Money Book 14)

by Katie Dowe

  “Yes, of course.”

  Debbie when into the large airy office and looked around. The last time she had been here she had been an assistant and now she was a princess married to a prince! How strange life was! She wandered over to the desk and touched the strong mahogany surface. It had been kept neat the way Amelia left it. She had suggested that both Debbie and Alexander run things here for the time being but Debbie actually wanted to go back to Costa Land. Alexander had said they could go back and forth until she started having children. She placed her hand over her flat belly and shivered slightly. They made love every chance they got and she had told him she wanted them to get to know each other first, but she was in fact looking forward to feeling his child inside her womb.

  With a brisk shake of her head, she went around the desk and booted up the computer. Within minutes, she had gotten back into the stride of things and had waded through a mountain of work. Alexander had set up meetings with the board to reassure them and the rest of the staff that even though Amelia was not here physically, the company would go on.

  Debbie looked up as the door opened and watched as her husband strode in with that confident walk of his. The weather was icy and he was wearing a grey jacket suit with a light blue shirt inside.

  “Hey, baby.” He came around and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I see you have managed to accomplish a lot.” His dark eyes swept over the computer screen. “We have several more meetings for the day but after we are going to take the time and go out for dinner at Kane’s new restaurant.”

  “Sounds good.” She leaned back and rested her head against him as he sat on the arm of the chair. “I have spoken to finance and we are reaping in the profit from the latest software. Profits dropped a little in the last period but it is picking up again.”

  “What do you think about taking Mother’s place?”

  Debbie twisted her head to look up at him. “What do you mean?”

  He dropped a quick kiss on her elegant chignon and continued. “Mother’s main focus is at Father’s side and the country needs a lot of rebuilding and reinforcing. He has been out of the loop for many years and there are things that need to be done. Relationships with neighboring countries that need fixing as well as regaining the confidence of our people.” He shrugged elegantly. “You get the gist of it. In other words, Mother is offering us the company.”

  Debbie felt her heart slamming inside her breasts. She had no experience when it came to developing software but she had administrative experience and there were very talented people here who had a pretty good idea what they were about. “What about Costa Land?”

  “We could go there on Fridays and be back here on Mondays or Tuesdays depending. It’s up to you, baby, but Mother worked very hard to build the company and I would hate to see it crumble because she is not here. Her heart is not in it right now because she has been away from her husband for so long she really wants to be with him.”

  “I know. You told me that as royalties we have to do a lot of traveling.”

  “We are going to have a very busy life,” he murmured as he tilted her chin to look up at him. “I want to do everything with you. I want us to be a team so that we are not away from each other. How does that sound?”

  “Wonderful.” She blinked the tears away and felt the lump at her throat. “First I need a favor.”

  “Anything,” he said softly.

  “I want to buy a house for Deloris and my mother and also big enough for Derek and Maia and the kids.”

  “You did not have to ask that. You have access to our money, baby. So do with it as you please.”

  *****

  “I cannot accept it,” Delia Williams told her swiftly as she looked around the large three story house in the upscale neighbourhood. Debbie had gotten right onto it and apparently when you are a princess, doors were flung right open! It had taken her a few hours to find a suitable place that could housed her entire family.

  “I do not have that problem,” Deloris said with excitement pouring through her. “Mama, you could take downstairs since your knees are giving you problems. There is a huge backyard where you can do your gardening while taking care of Darcy and Derek’s newborn when he arrives. Derek and I can flip for the second of third floor.” She turned to look at her brother and his wife.

  “No flipping necessary,” he said with a broad grin. “Mama, Debbie is family and she is doing something very nice for us. We need to say thanks.”

  “Why thank you, Derek,” Debbie said with a grin. “But you know you need to address me by my title.”

  “Of course, Princess,” he responded, pulling her into his arms. “Come on, Mama, get into the spirit of the thing.”

  “Okay.” A grudging smile came to her lips. “It’s nice,” she said, looking around.

  “Nice?” Deloris lifted her eyes heavenwards and they all laughed. “Let’s go explore.”

  *****

  “You should see the look on their faces, Alexander,” she said later that night when they were in their suite. “The place is incredible with lots of room. The children will be able to run around and there is a special section where their playroom could be.”

  “I am happy if you are happy.” He massaged her shoulders gently as she leaned back against him. They had not been able to make it to the restaurant because the meetings had run over and she had been tied up a little with sorting out the sale of the place and spending time with her nieces but they were planning on going tomorrow.

  “I am extremely happy.”

  *****

  “I have dismissed the staff for the night,” Amelia said as she came from the sitting room wearing a filmy lilac gown that showed sections of her skin. King Alexei was propped up on his pillows with a reading glass perched on the edge of his nose as he read the latest business report. He looked up and over and his body shivered as he looked at her. His wife and the only woman he had ever loved or wanted to be with. She had waited for him all those years as he knew she would have and had loved him throughout the time. “And why is that?” he asked her softly as he put away the glasses and the report.

  “Because I need to be with my husband.” She was bearing a tray with some exotic fruits and a bottle of the fruity wine their country was famous for. Costa Sabroso was becoming one of the most popular wines in the world and was making its way on the supermarket shelves and in restaurants bringing in additional income for the country. “I have not been doing my wifely duties for the past eighteen years and since you have been back and I have been back it is all work and no pleasure. It stops tonight.” She poured the deliciously heady wine into two golden decanters and sat on the side of the bed next to him.

  “I agree.” His dark eyes gleamed with mirth. “I heard from our son and daughter just now and they are planning on staying over for a couple more days.” He clinked his glass to hers. “I am so happy he found something like what we have,” he murmured as he sipped the wine in appreciation.

  “So am I.” She moved over and into his waiting arms. “Oh, Alex! I am so happy we have gotten a second chance. I never intend to take you for granted or leave your side again.”

  “Same here.” He kissed the top of her head gently as his arms tightened around her. “There were times when I was in isolation and wondered if I would ever see you or Alexander again.”

  “Now you will never have to wonder.” Amelia eased out of his arms and took the decanter from him and placed them onto the side table. She eased out of her robe and it fell to the floor. King Alexei Costa felt himself trembled as he reached for his wife gratefully.

  Chapter 12

  “What happened?” King Alexei asked grimly as he marched into the guard’s room swiftly. It was the end of February and the snow was still piled on the ground. The men snapped at attention and bowed formally as the King along with his officers appeared.

  “He somehow got hold of something pointed and had been digging for a few weeks now,” the head guard told him nervously, sure that
he was going to lose his job. “An officer caught him just in time.”

  “I need to see him.”

  “Of course, right away, Your Majesty.” The man scrambled to get the keys to the special cell Alekseev had been placed into. The king nodded and indicated he wanted to be alone with his brother.

  “Alexei, how have you been?” Alekseev greeted him with a sneer.

  In spite of the situation, Alexei could not help but feel sorry for the man. When they were growing up they had been close and he had always looked out for Alekseev. Where had he gone wrong?

  “I am well thank you.” He pulled up a chair. His attendants were just outside the door, alert and making sure there were no dangers. “You, on the other hand, look like hell.”

  “Incarceration will do that to you,” he said with a careless shrug. “I understand that the wedding of my nephew was quite spectacular.”

  “It was.”

  “I am surprised you allowed him to marry someone from the western world.”

  “He followed his heart and I would never ask him to do less.”

  “Heart!” Alekseev laughed harshly. “You have always been an incurable romantic, brother.”

  “And you had always been greedy and selfish.”

  “That I acknowledge.” He nodded his greying black hair. “I was in love with Amelia but she chose you.”

  “It was never a competition. She loved me since we were children,” the king told him grimly.

  “I wanted your life but I could not have it because you took the one thing that would have made me better. Correction: the two things. The throne and the woman.”

  King Alexei forced himself to remain calm knowing that his brother expected him to be rattled. “Neither belongs to you.” He looked at him levelly. They were two years apart yet Alekseev looked as if he was ten years older than he was. The man had aged rapidly. “You had a good life. You were second in command and you had so much going for you but that was never enough for you was it?”

  “Second never really sit well with me,” Alekseev told him grimly. “I was never going to be king because you had a son and then that son would probably have a son.” He waved a hand. “You get my drift.”

  “Being a king was so important to you?”

  “I love power and the taste I got when you were not around showed me that I was made for it.”

  “Where were you planning on going?”

  “Maybe to Mexico or Tahiti.” Alekseev shrugged. “My bones are getting brittle now and as bad luck would have it I am sick and dying.”

  “I was told something like that by the palace physician. You have cancer, brother, and it is spreading rapidly through your body. I was thinking that you could live out your days in the bungalow in Orihuela Costa.”

  Alekseev looked at him sharply. “I thought that place was sold along with several others in Spain?”

  “I bought them back. So how about it, Alekseev?”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why are you helping me when I have done so much to you and yours?”

  “My son asked me that same question as well,” King Alexei said with a whimsical smile. “I am going to tell you what I told him. Doing anything less would make me like you and I am not like you and never will be. You are family no matter what and I am big on that.”

  *****

  “You are giving him a free pass and one that he does not deserve!” Alexander told his father as he sat next to him in the throne room. Both he and Debbie had flown back to Costa Land just a few hours ago and Debbie had immediately gone to visit with Amelia. An old nanny of his had taken down ill and they had gone to look for her. “What if he tries and come back to do the same thing?”

  “He is dying, son,” the king told him softly.

  Alexander stared at his father for a moment in shock and without a word he got to his feet and went to look outside. “Then my wish came true.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “I wanted him dead, Father.” He turned and looked at the powerful man sitting there in a sofa instead of on the throne where he belonged. “He took away years from us and for that I find it hard to forgive him.” He paused. “How long does he have?”

  “About six months give or take a few days.” King Alexei got to his feet and came to stand next to his son. “He is family, son, and for that he gets treated as one no matter what.”

  “When does he leave?”

  “In a couple of days.”

  *****

  “Alexander, I never expected to see you, my boy. I suspect you have heard the good news?” Alekseev said to him as he entered his cell.

  “Which one?” Alexander asked him grimly.

  His uncle grinned humorlessly. “You have grown into quite the cynic. I am leaving this fair land I grew up in and will be spending my days in sunny Spain.”

  “You expect me to feel sorry for you?”

  “Of course not.” He waved his hand airily and felt the pain inside his body and regret of what could have been.

  Alexander nodded to the guard and he departed immediately. Alekseev’s eyes widened at the exquisite woman standing there. He had heard she was beautiful but he had no idea how much. She was wearing pale green wool and her hair was caught on top of her head secured by the crown she wore so well. Discreet diamonds were at her lobes and she had a very kind smile. “I would like you to meet my wife, Princess Debbie.” His touch was possessive and his smile was gentle as he looked down at her.

  “My dear! Your beauty!” Alekseev felt his throat closed up as he stared at her. Such flawless skin! “My nephew has chosen well.”

  “Thank you.” Debbie went forward and took his hand. “Very nice to meet you.”

  “Your husband has not told you what a bad sort I am.” He could not stop looking at her.

  “I am sure you are facing the consequences of your actions right now.”

  “Ah, my dear.” He clasped her hands and Alexander moved forward. “Your husband fears that even my touch will corrupt you.”

  “My husband knows that I am not weak and helpless. Don’t you, baby?” She looked up at him with a teasing smile.

  “Of course.” His expression softened as he looked down at her. Alekseev felt as if he had been excluded from the room and from the conversation.

  Debbie looked over the man who had seemed to have been shrunken drastically. She had seen pictures of him in the throne room and he had had such a look of authority about him. “I am sorry about your illness, but I am sure you will enjoy the hacienda more instead of being cooped up in here with no space to turn around.” She reached out to capture one thin hand. “It will also give you time to think and realize that family means more than so called power.”

  He looked at her for a moment and then smiled at her, his expression whimsical. “You are going to make a great queen someday, young lady.” He looked up at his nephew who had a protective hand on her shoulder. “You struck gold.”

  “I know.” Alexander wanted to take her into his arms and kissed her there and then. He was so proud of her! He turned his dark eyes to his uncle. “I wish you all the best.”

  “I have a feeling you actually mean it,” Alekseev said with a faint smile. His gaze drifted to the beautiful young woman. “You are kind and well-meaning and that is what the good folks of Costa Land need. You remind me of another.” His smile was whimsical. “She is a great queen. Thank you for coming.”

  Debbie waited until they were in the state car being whisked away. “He is in love with your mother.”

  “He has been since they were children,” he surprised her by saying.

  “You knew.”

  “Everyone does.”

  *****

  “I love this place,” Debbie said dreamily as Alexander held her hand as they stepped over a log in the woods. It was a down day for them and he had decided to show her his favorite places when he was a child. She was on her way to becoming accustomed to the men following at
discreet distances behind them wherever they go. She had been visiting some elderly people in the nursing home when she noticed that she was followed by a member of the palace guards. She hated that they were not allowed to be alone unless they were in their bedroom. Even in her own country where she had been able to go about as she pleased she was not allowed to go anywhere without a guard or two.

  “The people love you.” He lifted her hand and brought it to his lips and allowed it to linger. He took her over to a stream running through a particularly lovely patch filled with flowers. She had noticed the tennis courts, the basketball court and the football field that the young children took advantage of. “It’s tough being an only child and I would like us to have more than one if possible.” The air was still and cold indicating that winter was far from over. Snow covered the gentle knolls and the ground where they stood. She could not wait to see what the place looks like in the spring.

  “I think I can manage that.” She clasped her hands on his as they stared off into the open spaces.

  “Good.” His arms tightened around her waist. “But first I want us to be together for a little bit before we start making a family.”

  She twisted around in his arms and lifted her hands to put around his neck. “How about before we have afternoon tea we go upstairs and experiment with each other’s bodies?” she asked him softly.

  “You read my mind.”

  *****

  “A concert! The likes Costa Land has ever seen!” Debbie exclaimed her dark brown eyes sparkling. They were having after dinner drinks in the Throne Room. The winter had slowly melted away and the flowers were blooming. It was a lovely sight to see and when she and Alexander were not away on business they would take long walks and visit the different places. She was quite getting used to the people who treated her like royalty. Wherever they made a stop they would be offered baskets of goodies even though they did not need it. She was beginning to think of them as her people too.