Chapter 6 Theo
THEO
IWOKE TO a sound I’d never heard before—someone banging on the door to my private wing within the palace.
What the hell? No one bangs here. Not unless I brought them to my room, of course, and I hadn’t done that last night. I wouldn’t have minded a repeat had Shep been down for that, but all our quick fuck had done was wound him tighter than before.
Too bad. He was actually pretty damn hot working me over.
When I didn’t hear the noise again, I figured I’d imagined it and rolled back over in bed. Yesterday was the longest day in the history of ever, and I didn’t have anywhere to be until later, so unless the palace was burning down or someone had died, I was getting at least another hour of shuteye.
Just as I began to drift off again, my sheets were ripped from my body. The rude awakening sent me into an adrenaline rush, and I had the knife I kept in my bedside table in my hand and at the intruder’s throat before they could lay a finger on me.
“Good to know you’re prepared in case someone wanted to kidnap your ass for ransom.”
I blinked through the haze of sleep at Shep, who didn’t flinch even with my knife at his throat.
“Shep? What the fuck?” I lowered the knife and blew out a breath as I tossed it back in the drawer. “I could’ve killed you.”
“You would’ve tried.” He shrugged and threw my sheets back on the bed. “Can’t say you would’ve succeeded.”
“Let’s not test that theory.”
“Fine by me. I—” His words cut off as he looked at me, his eyes widening slightly when he realized I was naked.
Instantly, the tension in the room changed to something else entirely as he dropped his gaze down my body, lingering on my morning wood.
There had been times in the midst of shit going down where we’d all quick-changed in front of each other, but there had never been a time I’d stood fully naked in front of him, and that included yesterday’s unexpected activity.
Shep liked what he saw. I could see it in the hitch of his breath, the flare of his nostrils, and the way he couldn’t take his eyes off me.
“If you wanted a repeat, you could’ve just joined me,” I said, smirking as I took a step toward him.
Instantly, Shep’s shoulders tensed, and though he didn’t move away, that wall of his was firmly back up.
“Put some clothes on. We need to talk.”
“I’m fine like this.”
“Theo—”
“Is this too tempting for you? Can’t concentrate while you’re ogling my dick?”
“I’m not—” Shep bit back his words and took in a deep breath before meeting my gaze again. “I’m gonna ask you this once, and you need to be honest with me.”
“Yes, I’ll fuck you this time. No need to beg.”
Shep didn’t crack a smile. Instead, he took his phone from his pocket, pulled something up, and then turned it around to face me. As he hit play, he said, “What the fuck is this?”
I recognized the building instantly but was more than a little surprised to see myself walking out of it…only seconds before it exploded.
My brows shot up as the video ended. “Huh. I think I’d remember blowing up a building.”
“Are you saying you didn’t do this?”
“Come on, it’s obviously fake.”
Shep hit play again, and I rolled my eyes as I watched me walk off, and then BAM. The whole thing went up in a cloud of smoke.
“Impressive. What do you think was used? RDX? TNT?”
“This isn’t fucking funny, Theo. What did you do?”
I sputtered out a laugh at his serious look. “You think I did that? Seriously?”
“Are you saying you didn’t?”
“You want me to spell it out for you? No, I didn’t rig explosives in that building to go off only seconds after I walked out of it.
I’m not an idiot.” I moved past him, grabbed a pair of jogger pants from the bureau, and took my sweet-ass time pulling them on.
Let Shep enjoy the view and the reminder of what we’d done yesterday.
I sure hadn’t forgotten, not with the delicious ache I’d be feeling for days.
When he didn’t attack me from behind—dammit—I turned back around and crossed my arms.
“Is that why you’re here? To accuse me of starring in a fake video?” I snorted. “Where did you get that shit, anyway?”
“We all got it.”
I didn’t move, didn’t blink. “All of you?”
“Yes. Late last night, and it made it through Alessio’s firewalls, so it’s coming from someone who knew how to get to us.”
“Huh.” That was strange, but it just proved there were people out there with too much time on their hands.
Shep moved toward me, slowly, like he was approaching an animal he didn’t want to spook. “So that’s it, then? You weren’t anywhere near this building in the last month?”
I let out a whistle and shook my head. “Wow. Is that what everyone thinks? My own brothers think I’m a hothead blowing shit up?”
“I didn’t say that—”
“But you don’t believe me.” If he did, he wouldn’t be questioning me like he thought I was capable of it. “It’s not me. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“How about where you were the past couple of weeks?”
“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not reporting to you like some wandering child. Plus”—I shrugged and walked around the bed to where my phone sat on the charger—“there’s a pretty quick way to verify my whereabouts.”
“Something I’m sure Alessio is looking into. But you could clear it up for me right now by telling me instead of—”
“Making you wait for the tracking data?” I cocked my head to the side as though thinking about it. “How about fuck you?”
“That’s really mature, Theo.”
“Not really what I was aiming for. But next time you talk to Alessio, ask him if there’s anyone out there that can do a deep fake as good as him, because clearly that’s what this is.”
Shep ran a hand through his hair and turned away from me, pacing the length of the room. “Listen, I get it. I’d be pissed if you were all questioning me. But I have to ask.”
“You have to?” I scoffed. “More like King is making you. Tell me, do you ever get sick of doing what he tells you?”
Shep whirled around and pinned me with a fulminating stare. “I’m second-in-command, it’s my job—”
“To do whatever he tells you. I know, I get it. But come on, you know I didn’t do this. You think I’d risk blowing my ass up?”
“No, and if it’s a fake—”
“It is.”
“Then Alessio will find out.”
I rubbed a hand over the stubble lining my jaw. I had several royal events lined up later in the day, but wanted to get a workout in before they got underway. Now, with this, I really needed to work off some irritation.
“Listen, I’m going to go for a run, if that’s okay with you.”
“A run?”
I grabbed a shirt out of one of my drawers and pulled it on. “Yes. It’s a form of exercise.”
“What about the video?”
“I don’t give a fuck about the video.” I walked over to Shep and looked him dead in the eye. “I told you, it’s fake. Beyond that, it’s not my problem.”
I went to brush by him, and Shep took hold of my arm, halting me. “It sure as fuck is your problem.”
“Why? Because King is mad? That’s not really something I worry about much.”
Shep’s eyes narrowed, and I knew I’d hit a nerve. Yes, I respected the hierarchy of our organization and my role in it. But at the same time, I knew what I was looking at wasn’t real. If they wanted to believe otherwise, not much I could do about that.
“Maybe you should.”
“Non, I think I’ll leave that to you. You’re so good at it.” I glanced down at where he still held my arm. “Now, unless you’re offering to let me work out my frustration some other way, I’d advise you to let go.”
“That’s never going to happen again.”
“Shame. You could use a good fucking.” I leaned in and added, “And I’d make it really good. Explosive…”
Shep’s short nails dug into the skin of my arm—hard. “That’s not funny.”
“Come on, it was a little.”
“You really don’t give a shit how much trouble you’re in, do you?” Shep’s jaw bunched. “That would just make it worse.”
“Hmm, and you wouldn’t want that.” I angled my face up until our lips almost touched.
He let me go with a slight shove then headed for the door, and because I was a total glutton for punishment I called out, “That’s right, run back and report to your King like a good little soldier.”
Shep paused, hand on the door, and for a second I thought—or rather hoped—he would turn back and make me pay for that comment. Instead, he gripped the handle and threw it open, storming out without another word.