Chapter 7 Shep
SHEP
IF I THOUGHT I’d get a reprieve from having to see Theo for the rest of the day, I was wrong.
Though he went off to fulfill royal duties for a few hours—which, now that the wedding was over, meant I wasn’t required to tag along as babysitter—what I didn’t count on was his showing up at the villa afterward.
With his skimpy swimsuit in hand. And convincing everyone to join him in the pool.
Why he couldn’t go get in his own damn pool was beyond me, because if there was one thing the two of us needed right now, it was space. We’d made a stupid, in-the-moment decision yesterday, and it wasn’t going to happen again.
I sat up in the lounge chair by the pool as he, Lucien, and Kai raced each other from one end to the other, and tossed my laptop onto the chair beside me.
Work never stopped, but today was just approving the last ad details for next month’s issue.
When I’d created Lincoln, a political entertainment website that catered to making politics accessible to everyone, I didn’t think hard copies of a magazine would be feasible—or profitable—but I was happy to be wrong about that.
Even if it did mean pulling double duty when I could’ve been relaxing.
“I don’t think so, Luc. I hit the wall first and you know it.” Theo stood up, not even breathless from the exertion of swimming so hard and fast. Water lapped at his waist, and as he reached up to brush his hair back, I couldn’t help the way my eyes drifted down his body.
I’d never paid attention before, but now I noticed just how defined every inch of him was. Whipcord lean, he was deceptive. But there was power there, a strength that was hidden under all those sharply chiseled muscles, with a reaction time as quick as a snake’s.
Theo was deadly and sexy as hell.
He looked in my direction, and I didn’t tear my eyes away from him fast enough, because a knowing smirk tipped his lips.
Fuck me.
“Hey, Shep,” he called out, angling his body to face me and showing off an even better view, the instigator. “You were watching. Who hit it first?”
I heard the suggestive tone and prayed to God Lucien hadn’t, or I’d have to drown Theo. I wasn’t up for murder tonight.
But when Theo shot me a wink, I decided that may be in the cards after all.
“No idea,” I said, reaching for my almost-empty glass of whiskey and giving it a swirl before downing the rest.
I had to force myself not to look in Theo’s direction, but out of the corner of my eye I saw his hand drift down his taut abs, and I cursed.
We were definitely not happening again. No matter how many winks and suggestive moves he tried or how much my traitorous dick thought it’d be a good idea.
“You just don’t want to get on Luc’s bad side.”
“Luc doesn’t have a bad side. You, on the other hand—”
“Oui?” Theo cocked his head. “What about moi?”
My eyes shifted to where Kai and Lucien were both staring at me with curious expressions. Fuck.
“Not everything has to be a competition, Theo.”
Theo scoffed. “Says Mr. Overachiever.”
I bit back my retort, not about to give him any more ammunition. The air felt tense as it was. The last thing I needed was anyone else picking up on whatever weird chemistry was going on here.
“You’re not going to join us?” Kai finally said, breaking the silence, and I almost said yes just to give me something to do other than watch Theo run a towel over his ripped body. But I wasn’t about to strip out of my shorts and show everyone what that view was doing to me.
The best thing I could hope for was that he would excuse himself and head inside, or better yet, leave and go back to the palace.
“We’re out of ice.” He shook the empty bucket and looked at me.
“Don’t think I’m going to get you some, Your Serene Highness.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He rolled his eyes, slipped into his flip-flops, and headed toward the main house, muttering, “Tu peux te le mettre là où je pense ton ‘Votre Altesse.’”
I glared at him over my shoulder. When I turned back toward the pool, Lucien was grinning.
“What’d you do to piss him off?”
“Nothing.” I shrugged and got to my feet. “Why?”
“Let’s just say that wasn’t a compliment.”
I didn’t think it was. But I didn’t really care at this point. It was better for the both of us if I was incurring Theo’s wrath rather than his lust. Even if the two had gone hand in hand the last time we’d been alone.
“Shep?”
“Huh?” I walked to the edge of the pool and sat down, slipping my legs into the cool water.
“I asked why he’s pissed at you.”
“I’m guessing it has something to do with the, uh, email we all got.”
Kai moved in to Lucien’s side and kissed his cheek. “I’m going to go…swim a little.”
Lucien aimed a soft smile his way before nuzzling into his neck and making Kai laugh, and I thought how nice it must be to be so in sync with someone.
Kai knew the exact moments Lucien needed privacy for his job and never made him feel shitty about it, and Lucien never made Kai feel he was somewhere he shouldn’t be or hearing something he shouldn’t.
Like he wasn’t an imposition. Like his needs were just as important as the other person’s.
That he wasn’t second to everything else.
“You talked to Theo, then?” Lucien asked as Kai headed toward the other end of the pool.
“I did. It was either me or King, and I’m pretty sure Theo would’ve rather it came from me than a jet-lagged King.”
Lucien grimaced. “I think any of us would prefer you in that scenario. I assume he didn’t take it well?”
“Seemed more annoyed I was questioning him in the first place than by what I was questioning him about.”
“But come on, you don’t actually think it was Theo in the video. I mean, he’s crazy, but he doesn’t show that side to the world. He knows the stakes.”
“I know. But King is furious, and the video is pretty damning. If it gets out that the Prince of Monaco is running around blowing up buildings for Tyrone Kingston, we’re fucked.”
“If it’s him.”
“If it’s him. Exactly. And that’s what I told him. But you know Theo—he flies off the handle, only listens to what he wants and then ignores everything else. Generally the parts about keeping a cool, calm head.”
Lucien chuckled and ran a hand through his slick black hair.
“Yeah, I think you’re mistaking him for yourself there.
Theo has never had a cool, calm head. More like chaos in a suit.
I think what we should be working on is who sent it.
Or made it. Concentrate on that, not fighting amongst each other. ”
Lucien was right. Working out who’d sent the video was just as important as finding out whether Theo was the one in it. Someone was clearly trying to fuck with us, and sowing this seed of doubt had immediately made us turn our suspicions in house.
But Theo had said it wasn’t him in the video, and until I found out otherwise, I needed to trust him. He was my brother, for fuck’s sake, a fellow King—something I needed to remember even if he was hellbent on irritating me at every given opportunity.
“You’re right, but you know how King is about shit like this. The possibility of our being identified, or Libertine’s being discovered—”
“Isn’t a threat he’d take lightly.”
“Exactly. He wants to get to the bottom of this as quick as possible. To hell with anyone’s feelings.”
“And that’s why he’s the boss.” Lucien shrugged. “He protects us as fiercely as he demands our loyalty.”
That was true, but there were times where King’s expectations were too rigid even for me.
Or should I say especially for me. That was one of the reasons we’d ended.
He’d wanted to keep everything private and professional all the time, whereas I wanted more.
I wanted a public life with him. But with our both being so recognizable, and having so many secrets, he’d thought it too risky.
Apparently fucking his former TA and student was less of a risk.
Whatever. That was in the past, far behind me. But having to see it day in and day out wasn’t the easiest pill to swallow. And following his orders, as his second-in-command, was getting harder and harder too.
My phone vibrating in my pocket dragged my thoughts back from the edge.
“It’s Alessio,” I said, and got to my feet, eager to know what our resident tech genius had uncovered.
I answered the call with a sharp greeting, and Alessio must’ve been feeling the same pressure I was from our illustrious leader, because he didn’t stop to give me shit, just launched into what he’d found.
“Got some info for you on the video. The building’s location is Istanbul.”
Istanbul? What the hell? We didn’t have any current business there.
“But Theo’s tracker shows him in Monaco at the time of the bombing.”
“That’s good, then, right?”
“Usually I’d say yes.” Alessio paused for several seconds. “I’ve looked at this video for hours on end, and there’s no unnatural facial movements, weird lighting, distortions, or inconsistencies.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
“Meaning this doesn’t look like a deep fake, Shep, and there’s record of an explosion. I don’t know how, but it looks like Theo—”
Alessio didn’t even get his final words out before I cursed and ended the call, because I knew exactly what it looked like, and the only way it was possible.
That sneaky motherfucker…
I pocketed my phone and stormed back toward the house. I heard Lucien call out my name, but I was zeroed in now. Nothing else was distracting me, and nothing was going to stop me from getting the truth.
All I had to do now was find Theo.