Chapter 14 Theo
THEO
“EXCELLENT JOB TODAY. You’re a natural…when you want to be.
” Amaya side-eyed me and then went back to typing up a storm on her phone as we rode back to the palace later.
Really, we could’ve made the quick walk, but after spending hours in her heels, Amaya had called for the royal car.
That had ended up being a great decision, because once I slid into the back seat, I fought to keep my eyes open as a wave of exhaustion came over me.
“Nah, you’re just kissing my ass because Jean’s not here,” I teased.
She let out an inelegant snort that was at odds with her buttoned-up persona. “I was giving you a compliment, Theo. Take it.”
“Well, in that case, please continue. Start from the beginning and tell me all the things I did well in great detail.”
“I’d rather throw you out of the car, Your Serene Highness.”
I busted out a laugh and stretched my legs out in the back of the custom Lexus that had been a gift from the company when Jean and Katerina got engaged. The entire roof of the car was transparent, so we amassed plenty of waves from our fellow citizens as we passed by, which I reciprocated.
“There’s been a couple of changes to the schedule, so I’ll send you an updated itinerary shortly,” Amaya said.
“The Australian ambassador came down with the flu, so your meeting tomorrow has been canceled, along with the dinner.” She finished typing and finally set her phone in her lap.
“Looks like you’ve got a few days off now. ”
“Perfect. Looks like the chocolate arrangement I sent worked its magic.” When she arched a brow, I rolled my eyes. “I’m kidding. Send her my well wishes and a huge bouquet of…I don’t know, something nice.”
“Already done.”
“What would we do without you?”
“I ask myself that every day,” she murmured before her phone began to ring and she answered.
The car pulled up to the back entrance of the palace closest to where my wing was, but just as I stepped out, Amaya covered the speaker on her phone and whispered my name.
“Something you need, Amaya?” I leaned down and clocked the worried pull between her brows. “Xanax? Perhaps a joint?”
“No,” she snapped. “Promise me you’ll keep a low profile during your time off. Just…try not to do anything I wouldn’t do, please?”
I scoffed. “Are you implying I’m some sort of unhinged party animal? That’s a rude insinuation, considering I plan to pass out in the next two hours. Possibly in my own bed.”
“I mean it, Theo. You’re the face of the royal family while Jean’s gone, so please just…act like it.”
The poor woman was so tense that I thought she might crush the phone in her white-knuckled grasp, so I figured I’d give her a bit of relief.
“Tell you what—you promise to give your cell a break and I’ll try not to give you an aneurysm,” I said.
“Deal.”
I nodded and shut the door, knowing there was no way in hell she’d follow through. Someone would have to pry that thing from her cold, dead hands before she took a break.
But at least that meant I wasn’t beholden to my promise, either.
Not that I planned on doing anything. I didn’t think. It wasn’t like I woke up and decided to do something scandalous—it just happened.
“Good evening, Your Serene Highness.” The security guard opened the door, bowing his head as I walked inside.
“I told you there’s no need for all that when it’s just me.”
He nodded at the camera up in the corner, and I sighed.
“Fine. Next time I expect a full bow, then. Really overdo it.”
“Yes, Your Serene—”
“Oh, fuck off with that,” I said before waving him off with even more curses, and heard him chuckle in my wake.
My wing of the palace consisted of several rooms, large enough to fit a family should I decide to have one in the future. But for now it was silent, so quiet I could hear the grandfather clock down the hall.
I flipped on the TV in the sitting room and left the episode of Peaky Blinders playing for some background noise while I unknotted my tie. That choking device was always the first thing to come off, and I draped the silk over the doorknob leading to my bedroom as I entered—
And came to a sudden stop.
Everything in my room was pristine—which wasn’t the way I’d left it, but was always what I came back to thanks to our amazing cleaning staff—but it was the small black box on my bed with a red bow that caught my attention.
It wasn’t that unusual for me to receive gifts—the citizens of Monaco were generous and so were my many fans around the world. Parcels went through vigorous scans and checkpoints before they made it into the castle, but this one had a little extra finesse to it. Someone had put some effort in.
Ooh, maybe it was from Shep. A thank you for being such a good fuck.
I grinned as I picked up the parcel. No note. This was feeling more and more like Shep. Expensive silk ribbon, textured, masculine box, it felt luxurious under my fingers—like Shep’s body.
I really should’ve tried harder to tempt him into coming home with me. But he’d been right—there were too many cameras and wandering eyes at the exhibit for me to really put my all into it. Because whenever Shepard Winchester was in a room, the cameras always found him.
Good-looking bastard.
I stroked the tail of the ribbon before taking hold and tugging it free.
Then I picked up the box and took off the lid.
Inside, nestled on a bed of black velvet, was a red flash drive, and the first thing that popped into my mind was Lucien’s club.
Black door or red? I wondered which room Shep would pick.
Maybe that was what this was, an invitation—a sexually explicit one—for when we got back to the States.
Liking that idea more than I probably should, considering who Shep’s ex was, I grabbed my laptop, wanting to see what was on the drive. Moments later I was sitting with my back to the headboard, my shoes on the floor, and the flash drive in hand.
“Okay, let’s see what you sent me, Mr. Winchester.” I inserted the drive, and a video loaded on the page, the screen black, waiting for me to hit play.
I snatched up my headphones, just in case it really was something R-rated, because I couldn’t imagine what else he’d send in such a seductive box.
Ready for anything, I pressed play—and when I appeared on the screen walking into a certain building in Istanbul that was no longer, I quickly reached out and hit the stop button as if my computer was about to explode. In fact, I shoved the laptop onto the mattress and jumped off the bed.
What the actual fuck?
Who? How? What was I looking at? But when it didn’t burst into a fiery ball of flames, I gingerly reached for it, turning the computer until the screen was facing me.
Then I hit play again.
There on the screen—just like in the first email that had been sent to all my brothers—was me. But instead of walking out of an exploding building like some kind of vigilante, I was walking in the front door. It had me from different angles too. Back, side, and, putain, the front.
There, staring back at me like some kind of dumbass, was my recognizable royal face.
Except it wasn’t me.
One: I would never blow up a building in the light of fucking day. Come on, where would the light show be? And two: I would never be dumb enough to enter the front door and look up at the fucking camera while I was committing a crime.
Bitch, please.
Who the hell was doing this? Because it was really starting to piss me off.
Oui, I’d been in Istanbul. But I hadn’t done any of this shit, and if the rest of my brothers got one of these packages, they’d definitely think—
“Motherfucker.”
I snatched out the flash drive and slipped it back into the box, shoved my feet into my shoes, and headed to the door.
I wasn’t about to sit around here and let King, Shep, and everyone else think the worst of me. Fuck that. I was sick and tired of always looking like the bad seed, the wild fucker who had no discipline.
So I had impulse issues. I generally tried not to let them run free in situations that might see me wind up dead. The fact some asshole knew enough about me that he’d zeroed in on the one thing that would make my brothers doubt me made my blood boil.
I’d never betray my Libertine brothers. They were family. But the fact they were all questioning me was infuriating, and I couldn’t let this latest piece of fake video have them talking about the best way to discipline me.
I stormed out of my room and had a quick word to the guard outside. By the time I reached the side entrance, a car was waiting for me.
“Bonsoir, Your Serene Highness,” my driver said, and I didn’t even have it in me to tell him to call me by my name.
I slipped into the back seat. “Villa Monaco, merci.”
As he pulled out of the palace’s grounds, I stared down at the box on the seat beside me like it might still self-destruct. Truth be told, I was kind of hoping it would. But that wouldn’t help me if everyone else had received the same package.
I just needed to get to Shep and clear the air before King called him and demanded my head be shipped back to him in a box. Okay, so maybe he’d demand my entire self so he could rip my head off himself, but still, I needed to get to Shep and explain…
I rubbed a hand over my face, racking my brain on how I was going to possibly explain this away.
Shep already had his doubts about me. He’d said as much when he found out about my tracker, and I couldn’t really blame him. Of course his mind had gone to the worst-case scenario. Why else would I take out my tracker?
It hadn’t been something I wanted to talk about, not yet, anyway. But it seemed I was going to have to whether I wanted to or not, thanks to whoever this fucknut was.
When my driver pulled in through the gates that surrounded the Libertine mansion, I looked up at the lit home and felt my chest tighten. This was the last thing I thought I’d be doing tonight, especially with Shep. But what other choice did I have?
I climbed out of the car, and told my driver he could leave before I shut the door. I didn’t really feel like going back to the palace tonight knowing whoever sent this to me had gotten it past security and into my bedroom.
As the car drove off, I steeled myself against the confrontation I was about to run into. But as I walked up to the front door and reached into my pocket for my keys, I realized I’d left them at the palace. I’d been in such a damn rush, I’d barely remembered to put my shoes on.
Great, now I was going to have to knock on my own home’s front door. Shep was just going to love that. I’d thought I’d at least be able to sneak in and then announce myself. After several knocks, I heard the sound of footsteps and braced myself for the confrontation to come.
But all that immediately disappeared as the door was pulled open and Shep stood in front of me in nothing but a towel.
Suddenly the flash drive wasn’t the only thing burning a hole in my pants. So was my cock at the sight of several droplets of water sliding down every rigid muscle of his body.
Fake video evidence be damned.