Chapter 20
SHEP
Location: Osaka, Japan
WHILE PRINCE JEAN and Princess Katerina jetted off to the next stop on their honeymoon, Theo—Prince Theo—and I headed to the Osaka World Expo in Japan.
The months-long expo featured designated days for different countries and organizations to share their culture and promote international goodwill, and for Monaco’s day, it was only right that the head of the country be present.
And that happened to be Theo at the moment. God help everyone.
Once again I had stuck to the shadows, blending in with the crowd of those visiting the Monaco pavilion to see their Mediterranean culture on full display.
Or, rather, to see Theo on full display.
He’d been in prime form today, charming the pants off everyone he came into contact with and reminding me of the way he did the same to me.
Literally, pants dropped in bathrooms, in closets, in the back room of a church.
It was like we were averse to a bed, which meant a place like this was exactly where Theo would choose to make a move.
I had no doubt he would’ve—if he hadn’t been approached by an entirely too good-looking and young Japanese billionaire.
All that charm Theo had been throwing to the crowd was suddenly focused on one man, and I didn’t want to acknowledge the way that chafed, just a little.
“You’re not jealous, are you?” Theo said when we were back at the hotel later that night. He’d showered and changed into something a little less formal, but the dark slacks and soft cashmere sweater still looked damn good on him.
Fucker.
“Not in the slightest,” I said, shooting off a message to Lachlan and then pocketing my phone.
“Mhmm.” Theo walked over to me, getting so close that his body brushed up against mine. “So you’re fine with my going to dinner with Yuki tonight? Good with waiting outside while we have…dessert after?”
“I don’t give a damn who you fuck, Theo.”
His blue eyes dropped to my lips, and he leaned in, angling his head like he was going to kiss me. I could taste his sweet breath on every inhale but didn’t move, not about to be the first to break.
Then he said, “Keep telling yourself that, Shep,” and reached around me to grab his watch off the nightstand.
I blinked, the sexual tension between us crackling, but I’d be damned if I admitted to it—or shared the fact that I wasn’t thrilled about having to tag along on his fucking date.
Consider Shep your new shadow, King had said, giving the order without consulting me first. I was going along with it, but watching some asshole make eyes at Theo all night was not the way I’d wanted to spend the next few hours.
I threw on a casual black jacket and shoved a hat on, my irritation rising. Across the room, Theo chuckled and didn’t try to hide the condoms he slipped into his pocket.
I don’t care, I told myself. He can eat with whoever he wants, be with whoever he wants. I don’t fucking care.
“Oh, I forgot to mention Yuki’s picking me up, so you’ll need to find your own ride.”
My head jerked up, and when I saw Theo’s smirk, I considered causing him bodily harm so his ass wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Instead I sucked in a breath through my nose and tried to brush off his attempts to rile me up. “It wouldn’t be smart to ride together anyway,” I said, and pulled out my phone to call for a car.
Theo gave himself a final once-over in the mirror, plucked lint off his shoulder, and caught my eyes in the reflection. “Then I guess we’re on the same page.”
“Guess so.”
His phone vibrated on the table, and he picked it up and checked the message. “I’m out.”
Thank fucking God. Another second alone with him in this room and I might’ve resorted to something ridiculous, like tying him to the bed to keep him from leaving.
Not because I was jealous, but because I knew Theo was going to take every opportunity to make my life hell tonight.
Resigned to my fate, I allowed enough time for him to exit the hotel before I followed after his date’s sleek black Lexus.
Blue Bird’s Rooftop Terrace was a restaurant located on the top of Miraiza Osaka-Jo, right in front of the Osaka Castle.
The historic building had been renovated and turned into a multipurpose facility, including restaurants, souvenir shopping, and even a samurai and ninja experience if one wanted it.
But right now it was the seating in the surrounding park that interested me, since I’d instructed Theo to reserve a table at the edge of the restaurant so I could keep an eye on him.
I moved out of the lamplight and into position, then pulled my binoculars out of my jacket pocket and aimed them at the rooftop terrace.
I studied the other guests taking their seats for the evening, checking to see if anyone pinged my radar as familiar. Maybe someone who knew Theo, knew any of us Kings, but nothing registered or set off any alarm bells.
That was good, but considering we were still no closer to knowing who’d sent the videos of Theo, and the threat, it didn’t make me feel any better about his being so far away from me.
At least, that was what I was telling myself. It had nothing to do with the fact he was with someone else, because Theo was capable of taking care of himself in hand-to-hand combat. In fact, he was a deadly fucking weapon. But I was there on the off chance he didn’t see it coming.
So that meant watching and waiting.
And waiting.
And waiting.
It was around the time my stomach growled that I realized I probably should’ve grabbed myself something to eat before my stakeout, especially when I was sitting here watching Theo chow down on a delicious-looking seafood dish.
I’d decided to focus on that rather than the way Yuki was smiling and laughing at nearly every single word he said. But of course, focusing on Theo’s food also meant staring at his mouth, and that was a distraction all on its own.
I lowered my binoculars, irritated all over again that I was stuck sitting out here, watching over Theo when I’d rather be—
What? What, Shep? What would you rather be doing?
Definitely not sitting across from Theo and watching him smile and laugh at something I said. Because it would be fucking crazy to actually think about going on a date with him.
Completely and utterly insane.
A fat drop of rain hitting the back of my neck pulled me from that alarming thought, and I reached up to check I hadn’t imagined it.
Sure enough, my fingers came away wet. As if it wasn’t already bad enough that I was stuck here monitoring Theo’s date, now it was going to rain on me? Great. That was just fucking great.
I tugged the jacket’s hood up over my ball cap, then zipped it up under my chin. Just as I was about to see what the happy couple up at the restaurant planned to do with this unexpected turn of events, my phone began to vibrate.
If this is Theo, I am going to—
Not Theo. King. And seeing his name there only made my annoyance triple. This was his fault. All of it. My sitting here in the rain. My watching Theo be wined and dined. And let’s not forget the fact that I even cared about those two things now. That was King’s fault too.
If he hadn’t sent me to the wedding to “watch” Theo, then I wouldn’t be in this mess.
I answered the phone with all that pent-up anger bubbling right under the surface.
“What?”
Okay, so maybe it was on the surface.
“Hello to you too,” King said as I brought the binoculars back up to see the waitstaff had opened umbrellas over each of the tables so patrons could continue their dinner by candlelight uninterrupted.
Kill me now.
“Yeah, hi,” I said, not in the mood for casual chitchat as the rain began to fall a little harder.
“Is this a bad time?”
“Well, it’s not a great one.” Was I being extra surly? Yes. But King would be acting the same way if the shoe were on the other foot. Not that I could imagine him ever sitting out in the rain monitoring the guy he wanted to fuck while he was on a date with someone else.
Or maybe he had done that. Zac and East had been fucking before King. That was the rumor, anyway.
But I didn’t want to think about that. Not then. Not now. Not ever.
“Do you need something? You must, considering you’re calling before nine. What’d you do, set your alarm?”
Silence met my questions, and when it seemed I wasn’t going to get a response, I wondered if maybe there’d been another message. Another email sent.
“I’m calling for an update,” King said, caution lacing his voice. “But you seem preoccupied—”
“You’re the one who sent me to babysit.”
“Ah, okay. That explains it.”
I frowned. “Explains what?”
“Your mood. You were never good at sitting still. Even worse at watching.”
My mind immediately detoured to the gutter, but I shoved that aside and barked, “I’m fine.”
“You sound annoyed.”
“You would be too if you were sitting outside in the rain.”
Seeming to pick up that I was in no mood to talk, King quickly changed the subject. “I assume everything’s going all right with Theo?”
“If you define all right as his currently being on a date with one of Japan’s most eligible bachelors, then yes, he’s fucking dandy.”
“I see. I assume he’s taking great pleasure at making you suffer as his babysitter?”
He had no idea. But I could hardly confess to Theo’s teasing me about being jealous.
“You know how he gets when someone is sent to make sure he behaves."
“Painful.”
“And then some. He’s going to drag this dinner out for hours, and now that it’s raining—”
“He’ll take even more pleasure in it.” King chuckled. “Just remember, you’re there to keep him safe from others. If you want to strangle him, I’ll authorize it.”
I laughed despite myself, because maybe, just maybe, I’d take King up on that.
“Good to know. Anything new in your neck of the woods?”
“No. Alessio is just about killing himself trying to work out the IP addresses and where the messages are being bounced from, but so far nothing.”
I was sure that pissed Alessio off to no end. But he’d work it out—he always did. Plus, I had my own problems to deal with.
One in particular, who was now leaning across the table and stealing a bit of food off his date’s plate.
Fuck my life. “Well, let me know if anything changes.”
“Is that your way of saying goodbye?”
“It is.”
“Okay, okay. Oh, and Shep?”
“Hmm?”
“Try to stay dry.”
“Fuck off.”
He chuckled. “Bye to you too.”