Chapter Nine
ALEXANDRE SAT BEHIND his desk and looked at the sociopath before him. General Vinyes was a problem, and while Alexandre had excelled at handling almost all the problems his father had left behind, this was one he hadn’t quite worked out yet.
Vinyes was canny. It made him a more difficult foe than King Enzo, because while Vinyes was bloodthirsty and cruel, he did not fly off the handle.
He had not quit in a rage when Alexandre had cut military spending.
He had not voiced a true opposition to any of the peaceful measures Alexandre had enacted.
Vinyes went along, voicing concerns, but never disobeying a direct order.
So Alexandre had no real reason to get rid of him, and keeping him on board had managed to appease some of the members of the council who might not have liked King Enzo but had liked the power supporting a dictator had given them.
So Alexandre was always on the lookout for anything that might make getting rid of Vinyes a just, acceptable choice. Just as he felt Vinyes was always on the lookout for a way to depose Alexandre if he made the slightest mistake Vinyes could leverage.
“I have heard rumors your wife has returned from her…holiday,” Vinyes said.
Alexandre held himself very still. He did not like Vinyes mentioning any of the women in this palace. There was something about the way he spoke that always made it feel like a threat.
But Vinyes hadn’t acted on anything that was or felt like a threat, leaving Alexandre with a frustrating impotent feeling.
Alexandre made sure his voice was devoid of any reaction before he spoke. “I’m not sure holiday is the appropriate word, as she maintained many of her duties while away.”
Vinyes made a noncommittal kind of sound. “Highly unusual, that.”
“I wanted Ines away from the stressors of the palace for a bit.” Alexandre tried for a smile but wasn’t sure he managed.
“No trouble, I hope?”
Alex held the general’s gaze. Flat. Cold. “None.” Clear. “Are we done here?”
“You have not given me an answer on the necessary training stipend.”
“Yes, I have. Quite a few times, in fact. My answer remains the same. Your men do not need training on weapons Alis will not be purchasing. We are not a military power, as I have explained on numerous occasions as well. I understand you disagree with that, but it is my choice and my choice alone.”
“Your people do not matter to you, Your Majesty?”
It was asked with such feigned concern Alexandre wanted to rage.
But he sat behind his desk and regarded the general with cool disdain.
“I cannot fathom what this has to do with my people, Vinyes. They have been quite vocal in their support of my peaceful measures, since the petty wars my father tried to enact were detrimental to our safety, our standing in the world and our economic wellbeing.”
“I do not know of any people happy to be left unprotected.”
Alexandre wanted to rub his temples, where a dull pain pounded. He remained in his seat, behind his desk, looking at the general who had refused a seat so stood there in a military stance, stoic and commanding.
Except, he could stand there and look disapproving all he liked—Alexandre was in charge. Alexandre had every last say. Vinyes was nothing without Alexandre’s approval. And the man clearly knew it.
“The fact I maintain you and an army is protection, General. I have considered being rid of you both altogether.” Which he should have kept to himself, but he was tired. And he knew who to blame for that.
He would not be tired if he’d slept in his own bed last night. He would not be tired if his wife was following the perfect balance they’d created in the beginning of their marriage. Instead, she was making everything more difficult, and he was bound to make a mistake because of it.
You cannot allow mistakes.
“Get rid of me?” The general laughed, low and bitter. Bitter enough it put Alexandre on edge…and filled him with hope that the general would finally break and give Alex something to fire him over.
But the door swung open instead, distracting both Alex and the general.
“Alex, we need to discuss—” Ines appeared, then came up short as if surprised to find him with Vinyes.
“I beg your pardon. Your assistant wasn’t at his desk, and I did not know you were in a meeting.” But she didn’t leave. She smiled regally at Vinyes. “Good afternoon, General.”
“Good afternoon. It is so good to see you after such a…long time.”
There was something about Vinyes looking at Ines that made Alex’s blood cold. So his words were equally so. “It is customary, General, as I’m sure you are aware, to bow to one’s queen on her arrival.”
A muscle in Vinyes’s jaw ticked, but he gave a perfunctory bow. “I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“Of course,” Ines said sweetly. “Manners aren’t everyone’s strength.”
It was a subtle dig. Alexandre wasn’t sure Vinyes even picked up on it, but Alex did. It made him want to laugh. He might have, but Ines wasn’t leaving.
He should dismiss her. He knew he should. That was the right thing to do. The thing that would appease Vinyes, at least a little bit. Send the woman away so the men could continue their meeting.
“I think that will be all, General,” Alex said instead. Because he’d damn well rather be around his confusing, confounding wife than spend another minute having the same pointless argument with Vinyes.
General Vinyes looked at him, temper straining in his eyes. “I wasn’t finished discussing this training.”
“I was,” Alexandre replied.
The general looked from Alexandre to Ines, then said nothing—gave no bow or anything else that would be considered protocol or acceptable behavior—and stalked out, clearly angry.
Alexandre should do something about it. Smooth it over. Fix it.
He didn’t.
Ines closed the door behind Vinyes. Then flipped the lock casually. But the sound of it echoed through the room. Perhaps through him.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt something important,” she said, crossing to where he sat.
But he could only think of the locked door, even as she came around the back of his chair and began to rub his shoulders. She dug her fingers into his tense muscles.
“You are stressed, aren’t you?” she said, a slight censure in her tone. “What was he on about now?”
“Just another attempt at strengthening the army, which I refused.”
“I understand there’s no good way to dismiss him, but I so wish you could.”
“As do I. It never occurred to me he’d last this long without some kind of outburst or attempt at revolution.” His eyes closed, head bowing forward as her fingers did wonders to loosen the tension in his shoulders. But it wasn’t just her hands on him. It was her understanding of the situation.
Evelyne and Gabriel were a little more bloodthirsty. They did not quite understand the full range of diplomacy needed to right the ship of Alis, and they had a more personal hatred of Vinyes since he’d wanted to marry Evelyne and had threatened Gabriel.
In an ideal world, Alexandre could simply sweep out anyone who had supported his father, anyone who had made threats to his friend or wanted his sister as some kind of possession. But life and kingship weren’t that simple.
Ines understood this. Her role. His. The caution required in such situations. And her hands were doing magic at the tension in his neck. He even sighed.
“I truly did not mean to interrupt. I assumed the front desk being empty meant you were alone, and I wanted to let you know the doctor’s appointment went well.
All is as it should be with baby and myself.
They want to do an anatomy scan next, but since it will tell us the gender, I want you to be there, so we’ll need to arrange a time.
We’ll also need to work out how to announce it to the kingdom.
My clothes are getting tighter at an alarming rate.
I won’t be able to hide it much longer.”
Alex didn’t stiffen, if only because her hands were doing wonders on his tense muscles. But the word gender prompted visions of a child. He had seen Gabri grow from tiny little lump to a slightly bigger lump with a burgeoning personality.
And in mere months, there would be another baby in the palace, existing, growing, living. Becoming a person.
His child. A child he would not allow to face any of the challenges laid on Alex himself at a young age. Neither Gabri nor his own child would suffer under the weight of his duties. He would need to find some plan for this, some way to ensure…everything.
“But I’m glad to have cut that meeting short,” Ines was saying. “You would have tied yourself into even tighter knots if it had gone on any longer.” She made a tsking sound.
Her scent enveloped him, and he leaned into the vanilla notes of that instead of the baseline fear of thinking about children.
He let himself sink into the way it felt for someone else to take care of the state of his tension.
Rubbing, kneading, easing it away. Her thumbs pressed up the back of his neck, and some noise escaped him.
Not quite a groan. Just simple pleasure.
She slid her arms over his shoulders, letting them dangle there over his chest. He could feel her breasts pressed to his back and her breath against his skin as she leaned her head close to brush a kiss across his cheek. “I locked the door,” she whispered in his ear.
“I know.” He reached back, pulled her in front of him.
She smiled down at him, taking a seat on his desk, facing him.
She wore a typical outfit for an afternoon of meetings—a blouse under a trim jacket that matched the color of her skirt—except instead of the usual style that hugged her hips, this one was looser.
With enough give that he could push it up her thighs.