19. Alejandro
ALEJANDRO
IT WASN’T ONLY that Nicholas and Noah had shown up rather unexpectedly that chafed—it was that I knew who else would be making an appearance.
My parents.
They’d been unable to host King Nicholas when he made a stop in Solterra during his first tour of Valoria, and there was no way they’d miss him again. Especially not when things had fractured between our kingdoms through no fault of my own.
Although I supposed I hadn’t exactly been willing to repair that relationship, so it wasn’t a surprise that the king and queen would stop their travels to come back for a night or two.
God, I hoped that was all Nicholas and Noah planned to stay too, because the palace was already too crowded with Valemonts as it was.
I waited for the mouthy one at the base of the grand staircase and glanced at the clock for the tenth time.
One more minute and I’d go to Gabriel’s room and drag him out, which I would’ve done to begin with if I didn’t think he’d be naked to tempt me into making us even later.
He was such an unrepentant shit, in more ways than one, but damn if he didn’t make me want to rip his clothes off every time I saw him.
Right then, though, he was teetering on disrespectful if he didn’t get down here for the private seaside dinner my father had arranged.
Dusk was falling and it was beautiful out, so he’d wanted to show off the glorious views from the cliffside.
It was an interesting choice, considering it wouldn’t take much for me to consider pushing a Valemont or two off the edge, even though technically we’d called a truce earlier.
Still, that was probably why my parents had escorted Nicholas and Noah and left me to accommodate Gabriel.
Not the way I would’ve preferred to accommodate him if there hadn’t been a houseful of unwelcome visitors, but still.
I glanced at the clock again. We were cutting it close, and I preferred not to get dressed down by my father in front of everyone. Cursing under my breath, I started up the stairs, only for my eyes to land on Gabriel finally making his way down them.
My feet stilled as our eyes locked, and even though there was an annoyed remark on the tip of my tongue, I could only stare.
Gabriel was stunning.
It wasn’t even that he was wearing anything particularly special, though he’d dressed more formally than I knew he preferred.
We had that in common, shunning jackets and buttons at the collar that were made to keep things stiff and polite.
Tonight, though, Gabriel was a picture-perfect prince in deep navy.
Why that had my tongue tied in knots, I didn’t know.
“That good, huh?” Gabriel smoothed a hand over his jacket as he came to a stop in front of me.
Good? No. He was even better, but there was no way I was giving him a compliment after he’d thrown me out of my own sunroom earlier today.
So I lied.
“With the amount of time you wasted getting ready, I expected more.”
His smile came out in full force as Gabriel chuckled, looking entirely too pleased at my insult.
“There you are,” he said, walking past me toward the door. “I was worried your father’s return would have you on your best behavior. How boring.”
He didn’t see the way I rolled my eyes at his back as I followed him outside. “Says the prince who kept his mouth shut once his brother showed up. Predictable.”
We started down the stone path that wound down to the cliffside, and Gabriel bumped me with his shoulder. “Say I look handsome.”
“Men who need constant compliments are annoying.”
“I gave you several this morning. Do you need a reminder?” He nudged me again, and when I looked his way it was hard not to get lost in the glint of mischief in his beautiful blue eyes. I hated even noticing they were beautiful.
“No,” I said, forcing my gaze forward, to where the sun looked like it was melting into the sea as it set. It really was a gorgeous view…unfortunately, so was Gabriel.
We were almost to the cliffside when he put his hand around my arm and drew me to a stop.
The humor had faded a bit from his expression as he turned me to face him. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me right there, only steps away from our families, just out of view.
He held my gaze and slid his hand down my arm slowly before he drew it away.
“Admit it,” he said, his voice low. “Tell me what you were thinking on the stairs.”
This was absurd. I’d just been so stunned to see him finally ready that it caused momentary speechlessness, that was all. It wasn’t because my chest had gone tight and it’d been a little harder to breathe, or that my dick immediately took notice every time he walked into a room.
There was nothing to admit other than how close I’d gotten to strangling him for taking his precious time.
I should’ve said that, made some snarky comment or told him he’d missed a button, or that I hated when he wore that shade of blue because it made his eyes stand out more—
No, I definitely didn’t need to tell him that. It was just hard to come up with anything at all when he was looking at me like that.
I took in a deep breath through my nose. “We’re late,” I said, and stalked off down the path without him. But not before I saw a flicker of disappointment cross his handsome face.
He was fine without my compliments, though, since he was practically showered with them from my mother once we arrived at dinner.
“It’s lovely to see you again, Prince Gabriel,” she said after he’d bowed and kissed her hand. “You’re looking quite dashing this evening.”
Gabriel’s head turned slightly in my direction in a did you hear that? It wasn’t that hard way.
I ignored him, as much as I could, even though the other option was to join in the conversation with my father, Nicholas, and Noah, which was far less appealing.
I poured myself a glass of wine instead.
The dinner was informal by royal standards, but it was still an elaborate affair, with countless flowers from my mother’s prized garden decorating not only the table, but surrounding the small space set up for six. Fit for not just one, but two kings.
At our approach, my father turned. He was a man who never needed a crown to look like a king, taller than I, with black hair that only had a few threads of silver at the temples—but it was the calm, dangerous way he had about him that made a room come to a complete standstill.
His gaze landed on me first, then moved to Gabriel, and there was something assessing there that had me wondering how much my mother had told him about Gabriel’s extended visit.
Gabriel stepped forward, lowered his head in a respectful bow, and said, “Your Majesty. It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”
My father offered his hand and Gabriel took it.
“Have you enjoyed your stay in Solterra, Prince Gabriel?” he asked. “I trust my son has been”—his eyes flicked to me—“obliging?”
That was one word for it.
“Prince Alejandro is”—Gabriel paused long enough that my father’s brow arched—“exactly as I expected.”
My father glanced at me. “That sounds like it could be either praise or a complaint.”
“Indeed,” Gabriel said, charming smile on full display even as he was calling me out. Leave it to Gabriel to give the king an honest answer instead of telling him how gracious I was, or any of the other polished lies someone politer might say.
“He’s been very proud to show me Solterra,” Gabriel continued. “Sometimes against my will.”
Nicholas’s eyes closed like he was regretting every decision that had brought Gabriel here, while Noah bit back a laugh beside him.
“Against your will?” my father said.
“The committee on agricultural tariffs, Your Majesty.”
My father’s head snapped in my direction. “Alejandro. You didn’t.”
“The prince has an insatiable curiosity,” I said with a shrug. “I assumed that meant a more in-depth tour of our great kingdom.”
The king shook his head as he faced Gabriel again. “And you survived that?”
“Only because I was too polite to climb out of the window, sir.”
“You were polite?” Nicholas interjected.
“Shh, I’m trying to make a good first impression.”
“Oh, you’re making an impression, all right.”
There it was again, that easy rhythm between brothers.
Nicholas with his dry, unimpressed stare, Gabriel with that bright, careless smile he used like armor.
They shared the same face, but standing side by side, they couldn’t be more different.
Nicholas carried the weight of everything while Gabriel made it look like he didn’t carry anything at all.
But I was starting to see the truth. Gabriel was smarter than he let on, and that was especially true when it came to his brother.
He knew when to push, when to joke, when to go quiet and let Nicholas have the moment.
I’d seen it earlier when Nicholas apologized and Gabriel didn’t try to steal the focus or cut the tension by eliciting a laugh.
He watched his brother like he was always checking for cracks no one else knew to look for.
Gabriel didn’t make a show of taking care of his brother; he made a show of pretending he wasn’t.
That wasn’t anything I needed to notice, considering he was already infiltrating my mind even when he wasn’t around.
“And yet you remain even after such an…enlightening visit,” my father said to Gabriel.
“Yes. I do. It’s important that our kingdoms remain on friendly terms, and Alejandro and I are”—Gabriel’s gaze flicked to mine—“finally finding common ground.”
I didn’t back down from his stare, even as my stomach flipped in a way I wasn’t used to.
“I suppose we are,” I said.
That earned me a wink from him, and my mother, maybe sensing something shifting in the air, gestured toward the table. “Chef Martin has prepared a wonderful dinner for us tonight, so let’s enjoy it.”
As I went to take my seat, I saw Gabriel offer my mother his arm out of the corner of my eye. He quietly helped her to her seat without the over-the-top charm he’d used to win her over the first time they met.