Chapter 8

EIGHT

Natalia

I unpack my things and change clothes when I get back to the palace, and immediately have to attend a security briefing. Everyone is present except Lennox, and it’s a little disconcerting to have another person missing from our usual group even though I know she’s okay.

“A dozen of our own betrayed us,” Joe says, shaking his head. “This isn’t just dangerous, it’s sad.”

“Do we know who they are?” Erik asks quietly. “I’d like to talk to them, find out what could make them turn on us.”

“Money,” Sandor says wryly.

“It’s more than that,” Joe says. “It appears not everyone is impressed with Erik’s plan for the country. Some people aren’t as forward-thinking as this administration and there’s a contingent in the country who don’t want change.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I say in frustration. “We were terrorized during the decade before King Erik took over. I was here—I know!”

“Some were also brainwashed,” Sandor adds gently. “If you’re told something enough times, you’ll believe it.”

“So they believed that freezing and starving in the winter is okay?” I demand. “That having access to healthcare isn’t important?”

“The old regime needed the people to believe that, so that was the message.”

“Intel we’re getting says these men were placed here intentionally, waiting for the perfect time to act.”

“What was perfect about this time?” Erik asks. “I was out of the country, Luke wasn’t in the building, and Sandor and Daniil weren’t here either. Who were they after? Casey?” Luke is his first-born son and heir, and Sandor and his brother Daniil are his first cousins, who would be in line to the throne should the unthinkable occur.

“Levi is your spare heir so perhaps it was him they were after, since they knew it would be much harder to get to Luke.” Erik’s youngest son, Levi, was in the building when the attack went down.

“And what?” Erik demands. “Kill a baby?”

“I don’t think they wanted to kill him,” Joe says. “They would have used him to manipulate you into changing your policies.”

“Are we talking about a rebellion?” Erik asks. “Or the Brat ?”

The Bojovnik Brat is a mafia-like contingent that’s been a thorn in our sides for the last couple of years.

“We don’t know yet,” Sandor says, “but we will. We have four of them in custody, and the first one to tell us what we need to know gets to live. The others will be tried for treason and executed.”

“No.” Erik shakes his head. “Tried for treason, yes, but death is easy. I want people to know they’ll go to prison—for the rest of their lives. That’s more of a deterrent. Once they go in, we throw away the key. But they’re still alive. Suffering. Miserable. That can be worse than death if we work at it.”

“I have many ideas for ways to make them miserable,” Daniil adds.

“What’s done is done,” Erik says, “but my bigger concern is keeping it from happening again. Our escape routes and security protocols worked—thank God—but we can’t live this way. Eventually, being on high alert every minute of every day is going to wear on us. The kids need normalcy, and we all need to be able to relax sometimes. This is our home; we should feel safe in it. There will always be threats but I’m not going to live this way, so we have to find out how the fuck they keep getting to us. The Royal Protectors are the last line of defense, not the first, and I’m not willing to keep putting you guys in unnecessary danger.”

“That’s literally our job description,” Jonas interjects with a smile.

“But it’s not. You’re personal bodyguards. You’re not supposed to come under fire until every other contingency we’ve put into place has been taken out. We lost Logan, Natalia was shot, and who knows what could have happened to Casey if Courtney hadn’t been here.” One of Lennox’s friends was visiting during the attack, and when Lennox went into labor, Courtney got Casey and Levi to safety.

“That brings us to personnel,” Sandor says. “Joe, give us an update.”

He goes through the duty roster in detail, but my mind drifts after a few minutes since I know what my responsibilities are. I’m anxiously waiting to hear from Cooper to see when and if he’ll be allowed to come visit while he recovers. Joe and Sandor both approved the visit, but Ryan has to get permission from the military too. They can’t force him to recuperate in a military hospital, but he needs to be released from the hospital before he can come here regardless.

“Natalia?” Joe is waiting for me to answer him, and I look up guiltily.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, you need to meet with Dr. Saluga before you can take a duty shift.”

I manage not to sigh and merely nod. I’m so tired of the hoops we have to jump through, but I also want to get back on duty. I feel better now that I’ve seen Cooper, and knowing that he might be coming to stay for a while makes me feel safer somehow.

It’s embarrassing to think that way because I’m a Royal Protector. I’m the one who is supposed to make others feel safe, but my beaten-up pseudo-boyfriend who was just tortured in Iraq is the only person that can help me sleep.

“Natalia, tell us about your friend,” Joe says to me. “Erik says he may be coming to stay for a bit.”

“Yes. Captain Ryan Cooper. He was my commanding officer when I was embedded with the marine unit, and we became close.” I clear my throat. “Not like that. I mean, not until the last day, after I was officially relieved of duty. We would never have crossed that line. Anyway, we thought it might be nice if he spent some of his recovery here since he won’t be cleared for duty for a while.”

Luckily, no one seems particularly interested in our personal relationship and are far more interested in what happened to him in Iraq.

“We didn’t have a chance to talk about the details,” I add.

“Maybe he would benefit from our group therapy sessions,” Xander Holt suggests. He’s married to Princess Elen and one of the original Royal Protectors, who signed on immediately once Erik took power.

“He’ll let me know if he gets permission to come,” I say. “The biggest issue is medical care since there are obviously no U.S. veteran services here.”

“Make sure he knows we’ll take care of anything he needs,” Erik says. “He doesn’t have to worry about care during his recovery.”

“As one of the people integral in launching our exchange program with the marines, we’ll make sure he’s well taken care of any time he comes for a visit.” Sandor nods.

“I’ll tell him.” I look away, suddenly a little uncomfortable being the center of attention like this. Unfortunately, the focus is still on me.

“Well, there’s one more thing we need to discuss,” Sandor says, looking at me, amusement glinting in his blue eyes. “Natalia’s official promotion to Royal Protector.”

“Oh.” I’m not sure what that means. “What, er, what does that entail?”

“Most of you guys kind of took the job with a few words from Erik and me, but historically, becoming a Royal Protector was a big deal. When I finished my training, there was a ceremony, where we took our oath for a lifetime of fealty to the king. Then there was a huge celebration. I think we should bring back some of the old traditions.”

“I don’t really love that kind of thing,” I murmur.

“I know, but we’ve let too much go around here,” Erik says. “I think it’s time we revisit our historic pride. That’s the only way to erase the bad memories of the decade before I took power.”

“Do I have to do anything?” I ask knowingly.

Sandor actually laughs, his eyes crinkling. He’s one of those rare men who is as good-looking as he is terrifying. He’s big, strong, and powerful, but also intelligent, fair, and generous. He’s still the scariest person I’ve ever met, so it’s always a little disconcerting when he laughs and reminds me of a movie star.

“I’m going to hate it,” I groan.

Erik is chuckling too but shakes his head. “No. It will be a private ceremony, and if you choose not to have guests, you don’t have to.”

“There will still be a celebration after,” Daniil says, “but you’re not obligated to attend.”

“When is this enlightening event taking place?” I ask, folding my arms across my chest.

“I’m not sure,” Sandor replies. “We need to get some semblance of order around here first. With Lennox on maternity leave, the new duty roster will take a little getting used to and we might wait for Dax to finish his training as well so we can swear in both of you at the same time.”

“Everyone needs to adjust to constant roster changes,” Joe says after a moment. “With Axel and Solange in Vegas on duty with Sasha, in addition to Lennox on maternity leave, things are going to be tighter than ever. Dax is in the second phase of his training, but I don’t see him being ready for to be a full-time Protector until early next year. And that’s if he passes all the tests Sandor has planned for him. Solange is training to be a cyber specialist, which will free up Jonas to a degree, but we don’t know when or if she and Axel will be back here full-time, so that’s sort of a wash. With that in mind, I need thoughts on the schedule.”

“I’ve got other things to do,” Erik says, standing up, “but everyone needs one day off. That’s one thing I absolutely intend to make certain of. I don’t care how we have to do it, but you can’t continue working twenty-four-seven. Make it happen. The only delay I’ll agree to in that regard is perhaps holding off until Lennox is back from maternity leave.”

We all watch him leave and then Joe gives a little half-shrug as he looks around the room. “Ideas anyone? Schedule, hours, who does what.”

We collaborate on the rest of the schedule for another hour and then I go up to the Royal Apartment to see if Casey needs anything. Duty with the queen is both the easiest and hardest job there is. She likes having a woman around because of the kids.

The children are far more nervous when a male security member is in the suite, as if that automatically points to imminent danger, so though it isn’t accurate, she requested female security whenever possible. While Lennox is on maternity leave, that means me.

She’s easy-going and pretty boring as far as royalty goes. Her focus is almost always on her children. She tries to work on royal duties while the older kids are at school, though how much time she spends on them varies daily. They have two full-time nannies for Levi, but Casey is very hands-on with him. She takes on most of the daytime diaper and feeding duties unless she has to be out of the palace or is in the middle of something that can’t wait.

For the most part, I either sit and read, watch television, and occasionally check the security cameras either in their private security room or on my own laptop.

I’m always on high alert, but also have time to do things like read a book, watch a movie, or even hang out with Casey. What makes it so hard is the need to be relaxed coupled with never letting down my guard. I can’t get overly distracted, but I also can’t pace around like a foot soldier and freak out the kids.

“Hi!” She looks up from where she’s playing with Levi when I come in. “How was your trip? I’m sorry it had to be cut short, but I want to hear all about your friend .”

I smile. This is another great thing about Casey—she’s genuinely my friend. Not because she has to be, but because she somehow learned to walk the fine line between royalty and commoner. “Captain Ryan Cooper. The hottest marine on the planet.”

Casey grins. “Better looking than Xander or just better looking to you because you did all the naughty stuff?” Xander’s good looks are a big joke around the palace ever since we found out he’d modeled for several years when he was younger.

“We did a little naughty stuff,” I say, laughing. “Nothing happened until after my final duty shift, so I’m hoping for much more naughtiness in the future. As for his looks, he’s probably just better looking to me since Xander is married and unavailable, but Cooper is quite handsome. Blue eyes, square jaw, great body…” I sigh, sinking into a chair. “He wants to come spend time with me while he’s recovering.”

“I know. Erik told me. Why don’t you sound happy?”

“I don’t know what the point is!” I say, throwing up my hands. “He’s amazing, but he’s being transferred to Hawaii once he’s back on active duty. I’m not leaving Limaj, and he’s probably not leaving the marines. So what’s the point?”

“That sounds like something you could talk about once you’re together.”

“You think I should let him come and at least have the conversation before I write him off?”

Casey cocks her head, bright blue eyes filled with curiosity. “You sound like a woman afraid to get involved again after a tragedy.”

“It’s not about Logan.”

“Then what’s it about?”

“Cooper. He’s…” I pause, trying to find the right words in English. “I don’t know exactly what he is… all I can tell you is he does things to me. When he touches me, when he looks at me… our connection is so intense.”

“It sounds romantic and sexy.”

“It’s complicated and frustrating.”

“Love always is. Anyway, I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

“You’re going to embarrass me, aren’t you?” I groan.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Casey tickles Levi’s feet, and he giggles. “But I’m definitely going to invite the two of you to dinner so I can check him out.”

I make a face at her. “And I’m guessing I can’t say no.”

Casey laughs. “No. Probably not.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Who told you life was fair?” She scoops up Levi and puts him in my lap. “Hold him—I have to pee.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I laugh and kiss the baby.

There are days when I love my job.