Page 21 of Cooper

Natalia

I unpackmy 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 theBrat?”

TheBojovnik Bratis 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’repersonalbodyguards. 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.

---