Page 4 of The Spy

Nico and Jo sat together at the head of the table, deep in conversation. Every day Lucan had reason to be grateful Nico married Jo. She proved to be a remarkable monarch and a wonderful solidifying force in their family. His mother beckoned to him to sit at her side.

Though he knew what would come of their conversation, he bowed his head and joined her. “Hello mother.”

She kissed his cheek. “Have you been in contact?”

“Just through official channels.”

“No note? No text? Lucan…”

“Mother, she made it very clear—”

“Ridiculous. Son. Considering all that she is going through and all that will soon fall on her shoulders, I would think…”

Lucan rested a hand on hers. “Of course, Mother, you are correct. I will remedy my inattention immediately.”

She eyed him with suspicion but only nodded.

Then Nico began the meeting.

Lucan scanned the family. Everyone was married, or soon to be, but Dahlia and him. When his eyes met hers, she smirked as if she knew what he was thinking and then turned her eyes back to her phone.

Daniel and Melodia were just back from a photo shoot up in northern Asia somewhere. Lucan’s security team had followed their movement but Lucan had let the team take care of the details. Trane and Seraphina were perhaps the happiest couple he had ever seen. They worked well together, and Phina was expecting their first child. The first grandchild. They had quickly become his mother’s favorite.

He returned his attention back to the meeting when Thad stood and reached for Sage to stand beside him. Their faces, full of smiles made everyone laugh, except Dahlia. She rolled her eyes.

“We have an announcement to make.” Thad cleared his throat.

Lucan bit his tongue. Of course they all knew the announcement.

“Sage and I have decided to get married.”

Everyone clapped and cheered and their mother wiped her eyes and kissed them both. “I am so happy for you. Almost everyone has found their wife now.”

Lucan resisted rolling his eyes, but only just. Dahlia snorted in the corner. They met eyes and she wiped her brow as if to say, “near miss.”

But he pounded Thad on the back and kissed Sage’s cheek with the rest of them. “I am happy for you two.”

When everyone was again seated, Thad and Sage started to talk about wedding details. They were to be married right away, with just enough time to get out invitations and for people to come. Lucan chuckled at their publicity plans for New York, where Sage had been working since graduating. Theirs was an interesting relationship to follow, a publicity stunt at first, to gain attention from the press for the company where they worked. But it had quickly escalated into much more. Lucan was happy to have her as part of the family.

Thad cleared his throat, and gave Lucan a meaningful look. When Lucan didn’t say anything he said. “Lucan, isn’t this where you complain about the security or share some tidbit of information that you already know?”

“True. I guess weddings with you lot has become second nature to me. The team is already in place. We knew the announcement was coming. Though.” He paused for effect. “I half expected you to coordinate your efforts with the timing of the Grand Royal Gala.”

His mother’s face opened into a look of pure concentration, and the others turned to Sage.

She shrugged. “When is this royal gala? I know nothing about it.”

Thad grunted. “It will be held next month. It hardly bears mentioning. But it is an event we hold each year for the royals in the world.”

“All of them?” Sage’s wide eyes were amusing to Lucan. Most Americans were so far outside the royal understanding that they always sat in awe of the subject.

“Well, those who want to come, which is fewer every year, to be honest.” Their mother smiled. “But this idea has merit. Consider all the people who will already be in town. We could have the events one day apart, or even better, perhaps combine them into one.” Her eyes shone with excitement.

Sage looked to Thad, who frowned but shrugged his shoulders. “It would move our wedding date up three weeks. I’d be happy about that. We had talked about a New York wedding though.”

“Let’s do it. We could use an earlier marketing boost, and I think the setting will be great for publicity.”

The brothers laughed.

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