Page 10 of A True King

“Why?”

“Call it a hunch. I just feel like I’m missing something. I need to see what she was seeing, and I can’t do that from this office.”

“I was there though. I went to her parents’ home. I didn’t see anything unusual.”

Anna rolls her eyes. “No offense, Lion, but looking for needles in a haystack is not your forte.”

“Touché,” I state dryly. She’s not wrong. I’ve always been a “big picture” guy. Auggie pays attention to detail, but only when it’s convenient to him. Anna though, she’s our detailed sibling. Whether it was finding the right puzzle piece or spotting an Easter egg nestled in the woods, she has always seen the little pieces.

Anna picks up her phone and calls someone. “We need to go to England … Because I said so … Now … I know that … I don’t really care … I’ll talk to him…just do it.” She hangs up and looks over at me. “We leave this afternoon.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” I ask.

“Just you and me…and our security,” she states with a sigh.

“Who was that?”

“Pete. He’s not a fan of this idea. He wants me to let him start an official inquiry, but let’s see what we find before I call in the big guns.” She pauses as she types a message on her phone. She rolls her eyes. “Fucking men.”

I raise an eyebrow and she glares at me. “We leave now.”

“Now, now?”

“Yes. If we don’t leave now, Logan will be here, and he is not happy with this field trip idea.”

“Shouldn’t you…oh, I don’t know, talk to your husband. I mean, you are married.”

“I did. I told him I was going to London with you. He asked why. I explained and he said over his dead body.”

I groan at my brother-in-law’s words. Our families have been through a lot over the past few years. First, my uncle tried to have Logan and our family killed because he wanted to take down the monarchies in our countries. Then, my brother, Auggie, and his girlfriend, Kate, found that a secret organization called The 44 was trying to have us killed as part of a worldwide attack on monarchies. They are an underground group dating back hundreds of years. They are rumored to have killed Julius Caesar. They were going to take out the entire royal family and they had started with Queen Louisa, my mother, who was thought to have died in a car accident, but the accident was not an accident. After it was found that they had members at the palace, all the staff were sent away, while we had their backgrounds checked.

Before all of that, my poor brother-in-law, Logan, was just a regular guy, living the dream on his yacht in the Bahamas before my sister stumbled upon a murder-for-hire hit on him on the dark web, which led to her arranging a secret rescue mission guised as a royal philanthropic visit. He didn’t even know he was a prince until then. Needless to say, she saved him, and they fell in love and married. Our aunt is also currently dating Logan’s uncle. They’ve put off announcing a marriage, but we all know it’s coming, further cementing the close relationship between our two small nations.

“Maybe you should stay here,” I state, already knowing Anna is not going to take no for an answer.

“Fuck off, Lion. I’m going. What use is it if I’m not there anyhow?” she replies, narrowing her eyes at me, but the fact that she used my nickname again tells me she isn’t put off by my statement.

“Fine. I don’t want to hear from—” My phone pings and I look down to see a call coming in from Logan. I take a deep breath and answer. “I tried to talk her out of this.”

“I don’t want her going without me. If she goes, I go,” he demands. “She won’t listen to me on this, but you will.”

I sigh as I look at my sister who is staring at me intently. I can tell by the way she’s frowning that she knows perfectly well who is on the other line.

“Fine. We leave in two hours.” I hang up the phone and look at Anna. “Your husband will be accompanying us.”

“Fuck! I fucking knew it. Motherfucking, little backstabbing, piece of shit!” She quickly shuts her mouth as my eyebrows rise at her little outburst. It’s unusual for her to be so…well, angry at her husband.

“Trouble in paradise?” I ask as I stand.

She huffs and crosses her arms. “No,” she replies like a petulant child.

“Really?”

“I’m not in the mood to discuss this,” she practically growls.

I raise my hands in surrender. “I’ll just say that I’m here if you need to talk. I’ll meet you at the front gate in two hours?”

“Yes. I’ve already ordered the plane on standby.”

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