Page 105 of Night's Fall
“And before you worry,”Catwent on. “Aleksei’speople have already been hard at work.Everything’sboarded up.Terrintoncould sell a sandcastle he kicked over for a million marks and pretty much any being would buy something theTrueHeirwrecked.Soonce we get the front repaired, which insurance covers.”Sheshot a look atAleksei. “Inother words, your offer to pay is declined.”Shecame back to me. “We’lldo whatTerrintonsays.Doubleour take.Andright now,I’msitting on the hottest gallery in allFourRealms.”Shereturned toAleksei. “Sothanks for the drama, my prince.Ifeel a big, fat bonus coming on.”
That was a weird way for all that to work out.
But it was good to know it all worked out.
“Although your concern for us is not surprising, as you are ourLaura,”Mr.Truelock’sdry voice cut in. “Ibelieve we’re all more interested in how you’re doing, my lovely.”
Aleksei pulled me closer to his side.
“I’ve been really worried about you,”Iadmitted.
“Again, unsurprising,”Mr.Truelockreplied. “Butsomething like what happened would meanI’dbe disappointed if any stone went unturned in discovering what was behind it.Itwas a minor inconvenience, and expeditious in moving on to discovering what’s really going on.”
It wasn’t a minor inconvenience.
It was just how much they cared about me.
Aleksei had been right about how they’d react to interrogation under truth serum.
In my instruction,MadamGarwahalso hadn’t gotten into whether you could burst out crying in front of the king and queen, even if you were in your mate’s house.
I was saved this possible breach of etiquette by the intervention of another royal.
“Are we going to be introduced to your mate?”Timotheecut in to demand ofAleksei.
I turned my attention to him.
Conversely,Timotheelooked a lot likeAleksei, just a shorter, thinner, watered-down version.
AndIfelt upon laying eyes on him there was just something…off.
“Tim,Rol, this is my mate,Laura.Laura,TimandRol,”Alekseisaid in an offhand and insulting manner.
Hearing that,IshotCata look.Shereturned it and then shotGaylea look.Gayleaimed one at her then at me.
Annnnnnnd…yeah.
There was perhaps more dysfunction here thanIthought, andIwas thinking there was some serious dysfunction here.
KingFillionrose, and obviously,Iwasn’t the only one to getAleksei’smemo, because everyone remained seated when he did.
“We’re all here to form a united front after what happened last night, and to indicate our support of the match ofAlekseiand his mate,” he declared. “Assuch, in a few minutes, we’ll appear at the front of the building for a photo op and a short speech from the king.”
Oh, gods, no.
I tensed.
WhenIdid, the pads ofAleksei’sfingers dug into my waist and the heat of his displeasure beat into my side.
“I wouldn’t have picked that outfit,”Germaineput in, studying my clothing critically. “ButI’mfeeling it.Itsays,casual stay at home with my hunky mate, theTrueHeir, after drama and intrigue filled our night.”
“It would have been nice if you checked withLauraandIfirst to ascertain we were at one with this plan,”Alekseisaid to his dad.
“Your tech was muted,”KingFillionreturned.
“It’s nine thirty,Father.Theday is hardly wasting,”Alekseishot back.
“We were curious to meet her,”Timotheeput in.
