Page 63 of Steinbeck
The hot air caught his breath, filled his lungs.He climbed onto the wooden bench.“So...what—you’re arm candy?”
Shep laughed.“No.”He picked up a ladle and splashed water on some rocks, bathing them in steam.“London is the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.But more than that, she’s got a lot on her shoulders.Unfinished business with the Petrov Bratva.And someone needs to watch her back.”
“That’s you?”
“I’m not...I wasn’t a SEAL.But I do know how to spot an oncoming avalanche.”He glanced over at Stein.“There’s a Bible passage that says ‘Two are better than one...If either of them falls down, one can help the other up...Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.’”
“‘A cord of three strands is not easily broken,’” said Stein.“I know those verses.”
“London is one.God is the second.I’m the third.”
“You don’t mind sitting on the sidelines?”
“Someone has to watch the field.”
The door opened and a man walked in.
Shep started to get up, but the man held up a hand and Shep sat back down.
“I hope you don’t mind the intrusion.”The man bore a hint of a European accent, maybe a layer of Italian thrown in.“I heard you were back.”
“Got in last night, sir,” Shep said.He gestured to Stein.“This is Steinbeck Kingston.He came in with one of the Swans.Stein, meet His Royal Highness, the crown prince of the House of Ribaldi, Prince Luka of Montelena.”
“Well done, Shep.”The prince turned to Stein.“Luka will be fine.”
“Do I...bow?”
“You’re in your bathrobe.My thought is probably not.”Luka grinned.Square chin with a cleft, blue eyes, confidence in his smile.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about the Montelena royal family.”
“We’re a small but sturdy lot,” Luka said.“My father, King Max, is on the throne, and my mother, Queen Isabella, is from the royal family of Montenegro, a country in the Balkans.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s located across from Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, part of Serbia-Croatia for many years.Beautiful country.We vacation there.”
Right.To get away from the big city of Luciella.
Luka might have read his mind because—“We’re really quite normal.My youngest brother, Alrick, is at uni, twenty-one, still figuring out that a major in medieval studies has no practical future.My youngest sister, Madeline, is our fiery redhead and is fighting tradition by joining the military.She’s completely obsessed with Hannibal and his march over the Alps with war elephants.We’re a part of NATO, but we have a small but fierce security force.I think she wants to be a commander.”
He shrugged.“We’ll see.My father is fairly open-minded.There are no arranged marriages anymore, although we still have to marry inside royal circles.”He sighed.“Hard to do when everyone is a cousin.”He glanced at Shep.
They exchanged a look that Steinbeck couldn’t read.
“I have a brother, Rillian, who is a chopper pilot a couple of years older than Maddy.He’s testing my father’s patience regarding the aforementioned law.”He smiled.
Shep chuckled.
“The one with her head on her shoulders and most likely to change the world is my oldest little sister, Victoria.She’s next in line after me, and just finished her surgical residency in Paris.She’s headed back to Queen Grace Hospital to join the staff here.”
He leaned back, his head against the wall.“And then there’s me.Just...the crown prince.Standing at the ready.”
“Cry me a river,” Shep said.He glanced over at Stein.“Prince Luka is heavily involved in the running of Montelena.”
Luka glanced at Shep, grinned.“Indeed.Just because my life’s purpose is to wait doesn’t mean my days aren’t filled with duty.”
He looked at Steinbeck.“What do you do?”
