Page 8 of Trained Royal
“Damon said it would be about half an hour, and that was…” Mav checked his watch, “about half an hour ago.” He stood upright, groaning. “I shouldn’t lean like that. It kills my back.” He sighed. “I’ll go check with him.”
Mav wandered off, leaving Douglas and Patrick alone again.
“Any news?” he asked.
Douglas glanced at him with a small smile. “We’re supposed to be relaxing today, remember?”
Patrick stared at him. “And I bet it has beenfarfrom your mind all this time, hasn’t it?”
Douglas snorted, then sobered. “It’s never far from my mind, Paddy. We just don’t know any more than we did before. Neil, Daniel and Gia are going through the information as much as Christian still is, but they’re hitting roadblocks in every direction. There’s more information there, but no one can seem to figure it out.”
“We still have dates and locations, don’t we? It’ll make things easier.”
“Let’s hope. The next one on the list isn’t until near Christmas. If they stay true to that, we have a bit of leeway to relax.”
Patrick scoffed, “None of us will relax until this is over.” Douglas nodded slowly, a frown on his face as he fiddled with his cup. “What are you thinking?”
Douglas sighed and rubbed a hand across his face. “I don’t think that list is any good now,” he whispered.
Patrick blanched. “What! Why?”
“Shh.” Douglas held out a hand. “Keep your voice down. I haven’t told anyone about this yet, only Mav.” Patrick’s heart pounded as his cousin kept talking. “If they knew Miranda had turned her back on them, what’s to stop them thinking she gave Christian information?”
“There’s not.”
Patrick jumped at Christian’s voice, having not heard him step up behind them. He faced his cousin. “Where does that leave us?” His body felt like jelly, trembling as if he was a slant away from sliding off into a mess on the ground.
“It leaves us where we are. Working our asses off to figure everything out before anything happens. We assume the dates and locations haven’t changed. And if they have…” Christian met his gaze. “If they have, we adapt.”
Patrick dropped his head into his hands, scraping his fingers through his hair and linking them at his neck. Why did nothing go their way? Why couldn’t they cut a break? Having the information Christian’s mother provided had proved invaluable, but to know it was potentially useless made Patrick feel even more powerless than usual. Douglas and Christian tried talking to him, but he was too wrapped up in his head to do anything. They rested their hands on his back and left him, knowing him too well to stay while he was like that.
Someone else took the seat beside him, and he closed his eyes, not wanting to invite conversation when he wasn’t sure he could form a sentence. Having to adapt to things wasn’t his forte. He much preferred a well-thought-out and detailed plan of action, but it was why he’d been training, wasn’t it? In case he needed to step up to the plate.
A hand rested on his lower back, the heat soothing him despite it being hot outside. Instinctively, he knew it was Kieren, but he lifted his eyes to check. The man’s eyes broadcast a wealth of emotion as his thumb smoothed across the fabric of his T-shirt. For a moment, he wished he wasn’t wearing one, wanting to feel it against his bare skin. Their gazes locked, the moment extending far longer than it should. If Patrick had more confidence—and fewer witnesses—he would’ve closed the distance between them and kissed him. But he didn’t, leaving him to wallow in the “what-ifs” of his life.
What if Aunt Charlotte had never started down this path? What if he had the confidence to kiss his bodyguard? What if he had the strength to fight back? What if he…?
“Stop,” Kieren murmured, leaning a little closer.
Patrick’s eyes widened. “Huh?” It was all he could manage.
“Your brain is going too fast. Slow it down. You’ll never work yourself out of the maze you’ve got yourself into unless you slow down. Now, breathe. In,” he paused, inhaling, “and out.” He exhaled, and Patrick found himself following the action automatically.
He kept his eyes on Kieren, not wanting to be set free on the water slide just yet. With his concentration on his breathing, the tumultuous thoughts were able to settle.
“I wish they hadn’t left you alone like that,” Kieren said.
“Who?”
“Your cousins. They do it every time you get like this, and I’ve never understood it. All they need to do is help you calm your thoughts, and you’ll be back with them. Whereas if you’re left alone, it takes you longer.” He pursed his lips and broke the staring match, looking at the ground instead.
How did he know that?
“I’m observant,” Kieren answered.
Patrick stared at him, overwhelming feelings bottling up inside him. No one else had seen that. Not even Patrick had realised. How had Kieren? He sat upright, swallowing hard, and dislodged Kieren’s hand unintentionally. He missed the warmth the moment it left him.
“He’s right,” Freddie said, approaching from Patrick’s left.
