Page 74 of Royal Agenda

Ryker chewed. “The attacker last night said that I was too old for Grace. Do you think that is true?”

“What?” Sean swiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “No.”

Ryker flopped back on the couch. “I have lost my moonshell—the most rare and sought after of all shells. Her beauty shines forth no matter how dark the night. Her love is like—”

“Did you put a quarter in him or something?” asked Mack. He grabbed the bottom pizza box and ate out of it.

Liam drifted in, following his nose like a bloodhound. “Pizza? For breakfast?”

“It has bacon,” Sean said around a bite.

“Hmmm, bacon.” Liam scooped up a piece. “You’re not going to believe what I found.”

“What?” asked Mack as he reached for his third slice.

“Ryker Rockefeller,” Liam said smugly.

“Present.” Ryker lifted his hand.

“Not you! There’s another Ryker Rockefeller. He’s twice your age and is in the witness protection program because he was part of the mob. I guess he was one bad dude.”

Ryker slowly sat up. “You mean to tell me that the bounty hunters were after another Ryker Rockefeller, and I just happened to show up in Diamond Cove with his name?”

Liam nodded. “Looks like it.”

Ryker lunged at him. Liam deflected his first attack, and soon the two of them were locked in a struggle. “I lost the love of my life–my eternal flame–because of the stupid name you picked!”

Liam didn’t fight back as much as he deflected. “How was I to know there was a Ryker Rockefeller! It wasn’t just me–we all named you.”

They crashed into the coffee table, breaking off the clamped leg. Mack jumped in, pulling Ryker off, and Sean did the same with Liam. Ryker shook off Mack’s hold, breathing hard.

Sean patted Liam’s back. “We have to do something with him.”

Mack nodded. “We could marry them.”

Ryker rolled his head in that direction, mildly interested in their crazy idea. There was no way he could get married. He wasn’t a citizen of this country. He was considered dead. “How?”

“Sean’s a boat captain.” He motioned to Sean. “International waters aren’t that far away.”

Ryker snapped to attention. “You are joking with me? This can be done?”

“I don’t want to brag or anything, but I have an online certificate that says I can, legally, marry two people.” Sean brushed off his shoulder.

Liam flipped his hair off his face like one of those actors in the superhero movies. “If you married her, she’d be a princess of Isola de la Famiglia, and we’d have to protect her.”

Time stopped. Ryker looked every one of them in the eye. “If you are teasing me.”

They all lifted their hands up. “No way,” said Sean. “Not about this.”

Ryker was on his feet and out the door. “Get the boat ready.”

“Whoa there, your highness.” Liam stepped in front of him. “Where do you think you are going?”

“To capture my lover’s heart once and for all,” Ryker lifted a hand in the air.

Sean came up behind him and slapped him on the back. “How about we spend five minutes planning this out.” He sniffed Ryker’s shoulder. “And you shower?”

Ryker sniffed himself and winced. He smelled like Bob’s couch. “You are right—for once. I cannot approach Grace looking and smelling like a man who sleeps in a warehouse.”

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