Stealing Kisses With a King (Kings of Carolina #3)- Sylvie Stewart Page 0,72
learned over the years to push it back. Still, a flash of Carl’s round face and burly form came to mind as I stood with the king.
“You should have heard some of the excuses that boy would invent to save his skin.”
I smiled. “I can only imagine.” That sounded exactly like the Malcolm I knew.
“It’s a difficult job, but I have faith in him.”
My smile grew as I watched Malcolm kiss his mother’s cheek. “As do I, sir.”
King Gregory returned my smile. “I know I’ve told you this before, but you remind me so much of your mother.” The mention of my mum was a needle prick to the heart. “The same constancy, the same understated fire, and honest to a fault.” He nodded. “You’re good for him, you know. He needs someone to remind him everything is not always about him.”
That made me laugh, probably because I’d been tempted so many times over the years to put him in his place using those exact words.
“And just think,” he continued, “your children will inherit the best of both of you and be natural born kings and queens.”
I sputtered at that, my cheeks heating as I made a fool of myself in front of the king. “I… oh… we… no…” But he only chuckled and squeezed my hand before making his way slowly across the room, cane aiding his steps, to join Malcolm and the queen at the other end of the table.
It’s okay. You’re resting on the end of a wide pier. The sun is setting and there’s not so much as a ripple on the water around you.
After a few more deep breaths, I found my composure and went to join Leo and Ruby while the king and queen spoke privately with Malcolm.
“I know you said we need to prioritize, but I still want to know who betrayed y’all. There’s a special way we take care of those things in K-ville.” Ruby scowled.
“While I certainly appreciate the sentiment behind your revenge fantasies, I’m certain Trevor will sort it out.” Leo put his arms around Ruby from behind, unable to hide his small grin at his girlfriend’s enthusiasm.
I exhaled a frustrated huff.
“You don’t trust Trevor?” Ruby asked, making me realize I needed to be more careful.
“On the contrary. He’ll sort it.” This, I knew, because I’d already told him Victoria was the private source. She’d obviously seen my notes, despite her denial, and had exacted her revenge on Malcolm and me for pushing her aside.
“I know that look.” Ruby pointed at me, eyes narrowed. “It’s the same one Sadie gets when she’s hiding something.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I waved her off and quickly removed myself from the conversation before confessing all my secrets.
When the king and queen left, Malcolm went back to staring out the window, so I joined him there. “Should we have a word in private?” I wanted to take his pulse, so to speak, and make sure we were on the same page. I also had some confessions to make.
He looked my way, and although his mouth was turned down, his eyes lost their flatness as he examined my face. It made it impossible not to smile at him. “Come on then.”
In silent agreement, we walked all the way back to his quarters, neither of us speaking a word until we collapsed on his sofa and he pulled me under his arm.
“Let’s just stay in here for the next few years. I’m sure everyone will have forgotten by then.” His joke fell flat.
“We’ll fix it, don’t worry.”
“How are you not panicking?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t do any good.”
“And it’s as easy as that?”
I was reminded of my almost identical conversation with Grier only two weeks ago. We hadn’t spoken in several days, apart from a few hurried texts, because her son had been in an accident of some kind. But Malcolm had assured me that, although a variety of adjustments had been made, the contract was in order and all was settled. Which was a good thing considering we now had more than enough to worry about.
“It didn’t used to be, but I’ve had a lot of practice.” I didn’t admit that I still had to use my various coping strategies, but they had been with me so long and worked so well, I hardly thought it worth mentioning.
“All the more reason to take a break and hibernate in here.”
“But wouldn’t you miss the ocean? Your cars? Your adoring groupies?” I tilted my head up to look at him.