King's Ransom (Man on a Mission 2)

“Do not bother. I will refuse to accept it, and you will have wasted your time to no purpose.”

“You cannot refuse to accept it. The scandal—”

“The scandal will be less of a scandal with you by my side,” Andre insisted.

“There will always be those who say there is no smoke without fire. There will always be those who believe I had a hand in Niko’s schemes.” There was a bitter edge to Zax’s voice. “I am the primary beneficiary should you die without sons, not Niko.”

“Let them believe what they want to believe.” Andre smiled wryly. “Is that not what you told me years ago? Those who wish to see evil will see evil. You cannot live your life based on what people believe of you. Only on what you believe of yourself.”

“But—”

“You know your own innocence. As do I.”

Silence stretched between them. Then Zax said in a low voice, “Thank you for that.” Another long silence was broken when Zax asked, “Do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Have sons. Soon.”

Andre laughed, and Zax joined him. “That is my intention,” Andre assured him when their laughter subsided. “Not to cut you out of the succession, but because Juliana has agreed to be my wife.”

“Finally.”

Andre breathed deeply, nodded and smiled with intense satisfaction. “Finally.”

Quiet reigned for a moment before Andre said, “Tell me something.”

“Of course.”

“You have known my plans regarding Juliana from the beginning. Yet never once since she arrived did you speak a word of encouragement. Never once did you express sympathy for my struggle. Why is that?”

A look of blank surprise spread over Zax’s face. “Was the outcome ever in doubt? Surely you did not think...?”

“Not that you wished otherwise. But yes, I did wonder why you kept silent.”

Zax made a sound of disbelief. “You have never failed in anything you set your mind to. This I have known since you were a small boy. How do you think I came to be called Zax?” When Andre lifted a questioning brow, Zax laughed softly. “You were two, I think. Yes, two. You could not pronounce Xavier, so you called me Zax and refused to call me by any other name. You called me Zax so often everyone in the family began to call me by that name, too.”

Andre smiled his faint smile and shook his head. “Surely not.”

“You were intrepid even then,” Zax insisted. “You were no more than five when you set yourself up in opposition to your father. You were Mara’s champion from the day she was born—did you think I could not see that? You would not bend then, and you have not changed since. Your strength of will is already legendary. It never occurred to me you could doubt yourself in this. It never occurred to me you would not succeed in winning Juliana’s heart again. It was only a matter of time.”

Andre laughed under his breath. “If you knew the thoughts running through my mind on occasion, you would not be so sure of me. I am not invincible.”

Zax shook his head. “I know you better than you know yourself. I would never bet against you, for I would surely lose.”

* * *

Back at the palace Andre immediately went in search of Juliana with Damon at his side. He was more than exhausted, running on reserves alone, having been awake for nearly thirty-six hours at this point. But he’d promised Juliana they would talk once everything was resolved, and he couldn’t seek his own bed until he’d kept his word.

He found her in the little library, curled up on a sofa, fast asleep. Lukas was sitting in the chair across from her, doing nothing but watching her. Guarding her. Protecting her. Keeping him company was Marek Zale. Both men stood when Andre entered the room, but Marek reached him first.

“I failed you, Sire,” Marek said. “My orders were to find Prince Nikolai and arrest him. Instead he almost killed both you and Miss Richardson.”

Andre shook his head. “The failure was mine. I should have held off announcing my engagement to Miss Richardson until whoever was trying to kill her was caught. I knew better, but I—” Wanted to shout my triumph to the world, he thought but didn’t say. “No, Marek,” he insisted. “No blame attaches to you. If blame there is, it belongs to me and me alone for not realizing sooner the threat Prince Nikolai represented—the signs were there but I was blind to them.”

“But, Sire, I—”

Andre held up a hand to interrupt him. “Do not argue, Marek. Learn from this experience as I have done, and put it to good use when planning the protection detail for Miss Richardson when she becomes my queen.” He added softly, “I am relying on you.”