Love's Nudging Read online

  “Stay away from Prince Markham,” Henrik told Bricius, understanding it was him. He guided me away from the ancient, nodding to the pallets. “His Royal Highness requested I bring appropriate gifts for the headaches his presence will now cause. Also someone he wished to work with.”

  “Right,” I muttered, glancing around and finding who I wanted. “Jayme, could I speak with you a moment?”

  “Yes, of course, um, Prince Markham,” he said, hurrying over to me and giving a bow.

  “I’m just Mark here,” I chuckled. I sighed when I saw Henrik’s look. “Fine, we will figure out some sort of protocol or clear lines, but no one asked me to be here, Henrik. It will become annoying fast if they have to act like they are at court.” I waited until he nodded. “Jayme was inventing variations on the normal rum ball, making an array of vodka balls and adult cookie pops.”

  Henrik’s eyes lit with understanding. “You wish to pay him to collaborate? Have him work recipes for us that we could use and take PR shots of.”

  “Yes, as he’s also planning on having a bakery in the private mall they’re designing.”

  “I need to speak with whoever is in charge of this development and getting caught up,” Henrik muttered.

  “I’m so confused,” Verge sighed, and I saw Jayme was as well.

  “Prince Markham owns these companies,” Henrik explained, nodding to the pallets of alcohol. “When he started college, he took a small amount from his trust and bought this vodka brand and turned it into the best selling vodka in Denmark and Sweden. From there he expanded into a few vineyards and the premixed shots company that is a Swedish company he was asked to invest in and help.”

  “You’re such a braggart,” I grumbled.

  He smiled at me. “There is much to brag about when it comes to you. Most royals nowadays live off their trusts or do nothing but cause trouble for the family. Very few only borrow funds from their trust and return it within a few years to become financially independent and leave the rest for the upkeep of the castle.”

  “He’s right,” Bricius muttered. “Most tend to lose the castle especially if they are left orphaned early and don’t have the guidance most need to handle an estate.”

  “So glad you approve when you’ve done more to tarnish my name in one afternoon than I have in almost thirty years,” I drawled, wincing when I looked at Henrik. “I apologize in advance. He poked me until I blew a gasket. Too many heard way too much, including what happened at the funeral, as none should ever have heard Grandmother did that.”

  Henrik shot Bricius a death look before focusing back on me. “I’m sure it’s fine. Most here seem lovely people, and as long as no one recorded anything, most can be brushed off. You wouldn’t know this, as you’ve never been in any sort of scandal or situation, but you would think someone so old would understand the worries of perceptions.”

  I snorted. “You assume he respects me or our family. He hasn’t shown he does but instead looks down his nose at everyone else.”

  “I think that a bit much,” Bricius argued. “I had more faith in the people here as I didn’t simply appear yesterday and have been watching for a while.”

  I gave him a glance that he was stupid. “I didn’t keep the truth from my friends because I didn’t trust them to keep it secret. I did. They would never betray me. However, knowing the secret is a burden as someone is always overheard or connections put together or a tongue slip happens. The only secrets kept are the ones never shared.”

  “More booze,” Gary announced as he drove the next pallet in with other helpers. “And there’s about a bazillion pigs worth of pork coming next.”

  “Some provisions,” I muttered to Henrik. “I have to eat and get to my shift. It’s a busy time with the tech department. I apologize for calling you here and not being as attentive as I should.”

  “I can show him around and help,” Wally offered with a shrug. “I was going to work with the pre-trans at the construction site, but we have to wait for more parts to arrive since the rest was done last night.”

  “How?” I asked, not able to hide my shock.

  He nodded behind me. “The night shift said the new super ancients handled all of it after a basic lesson from the construction guys since the site was cleared for snow.”

  “I wonder what that will cost us?”

  “Nothing,” Bricius bit out.

  I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Well, that’s all you’ve shown me so far, so the blame isn’t on me that I have such an opinion, is it?” I went over to the pallet of different vodkas and called over a few post-trans I’d worked with. “You each can have a bottle if after you make sure every warrior and the ancients each have two or—”

  “I brought enough for each to receive a sample case along with a pallet of extra cases for whatever else was needed,” Henrik informed me. He shrugged when I gave him a shocked look. “You very rarely give promotional gifts. This could be considered branching into a new market, so why not take the write off?”

  “And you want to make sure everyone is incredibly happy I’m here if they get such gifts,” I said under my breath, knowing full well the games and how people were won with honey instead of vinegar. “I’m not sure each warrior needs thirteen bottles of vodka on top of whatever else you have planned, but please instruct these post-trans however to help.”

  “Of course, I will find help and meet who I have to. Please do not let me interrupt your work any longer, Prince Markham.”

  “Mark, at least use Mark,” I sighed, heading back to my tray. Everything had sat too long by then, and cold eggs and soggy cereal were gross. I tossed it all out and asked for some breakfast sandwiches, thanking the post-trans helping in the kitchen since it was now their job along with the pre-trans doing dishes and helping prep more. Everyone was helping more, and I liked that.

  I did call back to Manny that there was a lot of food for him and hopefully that helped with the burden. I realized something else and gave Henrik a look, warning him not to bother Manny with trying to make the poor man cook my favorites to work with my diet.

  “Are the chefs not coming with?” I pushed when he looked like he might argue. “We’re building a place here, and they can fuss over me all they want. If they wish, they have a whole camp they can stuff silly and help feed if they work with Manny. There are a lot of problems and crazy going on around here, Henrik. They could use help and your wisdom, not more problems.”

  He dipped his head. “Of course, Prince Mark. I will also find this doctor and hand deliver the research with instructions.”

  I swallowed a flinch at having to discuss my parents’ research. “Thank you.” I thanked the guy for my sandwiches and grabbed coffee, heading for ops. I bit back a sigh when Bricius fell in step with me. “Did you need something?”

  “I apologize. You were right, and there is always the chance someone accidently is overheard or mentions something they shouldn’t have. I should not have handled the situation as publicly as I did. I thought it best to set the record straight so there was no misconceptions later, but too much came out as well.”

  I stopped by the ops door, not wanting to bring this conversation in there. “If I forgive you, it sounds as if I’m accepting you would still stick your nose in my business where it’s not welcome. I don’t know whatever promise you made to my parents, but I release you from it. I assume it was for when I was a child, and I am not.

  “You should apologize as you did, but also for making the decision it needed to be handled at all. That was not your responsibility, so apologizing you mucked it up like it was irks me. So I will forgive you that part when you also apologize for treating me like a child and doing what I asked you not to.” I opened the door and went inside, ignoring whatever look or response he might have had.

  “Mark, you’re on all the training room computers and all electronics in the gym. They need the room after lunch,” Rune told me, tossing over the right drive for me to plug in. “Oh, and I liked your sugg
estion that we set up a station in the cafeteria to clear phones during meals. You and Wally will be running it during lunch.”

  “On it,” I assured him and headed right back out, ignoring Bricius. I had a moment to wonder how the bug Zibon’s parents had planted on his iPod had gotten past Rune’s clean sweep for as long as it had, but then I remembered it was a shuffle without software and it had been a physical bug, not uploaded. Wow, that seemed like ages ago, and so much had happened since then, but really it had happened in the fall.

  “This new generation of electronics and devices truly terrify me,” Bricius admitted when I sat down at the first computer to run the program. “When the phone was invented it was a marvel. The improvements since were wonderful, especially mobile phones to call in emergencies or stay in touch. But now they’re filled with apps and they’re terrifying.”

  It made me think of something evil, biting back a smirk. “If you let me do one thing that will amuse me, I’ll show you how to delete off all that extra and block anything from tracking you or knowing your location.”

  “Alright,” he agreed after a moment.

  The program still had two minutes to run, so I pulled out my phone and used the Snapchat puppy filter to take a picture of Bricius. The ancient, scary, and terrifying Bricius. I burst out laughing, almost knocking over my coffee as I looked at it. Just to be extra mean I sent it to Jeston so he’d have it as well.

  “What did you do?” he asked, snagging my phone from me. I kept laughing, unable to get myself under control even once the program was done and I moved to the next computer. “I deserve that.” He handed it back and his phone as well, his lips twitching as if amused I would be so bold to poke him.

  He thanked me when I was done and then left. I was relieved but also a bit shocked he didn’t push harder when I had to stay there. I ate while the program finished, starting it in the next one while opening a browser and getting caught up on the news since I’d been behind for months with all the crazy.

  I preferred to read articles, as news broadcasts tended to be repetitive and I could read faster, but I adored Seth Meyers and John Oliver, so I would never skip them. A few more computers finished, and I was pretty caught up on international business news. I decided to reward myself with loading Last Week Tonight’s YouTube channel and started from what I’d missed.

  “Right, television is on computers now,” Bricius sighed as he sat down next to me, almost scaring the crap out of me. He set down a huge plate of several of his strawberry treats snacks I’d purposefully ignored. “Most jumps from time awake to time awake haven’t been this big or diverse. It’s a bit overwhelming.”

  “Find something that you adore and the rest won’t seem as tedious then,” I suggested as I went for the next computer. “Are you a big reader?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “There have been developments on the ease of getting books. You can read them on tablets or readers and have huge collections and range at your fingertips.”

  “Thank you, that sounds like a great place for us to start.”

  I nodded and played the next clip, noting he simply watched it with me instead of asking questions. When it was time for me to do the next computer, I opened Google on the computer he was at and moved the keyboard closer to him. “Type in whatever you didn’t understand, and you can find it this way. Keep in mind, not everything is the truth though.”

  He snorted. “Neither are most of the history books, but thank you. We’ve only had a bit of a broad overview or were catching up with vampire politics, not modern anything.”

  It made sense, still seemed a bit hard for him, but why I was offering any insight or help confused me. I didn’t even like this guy.

  I noted the way he watched what I ate as if trying to decipher what I might like best, but I knew how to be a shit too. Plus, I’d worked enough with computers to know exactly how a distracted person acted and just grabbed whatever, not reacting or giving him much.

  “It was nice of you to share with everyone,” he tried when I was on the last row of computers. “So you liked it?”

  I nodded, not looking at him. “I would have liked it much better if you hadn’t assumed I would give you a chance and already had ordered it.”

  He winced out of the corner of my eye. “I hadn’t planned on showing myself yet or poking you with the stop sign. You cried out in your sleep the night before, and it broke my heart.” His eyes flashed shock when I gave him a disbelieving look. “You didn’t know you did that.”

  “I’ve lived with people for years here. Someone would have told me if I did that. Pre-trans were like sardines in a can, and even as post-trans we had our own rooms but they were right on top of each other.”

  “You scream in your pillow,” he muttered. “If they were sleeping, they might not have noticed given you’re all so tired. Or they could have thought it was about anything else. You do it though.”

  I nodded, unsure of what to say or react since I wasn’t sure I bought that fully. “So you were going to use Alastair’s play and do it all before showing yourself?”

  He snickered. “I can come up with my own plays, but it’s a good play, and people were amused it was happening again.”

  “You did it to also raise moral and have some fun.”

  He shrugged. “I do like poking people. No matter how many thousands of years I’m alive, people still react in different ways, and I am amused by that.” He cleared his throat nervously. “Unfortunately, I also have trouble knowing where the line is to not go over.”

  “I. Hadn’t. Noticed.”

  He chuckled, leaning his head on his hand and giving me that sexy smirk. “Oh, I think you did. I’m not used to people telling me to go fuck myself so quickly or at all. It was a bit shocking.”

  “Then I consider it a public service.”

  “I don’t blame you.” He cleared his throat. “Times have changed though. Fights were had for entertainment all of the time, the sex after too, and we all knew it. Sure, someone now and again got picked on, and it was hard, but so was life and it also helped them if done right. Now what was genuinely considered teasing and a bit of razzing is bullying and it’s hard to keep up with.”

  I thought about that a few moments, truly I did. “I think it’s bullying because you didn’t know me. If Cornelius did it to me, it would have been different. I’m not close to him, but I’ve known him for years. Plus, we have a lot of upset and are a huge target and someone’s breaking into the dorm and a room to write shit on someone in permanent marker. That screams mocking.”

  “I didn’t think of it like that,” he muttered, and I believed him. He seemed genuinely confused. “I do think that there needs to be better security. Even if Nero can sense zakasacs for a billion miles away or not, there are more dangers out there than them. I thought highlighting that was important, and honestly, I was a bit peeved everyone was so flippant about it.”

  I snorted. “You and me both.” I narrowed my eyes at him when he seemed relieved I felt that way. “That doesn’t mean I forgive you, you dick. You were the one doing it to me. Don’t forget that.”

  “Right, yeah, I understand. Sorry.”

  What else was there to say? Not much apparently because he didn’t try again, and part of me was sad he didn’t. Did he only like poking from a distance and people being amusing but he wouldn’t really try to get to know me for real?

  Then again, I was pretty stupid for thinking that given I didn’t want any part of him. Right?

  I finished in the training room, gym, and offices before lunch, meeting Wally in the cafeteria to handle as many phones as we could. The software bypassed the need to unlock phones or any other basic setups unless there was something conflicting on there… Which was a problem so they’d be brought right to Rune.

  I noted most of the pallets were already unloaded or put away in storage. I’d seen people carrying a case of the vodka on the way to the cafeteria, so at least that was being handled as well.


  “Are you and Roarke staying in the new dorm, or did you want to have a suite at the place I’ll build?” I asked Wally quietly when we finished setting up.

  “Um, I’m not sure,” he muttered. “Roarke joked around about wanting a fancy shower for me or whatever since everyone knows I like shower sex, but it’s really Alastair’s house or Nero’s and they’re not mated yet. Same with Falcon, Gaius, Seneca, and Ellison are staying with someone else. I think Morggyan? So I’m not sure what we’re doing.”

  “Well, it would be my house, and honestly I’ll feel weird being there alone with all the castle staff only,” I admitted under my breath. “They still see the little boy who was left all alone.” He gave me a worried look, and I knew the right way to play this so he didn’t think he’d be taking advantage of me. “Honestly, it would be nice to have others for them to fuss over. I want to ask some others.”

  “Who?”

  I shrugged. “London, Bowie, and Nate. Norris is one of us even if younger, and I like Gary. I think Evan was going to ask Drake and Sam, but they could live at my place too. Rune, Gilroy, and Dimitri. The new dorms are nice, but they’re dorms, you know? Maybe it would be better to have nicer suites that aren’t a real commute. They’ve been talking about how spending time at Nero’s is nice, a family.”

  “Yeah, it’s been nice. Being a family with everyone sounds really nice.”

  4

  “I want to live with you,” London blurted from my right. “I don’t want to live with Ashton. My family would flip, and I want far away from council stuff after they tried to snag me. I’ll hide with my prince friend.” He came over and gave me an awkward hug. “Thanks.”

  “Are you going to ask Drake?” I teased him.

  He shrugged. “We’re still engaged, so nothing is assumed. I think Evan mentioned it to Drake in passing. He can do his own thing.”

  “It’s not like it will be far,” Wally agreed easily, not understanding what else was going on here.