The Valiant Read online

  "Is my brother dead?" I ask in a monotone voice, feeling like all the emotions have been sucked out of me.

  "No, he got nicked with a bullet and crashed the motorcycle, but he's fine. Where are you?"

  "I think I'm at the home of Marquis Dupree, somewhere outside of London. You'll find nine dead, the eight nuclear backpacks, and a map marked with eight European locations--none of which are Montrovia."

  "Huntley, are you okay?"

  "I'm not dead," is all I say before hanging up.

  I don't look at the carnage I'm leaving behind. I don't worry about things like fingerprints or DNA samples. The British government is free to let the world know that the illegitimate nineteen-year-old daughter of reclusive billionaire Ares Von Allister did their work for them.

  I'm not dead, I tell myself again.

  I move through the house, making my way to the garage when I find keys lined on hooks, including one marked as belonging to a Ferrari.

  Pretty fitting for Ares Von Allister's daughter.

  I arrive at the airport, find my plane, ditch the car, and stumble aboard. The small crew of two pilots and a steward greets me.

  I tell them to take off.

  We touch down in Montrovia three hours later, and I race to the docks, taking the tunnels into the palace.

  Me: The spotted dog needs his tail wagged.

  A few moments later, Lorenzo is in the tunnel, and I'm frantically pulling him to my lips.

  He runs his hands down my face like he can't believe I'm here.

  "They told me you were probably dead. I have been inconsolable," he says, holding me close and stroking my hair.

  "I didn't die," I repeat the mantra that's been running through my head from the moment I realized I didn't get shot. I didn't die.

  "What happened? Ari told me you were kidnapped--"

  "It's a long story, and I've tried to keep you out of this side of my life because it hasn't been pretty."

  "You must tell me."

  I shake my head. "You are all the pretty in my life, Lorenzo. Do you know that?"

  He sits on a bench in the tunnel. I quickly straddle him, deeply kissing him and arousing us both. Then we passionately and frantically consummate our love.

  After, he's holding me tight and kissing the side of my face. "I want to marry you, Lee."

  "I want to marry you, too," I say dreamily.

  He's practically aglow with happiness, but there is a devilish grin on his handsome face as he gets our clothes situated, and then he picks me up and carries me out of the tunnel.

  "Where are you taking me?" I laugh.

  But he doesn't reply. Just stops in front of the Royal Vault, presses his hand on the panel, allowing us entry, and sets me down inside.

  "Would you like to pick one?" he asks.

  I shake my head in disbelief.

  "Very well then," he says, taking my face in his hands and kissing me again. "Although I did not plan to consummate our love until after I proposed, you should know that I have been preparing for this moment for quite some time. That afternoon when we dined on my yacht, we were in the midst of the Grand Prix excitement, and the world was moving fast around us, but I only had eyes for you."

  He gently kisses me, retrieves something from a case, and then comes back to the center of the room, dropping to one knee in front of me.

  "This ring was worn by Montrovia's Queen Amalia Serafina Vallenta. She lived a long, rich life, and in her journals, she speaks of the love she shared with her king. Although, at that time, most marriages were arranged, her husband, Alberto, met her at a garden party and was smitten. They went on to have six children and loved each other dearly for sixty-three years before Alberto passed.

  "I've chosen to give you the ring he gave her because I want that for us. Insomuch as love grows in you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul. When I spoke those words to you, I didn't realize that your love would become the beauty of my soul.

  "Will you marry me, Lee?"

  When the world goes kaboom, keeps playing through my head on repeat.

  "What are you thinking, my sweet?" Lorenzo asks, standing up and taking me into his arms.

  Tears fall from my eyes. I close them, wishing I could forget the many things I'd seen and done since I left Blackwood. But, if I did, I'd have to forget the beautiful man standing in front of me.

  "My last two missions have been pretty rough on me, both physically and mentally. I was trained to do things a certain way. Specifically, to kill without emotion. But I've failed at that, Lorenzo. We didn't discuss it, but I can't marry you if you don't know everything."

  "Your brother told me not to ask you about it."

  "I was sold to a very bad man."

  "Sold?"

  "Yes, by Intrepid in disguise. The man, who we call the Moneyman, bought girls, used them sexually, and kept them in cages. My experience was nothing compared to the horrors those girls had been through. When I was there, one of the girls was killed. Men hurt her, Lorenzo. Badly. Then they threw her dead body in the trash. It upset me, and I took it out on the Moneyman."

  "Did you kill him?"

  "Tortured him actually. Not that it took much. He was quite weak. He brokered the deal between The Priest and whomever had hired him. He gave up the name of that man very quickly--Marquis Dupree."

  "I know that name," Lorenzo says.

  "Billionaire philanthropist who ran a pharmaceutical company. Although British intelligence has suspected him of criminal drug activity for years, they were never close to proving it.

  "The man who was my target for tonight runs an organized crime syndicate that traffics drugs and weapons and is suspected of handling the dirty side of Dupree's business. I was supposed to simply get the man alone and then steal his phone and computer.

  "Although we thought I was just crashing a simple birthday party, it was actually the exchange point. A team of eight gunmen came in and shot everyone, except for me and my target, who rabbited. The nuclear backpacks were sitting under the gift table. The men took them and me, assuming I was the target's girlfriend. They put a hood over my head, and I went willingly. I couldn't let them get away with the nukes.

  "We were involved in a high-speed chase with a motorcycle, which I was pretty sure was being driven by Ari. They were shooting at him and said they took him out. I thought he was dead. But I spoke to Intrepid and know that he's fine.

  "After that a police car chased us, and another car collided with us, but somehow, they escaped and went to Dupree's home. He shot most of his own men for screwing up, and then he had a gun to my head. There was nothing I could do." Tears fall as I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. "When he pulled the trigger, all I could think about was you."

  "He pulled the trigger?"

  "Yes, but at the last minute, he moved the gun and killed himself."

  "Huntley, my dear"--he tightly hugs me--"you must have been so afraid."

  "What I felt most was regret. I used to do all this for my mom. Then, it was for myself, but now, it's all for you. For your country. For our future. You're the dream that won't die, and I am very much in love with you, Lorenzo."

  "As I am with you, my darling, thus my proposal." He holds the ring up between us. "And you haven't given me an answer yet."

  "That's because I found this." I pull out the ring I took off Dupree's hand and show it to Lorenzo.

  "Where did you get that?" he asks. "I've seen a ring like that before."

  "Yes, me, too. The night of the Queen's Ball. Here. In this very room."

  Lorenzo leads me to the ring, still holding my hand. He lifts the glass case and takes it out.

  "What do you know about it?"

  "Just that it's very old," he says, "but let's find out for sure." He retrieves a small leather-bound ledger from underneath the case. "Each piece has its own record. This ring was first worn by Lorenzo the Magnificent, the first king of Montrovia." He flips a few pages and then says, "This is interesting. It show
s all the dates it's ever been worn. It appears to have been worn by every king since."

  He flips through pages and pages and pages, and when he gets to the last one, he says, "Except for my father. The last entry shows it being worn by my uncle Alessandro twice before he died."

  We both outwardly shiver.

  "That's exactly how I feel. And it's why I can't say yes to your amazing proposal even though marrying you and becoming your wife is something I greatly desire."

  "Why you?" he asks, looking defeated.

  "Why me what?"

  "Why do you have to be the one to save the world?"

  "Because, if I don't do it, who will?"

  "That's exactly my point. If our world is going to end, I want to die happily with you in my arms. Say you'll elope with me now. We'll go aboard the yacht, and once at sea, the captain will marry us."

  He puts the ring he tried to give me earlier on my finger. A ring with a rich history.

  And it looks beautiful.

  I wish I could tell the ring that its happiness will be wasted on me. But I want the fairy tale.

  "Yes, Lorenzo, to all of it."

  We're barely out of the vault when he texts the captain, telling him to rouse his crew. When he ends the call, we run hand-in-hand through the tunnels and down to the docks.

  "We'd like to set out for sea," Lorenzo tells the captain when we arrive on the boat.

  "This is highly unusual," the captain says. "Where is your security?"

  "We are going privately."

  As the crew maneuvers us out of the harbor, we sit on the deck, snuggled up together, sipping champagne.

  "I don't care about the past," Lorenzo says. "I don't care about the future. I only care about you and me, right here, right now." He phones the captain, asking him to report immediately to his stateroom. Lorenzo then stands up and holds out his hand to me.

  I shouldn't do this. I shouldn't have strings. I shouldn't let life interfere.

  But I take his hand and follow him anyway.

  Because it already has.

  When we get to the stateroom, Lorenzo closes all the blinds.

  There's a knock at the door. The captain peeks his head in and says, "What can I do for you, Your Highness?"

  "As captain of this ship, you took an oath to the vessel and to the monarchy as well as signed nondisclosure agreements; is that correct?" Lorenzo asks.

  "Yes, sir," he replies.

  "Good, because, no matter the events that take place, you are never to discuss them with anyone. Ever. Do I have your solemn oath?"

  The man nods. "Yes, of course."

  "We'd like you to marry us. Here. Now."

  The captain is unable to hide his surprise. "For a wedding to be legal in Montrovian waters, we'll need two witnesses."

  "We aren't concerned with the legalities, Captain," Lorenzo says, squeezing my hand. "This is just for us."

  "Very well," the captain says. "Take your places, and we will begin."

  He says a few words about the sanctimony of marriage, and when he gets to the vows, Lorenzo tells him that he'd like to say his own.

  He looks deeply in my eyes as he speaks, "Whatever our future holds, Lee, you must know that you, and only you, hold my heart. You give my life beauty and joy. You're like a song, the melody of you playing within every beat of my heart." When he starts to tear up, I do, too. "I will love you until the end of my days. That is my solemn vow to you."

  He gives me a kiss, which must take the captain by surprise because he goes, "Um ..."

  We ignore him, our eyes locked, our hands joined.

  "Lorenzo, you see my flaws as strengths. You love me without condition. You have made me feel as carefree as a cloud on an endless summer day. When I first met you, I thought you were easy on the eyes, but it turns out that you're easy on my heart. I promise you my love for all the days of my life."

  He takes my hand and kisses the engagement ring he put on it earlier.

  "I now pronounce you joined in marriage," the captain says. "You may--" He stops speaking because Lorenzo sweeps me into his arms, dipping me back for a dramatic kiss.

  The second the captain leaves, Lorenzo locks the door and pulls me onto the bed.

  What follows is a dizzying array of emotional and physical bliss--truly, the most incredible night of both our lives.

  MISSION:COMPLETE

  "I never knew love could be so exquisitely beautiful," Lorenzo says sweetly, gliding his hand across my cheek when we awaken late in the morning.

  I can see out one of the windows that we are back at the docks.

  "Does that hurt?"

  "It all stopped hurting the second your lips touched mine last night." I give him a long kiss, not wanting to move so that I can bask in the feel of his body tangled up with mine. "You're my Arcadia," I tell him. "My utopia. My perfect world--"

  I'm interrupted by a knock on the door.

  "I don't want to bother you, Your Highness, but you might want to turn on the news."

  "I really don't care what's happening in the world outside this boat," Lorenzo says.

  But my senses go on high alert, as I'm worried something bad could be happening this very moment, possibly in his own country, and I find myself reaching for the remote.

  Lorenzo rolls his eyes at me, grabs the remote, and then jumps on top of me, pinning me down. He gives me a naughty smirk and then lowers his head to kiss and tickle my sides, causing me to squeal in delight.

  "I say we stay in bed until our meeting with my mother this afternoon."

  "Sounds good to--" I'm cut off by the sound of another knock.

  "Are you planning to go ashore, or would you prefer to go back out to sea, Your Highness?" the captain asks from the hall.

  "What's going on?" Lorenzo yells out, clearly irritated by the interruption.

  "I'd suggest turning on the news, sir," he says again.

  This time, I hit the button, flipping on the local news.

  The announcer is brimming with excitement. "As you might have heard, in the aftermath of the tragic event at a London pub, we have incredibly good news coming from the palace this morning. It seems our king has made a big commitment."

  My mouth drops open, as I wonder how they already know.

  I turn to Lorenzo in question when the announcer continues, "The queen herself announced that her son is now engaged to none other than Lady Elizabeth Palomar. We've been promised a press conference with the happy couple later this afternoon. What do you think about this news, Sara?"

  "I think it's utter bullocks, Antonio," his female partner says. "What about Contessa Huntley Von Allister, whom the king bestowed knighthood upon after the kidnapping. They were recently seen together in London at the Queen's Cup, looking smitten. So, my question is, what about Huntley?"

  That is my question, too.

  "How could you?" I clutch my stomach and wish Dupree had shot me last night. It would have hurt less than this.

  "Lee--"

  "Don't ever call me that again." It suddenly dawns on me why Daniel was trying to warn me. "That's why Lizzie couldn't go to the Olympics, isn't it? Because this announcement has been planned." I take off the ring and chuck it at him, hitting him in the chest. If it had been a bullet, it'd have gone straight through his heart.

  "I swear on my life that I did not know. We must immediately go to my mother and tell her of our engagement," he says with conviction. But his body language is quite tentative.

  "That's why you were okay with it not being official last night. Isn't it?"

  "What? No. I wanted to have that moment for just the two of us. When we marry in the church, it will be a royal affair and televised around the world. Please, come with me."

  "No." I shake my head. "It's better this way," I say, already emotionally retreating. "You should do your press conference with Lizzie." I run my hand across my swollen cheek. "I think we both know a girl like me could never be your queen in real life."

  "You don't know what I
went through, thinking you were dead," he says.

  "And, now, I wish I were," I reply, pulling my clothes on. "Have fun with whatever starts in Montrovia, Lorenzo, because I won't be here to see it."

  EPI:LOGUE

  A group of men are gathered around a round table via virtual reality.

  The leader has yet to start the emergency meeting when one of the men at the table speaks out of turn, "What the hell happened? This is supposed to be a peaceful initiative."

  "Tell that to the millions who will die." The man to the left of the leader chuckles. He can't help it. The man is acting so self-righteous when he already agreed that the population must be controlled--with finality.

  The leader presses a button, muting everyone's communication abilities but his own.

  "You know our plan never included nuclear destruction." He presses the button again, allowing them to speak. "If you have further questions, we can discuss them, but I will not tolerate a lack of respect. That being said, we are working on handling the situation. We have assets on the ground at Dupree's estate."

  "And what are they telling you?"

  "Information is still sketchy, but from what we can gather, it was a business deal gone bad. The authorities are on the scene and have the place locked down, as one would expect when nuclear devices are at play."

  "Why did he even have them?"

  "In case we needed additional persuasion for any country that would not comply."

  "If we went nuclear, the destruction to our world would last for years. We'd have nowhere to live."

  "If you have not prepared in the method we have preached, that is on you. The rest of us will live happily in our vaults until Arcadia rises."

  "What about his ring?" a man in the group asks. "He has no heirs."

  "Our rings, many of which have been handed down for generations, are an honor to be bestowed--when the time is right. As always, we will do everything in our power to recover it."

  "Are we still on schedule?" another man asks. "Dupree played a big role in our plan."

  "Of course we are. His role was fulfilled before his demise. Once Montrovia falls, the world will fall," the leader says, signaling the end of the meeting by raising his cut-crystal glass filled with the rarest of all scotches into the air. "To Arcadia."