“My office in ten minutes or there will be hell to pay.” With that Hawkins slung his black greatcoat over his shoulders like a cape and exited the locker room.
“What the fuck?” Simon asked, retrieving his own coat from the ground next to the bench.
“I’m so dead.” Sitting down on the bench, Payton dropped his head into his trembling hands.
Payton’s hands were still trembling when he reached Nate’s office. He stopped at the door and looked up at Simon. A lump formed in the pit of his stomach. Galaxy, his throat was dry.
Reaching up, Simon touched his cheek. “The IN has no rules about soldiers fraternizing off duty, whether they are on base, a ship or whatever. We’ll tell him what’s going on and once he realizes we’re working together, it’ll be okay. He might still be mad at you for not reporting to him, but—” Si shrugged. “Unless there’s something else going on you aren’t telling me about.”
Oh dust.
Simon still thought he was an IN lieutenant. He’d meant to tell the truth, but he’d gotten so caught up in the investigation he’d forgotten. He leaned into Simon’s hand and closed his eyes. “I’m not—”
“Payton!” Nate bellowed through the door. “Get your arse in here.”
Simon smiled. “Stop worrying. It will work out.”
Swallowing back a protest, Payton grabbed the doorknob. “Let me do the talking, okay?”
“Now,” Nate yelled again.
Taking a deep breath that shuddered when it came out, Payton opened the door.
Maybe he should have called Aiden first and had him talk to his consort. No, Payton was not going to cower behind his brother, he’d face this. He walked into the office and waited for Simon to shut the door and follow. This confrontation would make Payton’s 166
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leaving easier. Now that their relationship was out in the open, he could tell Nate they’d been working together and that Simon was in the same boat they were in with the IN.
The door snicked shut and Simon’s hand landed on the small of his back.
Nate stared at Simon’s hand. “Sit. Both of you.”
They took a seat and Simon started right off. “Admiral, you’re overreact—”
Nate stood, slamming his hands onto the desk. “No, Colonel, I am not. If I remember correctly you are still an IN officer and under my command, are you not?”
His jaw hardening, Simon dipped his head in acknowledgment.
“Then I suggest you shut your face.” He looked at Payton and pointed. “What in the bloody hell do you think you’re doing? I told you not to get close to him. You are in my charge. Your parents are going to have my head over this. I-am-responsible-for-you.” His voice climbed with each word. “What have you got to say for yourself?”
Simon bristled beside him, and Payton felt like smiling until he realized Si’s reaction would likely be different if he knew. Maybe, just maybe, he could keep Si from finding out. The best defense was an offense.
Payton sat up straighter and patted Simon’s thigh. “This is my fault. He has nothing to do with it. I honestly didn’t know who he was when I first met him.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Nate’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “You have compromised yourself. I let you go unchaperoned and what do you do? You find the one goddamned gay guy on the entire fucking planet besides the two of us.”
Payton snorted. “I’m pretty sure we aren’t the only ones on—”
Nate’s fist smashed down on the desk. “Payton!”
Fury slammed into him, overriding his fear and good sense. He’d had enough. He was not going to sit here and be chastised like a child in front of Simon. Jumping up, planting his own hands on the oak desk, Payton stared up at his brother-in-law. “I wanted to. All right? I met him and couldn’t help myself. It’s the first time I’ve ever been tempted to actually do something like this. I fell for him and I don’t care what anyone else thinks. It’s my business and my business alone.”
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Simon stood, his voice calm. “That’s enough.”
“No, that is not enough.” Nate turned on him. “Do you have any idea who
he
”—he jabbed his finger in Payton’s direction—“is, Colonel?”
“No!”
No please don’t.
Payton rambled on trying to get everything out, hoping it would make a difference. “Nate, it doesn’t matter. This isn’t his fault. The important thing is what I’ve learned about our common problem. We are all on the same side. The two of you need to talk about the IN situation, not this”—he gestured to he and Simon—
“this is stupid and insignificant. After I leave here no one but you, Si and me will know.
The important thing is that our planets can help one anot—”
It didn’t make a difference. Ignoring him, Nate looked directly at Simon. “He is second in line to the throne of Regelence.”
Actually, he was third, after his sire and older brother Rexley, but Payton suspected correcting his brother-in-law at the moment would not help matters any. Payton’s anger evaporated and he sank back into his chair.
“What?” Simon turned to him, a look of shock on his face. “Payton?”
Payton leaned back, closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands.
Please,
make this all go away.
“
Prince
Payton Townsend,” Nate corrected. “King Steven’s second child and my consort’s older brother. Are you familiar with Regelence’s customs, Your Majesty? Did your spy tell you about unmarried lords and how they are off limits?”
Dust, dust, dust.
Payton blinked away tears, trailed his hands down his face and ventured a glance at Simon.
His complexion was nearly as red as his hair. Without taking his eyes off Payton, Simon answered Nate. “Yes, Admiral, I am familiar with Regelence customs and as such I will marry him to save his reputation.”
“What?”
Since when? When did Simon learn that?
He sure hadn’t told Payton he knew it. Then the second part of what he said sank in and Payton jumped up, already shaking his head. Simon had lost his mind. “No! No you can’t.” He looked at Nate.
“Nate, this is a mistake. No one will know. You won’t tell. I won’t tell. And he”—he 168
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pointed at Simon—“he
can’t
tell. His people will go against him.”
Oh Galaxy, my chest
hurts.
Payton clutched a hand over his heart.
Dismissing Payton, Nate looked down at the vid screen and began talking to someone, but Payton had no idea who. It was like he was in a well. He couldn’t breathe.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. Nate’s voice filled the room, but Payton had no idea what he said.
Simon touched his shoulder. “Breathe, Pay.”
Nate finally looked up. “I’ve called Brittani and told her we’re on our way. You’ll be married on the Lady Anna.”
There was a string hanging on the curtains covering the lift window. Payton yanked it, intending to pull it off, but instead it unraveled.
Kind of like my life.
Payton let go and leaned his head back on the leather bench, studying the roof. He was a married man. A consort to a very angry man whose planet would not approve of their relationship. For all Payton knew, their marriage would not even be recognized by the laws of Englor, much less the citizens.
Guess I need to get a copy of Englor’s Constitution or Parliamentary
Sovereignty or whatever it’s called.
He wondered if Englor was a constitutional monarchy like Regelence, or if it was an absolute monarchy? He suspected the former.
The anger at being caught and having to reconcile the situation had passed. Now he was numb. He wanted to be something, anything—mad, scared, confused, something—
but his brain had apparently shut down all emotion for the moment.
Nate had spoken to him on the way to the Lady Anna, telling him it was the right thing to do. And for some reason, Payton couldn’t help but think Nate was acting more surprised than he was. He hadn’t seemed all that angry after Simon agreed to the wedding. Could he have known? Why was he at the gym, anyway? He hadn’t gone before. Nah, Nate would have said something sooner.
Payton rubbed his forehead. His chest pain had turned into a gigantic headache. He felt guilty. He felt like he’d trapped Simon into marriage. The man had more or less www.samhainpublishing.com 169
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asked him to be his paramour. He’d planned to marry Her Grace the Duchess of Kentwood and relegate Payton to dirty little secret.
He winced, feeling a jolt of embarrassment. It was what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? To be wanted for himself and not because he was a prince? Then why did it make him feel…dirty? His shoulders slumped. It didn’t matter now. It was a moot point. He was Simon’s spouse, not his paramour. He’d tried to let Simon off the hook, but Simon had been determined to do the honorable thing.
“You lied.”
Oh, we’re talking now.
Payton straightened and glanced across the lift. Simon hadn’t spoken to him in over an hour, not since gritting out his wedding vows through clenched teeth.
“This is why you were so anxious to keep Hawkins from finding out we were working together. This is why you ran the other night at the dinner.” Si sat with his ankle propped on his opposite knee, lounging back in the seat with his arms spread out along the backrest. His head was turned with his attention out the window rather than on Payton. The heavy coat made his shoulders look impossibly wide and masculine. There was even stubble on his cheeks. It was as red as the hair on his head and would probably be missed in daylight, but in the lamplight of the lift there was a nice shadow covering the lower part of his face. He appeared withdrawn, untouchable, yet there was a firmness to his jaw line that wasn’t normally there. He was angry. “I trusted you.”
Guilt swamped Payton, but he brushed it away. He wasn’t mad at Simon, exactly, but he couldn’t help feeling…trapped? He’d said he didn’t want a consort and Simon had ignored him. “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you everything.”
“Why did he bring you?” Simon’s voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
Payton rested his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes. There was really no point in lying. They
were
on the same side. “Because I’m good with computers.”
There was a rustle from across the coach.
Payton cracked an eye open to find Simon studying him, a frown on his face.
“You’ve been hacking into computers?”
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“Yes.” Payton closed his eye again. Should he tell Si about the message he was trying to crack?
“My computer on base?”
“No, Nate wouldn’t let me break into your office.”
Simon growled. “Not only have you lied to me, but now you’re patronizing me?”
Galaxy, I can’t win for losing.
Payton sat up again, a feeling of indignation swamping him. “I am not patronizing you.” Simon acted like Payton was the only one who’d lied through avoidance. He sure as hell hadn’t told Payton about Drucilla Blake.
Oh galaxy, had he already asked Dru to marry him?
Leaning forward, Simon clenched and unclenched his fists. “Don’t—”
The lift stopped. “Your Majesty, we are at Hollister House as you requested.”
Payton didn’t wait for Simon. He was in no mood to deal with this at the moment.
Standing, he moved to the door. “Door open, steps down.”
The lift door slid up into the frame with a swish sound and the steps descended. He alighted and walked up the porch to the townhouse. There were two royal guards on either side of the door. They moved to stop him, but paused upon catching sight of Si.
One of them rapped on the door and it opened.
Payton nodded his thanks and continued into the house. He needed sleep. He could think better after a good night’s sleep.
“Payton. Don’t walk away from me, I’m talking to you.” Simon’s footsteps echoed behind Payton.
Dunston greeted them but before Payton could acknowledge the butler, Simon grabbed his arm and spun him around. “I think you’re forgetting something.” His grin was downright evil, sending a shiver down Payton’s spine. “By Regelence law, I’m your legal guardian until you’re twenty-five.”
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Simon stared down at his half-eaten breakfast. What he’d eaten felt like a brick in his stomach. Taking one last drink of juice, he pushed away from the table and left the breakfast room. He had a meeting with his advisors in ten minutes and what he really wanted to do was talk to Payton. Maybe he’d gone too far with the guardian remark.
When he’d gone up to bed last night, he’d found Payton curled up in his bed sound asleep—or doing a great job of pretending. They hadn’t spoken at all and Payton was still in bed this morning. “Dunston, is Payton awake?”
“No, Colonel. At least it doesn’t sound as if he is. Shall I call out to him?”
“No. Let him sleep. When he wakes send up some breakfast.”
“Yes, Colonel.”
Wandering down the hall, Simon made his way to his office. He had no idea why he’d said what he did. Revenge maybe? Pay’s refusal to marry him had rankled. Simon had gotten the feeling that he’d only gone through with it because of something the admiral had said to him in the transport pod on the way to the Lady Anna. After that Payton had ceased to argue.
And Simon knew Payton well enough to guess the guardian comment would make him mad. It hadn’t had quite the affect he’d envisioned though. Instead of starting a fight, Payton had turned so pale Simon had feared he was going to pass out. Then he’d walked away without so much as a retaliatory remark, disappearing into the depths of Hollister House. Simon had drunk himself into a stupor. Sometime after oh five hundred hours, he’d dragged himself up to bed. He’d been surprised to find Payton there in his room rather than another room, given their last exchange.
“Dunston, when Payton wakes you may admit him wherever he wishes to go. He’s my—” What the hell was he? Same-sex marriages weren’t illegal on Englor, but they 172