Alexander & Rebecca (Royals of Valleria #1)

Chapter 15

Alex drummed his fingers on the dining table impatiently. Where was she? Rebecca should have been down to breakfast already.

His brows furrowed in concern, and not for the first time that morning. He wondered if he had been too rough with her last night, and if that was why she was late for breakfast. He had been as gentle as he could, at least the first time, but the second, well, that was another story.

He took another drink of coffee, now cold, before the cup clattered in its saucer as he put it down again. Cat was shifting her food around on her plate, her mind lost in her own thoughts. He still could not believe that she did not approve of Rebecca. They were practically like sisters already, or so he had thought. He was sure if he asked Rebecca, she would think the same way. Which led him to another dilemma: did he tell Rebecca what Cat thought? Or leave it be until Cat came around?

Another dilemma was work. Piles of it waited for him. Alex should be attending the morning briefing, currently underway, but his father was there today on his own. The only thing Alex wanted was an update on the status of the investigation; everything else would wait.

Alex had already spoken to Marcello and had an update on the partial fingerprint found on the bomb. They knew the identity of the person and discovered he lived in the Alps near the border shared by Valleria, France, and Italy. Marcello had left to speak with his security counterparts firsthand and coordinate the extraction of the suspect.

Alex could already feel the man's blood on his hands, for anyone who dared harm his Rebecca or his family would not live, and he intended to see his resolution through.

After another glance at his watch, he signaled for the nearest security agent and whispered his request. With a nod, the agent left to make a phone call, to ascertain Rebecca's location. Alex had already sent messages to her, to both her personal phone and the phone he had given her, to no avail.

He did not like it, he thought as doubt and fear crept in like a fog and chilled his bones; he did not like it one bit.

The agent came in a few minutes later and whispered to Alex, whose eyes blazed black in a calm face. Alex murmured his thanks as he stood and strode from the room without a word to Cat or a backwards glance.

Rebecca had gone straight to visit her parents this morning. What did that mean? Was she upset with him? In more pain than he had realized? Something must have happened, and he intended to find out what.

He strode through the palace, deftly reaching for his phone when it rang in case it was Rebecca. When he spied the caller as Tavin he sighed, but answered.

"Tavin, I've got an unexpected meeting this morning. I won't be in for some time yet."

"Of course, Your Highness," Tavin said smoothly, accustomed to last minute schedule changes. "Have you heard the news, Sir? I thought to warn you, in case you hadn't."

"What news? Another explosion?" Alex asked and quickened his pace.

"No, Sir, nothing like that. It's about you. Information has been leaked about you and a certain woman."

A ball of fury formed in his stomach, though his pace never slackened. "What information and what woman?" he ground out between clenched teeth. "Spit it out and fast."

"Yes, Sir," Tavin said, his voice trembling slightly. "It's about a romantic relationship between you and Rebecca. There's evidence in the form of text messages between the two of you."

The messages he'd sent to her unsecure phone. Damn it! Did someone steal her phone? This was not how he wanted Vallerians to learn of their future queen, particularly since she still was not sure about any of it, or him. There was nothing to be done now but to see if Rebecca was okay and spin the press.