Page 25 of Protecting his Secrets

Malachi stumbled with every step, but he managed to not fall flat on his face, but only because of Nick. When he sat on the bed, he let out an enormous sigh.

“Is this usual?” Nick asked. “Being so tired?”

Malachi nodded, barely able to keep his eyes open. “Always.” He listed to the side, and Nick helped him to lie down.

“Do you want to undress?” Nick mumbled.

“Nah… tomorrow,” he muttered.

Nick said something else, but Malachi faded away, only to be abruptly woken by his phone sometime later. His head was full of cotton wool and surrounded by a bubble, but he fumbled around in the area of the bedside table, only to find it empty. The obscene noise continued as he rolled to his other side and opened one eye to see if his phone was there. It was, and the brightness of the screen lit up the unfamiliar room. He lookedaround through squinted eyes, finally letting his brain catch up with the rest of him.

“Windsor,” he muttered through his dry lips. His phone stopped but started again almost immediately. “All right. All right.” He grabbed it and exhaled when he saw it was his mother. “Hello?”

“Malachi Edward Sanders! Where have you been? All I get is this notification that you’ve been taken to hospital with a peanut reaction, and I can’t get hold of you, the royal family, your boss, no one! I’ve been out of my mind worrying about what happened to you! I finally received a lovely message from someone called Nick, and he told me that you were okay but sleeping it off. Well, it’s ten o’clock the next morning, and I’ve still not heard from you!”

He waited a few seconds to see if she’d run out of air enough for him to talk, and when she didn’t continue, he said, “I’ve been sleeping, Mum. You know how this gets. I’m sorry I didn’t message you, but my brain was not working properly last night…or early this morning as it was.”

“Did they figure out what happened with the peanut thing? How did you end up ordering something with peanuts in it?”

Not wanting to worry her, he said nothing about what Nick had told him earlier that day. “I think I might’ve been given the wrong plate. They’re investigating it because, obviously, they don’t want it to happen again.”

“Damn right they don’t. They’re lucky we’re not suing them. They were so careless. It could’ve killed you, Malachi! If you hadn’t had your pen with you, it could’ve been a completely different story.” She finished on a sob, and he let her calm down a little while he dragged himself up to lean against the headboard, realising he was still fully dressed.

“I know, Mum. Things could’ve been much worse, but the royal family will investigate and get to the bottom of it. I promise you.”

She sniffed. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

He chuckled. “Oh, now you ask about me,” he teased. “I’m doing okay. Very tired, but no other lingering side effects.”

“Remember to keep hydrated today,” she said, and although he knew extremely well what he had to do, he also knew it was her way of looking out for him, even though he didn’t need it any longer.

“I will. I don’t think we have a huge amount planned today, anyway, so I can take regular breaks.” That wasn’t strictly true, but he wasn’t going to worry her any more than she already was.

“All right. Sorry to wake you.”

Malachi chuckled. “It’s okay. I needed to get up, anyway. Hydration, remember?”

Emily snorted inelegantly—something he got from her. “Ring me later?”

“Will do. Love you.”

“Love you, too, sweetheart.”

Malachi’s hand fell to his lap when the call ended, and he closed his eyes, wanting to fall straight back to sleep, but he needed to get himself up. Before he could contemplate moving, though, a knock sounded.

“Come in.”

Nick poked his head in the door. “I heard voices, so I assumed you were awake. How are you feeling?” He stepped in a little further but didn’t enter fully.

Malachi, glad he was dressed, though fully aware he probably stunk to high heaven, swung his legs out of bed. He didn’t try to stand up yet, not sure if his legs would fully support him, and he didn’t want to seem weak in front of that man again.

“Tired, but that’s to be expected. I’m sorry I slept so long. I know we had plans today. I’ll get ready and we can get going for the day.”

Nick waved him away. “It’s fine. His Majesty has said we can have the meeting whenever you feel up to it.”

“I’ll be fine once I’ve had a shower.”

“Okay, well, you do that, and I’ll get some breakfast…um, brunch organised.”

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