Page 92 of Protecting his Secrets

Malachi exhaled. “That’s good. I would have hated being the reason he died, too.”

Nick grabbed his arm as he went to leave the room and swung him around to face him. He cupped his cheeks. “You are not the reason. If anyone was, it was me. But why are we beating ourselves up about somethingtheydid? It wastheirfault.Theycame after us.Theychose to hurt us. A man died because of choices we had to make, but iftheyhadn’t made those choices before us, we wouldn’t have had to make them.”

The words finally pierced his brain, and his shoulders lowered. “You’re right. It might take me a while to truly believe it, but I know you’re right.”

“Good. We have time to help you believe it.” Nick dropped a kiss on his lips. “Now, let’s get those toasties.” His stomach grumbled again.

“We might need a whole loaf of bread for the number of toasties you’ll need to fill that hole.”

“I can think of other holes that could be filled.” Nick waggled his eyebrows, and Malachi laughed. A real laugh he hadn’t thought he’d be able to do so soon.

Malachi kissed him, deepening it when the taste of Nick flooded his mouth. He wrapped his arms around his neck and took everything he could. Reminding himself of what he had. At least until Nick’s stomach complained again. He broke the kiss, laughing.

“Fine! I’ll feed you!” He pushed away and headed for the kitchen. Everything would be okay. It would. It just might take some adjustments on his part. Maybe he should talk to someone. A counsellor or someone. He just had to keep reminding himself that he was alive, Nick was alive, and the threat was gone.

And as they settled down to eat, he could almost believe it.

****

Chapter 29

Nick

Three days later, Nick was ready to sleep, but he still had more to do. They’d received no more threats, nothing else to assume someone was after them again, but he was still on edge. As was Malachi. He would be forever grateful that Timothy had offered to speak with him as he had done countless others before. It was potentially a conflict of interest, but neither he nor Malachi cared about that. Malachi just needed to get it off his chest and understand where he was with his emotions and thoughts.

And while all that had been happening, Nick had been adding the finishing touches to George’s party, and now it had finally arrived, he was worried it wasn’t good enough. All his parties were made with love from him, but they weren’t always suitable for everyone. And throwing a party for a prince was something he had never done before.

In the end, he went with his instincts, and when George entered the room, he threw his hands in the air with a shout and ran for the inflatable bouncy castle.

Timothy and Eddie laughed, the latter folded in two as tears slid down his cheeks.

“Oh, my god. You couldn’t have picked anything more suited. Nice work,” Timothy said.

Nick grinned. “You haven’t seen room number two yet.”

“I dread to think.”

“It’s amazing. I might do that for my own birthday.”

“Eddie! Come in! Quick! It’s awesome!”

Eddie laughed again and patted Nick on the shoulder. “Thank you.” He ran off in search of his husband.

Nick loved that even though they weren’t officially married—stupid laws that say more than one person couldn’t get married—they still referred to each other as husbands after their ceremony the previous year. And he couldn’t remember seeing them happier. That Nick had made George’s day was the best thanks he could ever have had.

Arms slid around his waist, and he glanced to the side. “I honestly thought you were going to run out of time, but you pulled it off,” Malachi said with a kiss on his cheek.

“I always keep my promises.”

“That you do,” Malachi murmured, and Nick shivered at the reminder of his words.

Over the past few days, they had spent many an hour reminding and reassuring each other that they were fine and they were still alive. There wasn’t a patch of skin that didn’t have Malachi’s touch tattooed on it, and more than once, Nick had wondered about getting a new literal tattoo. Enough that when he’d woken that morning, he’d bitten the bullet and contacted Life in Ink, a tattoo business that dealt with celebrities and rich people. It wasn’t that he wanted the fame of using them, but the knowledge theydidadhere to their NDAs was a plus in their column—and the fact that other royals had used them. He’d happily pay whatever their rates were to ensure he didn’t end up on the front page of the media and pull the royal family down with him. Plus, Malachi knew nothing about it. It would be a surprise.

He let George have his fun for an hour before he got his attention and brought him to a door leading off from the room they were in.

“One more surprise, Your Highness.” Nick waved towards the door.

George frowned at him and then headed for the door. When he opened it, several balloons floated out, and he chuckled. “It’s balloons,” he said, glancing back, unsure.

---