Page 44 of Protecting his Secrets

Malachi’s smile lit a fire in Nick’s stomach, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss it off his face, but he remembered where they were.

“I might’ve had something to say about it if she’d scared you off.”

“Not a chance.”

“Right, settle in, everyone,” Emily said, and they all took seats.

The dining table was well worn and seated eight people, which he assumed was needed with how many siblings Malachi had. Thinking that, Nick counted how many there would be if they were all together—fourteen if he didn’t include his cousins who regularly came to visit.

He expected a lot more questions during dinner, but the conversation remained easy and non-confrontational. It was a lot like his own family—and he felt the sme peace during the meal that he felt at his parents’ house. He offered to clean away, but Emily waved him away. He settled onto the sofa beside Malachi, but when he gave an immediate yawn, Nick decided he’d bothered them enough for one night. He sent a message to Brett, asking for someone to guard the house while he was gone.

“I’m going to head off. Are you sure there is nothing I can do to help before I leave?” he asked Malachi.

Malachi squeezed his hand. “No, I’m good. I’ve got stuff here I can use until Mum goes to my house tomorrow.”

“I’d be happy to do that if it helps, but I’m sure you won’t want me in your space alone.”

Smiling, Malachi said, “I have no problem with you being in my space alone, but you’ve done enough already. Get some rest.”

No chance of that. He was going straight to Windsor to figure out what the hell was going on. “I will. You make sure you do, too. Though I know you’re in good hands.” He smiled at Sally, and then at Emily when she entered the room. “Thank you so much for having me and for dinner. It was delicious.”

“You’re welcome.” Emily sat and crossed her legs.

“There is going to be a guard outside the house overnight and potentially for a few days until we figure out what’s going on. They will go wherever Malachi goes. You don’t need to worry about them, though.” He slid to the front of the sofa and faced Malachi. “I’ll check in tomorrow, okay?”

Malachi nodded slowly. “I look forward to it.”

Nick licked his lips but glanced at Malachi’s family. Then he decided, to hell with it. He leaned forward and softly brushed his lips over Malachi’s.

“Goodnight, Kai.”

“Goodnight.”

He bid goodbye to Sally and Emily, noticing the small smiles they both wore and hoping it meant they were okay with him. Only time would tell. But no one would be happy unless they figured out what—or rather, who—was plaguing Malachi.

The drive to the castle was quick, and he headed straight for Sec HQ. Even though it was getting late, guards were still milling around, finishing shifts, starting shifts, working on whatever tasks they had, and as expected, Brett sat at the front, immersed in whatever paperwork had a frown on his face.

“Bad news?” he asked when he approached.

Brett glanced up briefly. “It’s not bad as such, but it’s not great either. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve just left Malachi, as you know, but I wanted to start gathering information. Has anything new turned up?”

Brett glared at him. “Do you think you wouldn’t know if something had?”

Nick held up his hands and backed up a step. “Sorry. I’ll leave you to do your thing.” He turned away, Brett sighing heavily behind him.

“No, sorry. Fuck it all.” Brett sighed again and leaned back in his chair, the ever-present squeak a comforting sound amongst the stresses they were dealing with. “We’ve found nothing about who it could’ve been. Everything seems to check out. Felix is still working his magic, so he might find something, but so far, everything is horse shit, worthy of the stables at Sandringham.”

Nick rested his ass against a table and crossed his arms. “I still don’t know how he could’ve escaped so cleanly. There are far too many cameras covering every possible area.”

“And that’s why I’m so pissed off.” He sighed, and Nick started worrying about his lungs. Surely sighing so much wasn’t good for someone. “We’re missing something. What did you find out about his family?”

Nick had been a little peeved—to put it politely—when Brett insisted he check out Malachi’s family while he was there. The last thing he wanted to do was spy on his boyfriend’s family on his first visit, but he didn’t do much. “I didn’t do any snooping.” He held up his hand. “No chance,” he said, stopping Brett’s words. “His mother and grandmother are on the up and up. I didn’t get to meet any siblings.”

“Father?”

“Deadbeat. That much I do know. It’s something I knew about him when I first started looking into him…” He trailed off, realising just how much he’d given away with those words, but Brett just smirked.

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