Page 7 of Protecting his Secrets

By Malachi Sanders

We’ve had this discussion before, but nothing shows as being incapable as messing up an official meeting with the heads of several countries in attendance. But leave it to Prince Frederick to do so.

Once again, the heir to the throne has shown how much he still has to learn before he can follow in his father’s footsteps. Not that the king is doing a much better job, but at least, he’s learnt some tact.

Nick growled at the article, ready to shake the reporter until his thoughts rattled around in his head and created some sense rather than the bumble of craziness he vomited onto the pages of his column.

“Stand down, Nick,” Brett said.

“He’s…infuriating!”

“He is, but he’s not the only one. We have eyes on the ones we think have the potential to deteriorate and cause problems, including Malachi, but we don’t have concerns with them yet.”

Nick sighed. “It’s not right.”

“That’s the freedom of speech for you. Regardless of whether it makes sense or is true, anyone has the right to say anything,” Felix added.

“Isn’t there any way of stopping him from attending this evening?”

Brett shook his head before Nick had even finished talking. “No. We’re not going to single him out when everything has been confirmed. That’s the perfect way to bring about chaos.”

“We’ll need to keep a closer eye on him, and those others, whenever they’re near the king and princes.”

Brett nodded. “That we will do. Okay, let’s continue the topic around to tonight’s dinner event,” Brett said. “To confirm, we have King Andrew, Prince Consorts Kean and Kendal, Princes George, Timothy, Eddie, Christian, Oscar, Patrick and Kieren in attendance. There will also be CEOs of several companies, members of Parliament and other high-ranking officials, including some military higher-ups. On top of that are the reporters, including Nick’s favourite. There will be ten of those in attendance.”

“This is going to be a shit show,” Landon muttered.

“Hopefully not,” Brett deadpanned. “We will have all the exits guarded by people we trust, and the king will have his usual guards surrounding him, as will the princes. I’m working with the military personnel to confirm which of their guards they are bringing so we have a complete attendance list to go by. I will be working behind the scenes this time, while Locke guards Christian in my stead. We have extra security attending also; you will receive photo confirmation of these people before the evening begins.”

The meeting continued, but the frustration built inside Nick. He was an easygoing guy most of the time, but when someone hurt the people close to him, that could change in an instant. It was hard to find the humour most people expected from him in times like those.

“Okay. Get to work, and we’ll reconvene at five o’clock this afternoon,” Brett said.

Nick took one last look at the headline and shook his head, leaving Sec HQ for his post at the king’s office. He was due to swap with Colt and would work for a couple of hours before getting some rest before the event that night. It wasn’t supposed to be a long evening, but it would be a stressful one. They always were. He was good at hiding it, though.

The journey to the event was a short one, with it only being at the Fairmont Hotel on the outskirts of Windsor. It had five-star reviews and cost upwards of seven hundred pounds a night. The event room was a logistical nightmare with far too many windows, exits and entrances for anyone’s peace of mind. But they made it work. Brett and Felix had worked with the event coordinators to reduce the risk as much as possible, but that didn’t mean it was completely gone. As with anything, there were areas they couldn’t cover, no matter how much they tried.

Nick, Dominic, Viola and Landon climbed from the cars, studying their surroundings before Dominic gave the nod for the king to get out of the car. Kean and Kendal had arrived in a separate car a few minutes prior, and the princes around half an hour before. Staggering arrivals worked better than having everyone arrive at the same time. Far too many targets all at once when that happened. It was unavoidable sometimes, but they tried to stagger them whenever they could.

Entering the hotel, Nick barely saw the decorative embellishments of the place, concentrating as he was on whether there were any threats, but he’d already studied everything about the place he could. He’d memorised where every possible exit was, every hiding place, every nook and cranny of the place to ensure he could get the king out if something happened. He refused to allow the previous unnecessary deaths to happen again.

“London has entered the building,” Dominic said into the radio.

“Roger that,” Brett replied from his stakeout in the security room of the hotel. They had cameras at every possible angle, some they had placed specifically for this event to avoid any blind spots. “Oxford, Cardiff and York are mingling in the hall.”

Having pseudonyms for the royal family only worked when people didn’t know who they were talking about, and most of the world had figured it out by now, but they still used them for the major players. Habit, probably, more than anything else.

As Andrew entered the hall, the charity organisers stepped forward to shake his hand. They spoke for a few minutes before one organiser, Adele, gestured for them to move further into the event. That was the time it became more difficult to keep control of the situation. When people congregated around them to meet with the king, they became obstacles between them, but with years of practice, they worked as a team to ensure Andrew was safe.

As the guests settled into their seats for the dinner part of the evening, Nick relaxed a little, at ease against the wall between the king and the reporters, funnily enough.

“I’m sure you did this on purpose,” Nick muttered into the radio as his gaze rolled over the man who sent the recently banked embers of frustration back into an inferno.

“I thought you might prefer having him in your sight. That way, you can keep an eye on him,” Brett replied.

“Hmm,” was all he said in response.

He couldn’t keep his gaze from drifting to Malachi, checking he wasn’t misbehaving, but he seemed to be enjoying the meal set before him, laughing and chatting with those seated at the table with him.

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