Page 22 of Wicked Queen

“Would you prefer I didn’t?”

“Not about the household staff. You have more important things to focus on.”

“I looked over your security proposal. There’s only one thing missing.” Norris had drawn up a plan to minimize press interference when Sarah moved from Windmoor House to London. There was no way to avoid it completely, but my old friend had a knack for sneaking people in and out of buildings. It’d been a particularly useful skill when I was hiding my relationship with Clara. Now I wanted to see my sister safely home. Times had changed.

“What did I overlook?” He leaned over my desk, peering down at the memo I’d been reading minutes before.

“Me.”

“That will require more skill than I have.” Norris straightened, crossing his hands behind his back. “It will be impossible to sneak you out of London. The press are practically pitching tents at the exits.”

“I don’t care. She’s been up there, mostly alone, since she woke up. She should have someone in her family by her side when she returns home.” I’d stayed away—to protect her—as long as possible before the announcement. Visiting Windsor without official business would have caught the attention of the press. It was yet another thing I would have to apologize for. Sarah had been briefed on most of the major changes in her family’s lives. She knew our father was dead. She knew I had a wife and child. She knew Edward had married. But knowing and confronting were two entirely different experiences. She shouldn’t have to walk through the doors of her home by herself. It was still a lot to ask of Norris, so I thought it prudent to add, “Please.”

Norris sighed and I knew I’d won. “I will need to redraw this. It will likely take me another few days to get the necessary security procedures in place and plan the timing of it.”

He reached for the memo as the door to my office burst open. We both looked up, startled, before immediately moving into defensive positions. Norris stepped in front of me across the desk even as I rose to my feet, but the intruder was a friendly face—most of the time.

People rarely asked me about my time in Afghanistan. I’d taken a new role as King and that was all they saw. But even in a suit, Brex was a soldier. He still cropped his hair close to his head. The gun he carried in a holster was visible through his jacket. He never tried to hide who he was. It made him the perfect asset to my security team. That’s when I remembered that he shouldn’t be here.

“Why aren’t you at Windsor?” I barked. He’d been reassigned from Silverstone and my illegitimate brother to head of Sarah’s security detail. The move had raised a few eyebrows internally. Brex was a notorious ladies man, and Sarah? Well, Sarah hadn’t seen a man in ten years. I could only hope her taste still skewed towards boy bands and not ex-military. Regardless, I knew I could trust Brex. He would never betray me by making a move on my sister. Plus, his heart was already spoken for, even if the woman in question didn’t return his feelings.

“I’m not needed in Windsor,” he said testily.

“Like hell you aren’t.” I rounded my desk, halfway to the door before Brex called out.

“You might want to hear what I have to say before you go running off to her.”

“I don’t have time for this.” I whipped around to face him. “She shouldn’t be left alone.”

“Don’t worry. She’s got half the staff kneeling before her already,” Brex said dryly.

“What is that, five people?” I snapped. We kept a skeleton staff at Windsmoor. It was difficult to ascertain who could be trusted with such a delicate secret.

“I think your staff is a little bigger here.”

It took a moment for what he was saying to sink in, but when it did, my head fell back and I released a frustrated groan. “How could you?”

“Have you met your sister?”

My head swiveled to glare at him. “We haven’t spent much time together lately.”

“I don’t know what she was like before,” Brex said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, “but she’s more demanding than you are.”

“That hardly matters, since I’m your boss.”

Norris cleared his throat meaningfully. I turned my glare on him and realized I was in danger of losing another staff member—and I couldn’t afford to have Brex walk from this job.

It was a lost cause. I’d wondered what the Sarah who woke up would be like and here was my answer. The same. No, she wouldn’t be exactly the same. She would struggle with everything that had happened. But now? Why would she have changed? To her, she’d fallen asleep and woken up ten years later. From the sound of it, she was still the same bratty hellion I’d dragged out of the club that night.

“I just came to tell you that I delivered your precious sister safely and to ask for reassignment,” he tacked on.

“I’ll look into it. Who do you suggest? Georgia?” I called his bluff. We both knew Georgia would eat Sarah alive—if Sarah didn’t get her first.

“If you two are done with your pissing contest, might I make an observation?” Norris broke in.

“Oh, but Poor Boy and I are just getting started.” Brex’s laugh was always easy, much like the rest of him. He was already over our squabble. “We were just about to get out a yardstick.”

“I’m sorry to put a stop to that.” His mouth only twitched slightly before he looked to me. “But if Sarah is here, might it be prudent to warn your wife?”