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She cups my cheek with her palm. “Then I wouldn’t have gotten my kiss.”
My mind travels to all the places I want to kiss her and all the places in this wing we haven’t christened when Cal emerges from the war room and gives me a signal.
“Hi, Ava,” he says.
She looks back and calls a greeting as he steps into the small library two doors down.
“I have to speak to him… about dinner.” I don’t want to worry her with our plans for tonight. I’ll let her know Vega is no longer a threat after I’ve dealt with him. “He has a previous engagement, and you know what that means…”
“Uncomfortable dinner?”
“It actually means nothing.” I kiss her cheek as she laughs. “See you in a few hours.”
She turns and backs down the hall a few steps before giving me a little wave and turning again, trotting off to the east wing where our suite is located. I step to the library to settle our plans with my brother and decide where we’ll rendezvous tonight.
Chapter 22
Ava
My heart is flying, and I do my best not to run all the way to our bedroom. I almost fainted when Rowan stepped out and caught me with André. As I suspected, the young guard never felt a thing when I lifted the small pistol out of his shoulder holster, but I almost dropped it when my husband nearly saw me slipping it into my clutch.
“Logan would never have let me get away with stealing his gun,” I say to myself as I walk through the open-air courtyard to the half-moon staircase leading straight to our chambers.
I giggle thinking of all the things I have lifted off Mr. Hunt—and returned! Cell phones, guns, keys… Now he hardly lets me around him.
Dark clouds linger on the horizon.
“If it doesn’t rain tonight, it will likely rain tomorrow.” The croaky, formal voice nearly makes me scream.
I take a step back. “Your majesty!”
“Are you out for a stroll around the grounds?” The queen mother has her hands behind her back, and she’s still wearing her lavender suit, sans hat.
“Yes… I mean, not really. I was just over speaking to Rowan.”
Her grey brow draws together. “You bother him while he’s at work?”
“No!” Cue the feelings of guilt. “I only wanted to be sure he knows you’re here. In case he might try and make plans for dinner.”
“Don’t you normally have dinner together as a family?”
I have to hand it to her, this woman knows how to make me feel awful about everything. “Of course, but with all that’s going on, I just… I wanted to be sure.”
She regards me a little longer, still not smiling. I’m not sure she ever smiles.
“Walk with me,” she says.
Taking a deep breath, I don’t look down at my clutch. I don’t want to draw her attention. The gun is too thick for my narrow bag, and if anyone looks closely, they’ll ask questions. Instead, I move it around behind my leg.
Our pace is slow, and I wonder how long she plans to keep me. “You seem very relaxed and refreshed since your spa visit,” I say in an attempt at conversation.
“I look exactly the same,” she shuts me down.
We take a few more steps, and I study the brick façade of the building. At night, with the lights shining on it, the center portion glows pink like something out of an aquarium. It’s a holdover from one of Rowan’s great grandfathers, who was obsessed with the sea. For whatever reason, no one has ever changed it.
At last the queen interrupts my reflections. “What you’re doing with those orphans is commendable.”
Her words catch me off guard. “Thank you, ma’am. I felt guilty when the council criticized Rowan for it.”
