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Aleksey was genuinely intrigued about why La Luz had to be sold. Peyton, as yet, had been unable to find anything other than vague gossip surrounding this younger prince. Most of which, Aleksey reflected wryly, concerned indiscretions far less damaging than any that could be discovered about him. Both he and Peyton reckoned it had to be something really bad, but neither could imagine a world where this sort of information would not be readily available somewhere if you only knew where to dig. Aleksey put some of Squeezy’s more outrageous suggestions to the big man, and Peyton promised to keep trying.
His head slightly buzzing now, Aleksey stepped back through the door which led to their adjoining residence and found Ben still dressed in his jeans and T-shirt with his feet up on the table, surfing on his phone.
He knocked the feet off and sat down. ‘You are not ready.’
‘I thought you said I was the master of the patently bloody obvious.’
‘You are, but I can learn from a master too. Go change.’
‘No. I told you: I’m not coming.’
Aleksey sighed. ‘She won’t be there, Ben. It will be the lawyers only, I expect.’
‘Still not going.’
Aleksey leaned back studying the face he literally knew better than his own. ‘I was not going to tell you until we were there and you could not—’
‘What!’ Ben had shot to his feet and had a vice-like grip on his arm before he could process the move. ‘Tell me! What’s wrong?’
Ben must have seen the genuine astonishment on his face because he let him go and sank back into his seat, obviously trying to make this appear casual.
‘I was only going to say…webothhave to sign. We are going to be co-owners. It’sourisland, Ben. Yours and mine. I have not just been saying that to make you a little less spiky and annoying than you usually are.’
Ben leaned back. He blinked, obviously trying to process this. Aleksey asked quietly, ‘What did you think I was going to say?’
Ben made to get up, but Aleksey put a hand on his arm, the restraint now working the other way. ‘Tell me.’
Slumping slightly in defeat, Ben admitted, ‘I thought you were going to say that you were splitting assets, that you were…’
‘Leaving you?’Again.
Ben nodded.
‘Huh. You thought I was going to take you to Buckingham Palace formeto sign for an island I was only buying formyselfand that by not including your signature, but by having you actually there anyway, this was my way of telling you I was leaving you?’
Ben frowned. ‘Well that doesn’t make a lick of sense.’
‘That’s my line.’
Ben twitched his lip in amusement. Then his mouth dropped open.
Aleksey reckoned Ben had just clocked the location of the handover.
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Five
For all the years that Aleksey had been attending functions at the palace, he could still see the place from Ben’s point of view: through the eyes of someone to whom this place must seem otherworldly, not possible for ordinary life. He knew that Ben would assume they would drive straight up the Mall and enter through the front gates, driving imperiously under the balcony and on into the inner courtyard. He entirely agreed with Ben that this would be horrific, and was very content to use the usual family entrance at the back. Here, it was no more intimidating than arriving at Barton Combe had been towards the end: a quick police check, identifies confirmed and appointments checked. Once they were handed off to one of the liveried staff, it more resembled some of the exclusive hotels they occasionally stayed in.
Ben was glancing up at the windows above them, sure that they were being watched. Possibly by the queen. Well, if she was inspecting them, Aleksey reckoned they passed muster particularly well. They were both wearing handmade suits, shirts and shoes that seemed, even to him, to belong to another era—to the one he had only so recently been musing on: his projection to the world of a perfect man. Ben always resembled a GQ model to Aleksey’s mind (except perhaps when he returned from regimental dinners. And possibly at one or two other times…). But dressed like this, in this environment, Aleksey half-expected lights to start flashing and cameras to click.
They followed their guide down a stone-paved hallway under an arched ceiling. As with his and Phillipa’s house, the offices for the administration of staff and buildings were tucked out of sight at the back, allowing the gracious lines of the front elevations to assume an air of unconcern for such mundanities of existence.
The Family’s team of estate lawyers were still assembling in a small back conference room. He didn’t recognise any of them, which was odd, as he’d been part of many legalese meetings with this family in previous days, but he nodded at them amicably and sat down uninvited.
Someone had provided coffee in a steel jug along with some biscuits wrapped in plastic. Once more, Aleksey could sense Ben’s disappointment and relief in equal measure. He had obviously been anticipating laid tea and corgis. Aleksey had often enjoyed both, sitting quietly to one side of the room, watching, listening.
The last man to enter was new to him as well—he would have remembered this man. He did not look at all like a lawyer. Very tall, he ambled in, as if he were always the last to enter anywhere—as if nothing existed until he was there. Aleksey immediately recognised this trait in another man, for he knew it in himself.Nowhe viewed it as nothing more than amusing hubris, and still tried it on occasionally with people if he thought he could get away with it, but usually got an ear flick of annoyance for being tardy if he did. This man was something different from the norm. He examined the table of drinks, but took nothing, and then sat down, easing his suit jacket open and giving a slight hitch to his trouser fabric as he elegantly crossed his legs.
