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Everything was too quiet outside the vehicle. Inside the vehicle, it was impossible to shut out Macey’s lilting voice, tinkling laugh, her fresh scent, her dark hair sliding over her toned arm, her beautiful fingers on the steering wheel, the smooth way she handled the car, and the thrill of acceleration around tight corners, made even more thrilling as it was Macey’s expertise creating it, her gaze meeting Ray’s in the rearview mirror.
The military base was in a mountain valley only ten minutes south of the castle. They were admitted through the gates, a couple of the men doing double takes at Macey driving the car and their general sitting in the back. Ray didn’t care, but he wished he could be sitting up front with her, holding her hand. Luckily, T didn’t take the liberty of doing so.
They parked the car and greeted Chad, who was waiting for them with a grin and immediately started teasing Macey. Ray remembered her saying Chad was ‘smooth, too-charming, with almost a villain accent’. He smiled, relieved she wasn’t interested in Chad.
Ray and Chad followed T and Macey through the facility, and T did hold her hand this time. Ray kept telling himself it was part of the farce, but it made his stomach churn and his fists clench.
T showed her the vehicle bay with tanks and armored vehicles, the hangar with planes and helicopters, the outdoor training grounds, shooting range, and obstacle course, the indoor training facility, the dining hall, the bunk rooms, and introduced her to people along the way. Everyone was friendly with her, and Ray could bet they were pulled in by her appeal just like he was.
They made it to the armory and then to Chad’s weapons room. Macey adorably rattled off not only the names of each gun but some fact about it. She looked so lit up and incredible, Ray knew he was sunk. He caught T watching him and had to hide his fascination with Macey. What was he going to do? He had to find who was leaving those stupid notes and who had killed his mum so they could be done with this fake engagement garbage and he could beg Macey to date him. Could he? It would cause a mess and his family didn’t need that. But oh, how he needed Macey.
After they left the weapons room and armory, they had lunch in the mess hall and more and more men gathered around their table as Chad teased Macey about guns or knives or swords and tested her knowledge. Every man there was drawn in by how smart and sweet and appealing she was. Ray had to constantly remind himself not to glower at her flock of admirers. These were his men. It would be bad form to knock their heads together for staring at his girl.
And she wasn’t his girl. He focused on his brother, laughing and teasing with Macey along with everybody else. T’s eyes shone with pride at how incredible his fiancée was. His brother must have decided if Ray wasn’t going to admit to his interest in Macey, he might as well enjoy his perfect fake fiancée. Jerk twin anyway.
Lunch finally ended, and they walked out to the training grounds. Chad wanted to take Macey on a helicopter ride, but T teased his friend mercilessly about how crazy he flew and convinced Macey she should let her lunch settle before she went up with him.
There were men shooting at the ranges, training on the obstacle course, and working on hand-to-hand combat in the outdoor fighting arena. It was really just a dirt circle. Inside they had a nicer area with a full gym, mats for fighting, and a ring for boxing, but when it was beautiful summer weather, everybody preferred to stay outside.
T had taken Macey’s hand in his again, and Ray needed to fight somebody. Right now.
“Anybody up for a challenge?” he asked, stepping forward.
The men started cheering. Ray loved to come to the facility and help train and improve his troops.
Macey’s gaze zeroed in on him, and he grew hot and cold all over. Suddenly it wasn’t just about blowing off some steam. He wanted to show her exactly how well he could fight.
Chad was grinning at him. “I’d fight you, but Tiny beat me this week. He might be a challenge for you.”
Was Chad being serious? He was a challenge for anybody, but Ray consistently beat him. Tiny was six-six, two-eighty, and none of it was fat. Last time Ray had worked with him, the kid had shown promise but didn’t have the confidence, skill, or speed to come close to beating Chad.
“I’d love a challenge,” Ray said.
The men whooped and somebody went to find Tiny. Ray slid off his shirt, grabbed some sparring gloves, then bounced and punched a bit to get warm while he waited. He caught Macey’s dark gaze on him. It was appreciative, warm, and made his stomach hop happily. Ray wished he could claim her lips after he won this fight, but he’d have to settle for impressing her like she’d impressed everyone here.
T was still by her side, but luckily had released her hand as he chatted with Chad.
A roar went up as Tiny strode toward the fighting arena.
“That’s Tiny?” he heard Macey gasp.
Tiny was bigger and more built than Ray remembered. He hadn’t been here near enough since his mum died and he’d focused on finding the murderer, and then the threats to T started and he’d focused on keeping his brother safe.
Had time slid by that quick? Had it been over six months since he’d seen the kid? He was probably six-seven and three hundred pounds now and he’d obviously been training diligently. In America, they’d have him playing their version of football. In Augustine, this man was destined for a military career.
Ray strutted out to meet him in the circle—shoulders back, head tilted confidently, muscles slightly flexed. So the kid had four inches and fifty pounds on him. Didn’t matter. Ray not only excelled at fighting and had the experience and the skills to win, but he would impress his girl, or rather T’s girl, or kill himself trying.
“General … Prince … Sir.” Tiny gave him a lopsided smile and lifted a gloved hand in an awkward salute. He couldn’t have been more than nineteen. “They said I’m supposed to thump you, but my papa taught me to be respectful of my elders, especially my general prince.”
Ray laughed. Tiny was a good kid. Ray expected a lot of his men and since his mum’s death he’d pushed them harder and been more formal around them. It was nice to relax a little bit.
“You can be respectful of my position and my experience,” he said, “but I’m giving you permission to give it everything you’ve got to ‘thump’ me.”
“Okay.” Tiny’s dark eyes lit up and he sprang at him.
Ray dodged, spun, and delivered a jab to Tiny’s upper back as he flew past. Tiny thumped onto his knees in the dirt. The cheers and taunting began. Ray knew his men wouldn’t dare taunt him, but they might cheer against him if Tiny got the upper hand.
Tiny leapt to his feet and roared. He didn’t attempt to leap at Ray this time, but he came in fists a-flying. The kid got in some decent upper cuts to his abdomen that took his breath away and a few roundhouses to his head that had Ray seeing black for a few beats. He was strong and knew how to place a punch. Ray stayed on his feet, dodging and deflecting eighty percent of the vicious hits Tiny hurled at him.
