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He mentally shook his head. That was purely physical, and he did not live his life subject to physical whims.
“Oh.” She touched her mouth again. Shehadto stop doing that. “Oh, I see.” Her dark eyes looked … rejected. Ray hated that. He wanted to show her she didn’t ‘see’ at all, that her kiss had flipped his focused world upside down, and that she wasn’t just another ‘beautiful woman.’ She was beautiful, but she was unique and special and should be his.
“I knew Prince Tristan had an identical twin,” she admitted. “But you pulling me to safety and then your arms around me …” She broke off, and it was a good thing she did. If she was feeling any of the feelings he was experiencing, and she admitted that to him … he’d be in more trouble than he already was.
“I’m to escort you back to my father, Sutton, and T. Sorry the little scamp pulled one of her tricks on you.” He absolutely adored Kiera, cautioned her to be careful constantly, and prayed she wouldn’t kill herself in one of her many ‘death-defying’ stunts. They hadn’t emotionally survived his mum’s loss, but each member of the family was dealing with it—or not dealing with it, as the case may be. Kiera dying would take the kingdom down. The only reassurance he had was his sister had been doing such tricks since she could walk, she was more adept at stunts than his twenty-six-year-old brother Derek, and Derek was a champion of theAmerican Ninja Warriorshow.
“I was horrified. I thought she’d dropped to her death.” She peered over the railing.
“We’ve all feared that many times.” He looked over the railing as well, but Kiera was gone, probably headed to the kitchens where their cook, Grace, would spoil her with treats until her nanny found her. Nobody could resist her.
Ray turned, gestured, and started walking. Thankfully, she fell in step so he didn’t need to take her elbow, her hand, or wrap his arm around that trim waist of hers and haul her close, maybe take one more sample of her lips before he turned her over to Tristan.
He had never been jealous of his twin’s future as king and all the attention Tristan received. Ray loved his own role and place in life … until now. Instead of being the one with Macey on his arm, sharing kisses for the fake engagement role, Ray would have the privilege of watching the façade, working with her, and using every ounce of self-control to keep his hands off of her.
“King Nolan cautioned her to be safe,” Macey said. “I thought it was simply an overprotective, fatherly comment, especially after losing his wife … Sorry.” She glanced sidelong at him and pushed her fingers against the bridge of her nose before pulling them away quickly. It was an odd move, as if she had glasses on.
They exited the solarium and walked down the hall.
“Please don’t apologize.” He tried to smile, but it was tight. “We’ll be working together; we’ll have to tackle the hard issues.” Fighting his attraction to his twin’s fiancée felt like a ‘hard issue’ currently. “I appreciate any insight you can provide with your brilliance and computer skills to help me find Mum’s murderer.”
Ray’s brain cleared slightly. This was familiar. He could focus on his job and finding the murderer who’d taken his beloved mother from them. If this beauty could truly help him, he would be grateful she was here, no matter the struggle to not touch her again.
You would do anything to protect this family, protect this kingdom. I know we’re safe with you around.
His mum had said those words to him days before she’d died, and he’d failed to protect her. He couldn’t fail his family again. His instant attraction to his brother’s fake fiancé needed to be reined in.
“From the information you sent to Sutton and me, there was no sign of poison, drugs, medications that could cause confusion or depression, or alcohol in her blood tests?”
“Nothing,” Ray confirmed as they started down the winding staircase, her heels tapping on each granite step. She was average height, but the heels brought her within four or five inches of his six-two—perfect for kissing.Focus, he demanded himself. “Jensen, our head of police, sent the samples to Eurofins Scientific for a more comprehensive scan than our labs could perform. Everything checked out.”
Her arm brushed his, and Ray felt warmth from the simple movement. He was going insane and making far too much of a connection simply because of one impulsive kiss. It was a lot more than that—best kiss of his life.
Stop, he commanded his wayward thoughts.
“Your mom never showed suicidal tendencies?” she asked.
The question pierced right to the core. No way was it suicide. No possible way. His bright light of a mother, charity and selflessness personified. But what if she’d been so busy doing for everyone else in her family, her castle, her country, that she’d forgotten to take care of herself and imploded? What if she’d hidden an emotional disorder because the queen was expected to be perfect in all ways?
“No,” he snarled, his spine prickling and his fists clenching. He tried to soften his response. “Even if she’d wanted to hurt herself, she couldn’t have broken a hole in the ice and drowned herself without a drill.”
Ray would be forever grateful to Jensen for responding to the call from a frantic ice fisherman. If he had seen his mum’s body…. He blew out a breath and tried to shake off the images his mind created on its own.
Macey said nothing, but it wasn’t a judgmental silence, simply a contemplative one. “No notes, cell phone conversations, no way to trace who might have lured her out there?”
“Nothing.” Ray had sent all of this to her and Sutton, but he understood the need to review and brainstorm.
“Anybody who had threatened her or had reason to hurt her?”
“The only person more well-loved than my mum in this kingdom is Kiera.”
“Outside enemies? Other countries?”
“We haven’t been at war since the end of World War II. Our army and my guards are the best-trained fighters in the world.” He said this with pride and certainty. Each of his men and women were hand-picked and hand-trained. “But we’re smart enough to realize we don’t have the manpower or weaponry to go against most militaries, so we work very hard at diplomacy and international relations.” His army trained, protected the royal family and their borders, and helped the police when needed.
“That is smart … Raymond?”
“Please, call me Ray.” He shouldn’t have requested that. Too personal. Most people called him General except his close friends and family.
