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ChapterOne
Captain Mason Hensonstrode down the hall of the military training facility in the picturesque mountains of Augustine. Twelve days until Christmas. Less than two weeks to prove his family and friends wrong.
Curses! That wasn’t a lot of time.
He’d been mocked with the title of ‘Serial Dater’ by his older siblings. He loathed it, but of course he had to act unaffected. He was the youngest, the most hilarious, and the best-looking family member. As blessed as he was and as often as he teased everyone else, he had to take it as well as he gave it.
There was an underlying grain of truth to their taunts, though. He was twenty-nine and had rarely been on more than a few dates with any one woman. He’d dated a lot of incredible ladies; he’d simply never been intrigued enough to date someone exclusively.
That would all change this Christmas. He had date number three set up tonight with the beautiful and accomplished Dr. Miriam Cruz. A doctor. The mocking siblings would be silenced, and they’d be silenced with style.
His older brothers and sister were blissfully married and simply wanted that joy to happen in his life. Mason was on their same page, but it had to be the right one. They assumed he dated only for fun, but he would happily settle down with the right woman. Whether Miriam was that woman remained to be seen, but at least he could spend one holiday with his family without the mocking voices ringing in his ears.
His entire family would be shocked when he brought Miriam home for Christmas Eve dinner. He’d confided his plan to his closest friend Major Levi Favor. Levi, with his serious nature, had asked if Miriam made him a better man. Levi had been married for almost eight years now. It was easy to see that the sweet, vivacious, and talented Faith made him a better man.
Mason had scoffed and joked off the question. He hardly knew Miriam. They’d only been on two dates. He hadn’t kissed her, and he hadn’t even approached the idea of taking her home to meet the family yet. Levi had been concerned that Mason was only trying to get rid of his Serial Dater title and silence his siblings.
They weren’t unfounded worries, but Mason pushed them away. Miriam was a fabulous lady. He enjoyed being with her, and he had two whole weeks to pour on the charm and win her heart. Tonight’s plan of a Christmas concert at the Festival Hall of Hofburg in Vienna and a romantic dinner at the exclusive and crazily expensive Silvio Nickol would have Miriam begging to date him exclusively.
Mason smiled and rubbed his palms together in anticipation. No stress.
He stopped at Prince General Raymond August’s door, straightened his uniform, and knocked. The summons to meet with the general was unexpected. Everything was in order with Mason’s men. The kingdom of Augustine had never been safer, the Rindlesbachers were all dead, and it had been since years since that insane crew had attacked the royal family. Also, the general wasn’t much of a people person and never did random interviews or simply wanted to chat or check in.
Something was up. It had better not affect his concert and dinner plans—or his more comprehensive plan to secure a relationship with an ultra-impressive lady and get his family off his back this Christmas.
“Enter,” the general called out.
Mason pushed down on the handle and swung the door open. Marching in, he saluted and stood military straight. As a jokester and with a long history of protecting and respecting the royal family, Mason felt about as close to family with the August monarchs as anybody in the military.
Still, nobody messed around with General August. Except maybe his sweetheart of a wife Princess Macey, his two cute children, and of course the famed ‘Wild Child’ Princess Kiera. Mason almost smirked thinking of the fun-loving and adorable little princess. She’d arrived home from her university studies in America several days ago. He hadn’t seen her yet.
Mason had a different nickname than ‘Wild Child’ for Princess Kiera. He liked to call her the Fearless Little Princess. He hoped her time in America and traveling the world was going well. It had been a while since he’d seen her in person. A year and a half, maybe? It had definitely been in the summer months. Last Christmas, he’d been on an extended trip with his family in the Canary Islands. Crazy how time flew. It would be fun to tease her this year and see which new parkour or extreme sports tricks she had to show off to him.
“Close the door, Captain.” General August stood next to a large window looking out at the bright winter’s morn.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll get right to the point, Captain.” General August faced him.
“That’s good, sir. I don’t have two hours to spend on our usual aimless banter.” Mason managed to deliver the line with a straight face. Levi would be cringing and sweating if he was here, but Mason had a good feel for where the line was for joking around with each of the royal brothers.
The general studied Mason for a drawn-out moment, analyzing the jest. Maybe it was a bit too familiar. Then again, was that the tiniest uptick of one corner of his mouth? It was as much as Mason ever got from the other man. “Princess Kiera is home from America until after the new year.”
“And already scheming something that’s giving the king stress?”
The general did smile now. “I love my sister, but you know what she’s like.”
“I do, but unfortunately, I haven’t seen her much in the past few years, sir,” Mason said. Princess Kiera had been attending an American university or traveling the world since she graduated secondary school. As a captain, Mason had responsibilities in Augustine and had never been assigned to her overseas security detail.
“Her personality hasn’t changed much, but other facets …” The general blew out a heavy breath, looking as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
“Sir?” Mason felt his own eyebrows lift. The general was never jovial, but he was obviously put out. It was also common knowledge that he doted on Princess Kiera just like the rest of the family did.
What ‘other facets’ could be bothering him? Was Princess Kiera causing trouble for her security? He’d never heard anyone complain about guarding her, only regrets about being gone from Augustine for months on end. Maybe she’d found a nice American boy and was dating him exclusively? She was far too young for anything serious. What would she be now … twenty-one? He’d heard she’d brought a ‘friend’ to Augustine with her, but he’d assumed it was a female friend. A new boyfriend likely would upset the entire August family. They were ultra-protective of Princess Kiera.
Mason pitied the poor fool who ever tried to secure her hand. It would be comical to watch. If the general was involving him because Kiera was scheming something with her ‘boyfriend,’ he’d get a front-row seat to six overprotective princely brothers and one renowned king giving the brave fool a viciously hard time.
“Forgive me.” General August thumped his clenched fist against his leg. “Please sit.” He gestured to the chair in front of his huge cherry wood desk and then sat himself.
