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Alec wasn’t convinced. “That’s not good enough, sir,” he said, automatically using the more formal designation rather than the king’s given name. The king raised his chin and his eyes narrowed, as if he was being accused of lying. “I’m sorry, sir. That explanation might be true, but it doesn’t cover something of this magnitude. You’d be signing away treaty rights indefinitely. And I need to know why.” He hurried to add, “You must know if I accept this offer, I couldn’t owe you anything for it. I couldn’t accept it under those conditions. My loyalty can’t be bought, and it can’t be divided.”
The smile that had disappeared from the king’s face when Alec told him his explanation wasn’t good enough returned. “Loyalty that can be bought is worth no more than a wife who can be bought,” he said in a soft, meaningful voice. “No, Alec, I am not trying to buy your loyalty. I am merely trying to repay my debt. Oh, not to you,” he clarified when Alec started to speak. “To Lieutenant Mateja.”
Alec wasn’t surprised the king knew about their relationship, given what Captain Zale had told him regarding Zakhar’s secret intelligence service. But he was surprised the king knew the depth of their attachment. “How did you—” he began, but then stopped short.
“How did I know?” The king picked up a letter from the center of his desk and handed it to Alec. “Because of this.”
Alec skimmed the few sentences, then shook his head in disbelief and began reading it again. Then read it a third time, his thoughts in turmoil.
“Lieutenant Mateja resigned her commission yesterday,” the king told him. “I take it you were unaware she intended to do so?”
Alec shook his head, still in shock. “I had no idea.” His Angel had resigned her commission for him. He hadn’t asked her, couldn’t have brought himself to ask her. But she’d done it anyway. Because she loved him enough to sacrifice everything for him. Because she understood—really understood—the sacrifice of his own happiness he was willing to make to be a force for good in the world.
“She gave that letter to her captain, who turned it over to Colonel Marianescu,” the king continued. “My cousin called her in to discuss it at length, and pried the full story out of her. Then he came to see me.”
“I don’t under—”
“I owe Lieutenant Mateja a debt that can never be repaid with money,” the king explained. “And not with honors, a promotion or anything of that nature. She saved the life of my son. Priceless. I would sacrifice my own life for him, but she made that unnecessary. If I can give her the one thing she cannot give herself without tremendous sacrifice—a life with the man she loves—then I will have repaid her for what she has done for the queen and me.”
The king smiled. “And I keep Lieutenant Mateja here in Zakhar. Captain Zale has agreed to take over as head of my son’s security detail, a post for which he is eminently qualified. I also plan—but please keep this to yourself for the time being—to promote Lieutenant Mateja to head the queen’s security detail in Captain Zale’s place. Even more than my son, my wife is the most precious thing in my world. I would give anything to keep her safe. I would also give anything to make her happy. She is particularly attached to Lieutenant Mateja, especially after the lieutenant saved our son’s life, and counts her as a friend.”
His smile deepened. “As I said, this way I not only keep Lieutenant Mateja in Zakhar, keep her guarding my wife, but I give her everything her heart desires—her job and you. Can you put a price on those things, Alec? I cannot.”
When the king put it that way, it made perfect sense. Alec realized once again the king was a brilliant tactician. He’d divined the problem and had devised an ingenious solution. All that was necessary for this to work was for Alec to sacrifice certain career possibilities. A sacrifice that was no sacrifice, all things considered.
He’d be doing a job he loved—making the world a safer place—for the rest of his professional career, with the woman he loved at his side. A woman who loved him as fiercely as he loved her, who was willing to sacrifice everything for him. A woman who understood.
That made his choice easy. “I accept,” he told the king. “Assuming you can swing it with the State Department and the DSS, I accept.”
* * *
Angelina hurried inside her apartment building’s front door to escape the cold, stamped her boots on the rug and impatiently brushed the snow from her hair. After a quick check of her empty mailbox, she headed for the elevator, only to find a discreet out-of-order sign taped by the button.
