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She’d never so much as glimpsed this man’s equal.
Chapter Two
King Nolan August stared at the breathtaking woman seated across from him. She had the kind of mesmerizing beauty silly boys wrote songs about. Being loyal to his wife, he’d never dwelt on Madeline Prescott’s attractiveness, poise, and resilience throughout their years of association.
Until last Christmas.
Asking her to dance at Tristan and Jennifer’s wedding had been a mistake. He had experienced a connection, warmth, and desire with Madeline he’d never thought he’d feel again in this life. Truthfully, he didn’t know that he’d ever felt tingles or desire like that, even with Anne. He and his wife had been friends for so long that tingles had never been part of their many years of love and devotion.
Yet Madeline was a surprise and a mystery to him. The yearning to be close to her slapped him in the face every time he saw her, and especially if he got the chance to touch her hand or stare into her emerald green eyes.
Madeline was an expert at maintaining a professional distance while teasing him and making him smile at the same time.
When his close friend Henry Shule or his sons or daughters-in-law gently encouraged him to think about dating again, he could only see Madeline. He had no idea how to approach such a sought-after and accomplished parliament member about dating, and honestly felt a little betrayal to Anne with the strong feelings for Madeline and concern how Kiera would respond to him dating. His daughter had already lost her mum, he couldn’t disturb her world again. It was simpler to claim he wasn’t interested.
He’d approved of the rumor of the king ‘refusing to move on from his beloved wife’ to discourage the far too many interested women. It had sort of worked. The fact that he rarely left the castle and spent most of his time in Zoom meetings or with his family helped as well.
When Anne had been murdered, Ray had basically put the family on lockdown. Even now, eighteen months after Anne’s death and with William and Treven Rindlesbachers dead, they’d fallen into a pattern of reclusiveness that they hadn’t altered much.
Naomi was still hiding out there. Somewhere. The woman had no end to her schemes, and her thirst for revenge would be even stronger with her husband, son, and illicit lover killed. She’d be recruiting help and coming up with some plan to strike. It was safer and easier to stay home.
Now the only woman he was interested in, Madeline, was bringing allegations of ‘misuse of funds’ on him and his family. ‘King Nolan in particular.’ Had she really said that? How dare parliament even intone such a thing?
Nolan strived to be a fair and benevolent king, and he was completely dedicated to his country and his family.
Any illusions that Madeline might return the feelings he repressed every time he saw, or even thought of her, were dampened in the face of reality. Her emerald eyes that always captivated him were currently searching his. Did she think he’d stolen from his country? Did she believe he would lie to her about it or try to hide something from their countrymen, her, parliament, or the prime minister?
“No wonder Prime Minister Carrera declined our invitation to have lunch and work at the castle today,” Tristan said, breaking the silence. He dragged the official document Madeline had placed on the desk in front of him and looked it over.
Nolan didn’t want to look at it. It would make it too real. The past nine months since his sons had found their perfect matches had been healing and wonderful. He still ached for Anne, but it had been eighteen months since she’d passed and the grief was lessening. His growing family and overwhelming responsibilities kept him busy enough that the pain of her loss usually remained in the back of his mind.
The Rindlesbachers’ threat had been quiet, and with untold hours of hard work, stress, and prayer, his country and family were flourishing. He loved being King Papa to his six-year-old granddaughter Sunny, and now Tristan and Jennifer and Curt and Aliya were expecting little ones in the spring.
Apparently, he shouldn’t have gotten too comfortable.
“This is signed by Prime Minister Carrera and two key members of parliament,” Tristan said. He pushed out a heavy breath. “I miss Henry more every day.” His eyes flicked down at the paper, probably to read the document in its entirety.
Nolan missed Henry every bit as much as Tristan did. After it was discovered in October of last year that Henry’s wife Leslie had inadvertently killed Anne, and Henry and Leslie had been blackmailed, extorted, and manipulated by the Rindlesbachers, Henry had no choice but to step down. In good news, Leslie was recovering from the physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the Rindlesbachers. They traveled often, as not everyone in Augustine had been as forgiving as Nolan had about the queen’s death and Henry’s unwilling aid to the Rindlesbachers.
Nolan didn’t look at the paper. He held Madeline’s gaze and fought for a level tone of voice. “If Prime Minister Carrera and parliament believe I have misused funds, they obviously don’t know me or my level of integrity.”
He was furious at this very personal attack. What was Carrera trying to accomplish? He’d been voted in by the people and was a politician to the core. The man had shown competence, great intellect, and had been fine to work with. Nolan hadn’t sensed corruption in any of Carrera’s decisions for the people of Augustine. Their country was flourishing financially, crime was low, their people appeared happy and opinion polls reflected that, and they had great relations with their neighboring countries and no hint of uprising or war on the horizon.
“I know you,” Madeline said softly and more seriously than she usually spoke. “Which is why I volunteered for this assignment and thankfully was appointed instead of some of your critics in parliament.”
Nolan appreciated her having his back, but it was all a punch to the kidneys from nowhere, as well as a show of disrespect to him. “I appreciate you volunteering, but maybe the critics should have come themselves so they could see that all funds are used properly by me and my family.”
“Maybe they should have,” she said. Why did she look injured by his suggestion? Had she sacrificed to come herself? Would being the ‘emissary’ who investigated the king’s finances be a stain on her career? He couldn’t imagine it would. He was surprised she hadn’t brought an auditor or accountant, but they could resolve this issue easily and she could email the information within the hour. He’d secretly hoped for more time with her when he’d seen the appointment on his calendar this morning, but he was adept at dealing with disappointment, so he said nothing.
Tristan looked back and forth between the two of them. “Why would anyone make such an accusation?”
Madeline shrugged. “The castle garage full of supercars and your closets full of Brioni suits bother some members of parliament.”
“You understand that the August family money is separate from the allowances paid to us by the country of Augustine?” Nolan asked.
She nodded. “You are each paid an allowance based on your responsibilities and level of involvement. The castle staff, maintenance, and utilities are paid by the country.”
“As well as a clothing and vehicle allowance,” Nolan said. “Which I personally have never touched, using instead the stipends paid by my family’s vast holdings in salt and iron mines throughout Europe to buy any vehicles and personal items myself or my family needed.”
