Brett stepped inside the room, leaving the door open, and stood, waiting. “You both look great, Your Highnesses.”
Oscar chuckled. “I’m not there yet.”
Brett smiled. “It’s only a matter of minutes,Your Highness.”
“Let’s go, shall we?” Christian said, smiling at his soon-to-be husband.
“We’re leaving the suite now,” Brett said.
“York and Glasgow have just entered the chapel,” Eric said.
“Edinburgh, Cambridge and Oxford are walking down the road now,” Maddox said.
“London will be leaving in two minutes,” Dominic said.
By the time they got to the door, the king and his partners would be walking down to the chapel, and everyone else, bar the two main subjects, would be settled into their seats.
It went smoothly, the crowds surrounding the area waved and cheered for them. As much as he found the public audience terrifying from the point of safety, it was nice to hear the celebration, which would also be televised to the nations. They entered the chapel and, contrary to usual protocol, Christian and Oscar walked down the aisle together, stopping in front of the minister. Brett and Felix stepped to either side and back, close enough but out of the spotlight.
He focused solely on the ceremony and security, trying his hardest to ignore the man across from him. It wasn’t easy. Amongst the guests were some Army personnel, friends of Christian, which helped ease his worries that something would happen. There were enough trained people around to stop anything that might be attempted.
In deference to the happenings over the years, Christian and Oscar had chosen to have no roses within the flowerpieces throughout the chapel. It had been a topic of discussion within the media channels as to why, but since the roses had been part of the incident with Dominic, they had decided it wasn’t fair to bring that reminder to such a joyous occasion.
The ceremony went off without a hitch, but before they could walk down the aisle, back home, Nina’s voice came over his earpiece.
“We have a problem. The chapel doors have been closed, and a bed of roses has been laid across the doorway. It’s in the shape of a grave, Brett.”
His heart stopped and then restarted at three times the speed. “Everyone, lock the place down, but don’t make any sudden movements. Once the ceremony is done, we will take the princes and the king to the back. Keep every guest in their seats. Greg and Sam, check the cameras. Find out who did this and where they are now.”
Several “Yes, sirs” came back to him, but he didn’t relax. So much for not having roses at the wedding.
When the minister stopped, Brett stepped forward, indicating with his hand for them to go to the back of the chapel. “This way, Your Highnesses.”
Christian met his gaze, studied him for a second, and nodded. “Let’s get a drink, Oscar.”
“But why…?” He stopped when he saw their faces and stepped closer to Christian.
“Come on, my love.” Christian followed Felix towards the back, and a murmur went through the guests.
Brett didn’t look behind him to see if the princes and king were following—he trusted his guards to do their job, and it was only when they were all settled that he nodded at the guards and left them to do it.
He ignored the congregation and went to the doors, stopping and staring at the sea of red roses. As Nina had mentioned, they were laid in the shape of a grave with a vase with more roses at the head. What disturbed him the most was the cutout of a gravestone behind the vase. It had no names, just the letters RIP.
Dominic stepped beside him. “How the hell did they get the chance to do this without anyone knowing or seeing?”
“Most guests would’ve thought it was part of the ceremony and wouldn’t have questioned it if they’d even noticed it. However, the guards should have. Where are Matt and Van?”
“They’re not answering, and so far, we haven’t located them.”
“Fucking hell. How did they get in?” he muttered. “Greg, Sam, any luck with the cameras?”
“No. They went down two minutes before Nina’s message. Nothing was amiss before they went offline.”
“So it all happened when they were gone. Great.” He sighed. “What about the other cameras? Did they catch anything?”
“So far, no, but we’re still working through them.”
“Let me know how it goes. I can always send Felix back to do it if you’re struggling. In fact, I’ll send him over, anyway. He might be able to work his magic with the downed cameras.”