Chapter 10
Brett
Furious didn’t begin to explain how mad Brett was. And not just mad. Sad, hurt, embarrassed, and tons of other emotions he didn’t want to acknowledge. Anger was the easiest to explain, though.
As Brett stormed around Windsor, using the excuse of checking on things, his thoughts tumbled end over end. Felix hadpromisednot to look up Brett’s past. He hadpromised.Apparently, promises meant nothing anymore. He turned a corner and bumped into Christian and Oscar, with their two dogs following them.
“Hey,” he said, and even to his own ears, he sounded forlorn. “How are these two?” He bent down to rub them both between the ears.
“They’re getting along nicely,” Christian said.
“Have you decided what to call her?” Brett asked.
“Onyx,” Oscar said. “I think it fits her perfectly.”
“Definitely,” Christian agreed. “We considered calling her Brett but thought it might get confusing.” He smirked.
Brett chuckled and stood. “Very. Anyway, I’ll let you carry on your walk. Have a good one.”
He’d barely taken two steps past them before a hand clamped on his shoulder. He didn’t jump; he knew exactly who it was. He glanced at Christian, the man having always seen too much.
“I’m coming to find you once this walk is done and Oscar is back in the suite. Understood?”
It was inevitable. “Yes, Your Highness.”
Christian squeezed his shoulder and let go, continuing down the corridor with his new husband.
The wind having been taken from his sails with the interaction, he turned back towards Sec HQ, ready to face Felix once more. But when he entered, the man was nowhere to be found. He’d left his bag, though, so he would be back. Brett settled once more behind his desk and brought up the latest findings on the incident at the wedding. Nothing had been found on the roses or the headstone, and no one had seen who had left them. He’d have to get Felix to explain again about this new tech that could make things invisible and to see if there is any way to prove it. The chapel had been swept, but nothing was found. Although no one knew what they were looking for.
The door opened, and he looked up, expecting to see Felix, but instead, Maddox entered the room.
“Morning,” Maddox said, a slight smirk on his face. He obviously knew that he wouldn’t be going anywhere after the chat Brett had with Venus. Luckily for Maddox, Brett had the exact busywork he needed him to do.
“Morning.” He rose and fetched a clipboard with a list attached. “I need you to go through the weapons locker and inventory everything in there. This list provides details of what we should have, down to the last bullet. Get it completely up to date, checking the identity numbers match, and then once it’s all correct, I need all of them cleaned.”
“Hang on a minute. I don’t—”
“You want to be a guard, then you have to do things all guards have to do. Regardless of whether you want to do it.” Brett stepped closer. “Just because I need to keep you here doesn’tmean I won’t make your life hell if you step out of line.” He paused. “Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Maddox replied through gritted teeth.
He turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Brett could deal with temper tantrums; it was the entitlement he hated. Some guards got it in their heads that because they protected the royal family, they were better than other people. Those were the guards who didn’t last long under Brett’s reign.
The door opened again not long later to reveal Christian, holding the little puppy, Onyx, to his chest. “You free to talk?” he asked.
“Yeah, no one’s here right now.” He glanced at Felix’s chair, wondering where he was.
Christian settled on a chair opposite him, stroking the nosy puppy while he waited.
Brett knew all his tricks and therefore knew not to waste time. “I had an argument with Felix.”
“Can you get past whatever it was about?”
Brett sighed and stared out of the window. “I don’t know. He broke a promise. I don’t know if I can trust him anymore.”
“Bullshit.”
Brett jerked his gaze back to Christian, the swear word something he rarely said. “What?”