Inheriting a SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 7) (22 page)

“Hey, man.”

“King Brayden,” he
says with a bow, “to what do I owe the honor of your presence?”

“Cut the bullshit and
just call me Bray. If you bow again, I’ll tackle you into the
water.”

“I’d love to see
you try.”

“Is that what we need
to do, fight it out? Because I’ll do whatever it takes to show you
I’m sorry. I know you weren’t pretending to be my friend. I knew
it then, too, I just let my pride get in the way.”

“Hurt pride can be a
bitch. I know. My pride got a little hurt, too. And as much as I’d
love to wrestle with you, I have a date later, and I don’t feel
like showering again.”

“Rain check?” I
ask.

“Most definitely. So
what’s up?”

“I’ll tell you, but
then we’ve got to talk about your girl. And your fancy new job.”

“Deal.”

“Do you remember when
you asked me if I would give up my kingdom for your sister?”

“I believe I asked
you that several times.”

“You did. And
tomorrow, I’m going to do it.”

He searches my eyes,
and his go wide. “You’re serious.”

“I’ve talked to my
family already.”

“You’ve always
wanted to be King of Cyndryann.”

“I want you sister
more. This is apparently my only choice since the members of
Parliament have told me they won’t change the law.”

“Can you even do it?”

“I looked it up, and
yes, I can. If someone else is available to take my place.”

“Steven?”

“Steven.”

“My sister’s going
to freak.”

“I’m hoping to get
some help from her friends, so that she doesn’t see the news until
I’m already in Las Vegas and have started Phase 2 of my plan.”

“Phase 2?”

“Yep. My kingdom
isn’t enough for your sister. I need to woo her, and pass some
tests in order to be worthy of her love.”

“You gonna slay a
dragon or some shit like that?”

“If there was one
around, I would. But no, I thought I’d master some things that
would impress her and show her I can live as a normal American
citizen. Jen’s coming over to help me finish the list with you.”

“This could go so
well, or so terribly wrong. I’ll have to make sure Ainsley captures
it all on tape.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now
let’s talk about this village girl, and your new job with my
restoration company.”

“I believe it is
Steven’s company now.”

“Tomorrow it’ll be
his company. And I’ll still be a prince, asshole.”

“Semantics.”

“Hey honeys, I’m
home,” Jen yells, causing us both to burst out laughing. She’s
been watching too many old American TV shows. She’d never fit in
there. At least not without some help.

By the time we finish
my list, Noah has to leave for his date, so we don’t get much more
time to talk. We’re okay, though. You don’t give up being best
friends after ten years just because one of you does something
stupid. Or at least we don’t.

I called Matt when I saw something
interesting pop-up on the Corrigan & Co. website while I was
online. We have a meeting set for tomorrow. I think my list is pretty
good, too. We all looked up stuff on the internet, and chose what
seemed best, or most romantic. I’m going to add some things when I
meet up with the guys in Vegas—Noah contacted Nate, and he promised
to help me and said he thinks everyone else will want to as well.
Now, I just need to give up my throne, and honestly, that’s going
to be the easiest thing to do.

Brayden’s List of Tasks to Impress Darcy (and prove he can be a
normal American man):

1. Give up the throne (probably the easiest one of all)

2. Win a game of Call of Duty (Nate, Aiden, Jake & Matt will
help)

3. Make Darcy a meal (cooking lesson with Gavin)

4. Make Darcy a cake (Jen says girls love a guy who can bake. Help
TBD)

5. Get a job (meeting with Matt to discuss)

6. Serenade her publicly (Okay, this has to be lip synch because I
don’t want to scare the children)

7. Master an American sport (Zack=American football, Miles
Corrigan=baseball, Luke Griffin=hockey. I have to be good at one.
Right?)

8. Learn how to be a cowboy (Caleb)

9. Remind her that we’re already married, and ask her again with
a special ring.

10. Other tasks to be added once I meet with the American guys!

* * *

Darcy

“Ainsley, there seems
to be something wrong with my internet and my TV. Nothing’s been
working since I woke up. I thought it was just at home, but I can’t
get online here at the office, either.”

“Oh yeah. I’m
working on a few things. I should be done soon.”

“Okay,” I tell her,
thinking about how weird this is. We’ve never lost everything while
she’s working on one of her projects. I guess it is best that it’s
happening now, while no one’s on a mission and we’re all here at
the Foundation. We can just find each other for anything we need.
Still weird, though.

An hour later, there’s
a knock at my door. I look up to see everyone—and I do mean,
everyone—walking into my office. “Um, hi. Is there a meeting or
something I don’t know about?”

“There’s
something,” Reina says with a smile.

Ainsley pushes some
buttons on her tablet, and the wall-sized TV in my office comes to
life. I see the Cyndryann Parliament building in the background, and
it looks like a press conference is about to begin.

“What’s going on?”

“Just watch,” Nate
tells me.

Brayden walks out of
the building with Steven, and steps up to the microphone. “Thank
you all for coming out here so early this morning. I’ve just met
with Parliament, and I have an important announcement to make.”

“Are you asking them
to change the law about you marrying a commoner? Is Darcy coming
back?” the reporters ask him.

“No. I don’t have
the support I’d need to change the law. So sometimes Crown has to
give up everything he thought he wanted to be with Cat.”

“That doesn’t make
sense, Your Highness.”

“It will to the
person who matters. For everyone else, all you need to know is that
I’ve asked Parliament to let me pass the throne to my uncle. He
will be a much better leader than I could ever be. Especially because
I would never be happy without the woman I love at my side.”

The reporters are
firing more questions at him. But he just runs down the steps into a
waiting car, and is whisked away. Steven speaks for a few minutes,
and then the screen goes black. I think I may be in shock.

“Did that just
happen? He gave up the throne for me?” I ask as those damn tears
run down my face again.

“Well, it happened
several hours ago, but yes, he did. And fuck if it wasn’t
romantic,” Stella tells me.

“Several hours ago?
That’s why I didn’t have TV or internet access?”

“Yes. He asked that
we keep from you until he arrived,” Ainsley says.

“He’s here? Where?”

“Right now he’s
meeting with Matt about taking the opening he has for an
International Consultant,” Reina tells me.

“I-I have to see him.
I can go to him, right?”

“Yes. Matt’s fully
expecting you to barge into his interview. Brayden has another
surprise for you, so be warned. It’s kind of crazy romantic, but I
don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“Cryptic much?”

“I am the head of a
secret spy agency, so the answer to that would have to be yes.”

I stick out my tongue
at her, and then practically run to the elevators. Once I’m on
Matt’s floor, I blow past his secretary, who expects me to be
stopped by his door, but Ainsley’s got my back, and it opens for
me.

I walk in and see
Brayden sitting in a chair in front of Matt’s desk. “What took
you so long?” Matt asks with a smirk.

I ignore him and go to
Brayden, who stands up and pulls me into his arms. “You gave up the
throne for me?”

“Yes. I shouldn’t
have even taken it, knowing I couldn’t have you if I did.”

“I don’t care about
that.”

“But I do. I need to
talk to you about some things. Can I come to your office once I’m
done here?”

“Of course. Reina
says I won’t like what you have to tell me, so maybe you want to
rethink it, and just kiss me.”

“Reina’s probably
right,” he tells me with a chuckle. “But I need to stick to my
plan if I’m going to be worthy of you.”

“You gave up your
kingdom for me. How much more worthy do you think you need to be?”

“A lot. Now go on. I
know Matt was expecting you, but it’s not nice to keep my new boss
waiting.”

“You got the job?”
I ask, loud enough for Matt to hear.

“Of course he got the
job. Who better to consult for me on international matters than a
former king with a fancy degree from a European university?”

“I’m going to work
hard, Matt.”

“I know, Brayden.”

“I’ll see you
soon,” I tell him. “Someone will show you to my office.”

“I’ll take him,”
Matt says.

“Thanks.”

I lean up and give
Brayden a quick peck on the mouth before practically skipping back to
my office. I'm a little worried about him thinking he has to prove
his worth, but it can’t be that bad, right?

I find out an hour
later, that yes, it can indeed be even worse than I’d imagined.
Brayden comes into my office and smiles at all of the games. I
introduce him to my team, and he laughs in amusement when I tell him
they’re all reformed con men or cat burglars like me. Why wouldn’t
I hire them? They can spot a con a mile away, and that’s what we
do—look for people who are exploiting others through cons, and test
out Ainsley’s security systems.

“Okay, so here’s
the deal, Darcy,” Brayden begins once we’re sitting in my office.
“I made a mistake when I let you go. I regretted it immediately,
but I didn’t think I was strong enough to fix it. I’d always
dreamed of being king, and yet, when you left, it meant nothing to me
anymore. I approached the Parliament members outside of the
Cathedral, and they told me they wouldn’t support me if I tried to
change the law. I thought my only options at that point were to just
give you up, or send my country into a war with itself. One between
those who supported us being together, and those who valued tradition
over love. Neither option was acceptable to me.”

“I would never want
your country to fight over me.”

“I know,” he says,
reaching for my hand, which I readily give to him. “After talking
to my uncle, who thought I should fight, I realized I had another
option. I looked through the law books in the library to make sure I
was right, and I was. The law says I can pass the throne to any
living relative who I deem to be more worthy of it. My uncle will be
a better ruler than I, and it didn’t take much to convince
Parliament of that.”

“I still can’t
believe you did it. I’m humbled, and in awe of you. Seriously.”

“You’re worth a
throne, and more. It’s the more I need to take care of now. You
know me as a playboy prince, but now I need to be a normal American
man.”

“There’s no such
thing as a ‘normal’ man,” I tell him with a laugh.

“Be that as it may, I
want to prove to you that I can be just like your ‘boy next door’.
I’ve come up with a series of tasks to master. Things I should
know, and things that will hopefully impress you.”

“Do I get to reward
you with a sexual favor for each one you complete?”

“That’s the thing,
Cat. I can’t be with you until I’ve done all of them.”

“What? Um, no. This
is
definitely
not
going to work for me. What if you don’t master them?”

“See how little faith
you have in me?”

“I have faith. I just
don’t like the idea of you being here and not being with me. You
really don’t have to do these things. Really.”

“I’m with you, even
if I’m not
with
you. You’re not worried about that, right? You know I don’t want
anyone else.”

“I know. How could I
not know? And it
is
romantic, I guess.”

“I’ll get through
them as quickly as possible. I promise. It’s just really important
to me that I try and do these things.”

“Fine. How many are
there?”

“Nine so far, but I
asked Nate to help me come up with a few more. The internet is good,
but I need a real guy’s perspective.”

I think of something
else all of a sudden. “Wait, don’t you have to go back to
officially pass on the crown to Steven or something?”

“He’ll have a
proper coronation in two weeks’ time, yes.”

“So you’re still
officially the king?”

“I am.”

“Does the king get to
bring a date to the coronation?”

“If he doesn’t want
to be drawn and quartered by his people, he had better bring the one
they want.”

“They love me.”

“Not as much as I
love you.”

“I love you, too
Crown. Now go off and be American so I can have my way with you. I’ve
got some shopping to do. Two coronations in a month? Not bad for a
reformed cat burglar.”

Not bad at all. Now I
just need to hope he can get through his tasks. It was hard enough to
not rip his clothes off and have my way with him right there in my
office. Seeing him every day is only going to make it worse. But it
is really sweet and romantic. I may even swoon at some point.

1.
Give up the throne

2.
Win a game of Call of Duty

Brayden

“You got this, man.
We all
own
this
game,” Nate tells me.

“I know you own it.
We’re about to play.”

“He means we own it
like it’s our bitch. You know, we can’t be beat,” Aiden
explains.