Althena Book 2

75. Yes

Mike brings Chris and I lunch. We work right through it. It's been so long since we've done this. I miss him so much.

I take a load of salads out to the cooler for the 4th time and Akley is ordering coffee. I turn around before he sees me.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Nope. Do I have anything on me?" I pull the apron off.

"No. You're fine." He straightens my hair and I step back out.

He stares at me for a second then smiles. "The lovely Queen Thena."

I smile at him. "What brings you here, sir?"

"I wanted to see the new casino. Then I needed coffee. I wasn't expecting you to come out of the back room. And dressed like this too." He reaches out to me. "I like this dress."

"Thank you. I went shopping this morning." I take his hand.

He leads me to a table and pulls out a chair for me. "We'll have to talk sometime soon. I love the way this place is set up. But not now, of course. I know you're busy."

Chris gives us each a cup of coffee. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you, sir." He sips it. "Very good."

Chris smiles then goes behind the counter. I think he makes Akmae go on break. Then he pretends to read the menu while he stares at us.

Akley smirks. "Interesting help."

"He doesn't even work here."

"The best employees never do."

"I wanted to ask..."

He cuts me off. "Who does the security here?"

I remember I can't really talk to him here. I have to watch everything I say. We're being recorded from every angle. "Mystical Moon. Monte leads it. He's really good at it."

"I can tell. I wouldn't mind getting his input on a few of my properties."

"I'm sure he would. He's kind of crazy about security though. I once held a door open for more than 30 seconds. Every alarm in the place went off."

"Vault door?"

"No... Just a door."

He laughs. "That is serious."

"How are the boys?"

"Jake wants you to come back and color. Carl is rolling all over the place now. I think he's about ready to sit up on his own."

I cross my legs. "I need a baby cuddle."

Monte sits at the table with us. It's rather abrupt.

"This is Monte. The security thing. It's weird you sat down. We were just talking about you."

"What about?"

Akley takes over. "Security, sir. I would like to get your input at a couple of my buildings."

"I can do that."

I sit back and smile at Akley. "This is going to cost you a lot of money."

"Why is that?"

"He'll upgrade everything. And everything costs 10 times more than you budgeted."

They laugh and Chris brings Monte a coffee. "Everyone still good?"

"Yes, thank you."

Monte smirks. "If you're not willing to buy good security, you might as well not buy any."

"I do agree with that." Akley takes a drink as Mike, Drogon, and Cyrus join us.

I smile and stand up. "It was lovely seeing you again, but I'm not sitting through another security speech. Please let Jake know I'll stop by and color again sometime."

"I'll let him know and thank you for the coffee."

"My pleasure."

I get over to Chris, and he's still pretending to read the menu. Akmae is sitting on the stool. I roll my eyes and look out into the casino. If they're all in here, we can sneak into the bar. But my eyes land on the woman that shot Carl.

"What the hell?" Chris grabs Akmae and tries not to fall over.

"Woman, calm down. What?" Mike pulls me to the back room. "Calm, babygirl. What happened?" He rubs my arms. "You're alright. Relax."

"The woman who shot Carl is in my casino."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Can you calmly point her out to me? Then we can figure out a name."

"Yes. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. The situation shocked you and your aura came out. Chris took the majority of it."

I crack up laughing. "Did you feel it?"

"Yea, we felt it at the table. That's why I jumped so quickly. Can you point her out to me?"

"Yea, I'm ok."

We exit the back room, and she walks into the coffee shop. 6 men in suits follow her. My muscles tense, but I keep my aura in check this time. Mike goes back over to the table.

She looks at the boys and laughs. It's a loud fake laugh. "I see you had the same idea I had, Akley. I've been trying to get a meeting with King Winter for months."

"I really doubt it's the same idea, Evelina."

"Afraid of a little friendly competition, Akley?"

He smirks and sips his coffee. "Competition with what?"

"A casino, of course. If he lifts the ban, I know you'll be the first to put one in."

He smiles. "Actually, Crossroads is fine right where we are. I have no interest in trying to get the ban lifted. I came to see the queen's casino. I was interested in how it came together. I also haven't seen her in a while. I wanted to say hi."

I can hear the malice in this woman's voice. "I heard you found her. So sorry to hear about the death of your son."

Akley tilts his head. "My sons are fine. You must have been misinformed. But yes, I was able to track her down and make sure she returned home safely."

"I guess everything worked out according to your plan then."

"I didn't have a plan made to retrieve a kidnapped queen. That was quite far outside any plans I've ever made." He laughs and stands up. "It was nice seeing you all again. And nice meeting you, Monte. I'll be in touch." He walks out without looking back. I see him get his phone out.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Evelina Dahlquist. I have my own line of casinos, as well as a few other businesses. I would love to move some things into Darkburn."

Drogon stands up. "It's nice to meet you. I'll have the advisors set up a meeting. I am not going to discuss official business in my mate's coffee shop."

"Of course, thank you, sir."

He grabs me and pulls me out with him. I don't think she realized I was there until he pulled me out. She glances at me, then her eyes get big.

I roll my eyes and snuggle into Drogon's side.

He puts his arm around me and kisses my head. "She's something else."

"She shot Carl."

"Is that why your aura nearly knocked Chris over?"

"Yes. I don't like her."

"I'm glad. She's a monster. I have concerns that you don't see Akley the same way."

"He didn't shoot Carl."

"Akley shows you exactly what he wants you to see. Big house. Lots of money. Everyone around him treats him well. Father of two small boys. A man who lost his wife. He treats you like a young woman. A child sometimes. But Evelina and Akley are very similar. They will kill and hurt an unlimited number of people to make a dollar. They will threaten and extort anyone to increase their wealth or power."

"I don't know about all that."

"I do." He hugs me and kisses my head. "I'll show you some day."

"Are you really going to set up a meeting with that monster woman?"

"Yes. I'll let her talk to the advisors. We're not going to do anything she wants. No way in hell I'm letting her build a casino in Darkburn. But I told her we could have a meeting, I need to keep my word."

"You should invite Akley. If it's about casinos, he likes them too."

He chuckles and walks me out the front door. "That's a good idea. We could watch them go back and forth for an hour. At least we wouldn't be bored."

"Where are we going?"

"Dinner."

We take the helicopter to a nice part of the Riverside District. The restaurant looks out over a dock. A few nice ships are docked. It's a pretty view.

The place is packed and people are waiting. But we get right in.

I snuggle beside him in a booth seat and watch the water out the window. "This is a beautiful place."

He starts turning red and chugs his water. "It is nice."

"Do you have a fear of restaurants or something?"

He sits back and laughs. "No. I'm sorry. Let's have a nice dinner."

"Good evening, sir, ma'am. Can I start you off with an appetizer?"

He takes a drink of the house wine. "Oysters and the tuna tartare."

"I'll get that right out for you."

I stare at him with my eyebrow up for a minute too long.

"What, babygirl?"

I whisper, "What the hell are you going to do with an oyster?"

He laughs and pulls me against him. "I just want to try them at a fancy restaurant once in my life."

"We can do this." I sip my wine while he pulls it together.

She sits them down after a few minutes. "Do you have your entrees chosen?"

I smile at her. "Mushroom risotto."

"Lobster tail."

She walks away and I stare at him again. "You are all about the fancy today."

"I'm supposed to be fancy. I'm the king."

I nod. "Yea, of course, love. We can have dollar tacos later because you're starving. Because you couldn't eat what you ordered for dinner."

"We can do this, babygirl." He pokes the oyster with his fork.

It jiggles. "Nope, you're on your own. There's no 'we' about this."

He smirks and picks it up. Then he sucks it down. "I did it."

"Good job. Was it good?"

"I don't know. I swallowed it whole." He takes a big drink of wine.

I giggle. "It counts. You're still fancy."

He nods and picks another up. "Your turn."

I glance at it and it jiggles.

He cracks up laughing and kisses my head. "You are adorable, babygirl. I'm playing. One was enough for both of us."

I smile and try the tuna on a cracker. Then I realize it's not cooked. I swallow it and everything is fine. He tries it and quickly figures out its raw meat. He spits it out in his napkin.

"Sir, I don't think we're as fancy as you hoped."

He nods and we finish off the wine.

The lady brings us more wine and our food. I eat my mushrooms without issue. He starts on the lobster and gives me a bite.

"That is good."

He kisses my head. "Lobster is good. Have you ever tried it before?"

"No. I'll look up some recipes. Maybe I can learn to make it for you."

"That would be amazing. I thought you didn't make it because you don't like it." He feeds me a bite. "Everything you make is amazing. I can't wait to try the lobster."

After dinner, we take a walk. He leads me to a fountain set up in the middle of the shopping area. It has pink water. It's very different and beautiful.

I take his hand and it's all sweaty. I look at him and he's red again. He's got sweat pouring out of him. "Maybe you're allergic to oysters."

He laughs and wipes the sweat off his head. "Let's go home, babygirl."

"That's a good idea." He looks like he might need a doctor instead though.

We stop by Darkmoon headquarters so he can grab something out of his office. I lure him down to his penthouse and take a bath with him before we go home. I love our bath time in the tub here.

We make it home and snuggle up on the couch in our pajamas.

"I love you, babygirl."

"I love you too."

He sits a little box on my lap.

"What's this for?"

He drops to his knee in front of me. Then he opens the box. "Will you marry me?"

I look from the heart ring to his eyes. Then I dive on him. I hug him so tightly. "Yes."