“Okay.” She met my gaze curiously.
“How would you feel about a couple of nights by the sea? Just the two of us.”
Her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. “A weekend together by the sea? Alone?”
“Well, yeah…unless you want to invite your parents to come along?”
“I don’t think so,” she murmured, running her hand over the erection tenting my slacks. “Especially since I just thought of something.”
“What’s that?” I asked curiously.
“We’ve never had sex in a bed.”
21
Solange
Since Axel worked so many hours, I had a lot of free time on my hands and I went in search of my brother. Our parents were living at the inn now, though it wasn’t quite open for business, but Kostya had stayed here at the palace because it was easier to take care of him. His recovery was going well but was taking time and he was finally getting ready to start light rehab to build up his stamina. We hadn’t seen much of each other and I figured he was mad at me, but he’d get over it.
I was just about to get on the elevator when I saw a dark-haired toddler making her way toward the stairs. I didn’t recognize the child, and I looked around in confusion, wondering who should have been watching her. She was dangerously close to the massive staircase and I hurried in that direction, reaching out a hand to grab the back of her shirt before she took the first step.
“Hello, there,” I said in English, since that’s what I spoke most of the time now. The palace was completely bilingual, occasionally leaning heavier on the English side because Queen Casey and her children only spoke English and most of the Royal Protectors were English-speakers as well.
The child looked up at me suspiciously. “Who’re you?”
“My name is Solange. What’s your name?”
“Elena.”
“Where’s your mother, Elena?”
She wrinkled her nose at me.
“Can you show me where your mom is?”
She shook her head.
“Okay, then let’s go for a walk and see if we find her.”
Elena hesitated but obligingly took my hand. We walked to the elevator and got on, going down to the first floor. That’s where the security offices were and I figured whoever was there would know who Elena belonged to.
“Auntie Elen?” Elena asked, looking up at me.
“I don’t know where Elen is,” I told her, “but we’ll find her, okay?”
We rounded the corner leading to the security offices and I called to Logan, who was on surveillance duty.
“Do you know who this little one belongs to?” I asked him. “I found her on the stairs.”
He frowned. “That’s Elena. Xander and Elen’s housekeeper’s daughter. Let me—”
“Uncle Xanny!” Elena let out a shriek of delight and tore off down the hall to Xander, who scooped her up with a laugh.
“What mischief are you into, little one?” he asked her, walking back towards the security office.
“I found her on the stairs,” I told him. “I wasn’t sure where to take her.”
“Elena has become our palace Houdini, disappearing on her mother the minute she can. I better call—”
“Elena, I gonna spank your bottom!” A large, curvy woman with a long black braid and bright dark eyes came down the hall, hands on her ample hips.
Elena buried her face in Xander’s shoulder.
“Solange, have you met Samaria?” Xander asked me. “She and her husband are going to be the housekeeper and groundskeeper at our new house but renovations aren’t done yet so we’re still staying here at the palace on and off. Elena seems to think it’s her personal playground.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said to Samaria, who now smiled at me.
“Hello. Was it you who found my mischief-maker?”
“Yes. I brought her here because I didn’t know where else to take her.”
“Thank you. She need a leash.” She grabbed the child from Xander, but despite her harsh words, her grip was gentle, nuzzling the little girl’s hair. “You scare Mama.”
“I sorry, Mama.” Elena’s lower lip protruded.
“Okay, you go to bed early tonight.” Samaria turned to me. “Thanks again. Xander, you need to find Fetu. He have designs for the garage.”
“Will do.” Xander nodded, kissing the top of Elena’s head before she and Samaria got back on the elevator.
“Never a dull moment around here.” Logan grinned, going back to his post, watching the rows of video screens that showed every exit to the palace.
“What are you up to today?” Xander asked me.
“I was going to find my brother,” I said, “but I ran into Elena and got sidetracked.”
“He’s actually down in the gym doing some physical therapy. Do you know where it is?”
I shook my head.
“Well, let me show you. It’ll give us a chance to catch up since I haven’t seen much of you since you moved here.”
“It’s been a whirlwind,” I said, falling into step beside him. “So Samaria is your housekeeper?”
“Samaria and her husband came with us from Tahiti,” Xander told me as we walked down the hall. “Elen lived there for a while when she was in exile and she became very close to them. When we found out we were pregnant and decided to get married, she asked them to move here and help take care of our growing family, and they said yes. They have six kids.”
“Six!” I laughed. “I can’t imagine juggling so many.”
“Well, they range in age from fifteen to two, so Lulu and Lagi are a big help.”
“Will they be attending the school?”
“Yes. Lulu is going to be in tenth grade, Lagi just turned thirteen and he and Luke are both going to be in eighth grade, and honestly, I can’t keep up with the rest.”
“Sounds like a handful.”
“It is.”
We got to a huge state-of-the-art gym and I blinked in surprise. “I didn’t even know this was here.”
“It’s for everyone, including the royal family, guests and the Royal Protectors.”
“And there’s Kostya.” I smiled at Xander. “Thanks for escorting me and catching me up on some of the players around here.”
“No problem. See you later.” He touched my arm and turned to go back the way we came. I walked into the gym and waved to Kostya, who was lifting light weights on a chair.
“Hey, Solange!” Natalia called out to me, smiling. She was running on a treadmill.
“Hello!”
“Hi.” Kostya gave me a tired smile. “What are you doing here?”
“I haven’t seen you in a while, thought we’d talk.”
“I’m not sure I have enough breath to talk,” he admitted, glancing at the physical therapist, who just smiled.
“Come on,” he said to him. “Ten more reps. You can do it.”
“Well, you do your therapy and I’ll talk,” I told him. “You haven’t been to the inn yet, but it’s quite nice. They’re almost finished updating the kitchen and bathrooms, and all the supplies have started to arrive. Bedding, towels, pots and pans, furniture. Mama’s in heaven getting to decorate all those rooms.”