Page 74 of Wicked Queen

“Have you forgotten how?” Edward asked and Anders smirked.

“See?” I placed my cup in its saucer and returned it to the coffee table. “You three are already acting like family—ganging up on one another and competing.”

“It must warm the heart,” Alexander said.

“Now that we’ve gotten the pleasantries out of the way, let’s discuss what’s going on,” I advised.

“Alexander only pretends to be in charge,” Edward muttered to Anders.

“Enough,” I warned him. “We’ve prepared a press release.”

“You mean I don’t have to sit through another press conference? Brilliant.”

“We’ve had enough of those for a while,” Alexander agreed.

We had been hosting them with an alarming frequency. If we could avoid another, since the others had ended in near disaster, it would be for the best.

“What are you going to say? How are we going to cover this up?” Anders drained his cup and waited.

I looked to the others, wondering if it was better coming from me or one of them. “We don’t want to deny it.”

“What do you mean? Look, the tea is lovely but I don’t want any of this life.”

“We know,” Alexander said with astonishing sincerity. “I wouldn’t either if I was you.”

“You don’t know the first thing about being me,” Anders said coolly.

“I know that you’ve broken ribs four times, that when you crashed your first car it nearly cost your mother her house. I know that you fell in love with a girl who ran off with your best mate. I know more than you think.” Alexander leaned forward and picked up the milk. “I know things you don’t. That car? Our father took care of that. Just like he took care of it when you were nearly expelled from secondary school.”

“What is this?” Anders hissed. “You wanted me to come here so you could prove I’m in debt to you?”

“If I know all of that and it wasn’t hard to confirm these matters once we knew your name; the press will know it eventually, too. They won’t let this go. The media isn’t in the business of turning a blind eye to a juicy bit of news—and you have their mouths watering.”

“What he said,” Edward added.

“Then what?” Anders slumped in his seat.

“We issue a press release that confirms the story with enough details that there’s less incentive to go digging for more.”

“We beat them to the story,” I explained.

“Whose genius idea is this?”

“Ours,” Alexander said.

“You’ve been meeting and discussing how to handle my life without me?” Anders asked. He actually sounded a bit hurt.

“We did try to call,” I said flatly.

“They won’t go away if they know.”

“No, it will probably get worse,” I admitted, frowning when his eyes darted to the door like he was contemplating making a break for it. “For a while. They will lose interest.”

“Bollocks,” Anders said. “They haven’t lost interest in any of you. They’re still debating your wedding”—he pointed to Edward—“and analyzing every breach of protocol that Clara makes, and we all know what they think of Alexander.”

“Do enlighten me,” Alexander said.

“You’re paranoid, delusional, seeing threats where there’s only smoke,” he said directly to Alexander. It was less a quote than an accusation.