The Alpha King Call Boy
Chapter 85

Having reached a truce over the weekend, Alexander and I settled back into our old routine for the week. It was, of course, not quite the same as before, but we were able to function as a couple again, sharing our life and spending our nights together peaceably. He followed through with his pledge to give me his time and attention whenever I was available. I went into the office early in the mornings in order to hold up my own end of the bargain, which was returning from work at a reasonable hour each evening for our dinner dates. Despite my lingering reservations about Alexander, I couldn't deny that he was working hard to prove himself.

Each day's mail delivery at the office started arriving with a single white rose and a hand-written note. I enjoyed the flowers and often found myself absentmindedly sniffing their sweet scent and twirling the de-thorned stems between my fingers while I was reading reports and email. The cards were the more important part, though.

Alexander's delicate, perfect cursive was so surprisingly lovely. The first time I'd seen it, on the card that came with the red roses, I'd assumed that somewhere a secretary or florist had penned in ink a message he had dictated to them. It wasn't until I found the notes on my bedside table over the weekend that I'd realized it was the work of his own hand.

The content of the cards was mostly sweet, but began to edge into more suggestive themes as the week went on. The first one that got a little steamy caught me by surprise, had me looking to the door to make sure I was alone with my suddenly flushed cheeks and halted breath. I was tempted to replace this inappropriate and rouse up some irritation with Alexander over it. But the plain truth was that I liked it.

I just started slipping the cards, still sealed, into my purse when they arrived and saved them for later. A little treat to read in the car on my way back to him after work.

An uninformed observer might have called them love notes. I preferred to think of them as tokens of devotion to the promises Alexander had made me. Promises of respect and trustworthiness, and dedication to our relationship and all the things we had talked about and agreed upon. I was still trying to keep up that guard around my heart that I'd sworn to Nina I'd do a better job of holding in place from now on.

I did save the cards though. I stashed them away in a pretty little box I kept on a high shelf in my dressing room. They were beautiful, after all.

And I came to see that Alexander really meant it when he said, over and over, that he was bent on serving me in the bedroom.

If I was tired after work, he'd be gentle and sweet. Drawing me baths and offering massages. If I cued him I was up for more, he was happy to deliver. When we played rough, he was careful not to hurt me. And he always held me after.

I started sleeping like the dead, waking up warm and refreshed and mentally acute. I knew the rekindled, albeit fragile, passion we were indulging in was something my body had been needing. That was the reality of my present state: I needed Alexander. It was just hormonal, that part. Simple science.

The thing that loomed uncomfortably, still, was his upcoming plan to travel across the country. As much as I liked the closeness we'd fallen back into, I was not looking forward to being deprived of it for a few long days and nights as I waited for him to return. Alexander

"She didn't say anything else? Anything more specific?"

I shook my head at Kayden and told him, "I wish."

I had been wracking my brain for days, searching my memories to try to come up with something more. Another clue or hint of where Iris could be hiding.

But there was nothing there. I had been polite to my mother's maid and exchanged words with her many times over the years, but the conversations were never deep or important. She may have been favored by my mother, but the girl was still a servant, after all. I am quite sure she was well-trained not to attempt to socialize with the royalty she served.

I suspected, as I reflected on it all these years later, that Iris had only risked that one, slightly personal conversation we had just before I left the palace for war for the simple reason that she was quite sure she'd never see me again. Because I would soon be dead. I had a big paper map of the moors spread across my desk, and was working with Kayden to plan out the course of our travel.

"Alex. How are we going to replace one person in the middle of this... wasteland?" Kayden was running a hand over the map, absently fidgeting with the creases where it had been folded and trying to smooth them flat.

I pointed to three locations I had circled on the map in red ink. "These are the only areas that are inhabited. The rest is unlivable wildland."

Kayden frowned at the map. "I gotta tell you, that still seems like a lot of ground to cover."

All I could do was nod in agreement. His statement was true. But this was something that needed to be done, regardless of difficulty.

"Let's start here." I pointed to the circle nearest the top of the map. "Then we'll travel south to this settlement here, and lastly to this village on the coast." I took my red pen and drew lines between the destinations, tracing the meandering courses of the railroad tracks that ran across the big expanse of moorland.

Kayden gave me a little bow of his head to confirm and said, "I'll get started booking the travel today."

"Email a copy of everything to Fiona, too. We're trying to coordinate our schedules around this as closely as we can. I'll text you her email address."

"You got it, boss." Kayden looked down at the map for a few more seconds before he started to fold it back up, and sighed. "You sure about all this, Alex?"

My eyebrows jumped up.

"It's just that we have so little to go on. Are you sure it's really worth it? Going all this way, doing all this searching... when you're not even sure the girl is alive?"

"We won't know if it's worth it till we try. It's the only lead I've got, Kayden. I have to chase it down."

Kayden finished folding the map, stuffed it into the back pocket of his pants.

"I know," he said. "I get it." It seemed like there was more he wanted to say, but he thought better of it.

I suspected he might've wanted to push the point about Fiona and the baby. But he knew it was not his place.

And it wasn't something I wanted to talk about. I had made my decision. And Fiona was strong - she was going to be alright.

I would be missing her, though. We had spent several days, now, working toward a common goal of spending as much time as we could together. And it had turned out to be nothing short of incredible. Fiona was a goddess. All I wanted to do when we were together was sit at her feet and worship her.

Well, maybe that wasn't all I wanted to do to her.

I did not want to leave her, that was for sure. Not for one night. And most certainly not for two or three.

But I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't go.