Hacker Wedding (White Hat Security #9) - Linzi Baxter Page 0,1

people did. But something felt off about her.

Wes tensed next to me as she sauntered over only wearing a black sports bra and workout shorts. She pulled her blond hair back. She was pretty but was nothing compared to my future wife.

“Hello, Mr. Blackwood,” she purred.

Wes cut in before I could respond. “Is there a reason you're bothering His Royal Highness, Rochelle?”

I hated being called Royal Highness, especially since it wasn’t official. Not until Patty and I married would I have the title, although most around us already considered us together. Even being called Mr. Blackwood drove me crazy. From the tick on Wes’s jaw, I could see that this wasn’t the first run-in he’d had with Rochelle. And from the determined look in her brown eyes, it wouldn’t be the last.

“His team keeps telling me his schedule is busy. But clearly, he has time if he’s in the gym every day,” she countered, glaring at my second-in-command.

“I’m right here. You guys don’t need to talk about me like I’m not. What was it you wanted to speak to me about?”

A smile spread across her face, and she reached up and pressed her hand to my forearm. Even without fighting in the rink, my reflexes were still fast. I quickly grabbed her hand and pushed it away.

“I asked what you needed. I didn’t give you permission to touch me,” I said.

Rochelle stuck out her bottom ruby-red lip. “The security in the palace has gotten a little over-the-top. The guards won’t let me bring my boyfriend with me to work anymore. I can’t video anything in the palace, and furthermore, Patty doesn’t need three guards. Who would ever want to kidnap her, anyway?” She didn’t let me answer before she continued. “You know, many other women would happily fill your bed.”

I blinked, not believing the vile words that came out of this woman’s mouth, or the fact that she outright said she wanted to sleep with me. “Let’s get one thing straight. I wouldn’t touch you even if someone paid me. Patty is my fiancée and the only woman I will ever sl—”

“King Beckett slept with many women around here,” Rochelle said.

That wasn’t the first time I’d heard about the women of the royal staff who the king slept with. Wes tensed next to me and ground his teeth. My second-in-command didn’t seem to like when anyone put King Beckett down.

It really surprised me that we hadn’t found more of the king’s children. That was one of the projects I’d been working on and keeping from my wife. I’d developed a task force to hunt down all of King Beckett’s children. The number was lower than I’d initially thought.

Once the DNA proof was in place, I would let Patty know about her siblings, but not until I had everything in order. It would be her choice what she wanted to do. I didn’t care as long as she had an option.

Rochelle made my blood boil. The fact that she wanted to videotape inside the palace was ridiculous. A month after moving to Shialia, Patty and I had decided to block videotaping in the palace after we found four YouTube channels making money off someone filming there. A month before, we’d implemented a new house rule that we would fire anyone caught doing exactly what Rochelle wanted to do.

There was a chance the person who’d made the videos was Rochelle. We also had a leak from inside the palace. I wasn’t sure where it was coming from yet. It seemed whenever we were about to question someone regarding the local kidnapping, the person disappeared. Rochelle was part of the problem the palace had been facing the last few years. I was sick of dealing with it.

“You’re fired,” I said.

“You can’t fire me,” she screeched and took a step forward. Everyone in the gym stopped and stared. “I work for the king, and until he comes back, there is nothing you can do about it.”

My lip twitched. “You’re wrong.” I smiled, loving the fact I could get rid of this woman and not have to see her again. “King Beckett put Patty in charge, and I’m in charge of keeping everyone in this place safe. You are a threat to security, if you don’t exit the premises in the next five minutes, I’ll have you arrested.” I wouldn’t really have her arrested. My need to knock the woman down a few pegs was buried deep inside.

One of the palace guards walked over and