Operation: Monarch. Valerie Parv

a scheme to keep you hidden until your existence could be revealed when it would do the most harm to Carramer,” Lorne suggested. “If you consent to it, DNA testing will establish beyond doubt whether you could be my parents’ child.”

      “Of course I consent.” Garth’s tone said the sooner the better.

      “Assuming the test is conclusive, under Carramer law, as the eldest son you would be the heir presumptive.”

      “Hell’s teeth.”

      Lorne’s mouth twitched. “Precisely.”

      Her mind whirled. “Carramer First must be planning to announce Garth’s existence on the eve of the American president’s visit.”

      Garth shot her a sharp look. “What would that achieve?”

      She suspected the reason but looked to Lorne, who answered. “The president wants to establish an American base on one of the outer islands in exchange for long-term trade and defense benefits to both our countries. Any uncertainty about my right to finalize the agreement could derail the talks.”

      Garth’s breath whistled out. “Sounds like someone doesn’t want that base built.”

      She chewed her lower lip. “Carramer First has a republican agenda, but they’ve never gone beyond noisy demonstrations and minor acts of sabotage. Their antics are mainly aimed at gaining publicity and supporters. Stealing the heir to the throne and announcing his existence years later is beyond their scope.”

      “It isn’t beyond somebody’s scope,” Garth said. “If not Carramer First themselves, then who and why?”

      “Someone could be using the group to push an agenda of their own,” Lorne suggested.

      She had been thinking the same thing. “The members may not know they’re being used.”

      “Also a presumption.” Lorne thrust his hands into his pockets. “Unfortunately, DNA testing takes at least two weeks to obtain a result, more time than we have before the president’s arrival.”

      “Someone evidently took that into account,” Serena said. “They’re obviously not stupid, which means they won’t be easy to pin down.”

      Lorne became all business. “That’s why I’m assigning you to find who’s behind this and stop them before the president’s visit. You’ll have to work quietly. If word gets out about a possible claimant to the throne, it could not only derail the summit, it could throw the whole kingdom into turmoil.”

      She drew herself up. “Understood, Your Highness. However, I could be recognized by some of the Carramer First members. I’ve broken a few of their heads during demonstrations outside the palace.”

      “You may have to break a few more before this is over,” Lorne said wryly. “They must know by now that the package is missing. They’ll expect us to learn of its existence. If you’re seen with Garth they’ll think you’ve been assigned to protect him until we get to the bottom of this.”

      Protect Garth? She almost laughed out loud, unable to think of any man less in need of her protection.

      His body language also rejected the notion outright even before he said, “Respectfully, Your Highness, if I’m going to help I’d prefer a more active assignment.”

      “And if you are the true heir?”

      Something knotted inside her as she thought of him putting himself at risk, not because of who he might be, but because…well because he was Garth. “In any case you don’t have a security background,” she said.

      “I have my navy experience. It covers a lot of ground.” He faced Lorne. “Unless the circumstances of my discharge means you’re not willing to trust me.”

      Lorne’s expression betrayed nothing. “I know only what the record shows.”

      Garth’s mouth firmed. “The record is wrong.”

      “Not according to Admiral McRafe.”

      “Admiral McRafe is an ass—admiral, sir. He isn’t a diver. Defective equipment caused the trainee’s injury.”

      She saw Lorne suppress a smile at Garth’s blunt description of the admiral, censored barely in time. She had met the admiral at a palace briefing once, and the dislike had been mutual. But would he destroy a man’s career before admitting he was wrong?

      “The question of the succession is our priority right now,” Lorne said. “The court physician is out of the country, but I’ll have his deputy arrange the DNA test under the strictest secrecy. I’m told she needs to test as many members of the royal family as possible, so I’ve announced that I wish to establish a DNA data bank for historical reasons.”

      “I recommend setting up a command post at the summer palace at Allora where it would be easier to keep the investigation under wraps,” Serena proposed.

      Lorne inclined his head. “I concur. The two of you will go there as soon as the testing is completed.”

      The two of you.

      Instant heat coiled through her, disturbing in its intensity. Basing the investigation at Allora was logical and Garth had to be involved, but she hadn’t counted on Lorne sending Garth to the summer palace with her. Already her awareness of him put her senses on overdrive. Tough to function efficiently when unsettling currents ripped through her every time he looked at her.

      She debated whether to claim emotional involvement as a way out, but could she honestly? Sexual awareness wasn’t the same thing, and that’s all she was prepared to acknowledge. “Isn’t Garth safer here, Your Highness?” she suggested anyway.

      Before Lorne could answer, Garth snarled, “To the devil with safe. I should have some say in this. If I am the heir, I outrank both of you.”

      Unperturbed, Lorne smiled. “When and if the crown is yours, you can do as you wish. Until then, I rule here. I want you out of harm’s way until we know the truth.”

      Even Garth couldn’t argue with a man whose word was quite literally law. His bent head conceded the reality, although the rest of his stiff pose telegraphed defiance. “As Your Highness wishes.”

      For now, she heard, although he didn’t say it. In the stubbornness stakes the two were evenly matched. Another indication of their relationship? Carramer was in for a shock if it got Garth as a monarch, but not as much as Lorne himself, she thought. He’d been born to rule. Garth ruled no one but himself, and he didn’t take kindly to following another man’s orders. How had he survived so long in the navy?

      Lorne narrowed his eyes. “Serena?”

      She resisted the urge to sigh. “As soon as the test is done, we’ll leave for Allora—together, sir.”

      “Good. I’m putting you in charge.”

      Garth looked as if he would like to strangle someone with his bare hands. If she had a problem dealing with him, he obviously had a bigger one with answering to her. Good. It might distract him from making her job harder than it already was.