Summary: After the failed attempt to investigate, Drake and Jade unwind playing pool, but the game becomes trickier as the stakes get higher. Liam fears for Jade’s life and makes tough decisions about their future.
Based on the (music) prompt: Nuit pourpre
Maxwell and Jade were at the train’s boutique choosing a dress for her while Drake stood in the doorway.”How long is this going to take? It’s not like we have all day here.” Drake shouted.
“Patience is a virtue, my friend.” Maxwell beamed at him before looking through the racks again. “Hey, how is it coming in there?” he knocked on the door of the dresser Jade was in.”
“Not that great. Can you pick something less… colorful? I’ll be the only woman there. I don’t want to call attention in a fuchsia dress.”
“Really? That color looks so good on your skin.”
“Maxwell!” She scolded.
“Okay, okay…” He went through the racks again until he found a mini black dress covered with pearls and back cleavage. He knocked on the door again. “Try this one.”
After a few moments of silence, Jade walked out of the dresser. “I think we have a winner, ” she beamed, turning around to look at the mirror. “I love this cleavage.”
Drake peered at Jade adjusting her dress at the mirror. The dress fitted perfectly on her, emphasizing all her features. “Don’t you think it’s too revealing?” Drake’s brows drew together.
“Jade can pull it off.”
“Fine, can we go now?” Drake snapped.
“Let’s go, gentlemen.”
The limo stopped at the entrance of the speakeasy and Drake handed the King’s guard the invitations. The guard looked at Jade suspiciously. “Who are you?”
“I’m a dancer and you’re holding the show! Do you want to explain the King of Cordonia why the speakeasy was missing its star performer? Let us go through now.”
The guard gave the invitations back and allowed the limo to enter.
“Smooth work team.” Maxwell beamed.
“Can’t believe he bought the dancer thing. You’re lucky that guard doesn’t know you don’t walk around pole-dancing at parties.” Drake scoffed.
“Uh huh…” Jade looked away, trying to hide a smirk. Maxwell and Drake gaped at her astonished.
“Nooooo…” Maxwell plastered a wide grin on his face.
“You’d be surprised if you knew all the things I can do.” Jade crossed her legs provocatively and smiled coyly. Maxwell beamed as Drake shifted on his seat, avoiding eye contact with Jade. The limo stopped and Maxwell stepped out of the car first.
“You don’t know how to play fair, do you?” Drakes looks at her, carefully studying every part of her body.
“I don’t know what are you talking about.” She gave a lopsided grin.
Drake shakes his head. “Have you thought about my proposal?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I’m still thinking.”
“If you say yes to me, we can walk away from this mess right now.”
“I still need to clear my name, Drake.”
“Is it really the only thing holding you back?”
Jade doesn’t answer. She doesn’t know it yet. She thought about it, but every choice she makes comes with a risk that involves more than just her. “Can we talk about it later? We have business to attend.”
They get out of the limo, entering the speakeasy. Drake immediately is mesmerized by the rich smell of aged cigars and the view of noblemen eating steak and drinking the finest whiskeys. “Is this what heaven looks like to you?”
“Pretty much.” He takes two glasses of whiskey and offers one to her. “I’ll look for Agent Breakdance and remind him that he has a job to do.”
“Copy that, Agent Marshmallow.”
Drake shakes his head and leaves. Jade walks discreetly into a darker corner and senses someone following her. She turns around to find Liam hungrily watching her. ” I don’t recall seeing you on the guest list.”
“Liam!”
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to see you turn up here. I’ve learned to never doubt what you’re capable of.”
“I’d scale a volcano if it meant seeing you.”
“I’m sure you would. However, I take it you’re not only here for my company.”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“Can I be of any assistance?”
“Thank you, but it’s probably safer if it looks like you’re not involved.”
“I understand. Although on another note…” Liam leans closer and clears his throat. The familiar smell of the woody scent of his cologne combined with the sweet odor of his favorite whiskey sends a thrill through her body as his eyes sweep her from head to toe. “You look like a scandal waiting to happen.”
“Really? I chose the most discreet option Maxwell presented me.” She smiled coyly.
“I don’t think you could come here and leave the building unnoticed.” He touches her cheek and his hand wanders to the back of her neck. “While you’re unexpectedly gracing my presence, I have a proposal for you. There’s a particularly magical spot along the Seine, a bridge with columns crowned by golden statues. If you’ll have me, I’d like to take you away from all this… from our enemies and the plots against us… and just have an evening with you in the heart of Paris.”
“Won’t you be tired after all of this?” She leans on the wooden wall, stepping away from him.
“After all of this, time with you will be like air to a drowning man. Nothing would keep me from you.”
“What would we be doing, exactly?”
He steps closer to her, places his hand on the wall and smiles. “Consider it a… midnight street tour. We’ll have Paris all to ourselves while the rest of the city sleeps.”
“You make it sound so enticing.”
“That’s kind of the point. I’m hoping you won’t be able to resist it just like I can’t help myself around you.” His free hand runs through the cleavage of her dress, touching her bare skin. Before Liam leaned to kiss her neck, Lords Neville and Rashad interrupted their moment.
“Ah, Liam. So this is where you ran off to.” Lord Neville said.
Liam turns around pulling Jade to his side, his hands never leaving her bare skin.
“And I see you have a woman at your bachelor party.”
“Lady Jade seems to have a tendency to show up at such events.” Liam smiles as his thumb traces a line on the center of Jade’s back. His light feather touch makes her skin tingle and she’s unable to respond. So she simply faked a smile.
“Lady Hana isn’t also with you, by any chance, is she?”
Liam’s hand delves on the small of her back underneath the dress, finding her panties. Jade struggles to keep a straight face.
“No… Not right now.”
The men chat about something else when Drake wakes over to her.
“I think I’m needed over by the drinks. Excuse me, gentlemen.”
“Good luck,” Liam whispered to her before she leaves.
…
“Damn, Bourbon, I’m sorry… I was such an idiot.” Drake falls back on the limo seat.
“I get it. We’ve had some rough days.”
“I guess so…” he shrugged. ” First the Beaumonts, now Bastien… I need to get away from this two-faced world and all its damned lies.”
“Where are you going?”
“I saw a dive bar on the way over that should have plenty of drinks and zero nobles.”
“Then I’ll come with you. I know you didn’t ask me to, but I don’t care. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
His expression brightened. “Okay, let’s go.” He rolled down the partition and gave the driver the directions to the dive bar.
They walk in and sat on the bar stools. “First round is on me.” He gestures to the bartender, who poured a scotch in two glasses. “Here you go.”
“A scotch?” Jade raised an eyebrow.
“You know I only drink whiskey.”
“Not true. You drank the cocktail I made for you at Coronation.”
“Okay, I drank that. What’s your point?”
“If you’re going to order me whiskey, order a bourbon.” Drake narrowed his eyes at her and she protested. ” Hey, I’m not a fan of the smokiness that lingers at the tail-end of a tasting.”
Drake’s eyes widen and he gave her a half smile. “I prefer a scotch, but I respect the opinion of a woman who knows what she wants in a drink.” They drank their shot and Drake orders a bourbon.
“That’s more like it.” She smirked, drinking the shot. “Bourbons are great in every form we present ourselves.” He shakes his head, hiding a smile behind his glass.
“I can see a pool table from here. Wanna play?”
“I’m in.”
They walked across the room and Drake begins to set up the game. Jade reaches for her cue stick watches him arranging the balls in the rack. She quietly muses the idea of having laid back nights like this.
“Planning your strategy already?” Drake smirks, bringing Jade out of her reverie.
“Yes. Dazzle and distract.”
Drake picks up his cue stick. “Are you up for some house rules?”
“Sure.”
“After the break, we each get one shot per round to sink the ball into a corner pocket. Each ball has one point. Best of three rounds wins.”
“I can handle that.”
“Go ahead and break.”
Jade strikes once and sends the balls scattering across the table until they stop. He studies the layout of the table and strikes and the ball falls into a corner pocket. “That’s one.” He steps back from the table and Jade lines up her first shot, knocking two balls in a corner pocket. She grins. “Nice!” He walks around the table to line up his shot and Jade stands next to him.
“Is the grumpy face supposed to help you win?” Jade purrs in his ear and he misses. “That was a freebie for you, Bourbon.”
“You do know you’re losing, right?”
“I still have one shot and you can miss.”
“Sure, sure…” She aims but misses.
“I told you could miss.” He steps closer to the table and she slowly walks away from him, wiggling her hips. He stares for a moment at her curves then focus and hit two balls in the corner pocket. “Now who’s losing?”
Jade lines up her shot and he walks across the room, unbuttons his shirt off and begins to do push-ups. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing. Don’t mind me. Just gotta get the rest of my nightly workout in.”
“Shirtless?”
“I don’t want my shirt to get sweaty.” He switches to one hand pushups, giving her a clear vision of his torso. Jade tries to focus on the table but misses again. He gets up and grins. “Let’s see…” he counts the points on his fingers. “3 x 2. Oh, look at that… I won.” He smiles triumphantly. “I wanna collect my prize now.”
“What?”
“Your games always have prizes.”
“But this was your idea.”
“Okay. I say I want a prize. And my prize is your answer to my proposal.”
“Why?”
“Because I say so.” He steps closer to her, still shirtless and gapes at her. “Yes or no?”
“I don’t know…” she looks away.
He pulls her chin up. “Yes or no?”
“Drake…” she pleads.
“Yes or no?” He hisses.
“No!” Her eyes widen as she realizes what happened.
They stare at each other for a moment. His expression seems impassive, but his sad eyes gave him away. “Well, there you go.”
“Drake…”
“Let’s go back to the train.” He picked up his shirt and got dressed.
“Drake…” her lips quivered.
“I don’t want to hear it. Don’t say you’re sorry because it won’t change what you feel for me. I offered you a way out. Don’t want it? Fine. Let’s just go back to the train and forget I ever suggested it.”
They head towards the entrance of the bar and walk back to the train in silence.
…
The bachelor party was winding down and Liam was worried. He hasn’t seen Drake or Maxwell since the toast. Not even Bertrand was there. What could’ve possibly happened during the investigation? He sat on one of the bar stools, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“Long night, Your Majesty?” A bartender smiled at Liam.
“Yes.” He sighed. “Way too long.”
“Maybe a drink will help.”
“Oh no, you should be off duties at this hour.”
“It’s no trouble, sir. Here. A drink worthy of a king.”
“A Red Lion. Interesting choice. Thank you.” Liam stared at the yellow cocktail sour cocktail with sugar on the borders of the glass and took a sip of it. Before he placed the glass on the bar, he saw a familiar handwriting on the napkin.
The lion is expected by the river right outside the thicket.
– Agt. Breakdance.
Liam smiled and finished his drink. He tipped the bartender and headed to the main entrance, where the Royal motorcade waited for him.
As soon as he got to the hotel, Liam walked across a beautiful garden that led to the pool area. By the pool, Maxwell was sitting in a lounge chair fidgeting with his phone.
“Late night mission, agent?”
“The Lion requested an update, so here I am.” Maxwell shrugged.
Liam sat on the chair across Maxwell’s, studying his expression. He hasn’t seen his friend so sad in years and it made him even more worried. “Did they talk to Bastien?”
“Yes. He just said it wasn’t personal. He was following orders.”
“That’s what he always does. But whose orders?”
“I don’t know. Drake ruined the investigation when he punched Bertrand.”
“What?”
“Savannah and Bertrand had a thing going on until she got pregnant. She told me what happened but she didn’t want anyone to know, so I helped her leave court. Drake found out about it yesterday. So during the investigation, Bertrand showed up and Drake started a fight before Jade could ask Bastien any more questions.”
Liam stared agape. Court has become a mess to his loved ones. All his friends’ lives were chaotic, the love of his life was suffering the consequences of the scheme against her and Bastien, one of the few men he trusted his life with, was involved. Some many things happened right under his nose while he attended to an unnecessary amount of courtly parties to promote an engagement he had no intention to go through with it. He never felt so powerless.
Maxwell waited for a response from Liam, but he didn’t say a word. “I know this is a lot to take in, but at least we’re one step closer to figure out the plot and finally be able to protect Jade.”
Jade… I have to get her out of this. We have to leave court.
“Liam?”
“Huh?”
“Are you alright?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this. You will have your happy life with Jade. I’ll do everything I can to help you.” Maxwell gave him a reassuring smile before standing up.
“Max.”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Maxwell patted his shoulder and left. Liam glanced at his watch. 5 past 12 AM. Dammit, I’m late. He rushed to the hotel entrance where Bastien waited for him.
“All set, Your Majesty. The car is waiting.”
“Thank you, but I’ll walk.”
“Your Majesty, I highly recommend you not…”
“I said I’ll walk.” He hissed. He had never been rude to Bastien, but tonight he could barely contain his anger. “It’s not far from here. I know my way around the city. I’ll be fine.”
“Very well, Sir.” Bastien bowed and turn away.
Liam walked slowly, contemplating the city getting quiet. He loves Paris and hoped for so long to stroll alongside a woman he loved. Now that he finally found someone to share a romantic moment, his thoughts were clouded by schemes, threats, and fear of losing her.
A cool autumn breeze touched his cheeks as he got to the bridge. She didn’t arrive. She probably won’t come. I don’t blame her. I have no guarantees I could keep her safe. He heard footsteps approaching and recognized the firm clacking sound of heels on the bridge and turned to see Jade’s enchanting smile.
“Jade.” His face softens. ” I wasn’t sure you’d come.” He pulls her into his arms, holding her tightly, resting his head on her shoulder. “After the bachelor party, I found Maxwell and he filled me in on your… mission earlier. To think that Bastien helped set you up…”
“Are you alright?” Her brows snapped together.
He smiled ruefully, stepping away and turning to the stone railing. “Better now that you’re here, but… I can’t stop thinking about everything that’s happened. I wasn’t sure if we should risk coming here. If the person behind this is so powerful that Bastien is afraid of them… are we really safe? The only way to keep you safe might be for us to leave Cordonia.”
“You can’t abandon Cordonia. The kingdom needs you to set things right and be the great ruler I know you are.”
He sighs, then nods. “Jade, I can’t bear the thought of losing you, but I know you deserve more. I have to let you go.”
Her wide brown eyes glisten as tears start to fall. “What? No!”
Liam cups her cheeks, “Jade, I love you. But if we don’t find who plotted against you, I won’t convince you to stay.”
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do. I’m staying and we’re going to fight this. And if we don’t succeed, I’ll still be here for you.” Her expression hardened.
“Jade…” he begged.
“If you love enough me to consider leaving the only kind of life you know, I love you too much to let you sacrifice your happiness for the country.”
“But then you’ll sacrifice your own happiness for mine.”
She looked deeply into his clear blue eyes and smiled sadly. “How could I ever be happy without you?”
His lips find hers in a sweet, yearning kiss. Tears stream down their faces as the kiss deepens. He held her tighter, but no matter how close they were, it didn’t seem enough. He reluctantly pulled away and gazed at her.
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Liam, you’re all I need.”
He smiled warmly kissing her forehead. They held on to each other for a moment, then she pulled away.
“Well, I hope you didn’t come here just so we could run away or you could break up with me, ’cause those options just went down the drain. You’d better think about something else fast because I’m not leaving here without a proper date.”
He laughed. “Then I guess it’s a good thing my original plan was an actual date. Come with me.”
