Freddie had been right, Will’s man cave was exceptional. Hashtag life goals. The wine from Astonbury wasn't bad either and I knew I'd had far too much to ride home, even if my house was only just down the hill. I wasn't irresponsible like that. Luckily Will had prepared for such an eventuality and he had a driver waiting for me. Freddie had his own car and driver and Dom lived in the palace, so he could just stumble back to his rooms, no harm done.

The BMW was a smooth ride and I closed my eyes, resting my head back against the seat and enjoying the buzz from being slightly inebriated. I was a happy drunk, not prone to fits of anger or the need to fight. And I wasn't that drunk. Really. But I had needed a few to take the edge off, especially since I knew that somewhere in that large castle was Jeanette. Jeanette, who had told me she only wanted to be friends. Jeanette, who was marrying some titled toff even though he was a cretin.

The car glided to a stop and my door was opened. I slid out and waved the driver away. The night air was cool, by Australian standards, but it felt good on my heated skin. Alcohol tended to raise my body temperature, so it was nice to stand in the quiet coolness. I didn't think I would sleep tonight, too many thoughts running around in my head. I might need a nightcap to induce a bit of shut eye.

I turned my face to the dark sky. I couldn't see too many stars, the problem with being surrounded by buildings and lights, and I had the yearning to glimpse the twinkling lights in the sky. I shuffled along the footpath, away from the house and towards the marina. It wasn't far and I wasn't in a rush. I eventually got there and walked down the pier to the very end where I stopped and once again looked heavenward. The stars were brighter here, but the constellations were unfamiliar. Where was the Southern Cross and the saucepan shaped one? I couldn't see them and the loss of them was a pang in my heart. Homesickness. I'd never experienced it before. Maybe I had had a bit more to drink that I first thought.

With a sigh, I turned around and walked back along the pier to the road and then headed back home. I had to start my new job tomorrow, I needed to sleep, or at least try to.

A car pulled up and the back door opened. I adjusted my meandering to avoid it, but someone got out and bumped into me. I opened my mouth to apologise, but I needn't have bothered. A hand clamped over my mouth and I was shoved head first into the back of the car. I didn't panic; my mind and my body were under the influence of too much booze to fight my abductor off, so I went with it. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

“What do you want?” I managed to mumble once the car was in motion.

“Shut up,” a voice growled.

It was too dark in the car to see whoever it was that was talking. I knew I should be trying to escape, but I just couldn't get my mind to work properly enough to make my body move.

“I don't have any money on me,” I said.

“We don't want your money,” came the rough reply with a hint of a sneer.

“If it's secrets from Monticorp that you want, then I can't give you those either because I don't know any.”

“We just want a friendly chat with you,” the guy who was driving said.

“We couldn't do this in the morning over coffee like civilised people?” I asked.

“We won't keep you long,” the voice beside me said, “but we do need you to take it seriously.”

The voices were cultured and even though they tried to hide it, I was sure they had English accents. I didn't fear for my life, I didn't get a ‘killer’ vibe from them. Although, I'd never actually met a killer. I had been scared before, that time I got into a fight with Jonno at the pub back home because he was hitting on Elise. I wasn't jealous or anything, I just knew that Elise didn't like him and he just refused to take no for an answer. I felt it was my duty to make him listen, only he was quite a bit bigger than me. Not so much taller as wider, meatier, with fists the size of wrecking balls. They felt like wrecking balls too, and I'd sported a black eye and a cracked rib for weeks. I learned my lesson - using fists was an absolute last resort.

The car slowed and I must have dozed because I knew we were far from the town. Out here there was no light pollution and the windows were dark, so I couldn't see out. We bumped over a rough track or driveway and the car pulled inside a large shed, or what I assumed was a shed. The door opened and I was roughly pulled out and then sat in a wooden chair. They didn't bind me, so I could escape if I wanted to, but I was curious to know why they had gone to all the trouble to kidnap me, especially as they didn't seem to want to keep me.

A light turned on and I squinted against the brightness, blinking furiously to allow my eyes to adjust. I was in a barn, but not a barn with hay and horses. I was surrounded by wooden barrels and the smell of fermentation was ripe. My suspicions were confirmed when the two men took seats in front of me and I could finally see their faces. Martin and Joshua Bower, Jeanette’s brothers.

“You make a habit of kidnapping people?” I asked and Martin had the good grace to appear regretful, Joshua, not so much.

“Our methods may have been a little… unique, but our intention was never to harm you,” Martin said.

“We needed you to understand that this is a serious warning,” Joshua added.

“What is the warning?” I asked. “So far you've not given me even a hint of what you want.”

“Stay away from our sister,” Joshua said through gritted teeth.

“Don't you think that is up to Jeanette to decide? If she doesn't want to be friends, then shouldn't she be the one telling me to back off?”

“Friends,” Joshua scoffed, turning his head away.

“Yes, friends. Don't you think a man and a woman can be friends?”

“No,” Martin said tiredly, running a hand through his hair, “and I don't believe for one minute that that’s all you want with Jeanie.”

I sighed. “Look, she has already said that she wants to be friends and nothing more, I know when to back off.”

“Well, we just wanted to make sure you got the message loud and clear,” Joshua said with a growl.

“Is this about the viscount? Did he put you up to this?”

“Lord Cameron doesn't know anything about this,” Martin said, “and we’d sooner keep him out of it.”

“Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to tell him. I can't stand the guy.” I paused when neither of them said anything. “You don't like him either.”

“That's beside the point.” Martin was doing all the talking now, Joshua seemed to have fallen into a sulk.

“If you don't like him, why are you doing his dirty work?”

“We're doing this for Jeanie, not Lord Cameron.”

I shook my head, exasperated. “How can you want that moron to marry your sister? Seriously? Have you heard the way he talks to her? The way he constantly puts her down and undermines her confidence? Why would you want that for your sister, who you clearly love? I just don't get it. Is his title all that important or does he have something else over you?”

“Jeanie has always wanted a title of her own,” Martin said, standing and pacing. “We're just trying to get her what she wants.”

“Is it really what she wants, though? Jeanette doesn't strike me as the type of woman who cares all that much about social standing. And, what's more, she loves it here in Merveille, she loves her job. Why would she want to leave it all behind to be the trophy wife of a lord who has nothing to offer her but an empty title?”

“How do you know it's an empty title?” Martin asked.

I shrugged, “I don't, but the guy just seems to be trying too hard. Why did he pick Jeanette? Aren't lords of his ilk all the rage in London at the moment? Why did he have to find a woman from another country?”

These thoughts had been circling my head, but it wasn't until now that I'd made the connections. Why was he so intent on Jeanette? He obviously found her wanting, otherwise why was he trying so hard to change her? So if he wasn't in love with her, why was it so important that she marry him?

“Have you investigated him at all?” I asked. “Or have you just taken his word for who he is and what he can do for you and your business?”

“How did you know about the business side?”

“Jeanette told me.”

Martin and I looked at each other for a moment and something passed between us. Joshua was too busy sulking and glaring at me to really hear anything I was saying, but Martin wasn't so easily led astray by his emotions.

“All I ask is this,” I said. “Look into Lord Cameron. I know you have your own contacts in London, but if you need help, I'm sure Freddie would only be too glad to offer assistance. You know he thinks of Jeanette as a sister. I can't promise to stay away from her though, she is teaching me to ride and I really need to be in that hunt, but I won't do anything untoward, you have my word. I just ask that you take a step back and really look at who the man is that you are so intent on marrying your sister. If he is all he says he is, then I will wish them good health and walk away.”

“I have your word on that?” Martin asked.

I held out my hand to shake on it and his fingers closed around mine.

“You trust him, Martin?” Joshua asked.

“Not entirely, but I do think we need to do our due diligence when it comes to Lord Cameron. We've taken him completely at his word, but it couldn't hurt to do a little bit of digging.”

Joshua blew out a rough breath. “Fine,” he said, “I don't like the guy much, but I thought he was what Jeanie wanted. Mum told us he was the perfect match for her.”

“Yeah, well, Mother isn't always right,” Martin said then turned to me. “Come on, I'll drive you home.”

“I'll do it,” Joshua said as I stood. “You stay here tonight and I'll stay in town with Mother.”

They clasped hands and then I was ushered back into the car. I sat up front this time instead of in the back like a kidnap victim. All in all, it had been a rather informative night. These two were harmless and they loved their sister, who was I to complain about that? I loved her too.

The drive back into town was silent until we neared my street.

“I'll be watching you,” Joshua said, “and if you even touch a hair on her head, I will kill you.”

“Fine,” I said, tired now as the mixture of alcohol and adrenalin started to leave my system. “But make sure you keep just as close an eye on Lord Cameron. I do not like the way he treats her and you shouldn't either.”

Joshua didn't say anything. The car came to stop outside my house and I climbed out, leaning in to say one last thing.

“It's been fun,” I said before slamming the door closed.

I didn't wait for the car to drive off, I turned and trudged up the stairs. The door opened before I could even reach for my keys and MacClaren stood in the darkened hall giving me a disapproving look.

“‘Night,” I said as I strode passed him and up the stairs to my room.

I woke with a start. Had that whole kidnapping thing been a dream? As I came fully awake I lay back down and thought over the events of the night before. It hadn’t been a dream and I had been too drunk to panic, which had probably been the best course of action anyway.

The Bower brothers were convinced that marrying Lord Cameron was what Jeanette wanted. It didn’t matter how many times she tried to tell me the same thing, I didn’t believe her. I believed that she thought she was doing the right thing, that she was doing it for her brothers or her mother or whatever misguided misconceptions she had of the whole situation, but I did not believe that deep down it was what she wanted. But did that give me the right to interfere?

I pushed myself out of bed and hit the shower. It was my first official day of work at Monticorp and that was what I should be focusing on, not Jeanette and her ridiculous decision to marry the viscount. I dressed quickly, my bespoke suit fitting me like a glove. It felt good to pull a suit on again. I knew other men found them restrictive and uncomfortable but that was only because they had never worn a suit like this. I didn’t even mind wearing a tie. I liked the way wearing a suit made me feel. Of course, it made me feel powerful and in command, but it was more than that. I don’t remember my father ever wearing a suit and to me it was a symbol of what I had achieved and how far I’d come. I had deep respect for the farmers who battled daily with Mother Nature to bring forth crops and stock to make a living, but it had never been my dream. This, working in a company like Monticorp, had always been my dream and pulling on my suit made it all so much more real.

The Monticorp building wasn’t far from my townhouse, so I took the opportunity to walk there. It helped to relieve a bit of the nervous energy that had infused me the closer I came to actually starting work. I wasn’t a complete newbie, Freddie and I had been corresponding via email for the last few months and I had already started some of the work I would fully step into today. I’d researched Monticorp and Freddie and I knew that I would be a great fit for the company. His father had run it before him, but since taking the lead, Freddie had directed the corporation in new ways and I was looking forward to working with him on some of his more innovative ideas.

Freddie was waiting for me when I entered the office. He greeted me with a handshake and a back slap and then proceeded to overwhelm me with a thorough tour of the offices. He had only brushed over the surface the other day, but this time he made sure to introduce me to everyone and I had no hope of remembering any of their names or job titles. By lunch time I was brain fried and had the mental capacity of a small child. It was then that Freddie sprung on me a surprise field trip.

“Come on, Drew,” he said cheerily from the office door, “We have a lunch meeting at the palace with the queen.”

“What?”

He just smiled and rolled his hand in a hurry up motion. I stood and followed him out of the building and into a waiting car and then we were moving. Before I knew it, we were entering the palace gates and moving down the long driveway to the front steps of the Château de Contes de Fées. A footman opened the door and we both slid out. I surreptitiously smoothed my suit as we were led into the foyer and then ushered to an elevator that would take us to the queen’s office.

Freddie stopped me outside the double doors and looked me over, straightening my tie. “You do know how to bow, don’t you?” he asked, his face sombre.

“Of course,” I said, not feeling confident at all.

He slapped me on the shoulder, “Good,” he said and then opened the doors.

We walked into an outer office with several desks occupied by staff. I recognised Priscilla, whose desk was closest to another closed door. She looked up and smiled when she saw Freddie and he bent to brush a kiss on her cheek.

“Is she ready for us?” he asked.

“You’re not going to introduce me?” she asked, looking at me pointedly.

Freddie gave a long-suffering sigh and then smiled at her. “Lady Priscilla, meet Drew Taylor, my new CFO.”

Priscilla stuck out her hand and I shook it. “Nice to meet you,” she said.

“And you,” I replied.

“Okay, you can go in now,” Priscilla said and Freddie tapped on the closed doors before opening them, not waiting for a response from inside.

I took a deep breath and followed him in, stopping beside him to bow formally to the woman who was now my queen.

“Freddie, did you tell him to do that?” she asked and I looked between them, surprised.

Freddie grinned. “Of course I did. I get a kick out of it.”

The queen came around from behind her desk and swatted Freddie before offering her hand to shake. I shook it hesitantly, still not sure of the proper protocol.

“It’s okay Drew,” she said, “You’ll discover that I am a very non-traditional monarch.”

“Irreverent monarch,” Freddie mumbled beside me, earning him a glare from the queen.

“In public, I require all the pomp and tradition of my station, but when we are working in an informal or casual capacity, I don’t stand on the formalities. I am Alyssa and I expect to be addressed as such except when in a formal setting. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am, ah, I mean Alyssa.”

She graced me with a smile and shot Freddie a triumphant glare before directing us to sit in the arrangement of couches by the window. This was turning out to be a very weird day.