Chapter 838

Mark stays close at Rafe's heels as he storms through the palace. Rafe glances back over his shoulder with a frown.

"You can go, Mark," Rafe snaps, annoyed. "You've got your stupid protection necklace. No one's going to snatch you away."

"I can't go, Rafe," Mark snaps back, surprising Rafe by how much his brother's voice matches his own these days, in timbre as well as snappiness. "Mom says you have to babysit me, so here I am. Waiting to be sat."

Rafe turns and gives Mark a little shove on his shoulder. "Would you take this seriously for one minute!?" "I am taking this seriously!" Mark snarls, casting one hand out to the side. "Do you think this is easy for me, being forced to tail along with you even though I'm useless? Do you think I'm not worried about Jesse and June and Ariel!?"

Rafe growls, because he knows his brother is. "Yeah, well, you could make fewer jokes. Or you could try harder to learn how to do something -"

"I'm not good at this stuff, Rafe," Mark growls, hanging his head a little. "Not like the rest of you are." Rafe closes his mouth at that, looking at the shame on his little brother's face. Because it's true - Mark has always had more trouble with self-discipline than he and Ari and Juniper have. Mark is...easily distracted and doesn't respond to the pleasures of hard work and achievement like the rest of them do. Rafe's wolf bites him, hard, on the inside. You need to be kinder.

Rafe sighs and nods, knowing that he's right. It's just...god, he's so angry these days.noveldrama

But...taking it out on Mark is not okay.

"I'm sorry," Rafe says, rueful, stepping closer to Mark. "I'm being a jerk. It's...good to have you here." "You're lying," Mark murmurs, scuffing his foot against the floor. "You don't like me. You don't want me around. Only Ariel does."

"I like you, Mark," Rafe says on a sigh, utterly truthful. He does like Mark he just...god, he hasn't made a lot of space in his life for his little brother, has he? "Come on, walk with me, not behind. Mom sent both of us on this task, not just me."

Mark lifts his head a little, a smile pulling at one corner of his lips. And then he nods, the two brothers starting off down the hall until they push through a door into a wide room full of computers and papers and mail.

And at the center of it all stands Luca Grant, who looks up at them, his face very exhausted and serious.

"Hey, Luca!" Mark calls, striding

forward with his hand out to clasp the boxer's, Rafe scowls a little, thinking that Mark's a bit of a traitor for accepting Luca back into his heart as easily as Ella did. Rafe and Dominic are...not there yet.

"Hi," Luca says, smiling warmly at Mark and shaking his hand before turning to Rafe, his face becoming more serious. "Um, hey. Rafe."

"Grant," Rafe says, tucking his hands behind his back and speaking quite formally. "Mom sent us to check in on things here, to see if any information has come forward."

"Um, not that I've seen," Luca says, running his hand through his hair and looking around at the chaos of the mail room, where people are rushing to answer phones and check emails and sort

thal

great deal of mail. They set up a tip line for any information and a

great deal has been coming through, not much of it useful. "It's...a lot, but we're managing to get through it."

Rafe had been surprised when his father had accepted Luca's offer to help. Rafe had been snarling at Grant the moment Ella brought him into the room, ready to rip his head off. Despite Ella's calm assurance that Luca wanted to help, Rafe just couldn't get the mental image of Ariel bleeding and crying in Ben's arms on Luca's bedroom floor out of his mind.

But Dominic, even if he'd been equally enraged, had accepted the offer of help. "We need every competent man at his moment," Dominic had snarled at Rafe's protest, baring his teeth at his son, letting him know that the issue was decided.

But to Rafe's relief, Luca had been banished away from the family to this job. An important job, but certainly one where Rafe didn't have to interact with him much.

Until, of course, his mother kept finding pale excuses to send Rafe down here, eager for the two to find common ground.

"Can I help with anything?" Mark asks, moving around Luca's desk and beginning to sort through some of the messages.

"Some personal things came through for your mom and dad," Luca says, friendly, handing Mark some folded pieces of paper and envelopes. "You could take these up."

"You did security sweeps on those?" Rafe snaps, lifting his chin at the mail. "Ensured it was all safe?" Slowly, Luca turns his eyes to his former friend. "You know I did, Rafe."

Rafe bares his teeth a bit. "Yeah, well, I'm not sure I really trust your word when you say you're committed to keeping the royal family safe."

Luca drops his head, ashamed, knowing that there's nothing he can say to make it better. That Rafe is right - no matter his reasons for it, he did leave Ariel alone and vulnerable.

Mark looks anxiously between the two, torn. Because even if he is of course on his family's side...his heart goes out to Luca, who looks so forlorn, and is trying so hard to make amends.