The Rogues Who Went Rogue -
Chapter 31
Outside the interrogation room, Lucianne stayed in her mate's hard chest as her thumb stroked his nape in slow, soothing motions. Xandar continued taking in her scent from her hair as he focused on her comforting voice cooing to him through their mind-link. When his heart rate returned to normal and his temperament was under better control, he pressed a kiss on her forehead before he asked in dissatisfaction, "So, what should we do if Greg does stray, my love?"
Seeing that their private moment was over, Christian came over to join the discussion. Lucianne's brows furrowed as she took another hard look at Greg who was now being escorted out through the second door that opened up on the other side of the room as she muttered, "If prison walls can't hold him...I don't think we're left with any other option."
Christian bluntly asked, "So, death?"
In a reluctant whisper, Lucianne muttered, "Yes."
Sensing the heaviness in her heart, Xandar held her closer and his thumb stroked her shoulder as he said, "Lucy, if this isn't a game he's playing, we won't have to resort to that. Okay?"
She forced a smile and nodded dotingly before pecking a kiss on Xandar's cheek, grateful for the assurance he gave her. Now that that was out of the way, Xandar brought up the second thing that bothered him, "You and Greg mentioned that Tate and Margaret's bond would either simplify or complicate matters, or do both, sweetheart. What did you mean by that?"
Lucianne registered his sudden impatience in getting the answer to the question he just asked, so she started her explanation, "Well, if Margaret respects the bond and wouldn't let anything comes between her and Tate, it would simplify matters for us because she'll be a cooperative team player, and her followers will, hopefully, follow suit. But, if she sees the bond as..."
Lucianne groped for the right word, and finally settled on, "A mistake." She sighed in despair and proceeded to say in a small, troubled voice, "Then, things can get complicated. We don't know if we can trust her or any of the rogues she leads. If one of them turns against us, disclosing our plans to the creatures coming up with the concoction, our efforts to stop them will be in vain. Punishment and sentencing will be another complex element if such a betrayal does occur, because the big question would be whether Margaret knew or should have known what her people were up to."
Christian's eyes wandered to the ceiling as he processed this before he prompted, "And the third possibility, my Queen, where it can become both a simplification AND a complication?"
Lucianne nodded and elaborated, "Say, hypothetically speaking, Margaret cooperates in the initial stages of our venture and she and Tate fall in love, simplifying things. But in the course of executing the plan, she changes her mind and chooses to...stray, after they both are already it love-"
"Oh, Goddess," Christian muttered in dismay.
Xandar thought aloud, "Tate might change his mind. Even if his mate conspires against us, he might ask for mercy."
Christian continued in a whisper, "Or even fight for it. I just hope he won't blackmail anyone to do it."
Xandar furrowed his brows and said, "Christian, come on. It's Tate. He wouldn't do that to us. Right, baby?"
Lucianne met Christian's worried gaze as she assured the duke, "For as long as I know Tate, he has always been able to separate temporary urges from long-held principles, choosing the latter without fail. It's the reason that White Blood has thrived in such a short span of time. I'm confident that he'll do the right thing if such a time comes. I'm just not sure whether the right thing for us would also be the right thing for him, because his urge to give into the bond may not be temporary."
Xandar asked in a whisper of disbelief, "Lucy, you can't be suggesting that he blackmailed one of us."
Without hesitation, she said, "He wouldn't. He, Juan and the rest of us have been friends for a very long time. I wouldn't go so far as saying that he'll blackmail us, but he might resort to finding some sort of... middle ground? Meaning to say he might help Margaret escape and disappear, and he'd stay back and suffer the consequences on her behalf."
Christian questioned, "But doesn't that seem a little extreme, My Queen? Trading one's life and liberty for someone who just leaves him here and runs away?"
Lucianne uttered sadly, "Not if love is part of the equation, Christian. Deep, intimate interest can make creatures do...unexpected things, even if it's one-sided."
Xandar pinned her to the side of his body before he muttered, "That, I have to agree." Christian then caught his cousin glancing at the one-way mirror where they watched Greg and Lucianne speak earlier before the king planted a deep kiss on the queen's temple. Christian heaved an exhausted sigh before he asked with pleading eyes, "But this is hypothetical, My Queen? We don't know if that's what Alpha Tate would really do?"
Lucianne confirmed, "Yes, it's completely hypothetical, Christian. It's just about considering all possibilities. We are not saying that it will happen but that it could happen." Xandar stiffened at the word 'we' since it meant her and Greg, instead of her and him. It bothered Xandar how his wife and crooked-minded cousin could come to the same hypotheses without saying more than a few words to each other regarding the matter. Greg only took a few seconds to catch up to Lucianne's thoughts, whereas Xandar himself needed her to spell the whole thing out for him.
"Darling, are you okay? What is it?" Lucianne's angelic voice of concern rang through his ears, bringing him out of his thoughts. Christian knew exactly what it was, and decided to step away to join Tate instead, who had just come out of the interrogation room after speaking to Margaret.
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