Read Online Devotion by Megan Derr - Free Book Online

Devotion
    If Reyes saw one. More. Flower. He was going to start killing people. Huffing out an irritated breath, he gingerly made his way through the veritable forest of flowers that filled his office, their combined scents strong enough to start a headache buzzing.
    There was nothing quite as aggravating as the Days of Devotion, and if Reyes knew a way to go back in time to murder the King and Queen who had started the ridiculous three-day-long tradition of giving flowers and other gifts to loved ones, he would do so gladly.
    As near as he could tell, 'devotion' was just another word for 'attempt to suck up to the king'. As if it were that easy to do. Reyes sneered at a particularly opulent arrangement of white and yellow roses, unimpressed by the bracelet twined around the gold ribbon securing them.
    More bouquets than he could count filled the office, having delivered steadily throughout the day. Some simply had names on the tags, some had 'charming' little notes, still others bore poetry that made Reyes feel very sorry for the poet.
    He carefully pushed aside a dark blue vase holding yellow orchids and a tall stand holding a truly repulsive number of lilies. Did no one understand subtlety?  Finally reaching his desk, Reyes cleared it of the half-dozen vases of flowers piled on it, and then sat down with another sigh. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes, wishing he could just retreat for the day and go hide somewhere.
    But a holiday did not mean the work stopped, even if it meant everyone tried to pretend otherwise. Rhoten would be mired in meetings and dinners and other celebratory affairs all day long and well into the night—far longer than anyone should force Rhoten to stay up, but hopefully Sharla and Dilane would take care of that.
    His task was to catch up on paperwork, and then discreetly start getting rid of the ridiculous flower arrangements overtaking his office. He scowled at the purple vase filled with peonies sitting on the bookcase immediately to the right of his desk.
    Did no one realize that flowers given so crassly should not be given at all? Was there a single damned arrangement anywhere in there that was sincerely meant? Reyes made a face and went to pull out fresh sheets of paper to begin drafting a letter to the Krian Emperor. Rhoten would want to look it over before he went to sleep and fuss over it in the morning.
    When he opened his desk drawer, however, he found something in it that did not belong:  a small package wrapped in orange tissue paper and bound with an orange hair ribbon. Curious and amused, Reyes picked the package up and closed the drawer, paper forgotten. Removing the ribbon, he used it to replace the more demure brown one in his hair.
    Pulling away the paper, Reyes lifted one brow as he stared at the velvet jewelry box in his hands. If Kinnaird was giving him a ring, Reyes was never speaking to him again. Opening the box, he smiled to see the tiger lily lapel pin inside. Extracting it, he pinned it to his dark brown, velvet jacket, admiring the detail that had been put into it.
    He wondered when Kinnaird would bother to show. Shortly after waking him up in very delightful fashion, Kinnaird had slipped away and not been seen since. Reyes rolled his eyes again, and finally retrieved the paper he had been after in the first place. Setting it on the desk, he opened the drawer that held all his inks and pens and saw yet another package, wrapped in green tissue paper this time. The shape was peculiar, and when he picked it up Reyes realized what it must have been. Unwrapping it proved him correct:  a bottle of cologne he had admired, but refused to let Kinnaird buy because it was stupidly expensive.
    Honestly, he should have anticipated that.
    Shaking his head, Reyes set the bottle on a corner of his desk with the few other personal belongings he kept there now because of Kinnaird. Retrieving his ink and pens, he set those on the desk as well, and then opened the drawer