The Medici Queen Read online

  The Medici Queen

  Book Three in the Medici Warrior Series

  by Emily Bex

  Foundations Publishing Company

  Brandon, MS 39047

  www.foundationsbooks.net

  The Medici Queen

  Book Three in the Medici Warrior Series

  By: Emily Bex

  Cover by Dawne Dominique

  Edited by Laura Ranger

  Copyright 2019© Emily Bex

  Published in the United States of America

  Worldwide Electronic & Digital Rights

  Worldwide English Language Print Rights

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any form, including digital and electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the Publisher, except for brief quotes for use in reviews.

  Dedication

  The Medici Warrior book series is dedicated to all the dreamers, the hopeless romantics, and to my partner in crime, Johanna Morisette.

  Acknowledgements

  This book could not have been written without the help of my collaborator, Johanna Morisette. She dragged me reluctantly into a world of vampires and inspired me to write. She had the initial vision for Shade and was instrumental in the development of his character. Throughout the seven years it took to write this series, she remained my sounding board for the development of the storyline. These characters, and this saga, would not exist if not for her constant support and input which kept me motivated to keep pushing forward.

  Table of Reference

  Italian to English Translations

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  About the Author

  More from Foundations Book Publishing

  Italian to English Translator for Book Three

  Addio Good-bye Alzati Stand-up

  guerrieri warriors Amica Friend

  Amore Love Bambino(s) Baby/babies

  Bastardo Bastard Bel Beautiful

  Beleeza Beauty Bellissimo Very beautiful

  Bravado Brave Buonasera Good evening

  Cazzo Fuck Ciao Hi/Hello

  Dipendenzo Addiction Dolce Sweet

  Dormire Sleeping guerrieri warrior

  Familia Family Figlia/Figlio Daughter/Son

  Fino ad allora Until then Fratello Brother

  Grazie Thanks Guerrieri Warriors

  Impavido Fearless Lei e il mio She is my

  Vero amore true love Madre Mother

  Meile Honey Mi/Mio/Mia My

  Mio vampire My courageous Coraggioso vampire

  Moltobella Very beautiful Nostra Figlia Our Daughter

  Padre Father Per Favore Please

  Per Sempre Forever Rosso Red

  Scusi Excuse me Si Yes

  Signorina Young Lady Sorella Sister

  Stupido Stupid Ti Amo I Love You

  Recap of Book One and Two: The Blood Covenant and The Turning

  The Medici Warrior Series is a serial story told through a six-book series that must be read in sequence. The Medici Queen is book three of the series. If you have not yet read books one and two, The Blood Covenant and The Turning, stop reading now! Order and read books one and two before starting this book.

  Re-cap of book one, The Blood Covenant, and book two, The Turning. (THIS RE-CAP CONTAINS SPOILERS)

  In book one, Shade Medici, a vampire warrior king comes to the United States from his native Florence, Italy to provide protection services to another master vampire, Alec Canton and his mate, Larissa (Rissa). Alec and Rissa are both day-walkers and live freely among mortals. Alec has entered the world of mortal politics and holds a seat in the U.S. Senate with a goal of seeking the Presidency.

  In the course of setting up protection for Alec, Shade meets and falls in love with a mortal woman, Kate Reese. Shade is royal blood and the sole surviving member of the Medici dynasty. He is expected to mate and produce an heir to maintain the longevity of the Medici coven. However, cross-species breeding is forbidden by the ruling Council of Vampires. Mortals are playthings, but they are frowned upon as mates. Shade ignores this directive as he pursues her, needing her to fall in love with him before she discovers he is a vampire. She gradually lets her defenses down, and succumbs to his charms. He convinces her to leave her home just outside Washington, D.C. and move with him to the estate in Virginia, which he named after his pet name for her, Bel Rosso.

  Their relationship is a struggle as Kate tries to adapt to the changes of the vampire culture, and Shade tries hard to protect her from the more violent aspect
s of his world by keeping her secluded at Bel Rosso. Their world is shattered when one of Shade’s ex-lover’s, Sabine, shows up. Sabine sees this mortal female as someone underserving of the vampire king and tries to kill her.

  Shade comes to realize that in order to protect her, he must take Kate deeper into his culture. She is introduced to the Medici warriors in Florence, where one warrior, Luca, is chosen to remain as her protector for life.

  Kate becomes pregnant, presenting more complications as she is still mortal and their infant would be a half-breed, unable to inherit the Medici dynasty. Alec and Rissa see the pregnancy as an obstacle to their own goals as Shade’s attention becomes solely focused on Kate. They devise a scheme that will kill the infant, and hopefully kill Kate at the same time. Their underhanded deception goes undiscovered…for now.

  When Kate miscarries, the grief over the lost baby creates a divide between them and they both struggle to reconnect with each other. Shade takes his grief out in rage and anger as Kate retreats into a dark place. Luca acts as not only her protector, but as an intermediary, pulling the two of them back together. Seeking an outlet for her anger, book one ends as Kate is asking Luca if he will train her like a warrior. He reluctantly agrees as they both know this is a task that must be performed behind Shade’s back, and without his approval.

  In book two, the Aries coven continues to wreak havoc in Washington, D.C., keeping the mercenary warriors on their toes. The master of the Aries coven remains anonymous to both Shade and Alec, but is revealed to the reader as Max, a former lover of Rissa’s, who has decided he wants her back in his life. His goal was to destroy Alec’s ambitions, leaving him weak in Rissa’s eyes, and win back her heart. Max seems to have forgotten Rissa has no heart for anyone except herself. However, Rissa being Rissa, she can’t help but to play with fire and in her attempt to turn the tables on Max, she has an illicit affair with him, betraying Alec in the process.

  Tomas, working as a mercenary for Alec, is actually an agent of Max’s and helps Max set up a plan to destroy Shade by staging an ambush on the Bel Rosso estate and killing Kate. Without Shade, Alec is easy prey. And without Kate, Shade will crumble. The assassin Cuerpo is hired to take out Kate. While Shade and Luca are defending Bel Rosso against an attack from rogue vampires, Cuerpo has Kate isolated and alone inside the house. Cuerpo is expecting a fragile mortal, but what he encounters is a mortal trained by a Medici warrior who takes him out with a single kill shot from her crossbow.

  Kate’s skills are unexpectedly exposed, and Kate and Luca must come clean with Shade about Luca’s efforts to train her. Although Kate is stronger since she has been feeding from Shade, Shade is more aware than ever that she will always be a target in his world, and he will have to make her immortal to protect her.

  Shade and Kate return to Florence, where Kate is taken to the chambers below Castello for the turning where she will undergo the arduous process of becoming an immortal. When she emerges, she is officially mated to Shade, and royal blood, the new Queen of Medici.

  The Medici Queen

  1

  Alec and Rissa arrived by private jet at the Firenze airport, where Alec had a private car waiting with Alto at the wheel. Rissa had packed half her closet for this trip. She had dozed on and off through the flight and slept now with her head on Alec’s shoulder.

  “Rissa, we’re here, my darling. The car is waiting to take us to Shade's home.”

  This flight felt like it took forever, Rissa still had reservations about this trip, but she had no damn choice. Max could easily be here, or he could have sent someone here to come after her. She heard Alec’s voice break through her light sleep as she sat up, looking out the jet window.

  “Oh good, these long flights are ridiculous. Make sure they don’t damage my luggage or leave anything behind. I need everything I’ve brought.”

  “Rissa, your luggage will be taken care of and delivered to the castle. Now come.” Alec exited the plane with her, as Alto held the door open to the car. Alec allowed her to enter the car first, then slid into the seat next to her. “Refresh my memory. Have you been to Florence before?”

  “Not Florence, Milan, of course. What fashion expert doesn’t know Milan? Rome too, but Florence, no. Why do you ask? And how far is this drive?”

  “Not too far. Alto has some Midnight for us. Would you like a drink? We’ll drive through a little of Tuscany to get to Florence. The Medici Castello is on the far side of Florence. You’ll see it as we approach. Just relax and enjoy the countryside. It’s quite beautiful, if I do say so. This is all Shade's territory. Pretty much everything you’ll see on this trip will be inside Shade's territory. It’s been a while since the last time I was here.”

  She looked out the window and although the landscape was stunning, it did nothing for her, she was a city girl at heart. He owns all of this? Damn, that bitch! She can’t be happy enough with all his property, the bitch has to take my Paris house as well?

  “So, you were here before? I think you mentioned his home and visiting here.”

  “Yes, I’ve known Shade for centuries, my darling. Before I lived in the States and presented myself as American, I was British, lived in London mostly. That’s where I first met Shade. I believe we met at a Gorean Cult orgy that was held in London.” He laughed at the memories. “Let’s just say we have found our association to be mutually beneficial through the years. The castle is quite impressive, as I recall. Again, haven't been there in a few years. A little too opulent for my taste, but he inherited it from his father.”

  Rissa glanced over at him. “I knew you were British, but you’ve completely lost any accent, Alec. I was wondering, since we have a bit of a drive, are there things I should know before I get there about any protocol? I want to make sure I make no mistakes. I already know going into this I’m not well received by the masters.”

  He lit up a cigarette and cracked the window to release the smoke. “For our free time, there are no rules. We can do what we want. At the ceremony, you should only speak when spoken to. You shouldn’t approach a master or his mate. Their mates will do the same. I may initiate a conversation with another master, or he with me. Other than that, I think you'll be fine. You’ve never seen a coronation, so I’d think you’ll find it interesting.”

  “I’m sure I will since I’ve never had the pleasure, nor probably will again, unless, of course, they have brats.” Sighing, she threw her head back on the seat. “All of this, she has all of this, and still she gets my damn Paris house. Seriously, Alec, there’s something immensely wrong with that!” Leaning over, she kissed him on the cheek. “But I’m sure you’ll find me an even better house in Paris. And besides, I get to spend the whole weekend alone with you, without Zena the bitch warrior.”

  Alec struggled to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “Rissa, first of all, it’s my Paris house, not yours, but if it’s important to you, although I can't imagine why because neither one of us ever takes vacation time, if you want a place in Paris, I’ll find something. Now please, can we drop the subject? And that warrior bitch? She’s there to keep you safe. What has you so disagreeable? Most women would be delighted to have this trip. Are you so jaded already, my darling? Eternity is a long time to be bored.”

  She laid her head back and looked out the window. “No, Alec. Point taken.”

  Watching as the Tuscan landscape slid by, she was lost in her thoughts. As they crested a hill, she saw they were approaching a huge estate and it was something to behold. She sat up straighter in her seat and cocked her head. “Is that it? Tell me, it can’t be!”

  Alec saw the castle ahead. “Hmm, I do believe it is. Welcome to Medici Castello, surrounded by formal gardens, and sitting on the banks of the Arno River.”

  Alto pulled up to the estate and stopped at the huge gates where he pressed the intercom button. Once he identified himself and provided the password, the gates were opened to him.

  Rissa laughed, but an annoyed and jealous laugh. “Well, it’s regal
.”

  She watched as Alto pulled into the huge roundabout drive, the buildings and gardens went on forever. Several house staff came out to open doors and Alto held her hand as she exited the car. She remained quiet and waited for Alec to do whatever he needed to do to get them inside this palace. She intended to remain quiet or she’d never hear the end of it. This was important for him, and she wanted him to be proud of her and how she presented herself. The staff started removing the mountain of luggage from the trunk. Gi stood at the entrance, overseeing the activity. Alec led Rissa up the steps to the door where Gi bowed deeply.

  "Master Alec. It has been too long. It is our pleasure to have you as our guest at Medici Castello once more. And Miss Benneteau, our warmest welcome to you on what I hope will be the first of many visits. My lady has requested we reserve the Gold Room for you. I think you will find it to your satisfaction. And this is Carlos. He will be your private butler for the duration of your stay. You will also have a personal maid, Miss Benneteau. Carlos will introduce her to you in your suite. I believe she is drawing a bath for you, so you may refresh after your long journey. Now please, come with me inside."

  Alec took Rissa's arm and followed Gi into the grand foyer. Ah yes, how could I have forgotten this?

  Rissa was already impressed with getting her own personal maid. She should have one of those at home. She made a mental note to work on that. As they were escorted in, she gasped. “My, this is impressive. It’s gorgeous!” Her head appeared as on a spring, she couldn’t take it all in.

  Alec smirked, finally something had impressed her. He watched as she tried to take in the over-the-top opulence of this room with the gilded gold bannisters on the marble staircase, and the massive chandeliers.

  Carlos stepped up to greet them and bowed deeply. “Master Alec? If you’re ready, I can escort you to your room now. I or someone will be stationed at your door twenty-four hours a day. We’ve been informed you are both day-walkers. If there’s anything you wish to see in Castello, please ask and you’ll be escorted, otherwise, sir, I’m afraid you’d only get lost. Your car will be kept in the garage, and your driver has been provided with private quarters. You need only let us know if you wish to leave the premises and your car will be brought around. This way, please."