Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

The Alpha Vetiver Hospital was a greenish gray ship that had seen better days. Still, as a hospital, it was well-equipped with everything that was needed to do what it was meant to do. Save lives.

They had called ahead of time to inform Leonardo that they would be arriving, so once Lucas an Byron landed, a small team of attendants met them at the hangar and escorted them to the Command Deck.

As soon as Lucas stepped onto the Command Deck, he knew something was off.

Way off!

"Leo!" Byron strode over and latched onto the man in the white and gold Royal Physician robe.

Leonardo's long blond hair streamed out loose and unfettered in the light like a golden waterfall, framing a classically beautiful male face with aquamarine eyes.

"Hey Leo." Lucas called out to the familiar white-robed figure of his younger brother, the esteemed physician of the family.

Leonardo turned to them with a grim smile.

"You guys finally found me."

Lucas and Byron glanced at each other. What the hell had happened to Leonardo?

"Were you trying to hide from us?" Lucas moved closer to Leonardo.

Leonardo shrugged. "Maybe."

"Hey man." Byron turned back to face Leonardo. "What's going on? I haven't been able to talk to you for over two weeks."

Leonardo shook his head.

"Nothing. There's nothing's wrong."

"Are you okay?" Lucas approached him, hands outstretched.

Leonardo dodged his touch.

"I'm fine." His eyes avoided their probing looks. "Why are you guys here?"

"I can't believe you're actually asking us a question like that." Byron shook his head. "Since when do we have to have a reason to talk to you?"

Lucas tapped Leonardo on the shoulder. "Yeah man. I haven't seen or heard from you in over two weeks, and it wasn't for lack of trying."

"Well here I am." Leonardo turned back to look at them with determined aqua blue eyes. "What's up?"

Lucas and Byron shot warning looks at each other.

"Let's go get a drink, shall we?" Byron gave a roar of laughter. "I suddenly feel like a good stiff one."

"I'm up for that." Lucas chimed in, although it wasn't even lunch time yet. "Let's get your favorite drink, Leo. When was the last time you had a mojito, eh?"

Byron and Lucas linked their arms through Leonardo's and began leading him away from the Command Deck.

"Darling!" A voice called out from the entrance. "Where are you going?"

Lucas and Byron mouthed the word 'darling?' at each other and turned back to the entrance.

Standing at the entrance was Olivia Faraday, dressed in a pinkish gold outfit that complemented her silver blonde hair and her large dark brown eyes.

She eyed Lucas and Byron with a questioning gaze.

"Olivia???" Lucas gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Olivia blinked. "I live here with Leo."

"You what? Don't you have a home?" Byron sputtered.

"Of course I do." She pointed at Leonardo. "He's my home. Wherever my husband goes, I follow."

For a moment, Lucas and Byron froze. What the hell was going on?

"Leo." Byron turned back to Leonardo, muttering into his ear. "Candace is coming back in a week."

At the mention of Candace's name, Leo jerked his arms away from Lucas and Byron.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Leo. What is the matter with you?" Lucas muttered under his breath. "Have you forgotten your own wife?"

Leonardo turned back to look at Olivia.

"I have forgotten nothing."

"Well at least there's that." Byron chuffed. "I thought you'd gone senile in your advanced age."

Leonardo glared at Byron. "I'm younger than you are."

"Well you're acting super weird, so forgive me if I'm a little confused right now."

Suddenly, Byron gasped. "Oh hey. You still have the Avgo shard, right?"

"What about it?" Leonard turned away.

"Candace needs it back."

"Sorry. I lost the shard."

"What???" Lucas whipped his head back and yanked on Leonardo's arm. "I don't care what's going down here. We need to have a talk."

Byron turned back and smiled at Olivia. "It's okay. We're just his brothers. We're going to take him and have a drink. You stay here."

And without further ado, Lucas and Byron hauled Leonardo out of the Command Deck and into the elevator that would take them to the ship's lounge.

Since this was a hospital ship, there was very little in the way of decorative interior designs.

A basic bar running the length of one wall faced a number of couches arranged in small seating arrangement overlooking a half-dozen large panels of glass overlooking deep space with bright stars spread out like a kaleidoscope as far as the eyes could see.

They quickly made their way to the bar and took a stool each.

"A mojito for the doctor, please." Byron called out to the bar attendant. "I'll have a mint julep and he'll have…" he turned back to Lucas. "What is it you always drink?"

"I'll take a Piña colada." Lucas responded automatically. He'd gotten so sick of rum drinks, being on the island for weeks, but he couldn't think of anything else at the moment.

Byron grimaced. "You and your piña coladas."

He turned to Leonardo.

"Okay. Spit it out. What exactly happened between you and Olivia Faraday?"

Leonardo squeezed shut his eyes. There was no way to keep this from his brothers. He might as well face the music.

"Me and Olivia…" Leonardo took a deep breath.

"You and Olivia what?" Byron glared at Leonardo.

"Me and Olivia, we're a couple now." Leonardo muttered, his voice so low, they could barely hear his words.

"Hold on." Lucas placed his piña colada down onto the counter with a bang.

"Say it again, slowly so your beach bum brother can follow along. What the hell happened between you and Olivia?"

Leonardo closed his eyes. These were his closest family members. There was no one closer to him than his brothers. If he couldn't talk to them, who could he talk to?

"I slept with Olivia, so now I have to marry her.." He uttered with anguish.