Byron sighed and turned back to Lucas and Dante.
"Okay. I told her we wouldn't be home for dinner, but I assured her we would be home tonight."
He scowled. "Don't turn me into a liar."
Lucas scratched his head in frustration with both hands.
"Damn it. I really don't want to deal with the Grand Duke Pimpernickel tonight, even to talk about the illegal purchase of Emporia."
"It should prove to be very interesting." Byron raised an eyebrow. "We will find out much more about what happened the night of the Avgo Event, when we got kidnapped and Candace was left all by herself."
"Yes, but I want to go home. I miss my wife." Lucas pouted, the corner of his shapely lips turned downward.
Dante shot Lucas a hard look. She was his wife too!
"I really don't want to talk to the Grand Duke tonight either. That man gives me the heebie-jeebies." He shuddered.
"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.
Dante shrugged. "I don't know. It just feels like he's…undressing me with his eyes."
For a moment, the brothers said nothing.
Suddenly, they all burst out laughing.
For Dante to notice something like that was a real eye-opener. Usually, Dante could care less about what people thought of him.
"Come on. Let's get this over with." Byron got up.
Lucas and Dante followed him out of the Legislative Hall, into a pinkish-indigo Erenveil twilight.
===========
The restaurant that the Grand Duke Howell Pimpernickel chose was one that was located at the top of a tower. It was partially open to the night sky and had a panoramic view of the entire capital city of Erenveil.
There were intimate little tables that were covered with white linens and cut crystal goblets. On each table was a tiny bud vase with a single red rose.
As the lights below blinked and winked, the stars above were twinkling in response. The sounds of violins and piano murmured gently through hidden speakers behind lush palms and flowering bushes.
It was a mesmerizing romantic experience…except that the person sitting across from the Princes was the Grand Duke Howell Pimpernickel, a paunchy balding man with soft jowly face and heavy-lidded eyes.
He also had a shiny tomato nose and pruny lips that were so thin it looked as if he had a single gash line for a mouth.
That gash mouth at the moment was slightly ajar as he stared at the three angelic visions sitting before him.
His bias was always going to be Prince hot-ass Dante, with the gorgeous blue hair and the crystal glass green eyes.
Howell had made mad passionate love to Dante (in his mind) at least a dozen times ever since he last saw the Prince.
But my God! His nephew Byron with the long red hair and fiery eyes was also a tease! He had a regal nose and a pouty set of lips that were burning hot!
Howell Pimpernickel could barely keep his eyes off the hollow at the base of Byron's strong corded neck.
The first two buttons of Byron's black shirt were unfastened, showing his brownish-red chest hair which were tickling the pits of Howell's groins.
As for Prince Lucas, Howell Pimpernickel could barely even look at the blond honey pot without creaming up. The Prince had a perfectly symmetrical, beautifully classic face that the entire galaxy fell in love with.
The three brothers had sex appeal that was OFF THE CHARTS!!!
Howell wriggled his buttocks on the chair, trying to ease the constraints of his pants. He had gotten so swollen, he could barely sit still.
Unfortunately, every movement caused him to ache just a little more as his pants kept rubbing up against his hard-on.
"So, Grand Duke Pimpernickel." His hot-ass Dante was moving his pretty pouty pink lips again. "Tell me what you know about the purchase of Emporia."
Howell swallowed. His mouth felt so dry he could barely speak.
He picked up his tall slender glass of champagne and took a sip. The bubbles tickled his nose and nearly made him sneeze.
"Ummm. Well, I can do better than that, Dante." His voice dropped into a baritone murmur as he spoke Dante's name. "I can give you the actual transaction. But—"
"But what?" Dante prodded.
"Patience, Dante. Patience." He gave a greasy smile at Dante and clapped his hands a couple of times to call the servers to their table.
"Let's talk about it over dinner, shall we?"
The Princes glanced at each other. It was a simple request after all.
They'd attended countless political dinners with heads of states all through their working lives. This would be no different.
Dinner was a fancy affair. Lobster and steak with baby carrots and tiny finger potatoes were followed by cheese cake and strawberries with whipped cream.
It was as if they were going out on a first date with this homely man who kept looking at them as if he wanted to devour them.
The heebie-jeebies that Dante spoke of earlier was readily apparent to Lucas and Byron by this time.
The Grand Duke was drooling so hard that his face was flushed and he could barely keep his eyes from darting back and forth from one prince to another.
Dante kept his cool for as long as he could. This was what political finesse was all about after all, but eventually, the First Prince could no longer contain his impatience.
"Grand Duke Pimpernickel. We've had a long and leisure dinner with you. Now. Show us what you have."
Howell shoveled a last spoonful of strawberries and cream into his mouth and retrieved from his pocket, a small circular chip. He passed it over to Dante with a smile.
"I trust you will find what you need to know within this data chip. Once you are able to do what you need to do, I expect a thank you dinner to celebrate."
Dante pocketed the data chip and stood up, along with his two brothers.
"Thank you Grand Duke. The meal was delightful."
Howell Pimpernickel raised his champagne flute in salute and smiled as the three strapping young men strode off with their long legs and their jouncy buttocks.
He bit his knuckles and made a mental note to collect as many images of the three Princes as he could find.
It would be simple to get images of Prince Lucas, of course. The man was famous.
Since Byron was his nephew, he could also squirrel out images of the sexy redhead from family collections.
His heart-throb, Hot-ass Dante however, would be much more difficult to find.
Luckily, he had set up tiny visual hover pods everywhere inside the restaurant and had captured moving videos of each angle, each movement, each sultry deep rumbling sound coming out of Dante.
There was a perfect viewing room within his palace that he would dedicate to the visual stimulation of his newest craving.
Eye Candy Princes.
Sighing with want and longing, the Grand Duke finished the bottle of champagne and gave a gesture.
Twenty men retrieved the twenty visuals gathering pods away to be processed and created into a beautiful movie for the Grand Duke's viewing pleasure.
It was amazing what spy visuals could do. Howell Pimpernickel could hardly wait to begin watching his Hot-ass lover Dante in action.