Corina snatched the newspaper from Daddy’s hand. “How in the world . . . Where in the world . . . I’m going to kill her.”
Daddy hooked his arm around Corina’s and walked her through the living room into Mama’s library—her chair was oddly vacant—and steered her to the kitchen. Corina trembled the entire way.
“She’s a scoundrel.” She slapped the kitchen island. “A news hound if there ever was one. Daddy, I want to sue her.”
“No you don’t.” Daddy retrieved two glasses from the cupboard and started to fill them with ice and sweet tea. “And she’d cop to all of those names. With glee.”
“Why can’t I sue her?” Corina spread the paper before them. “She just told the world my business. Stephen’s going to think I did this. To get back at him. The phones in the King’s Office will ring off the hook.”
“Corina . . .” Daddy took the paper away from her and handed her a glass. “Calm down. Forget the press. Tell me about you and Prince Stephen.” He sat on the stool next to her, cupping his hands around his own glass. “I take it the headline is true?”
“Was true. We were married six years ago. Before he deployed.”
“I knew he was Carlos’s friend. Never thought of him as yours.” Daddy toasted her with his raised glass. “The prince has splendid taste in women.”
“I signed annulment papers yesterday. We’re no longer married.” She tugged a napkin from the center dispenser and wiped her eyes. “The Archbishop of Hessenberg married us in secret.” She recounted the story of the midnight wedding, the secrets, the hidden marriage certificate, and Stephen’s surprise trip to Florida. “When he came back from Afghanistan, he didn’t want to be married, so I came home. I wanted to be with you and Mama anyway.” She yanked another napkin from the dispenser.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
She shrugged. “We wanted it to just be our secret for a while. We didn’t feel we could tell you and Mama without telling his parents and—”
“That came with complications.”
“A few.”
Daddy sipped his tea, leaning his elbows on the counter, being available to her for the first time since he walked off into the dusk after Carlos’s funeral. “So why did you go to Cathedral City?”
“Gigi sent me to cover the premier—”
“This is Dad you’re talking to, Corina.”
“I wanted him back.” She ran her finger along the etching of her glass. “I thought God wanted us together.”
“But he had other ideas?”
Hearing the hard, concrete fact dried her tears. Surprisingly. But Daddy’s voice carried a certain tone of authority and comfort. “Pretty much.” She turned toward him, shoving her tea aside. “He was with Carlos when he died, Daddy.”
Daddy took a long sip, averting his gaze. “Yes, I know.”
“You know?” Her eyes followed his broad back as he went to the fridge for a refill.
“I’ve always known, Kit.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us? I thought you hit an information desert at the Pentagon.”
“I found a way around it. Had a connection in Senator Smith’s office.” Daddy returned to the island, this time sitting next to her, adjusting the open collar of his Polo, his eyes glistening as he looked into hers. “He put me in touch with the Joint Coalition, who told me only under the condition of utter silence, after they investigated me for six months.”
“Considering what happened, I don’t blame them.”
“I only learned the news last year. I didn’t tell you or your mother because it wasn’t prudent. First, I had to get clearance to tell you. Second, it didn’t comfort me to know he died saving Prince Stephen’s life. How would it comfort you or your mother?” Daddy’s dark gaze locked onto hers. “They looked into you, too, Kit. Never came back that you were married.”
“I told you, it was in secret.”
“Hats off to the Archbishop Caldwell.” Then, “How did you find out Carlos was with the prince that day?”
“When Stephen came here telling me about the annulment, I wouldn’t sign it. Since he was also with the Joint Coalition, I demanded he use his influence as a prince to find out about Carlos.”
“Did you know they were on the same crew?”
