Gabriel could not bring himself to look at Alex. His gaze was caught on Evelyne’s hand on his chest.
He needed to get her a ring. And since that felt like something blatant he should have thought of, his only option was to cover her hand on his chest with his own. Hide his failing until he had a reason for it.
“It wasn’t that we wanted to get married without you. It was just…we wanted that commitment. That promise to one another.” Evelyne beamed up at him. It wasalmosttoo much.Almostamusing. Healmostfound himself smiling back down at her. “We certainly couldn’t wait—or thought we couldn’t—for Father to die. So we married, and now we are expecting.”
“Married. Expecting…” Alexandre said these words like he didn’t quite understand the meaning of them.
“I’m sorry if that ruins your…procreation plans,” Evelyne said, looking at Alexandre now. “It was not exactly planned. We got carried away on the wedding night… Well, you don’t need to hearthat. I only mean to say, I don’t wish you to be angry with us.”
“Of…of course not.” Alexandre cleared his throat. “Surprised, but not angry. Perhaps without the pressure, Ines will… Never mind.” He raked a hand through his hair, reminding Gabriel of the night King Enzo had died. “You must be exhausted,” Alex finally said, his voice sounding a little rough. “We can… Let us get some sleep, deal with everything…in the morning.”
“Alex…” Evelyne crossed to him then. Before she could say anything, Alex put his arm around her shoulders.
“I am happy for you, Evelyne. Very happy. It has just been…a lot of change in a short period of time. We will get through it, but I think it’s best if we all get some sleep tonight.”
Evelyne nodded. “All right. Yes. I’m…so happy you’re king now.” Gabriel watched her swallow.Thisemotion was not put on, even if her story was.
Then her gaze tracked to his. “Gabriel has taken such good care of me.”
Which was alie. He had left her alone for six months. Pregnant. She held some blame for that—shecouldhave told him. But he still felt the guilt sting.
“But I’m so happy to be home,” she continued.
“A joy only equal to mine, Ev. Get some rest now. I… I should go tell Ines you are home.” His eyes darted to her stomach, then to Gabriel. “We’ll have a nice family breakfast in the morning. The…four of us.”
Alex crossed the room to Gabriel before Evelyne moved. “Congratulations, brother.” And Gabriel might have been fooled into believing there was an actual congratulations behind that, but Alex didn’t stop there.
He spoke the rest quietly, possibly so that only Gabriel himself could hear. “We will talk in the morning.Beforebreakfast. Alone.”
And he did not sound like a man talking to his friend.
He sounded like a king ordering his subject.
Evelyne walked to her room in silence. She didn’t know what to say, and it was so dark and quiet in the hallways. She was exhausted, and a little hungry. She didn’t have the energy to ask for something to be sent up, but she did have some snacks in her purse.
She yawned as Gabriel opened her old bedroom door. How funny to have Gabriel in her old room. It felt like her previous life had belonged to a different person. The thought of poor, cowardly Jordi almost made her laugh.
Gabriel was a great many things, perhaps even a coward when it came toher, but she had no doubt he’d stand up to any threat for her and her child. He wouldn’t run away or stand down to a threat. Even if he didn’t love her.
He was here, wasn’t he?
She stopped short a few steps into the room. Everything looked…exactly the same. She turned a slow circle. A picture of Alexandre and their mother still sat on her bureau. The linens on the bed were the same she’d picked out when she’d been sixteen—pink and frilly, befitting a princess. Everything in this room spoke of a life of ease and luxury and royalty.
She supposed that had been purposeful. Some of the staff knew how her father treated his children, but he also kept much of it under wraps. This had all just been a veneer over the horrible truth.
And still, she’dlovedthe pink, the ruffles, the picture of the mother she’d never known. Much of the decor didn’t fit who she was anymore, but it still felt familiar and like home.
Home. Except with none of the old fears. Because her father was dead. Every shackle, every abuse she’d suffered here was just gone.
Evelyne did not know how to fully absorb it just yet.
“What is wrong?” Gabriel asked when she just stood there.
“Nothing.” Evelyne blinked back some tears, no doubt aided by the hormonal parade going on inside her. “I just assumed… I assumed Father might wipe any sign of me out, but everything is still here. Untouched, almost.”
“No doubt Alexandre’s doing.”
“No doubt,” she agreed, finally moving forward. Alexandre. She thought she’d done a pretty good job of smoothing over a lot of unexpected information, but… “He didn’t seem happy,” she murmured, wandering over to the cushioned window seat. Though it was dark outside, she could picture the gardens in her mind.
