Bait. A trap. If he reacted as he wanted to—that roiling physical violence inside him—hewouldbe arrested, perhaps even attacked if the general’s expression was anything to go by. And while Alexandre could easily absolve him of kidnapping charges, clearing him of attacking a general might require some more work.
Gabriel did not wish to require this of his friend. It would be a mess, and it would risk things for Alex that need not be risked.
No matter how Gabriel would like to plow his fist into the general’s nose.
Instead, he smiled once more. He breathed. And he spoke, very carefully. “I suggest you let me go talk to our king without such theatrics.” And with that, Gabriel walked past them. There was no point in giving them the satisfaction of a fight. Though his fists clenched in spite of himself.
They did not stop him, and they did not follow. Gabriel couldfeelthe general’s angry gaze on him, but nothing happened. It had been posturing at best, though Alexandre would need to know about it.
And nip it in the bud.
Gabriel marched his way through the palace and though he ached to see Evelyne, he would not give in to that. He was here at Alexandre’s behest, and he had to warn his friend about a general with a vendetta.
He wasnothere to see his wife.
So he went straight for Alex’s office, though his gaze moved toward the hallway that would take him to his—toEvelyne’srooms. Or maybe she’d moved by now, to their connecting rooms. For their separate private lives.
Alexandre’s assistant greeted him as he approached. He gestured toward the office door. “The king will see you now.”
“Thank you,” Gabriel murmured, letting himself in. He shut the door behind him, lest the general decided he wanted to attend the meeting.
Alex flicked a glance up from his computer. “Thank you for coming so quickly, Gabriel,” he greeted. He typed a few more words before shutting his laptop. He stood. “There are some things that needed to be done in person.”
Gabriel nodded. “Very well, but first we must discuss the general.”
“Vinyes? What of him?” Alex looked down at some papers on his desk, eased a hip against it.
“He claims he has evidence that I kidnapped the princess. He made some noise aboutStockholm Syndrome, and about arresting me.”
Alex glanced at him then. “Is that one of your concerns and why you stay away?”
For a moment, Gabriel was speechless. “What? No. Evelyne isn’t… Her feelings are genuine. I…” Gabriel could not remember a time he’d ever floundered in such a way, but the idea Evelyne might beswayedfrom a voluntary kidnapping…
“I know you took her at my behest, but you were her only contact,” Alexandre continued, like this was a normal conversation. “Perhaps that is why you do not trust yourself, because you do not trustherfeelings?”
“Evelyne is in love with me,” Gabriel said firmly, temper snapping in every word. Until he reminded himself he didn’twanther to be. “Which…is ridiculous, but I don’t doubt that… Why are we talking about… I do not care what accusations the general throws at me,” Gabriel insisted, not sure why he felt the need to defend Evelyne loving him when he wished she didn’t. It wasn’t thepoint. “General Vinyes is a fool. I simply wanted you to be aware he’s skulking around making trouble. Not just with me. He made vague threats aboutwatching after Evelyne.”
For a moment, Alexandre studied him. When he spoke, it was with an odd carefulness Gabriel didn’t recognize in his friend.
“So, he threw accusations at you, vaguely threatened that he’d be watching Evelyne, and you handled all of this without losing your temper, and instead came to me to address the situation. Is that correct?”
Gabriel blinked. It was correct, but… “I… I could have started a fight if I’d wanted to. I considered it.” Not really, but a little bit. He’dwantedto hurt the general, but he knew…
“But you didn’t. You didn’t react with violence or anything over the top. You came to warn me. How odd. I thought violence was all you had in you when it came to those you loved?”
Gabriel could only stare at his friend. Speaking as though this had all been some…ridiculous setup.
“You…” Evidence. The only one who could have had evidence was… Alex. “This was a trap?”
Alexandre shrugged. “More or less.”
“And if I’d fought him? If I’d created the scene that I’m very capable of creating?” Gabriel demanded.
“I would have sided with you,” Alexandre returned, as though he’d thought it all out, but had already known what the outcome would be. “It might have even given me cause to dismiss the general, which would have been welcome indeed. But mostly I trusted you to make the right decision, Gabriel. Because you learned something all those years ago, whether you can accept that or not. You’re not the same man you were. Because even then you were aboy.”
Gabriel stood there, feeling a bit like he’d been stabbed through. Not the same man. But he was. How could he have changed?
Evelyne.
