I glance over at Bellamy standing on the deck, her eyes shimmering as she smiles at the scene before her.
“Come join us, Belle!” I call out to her.
She snorts, her eyebrows at her hairline. “Belle?”
I throw up a hand. “You need a nickname, no?”
“Since when? Who are you and what have you done with my grumpy husband?”
“Come on,Belle.” I grin cheekily. “Surely you Americans have heard of nicknames.”
Her smile grows as she kicks off her sandals and shoves off the edge into the water. The sun catches in her hair, making it look like ribbons of chocolate.
“All right, everyone,” I announce, swimming over to Bellamy and wrapping an arm around her waist. “Let’s see who can make the biggest splash!”
“Me! Me!” Sabrina cries out, bobbing up and down in excitement. We all laugh and take turns, the water spraying around us as we leap, splash, and dive. Even Arthur joins in, paddling through the waves with surprising grace, which delights the children to no end.
Suddenly, a faint ringing interrupts our fun. I frown, realizing it’s my phone from up on the deck by Rowan.
I hear Rowan answer and call down to me. “Sebastian, there are a few small issues in Messalina that require your attention.”
“Give me a moment. I’ll be right out,” I call up to him. The weight of responsibility settles back on my shoulders, but I refuse to let it ruin our time together. We have a few more days of this, and I intend to make the most of them. Still, it’s like déjà vu with the phone call while we’re on holiday.
Climbing out of the water, I snatch a towel off a nearby chaise and dry myself as I ascend the stairs leading to the sundeck Rowan is on.
“What is it?” I ask as I get closer.
“Two things.”
“Okay.” I raise my eyebrows when he doesn’t follow that up.
“One, the prime minister is asking for a phone call tomorrow about a potential labor strike with the transportation workers.”
I sigh. “Dammit, that might require me to leave early if it happens. What’s the second thing?”
Rowan’s jaw locks. “The second thing is that fingerprints were able to be lifted from the newspaper clippings I found in the cottage.”
My breath catches.
“And?”
“And the woman’s name was not Elara. Her name was Marie Elonaise.”
I blink, taking a step back, my hand clasping the railing. “Why do I know that name?”
“Because she worked in the palace. She was an assistant with the royal guard.”
“Christ.” I run my hand over my face. “We need to speak to whoever was in charge back then.”
“Yes,” he agrees. “I’m already having Javier look into it.”
“Good.” I clasp his shoulder. “Never an easy or dull moment. But at least we have a name, and if we have a name, we can hopefully find her. You realize this means our mother lied to us. If we remember her, she knew exactly who she was.”
“I know. She didn’t want us to find her for whatever reason.”
I shake my head, rippling with fury at that, and head back down to my family still swimming and splashing.
“Everything all right?” Bellamy asks, concern etched in her features.
