“Whatadditional informationis needed? The man abducted Francesca, moved her without her consent, locked her in a storage room and threatened her with a loaded weapon. And for what? He couldn’t think he was going to endear his daughter to me with that.” He wheeled on Francesca. “What is it he wanted from you?”
Her gaze held his steadily. “He wanted me to go away, Ari. That’s all.”
“Go away where?”
“Away from you,” she gave him a small smile that made his heart twist. “Silas isn’t alone in his prejudices. He saw Kristos falling in love with American, and here was—well, he thought that here the same thing was happening all over again with you. You were fraternizing with an American woman instead of ideally one of his daughters, but failing that, then one of the daughters of Garronia, someone who understood the class system here, the rank of nobility.” She shrugged. “He’s not wrong. I’m not familiar with the hierarchy of Garronia’s nobility. And if he was a true nationalist…”
“He’s no nationalist,” Ari fairly spat the words. “He dared to insult you like that?”
“Ari,” Francesca shook her head, fixing him with a gaze that almost bordered on chiding. “They were only words.”
“No, they weren’t only words, there was a gun as well,” Ari said, and when Francesca moved to speak again, his father interrupted her.
“Ari is quite right,” King Jasen said, to his surprise. His words were chillingly cool. “Silas threatened you with bodily harm regardless of what the rest of his commentary contained. He took you against your will, held you against your will, threatened you and I am sure insulted you to your core, as well as frightened you.” He frowned. “We’ll have to manage this appropriately, but he can’t remain at large.”
“His poor daughters, though.” Queen Catherine was watching the king too, but Ari knew that whatever he decided, she would support. She’d support anything Jasen thought was for the best interests of Garronia.
Clearly Francesca was also more concerned with Garronia than her own welfare, but Ari wasn’t. Not right now, anyway, perhaps not ever. His country was his life, yes, but Francesca was becoming his every waking breath.
“Silas’s daughters shouldn’t carry the burden of their father’s inadequacies,” Jasen said. “And to some extent Silas’s actionswillcome out. The country is not so large that one of its noblemen being rebuffed by the royal family will go completely unnoticed. Especially as a relation to the queen.”
“They’d planned on leaving anyway,” Ari said. Exhaustion suddenly caught up to him, and he sagged in his chair, passing a hand over his brow. When he refocused on the table, he realized everyone was staring at him.
“Leaving when?” his mother asked. “Soon?”
“Reasonably soon.” He rocked back in his chair, summoning the details. “Edeena said they’d be going to America as soon as Marguerite has her twenty-fifth birthday in a few months. The lot of them come into an inheritance then. She said their mother had property that Silas was selling off, but the American estate wasn’t moving. So they could spend a few months there, getting away from him.”
“Marta was always too good to him,” Catherine snapped. “Her property had been in the family for generations. I cannot imagine Silas got good prices for it.” She focused on Jasen. “What can we do to help ease their way? I don’t want them here when Silas’s infamy comes out.”
“If we’re careful, it won’t come out,” his father said, and the queen pursed her lips in a flat line. Ari had seen that look before. Apparently Jasen had too.
“We’ll come up with something,” he said gently. “In the meantime, what else do we need to know?” He shifted his gaze to Francesca. “Was anyone else aware of his attack on you?”
“I don’t think so,” Francesca said. Her voice remained calm, almost serene, despite what she’d endured. All Ari could imagine was holding her in his arms, yet she seemed so far away from him.
“He seemed pretty certain about the course of action he wanted me to take,” she continued. “And I truly didn’t get the impression was waving his gun around for much more than bravado. He didn’t shoot me, after all.”
“Well he shotatyou,” Nicki observed dourly. “That’s bad enough.”
“And he could have hit you.” To Ari’s surprise, it was Stefan who spoke. “It’s been many years since Silas has shot anything more than a paper target. In his hands a gun could be deadly, regardless of his intentions.” He swiveled and looked at the king, then at Ari. “It’s possible that his concerns are not his alone. If there is popular unrest about the family’s romantic entanglements, we’ll need to get out ahead of it. It will be easily managed, but shouldn’t be ignored.”
“Then we manage it,” Ari said, leaning forward. Francesca leaned forward too.
“It’s not entanglements plural,” she said quietly. “Please let me be clear on that. I’m not going to drag the royal family into any more turmoil.”
Ari started, turning to her in surprise. “Francesca—”
“No, Ari,” she said, and there were tears now standing in her eyes. “You—all of you. You have to know who and what I am before you say anything else. I’ve put off owning this for far too long, and I see now that’s been the wrong decision.”
She visibly swallowed and for the first time since he’d met her he realized…
Francesca’s hands were shaking.
23
Fran felt sick to her stomach, but strangely serene as well. As if she’d been waiting her entire life to endure this firing squad, and now that the rifles were pointed at her, she could finally breathe easier.
Except in this case, the rifles were the faces of nearly a dozen people who knew her better than anybody on the planet.
