What the hell was the Black Widow?
Didn’t matter right now. We had an issue. The articles stated Lord Pippin had given me special treatment during my Challenges because of a past relationship we’d had—many, many correct facts given on our time as a couple. Including him leaving me for the crown and my unplanned need for a Rest afterward.
But apparently, it did matter to Lord Pippin. He growled, “Who the fuck else would kill every single one of her previous lovers? You’re the only family she has left. And Adelie was too much of a marshmallow to order killings as brutal as that.”
All right. Now I cared about the Black Widow.
I tossed Harmony’s phone onto her lap and held up a hand. “Hold on a moment. Are you telling me I have a moniker? The Black Widow? And are you saying all the men I’ve had sex with didn’t die from natural accidents?”
Lord Xenon turned his dark eyes in my direction. “You cannot be that naïve.”
I sat back and yanked the crown off my head, and placed it on my desk, thinking. “Some of their deaths were untimely, but they didn’t happen right after a breakup. Some of their deaths didn’t occur for hundreds of years afterward.”
“A true predator is patient,” Lord Xenon expounded.
Lord Pippin started pacing again.
With a sip of blood from his glass, Lord Belshazzar stated, “The articles are hearsay, at best. Neither one of you has admitted to the relationship yet.” Black brows rose, his gaze uninterested. “Did it actually occur?”
I glanced at Lord Pippin, my mouth shut tight.
His brown eyes met mine under thick lashes.
Neither one of us spoke up.
“Well?” Lord Otto asked. “We’re waiting.”
Lord Cato snorted. “Just look at them. They look guilty as sin.” My father pointed a finger straight at me. “How the hell did you manage to keep this a secret?”
“Not really a secret anymore,” Lord Otto grumbled.
“Not helping,” Lord Cato hissed. Then he marched straight up to my desk and leaned his hands on it, ignoring my silent assistant sitting next to him. His brown eyes peered hard into mine. “Are the articles true?”
“I gave her no special treatment during her Challenges,” Lord Pippin rumbled instantly behind him, his shiny shoes still tearing up the carpet. “As you didn’t either.”
My father glanced over his shoulder, watching him walk back and forth. “I wasn’t talking to you. And that is not what I’m asking about.”
“Who I’ve had relationships with is none of your business,” I snapped. I stood and faced the man who had created me. I slashed a furious hand through the air. “Quit acting like my father. You never have been, and you never will be.”
Silence. Completesilence.
Lord Cato’s mouth quirked up on one side. His voice was quiet. Patient. “You’re wrong on all those accounts,darling.” Then he pushed off the desk, and his tone changed. All business-like. “But what we need to know is if the articles are true about your relationship with Lord Pippin. If they are, we have PR and security issues to handle. Do you understand, your majesty?”
Lord Pippin’s eyes caught mine.
Reluctantly, he gave a slight nod.
I sighed and sat back down, leaning on my chair with a heavy body. I rubbed at my forehead, muttering quietly, “Yes, Lord Pippin and I were in a relationship before he was crowned king.”
Lord Xenon asked for clarification. “A sexual relationship?”
“Yes.” My teeth clenched.
“Was it serious?” Lord Belshazzar asked.
To anyone in the room, Lord Belshazzar appeared bored. Unaffected. Even I couldn’t tell if he gave a damn.
Lord Pippin tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. Finally, he answered for both of us. “Yes, it was.”
