Alexandre could blame Ines for this too, that Evelyne would stick her nose in this. Because if there was no Ines, Evelyne and Gabri would just be on their way to safety.
“I will not be fighting anything alone.”
“No, my husband and the father ofmychild will stand beside you. Something Gabriel and I discussed. Together. Because we both love you and each other.”
He did not have time for this. He did nothaveto do this. He was the king. Only his command mattered.
His breath caught when he realized…that way lay the way of his father.
But that did not mean he couldn’t find—wouldn’t find—his own way. He looked his sister in the eye and asked her very plainly, “Evelyne, what do you want from me?”
Evelyne’s expression softened a little—a very little—but her words did not.
“I want you to go talk to your wife. Really talk to her. I thought I knew you so well, or that Gabriel and I did, but I don’t understand. Shelovesyou. Why would you run away from that? You’re the best man any of us know. There’s no reason not to enjoy love when it’s offered.”
Best.But it was a constant battle. Did no one understand howhardthat was? To be better than his father,best—for his country and his family. And Ines…she was a threat to all of that. Love or not. Maybe especially withloveinvolved.
If I loved you less…
Love was a weapon. A bludgeon. It was pain and suffering andselfish. Love destroyed. He could not be those things and save his country. Hell, he could not even be those things and somehow save his wife from the revolution that now threatened.
And people expected him to talk to her. Face-to-face. When all that ever did was end in…confusion. He had no time or space for that, but what else was new?
“I will talk to her,” Alexandre agreed because it would get Evelyne to leave and stop talking about…whatever this was.
It would be easy enough to go to Ines and tell her she must leave for her own safety. And the safety of the baby.
Girl. Princess.
Alexandre squeezed his eyes shut as Evelyne came over and gave him a hug. “I know you care for her too, Alex. I know youcouldlove her if you let yourself. I may not be able to understand why you won’t or can’t, but I know what it is like to be in love and be loved. It can be scary and hard, but it is hardly an enemy.”
Alexandre awkwardly patted his sister’s shoulder until she released him. He said nothing because there was nothing to say.
He wasn’t concerned about love beingscaryorhard, he was concerned about it being used as some kind of bludgeon. Not againsthim.
Against Ines.
Against their daughter.
He had seen one lifeless, bloody body in his life, and he would not witness another—literally or figuratively.
Love was the root of too many mistakes. The kind Evelyne and Gabriel did not have to worry about because an entire country didn’t rest on their shoulders.
And good for them. They should enjoy that. They should have all they’d built. But he could not.
He could not.
He held himself very still until Evelyne left, then finally allowed himself to sink into his chair. One minute, justone minute, to pull himself together. He raked his fingers through his hair as his breath seemed to clog in his lungs.
Had he condemned Ines to this fate when he’d married her? He supposed he had, and for the first time he realized how unfair that had been—because she did not understand. She did not see the world as he did.
Maybe when this was all over, revolution thwarted, he could explain it to her in a way that would make sense. In a way that could turn something to good for her.
For your daughter.
He didn’t know why that kept poking at him. Any child of Ines’s would be well cared for and loved, and perhaps she would be a princess, but not an heir with that kind of responsibility.
No, that would fall to Gabri.
