“Tell us about Marie and Antonia,” Althea requests, finishing off her drink and setting the crystal on the small table beside her.
“They hated each other,” Marcella explains. “They had the same mother and got the job at the palace from her. That’s all I know. Marie came to the palazzo twice. The first time I was very young. I only remember she was sobbing. She kept saying, ‘She’s gone. Where is she? Who took her from me?’”
“She talking about Desta,” I manage. “Jesus.” I swallow down the rest of my drink, and Sebastian does the same.
“The last time she came was two years ago, and they fought. This time I didn’t hear them.”
“I did,” Jaqueline whispers. “I snuck outside the sunroom and listened. Marie was looking for something and accused Antonia of taking it. Antonia denied whatever it was. They screamed, and Signoria had Marie escorted out. After Antonia told Signoria she had the piece stolen from Marie but didn’t have it as the thief ran off before she could get it and kill him.”
“The piece?” Sebastian asks.
Jaqueline shrugs. “That’s how they referred to it.”
I exchange glances with Sebastian, Althea, Javier, and Gabe.The tiara. It had to have been that. And the thief who took it and ran off before she could kill him had to have been the ones from the house in France.
Now it seems Marie stole the tiara back. And Antonia is nowhere to be found.
46
ROWAN
“You need to rest,” I say to Marcella because she does, and there’s not much tofollow that up with. We have to sort through these details, and fuck, if there aren’t a lot to sort through.
More questions.
But it also feels as though we’re getting closer to unraveling everything and finding the answers we’ve been searching for.
I can tell Marcella wants to argue but ends up nodding.
I help her up, gently wrapping my arms around her and walking with her to the wheelchair.
“I’ll catch up,” I tell the room.
“Can I go back and play with Phaedra, Sabrina, and Zayer?” Jaqueline asks, and I catch the smile on Marcella’s lips.
I walk us out of the room toward the elevator to go up to the bedrooms. “She’s going to fall in love with being here,” she says quietly.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“I don’t know, Rowan. I don’t know what’s happening or what will happennext for us.”
“For starters, you’re sleeping in my room, which is now our room.”
She sags. “Rowan, we need to talk.”
I reach around and kiss her lips before whispering in her ear. “Remember what I said about fighting with me. I want you in my bed. I want it to be our bed. Regardless of that, I know one thing to be true. There is no way I’m letting you sleep on your small bed in your small room with your shared bathroom after what happened to you. Please. Do it for me if not for yourself.”
“Fine, but only because your bed is comfortable and I’m tired.”
“And because you love me.”
A smile curls her lips. “Don’t push your luck, Your Highness.”
“It’s what I live for with you.” I give her one more kiss, and we get on the elevator. Work has begun on some of the improvements to the palace, but the new elevator system will take a while.
“How are you still here? Is it because I saved your life? Because I gave you information?”
I laugh because that’s a good one. “Not even close. You need to escape the toxicity of your thoughts. I know you’re overwhelmed and don’t feel as though you belong here with me, but you do.”
