Eva lifts her eyes to him. “You’re certain?”
“Yes. We know of that property thanks to the fifth Key Seeker, Darrel Vlovsky, who’d been taken there and escaped.”
I push my chair back. “So, Ozzi orchestrated it all. He eliminated Geoffroy to save the tunnel, and when the entail handed me the duchy, he manipulated the court to take it away.”
“That’s our conclusion.”
Eva lets out a shaky breath. Her face says it all. She’s telling herself that her win was tainted, that she was a pawn in Ozzi’s game. Immediately, I regret my harsh summary of events.If only I could take it back!
The silence that follows is sharp enough to cut.
Eva clasps the table with white-knuckled fingers. I lock my hands, too, fighting the urge to smash something.
Fuck that.I can’t let her carry that kind of poison.
“Eva,” I say, breaking protocol, forgetting Von Dietz. “Look at me.”
She looks up, startled, wary.
My gaze drills into hers. “Sarrazin’s ruling will stand. Millie is Geoffroy’s direct heir. The duchy is her birthright. I will not contest it. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”
Eva’s lips part. A faint breath leaves her, half sob, half exhale.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
Relief flickers in her face and her posture, but a shadow lingers. It’s as if my vow lifted one weight only to press down another.
If I knew what it is, I’d remove that, too.
31
EVA
It’s a chilly morning. I kiss Millie’s hair, still warm from her bed, and usher her toward the gate. She’s chewing a croissant, an eye on her watch.
“Don’t be late,” I call after her.
She waves, distracted, already gone.
As always, the house feels too quiet the moment she’s out the door. I can’t sit. I grab the shawl from the back of a chair, wrap it around my shoulders, and step outside.
The gardens are gorgeous in autumn’s golds and russets. But I barely see them. My legs carry me down the gravel paths faster than I intend.
I didn’t sleep.
At first, because Alex haunted my thoughts, as he’s done every night since he left Fort Vauclairt. Memories tangled with fantasies of him kept me awake. I imagined slipping down the corridor, opening his door, and crawling into his bed. I could almost feel his arms around me, making the world narrow to nothing but heat, safety, and sweetness.
In between those fantasies, I saw myself at MESS, struggling to keep my composure as Von Dietz tore my world apart detail by detail.Thank God Alex was there!He propped me up. Heshielded me, kind, protective, and reassuring. His vow not to challenge Millie’s right to the duchy still fills me with disbelief.
Throughout that difficult meeting, Alex was everything Geoffroy had failed to be. Everything my father never even pretended to be.
As if all those disturbing thoughts weren’t enough, Brigitte’s slurred words replayed in my head. I shoved them aside, reminding myself she was drunk.
Except, it wasn’t just those words, was it?
I’d gone to the archives and found the coroner’s hasty report on Rodolphe’s death. That conclusion of “accidental fall,” written like a paperwork shrug, gnaws at me. It may be nothing, but the coroner dismissed the bruising on Rodolphe’s wrists and arms in a manner so cavalier it’s suspicious.
I hug the shawl tighter, my thoughts jumping back to Alex.
