by Geneva Lee
I wished they sent someone else. Anyone else.
“I wish it didn’t have to be this way,” he murmured.
“It doesn’t,” I said simply. “You chose this, so tell me what they’re going to do to my child.”
It wasn’t solace I was seeking exactly. Looking for comfort in this situation would be like seeing relief for a headache at the barrel of a gun. There was no happy ending. Every moment had been slowly and inevitably leading to this one. My curiosity stemmed from something else entirely. They could have taken me when I was pregnant with Elizabeth. They could have seen to my death on the day of the wedding. Why now? What had changed?
“This wasn’t the plan initially,” he explained. “You should eat.”
I rubbed my stomach. “I’m not hungry.”
In truth, I was famished, so was the little prince kicking eagerly in my belly. I hoped he couldn’t hear my stomach growl.
“My organization was put into place during World War II to look into the private lives of certain British citizens. After the war it was disbanded. Officially.”
Unofficially, it seemed they were still holding staff meetings. I wondered if Alexander knew any of this.
“The world is at war again,” he continued.
“No, we’re not.” Was that really how he justified his involvement?
“Aren’t we? Nazis marching in the streets instead of hiding behind closed doors. Terrorists attacking our cities. It’s only a matter of time before the next major world event,” David countered, his face flashing with sudden passion. I saw the zealotry in it. That was what had driven him to these people. “Things are getting out of hand.”
None of that explained why this organization had targeted my family. “What does any of this have to do with us?”
“MI-18 is a counter-measure,” he explained. “We balance things out when Great Britain swings too far in one direction. When we were disbanded, the king reorganized us and set down guidelines. If the monarchy was threatened, there were contingencies in place.”
“What kind of contingencies?” My stomach plummeted as I considered those contingencies were the reason I was here. It had been inevitable—a row of dominoes waiting to fall. But what had tipped the first one over?
“The monarchy has been handing control to Parliament while catering to a rapidly progressing world view for a while. As such, the crown is undermining its own power. Albert started it without even knowing,” David told me, shaking his head in disgust. “When he handed over a majority of the political power over to parliament, the first contingency went into action. That contingency was supposed to ensure we had a monarch in place who was malleable to our plans.”
“What does that mean?” I asked cradling my bump. “And what does any of this have to do with my son?”
“Initially, it was about Sarah,” he said.
“She wasn’t in a coma, was she?” I’d known since I met Rachel. I’d had all the pieces in front of me, I could see the big picture, but I’d refused to put them together. Still, her betrayal was nothing compared to discovering the snake in the room with me.
“No,” David admitted. “With Alexander keen to tell his father to shove off, we expected he would abdicate. One push in the right direction, and we knew we could get him to do just that. When he met you, it was assumed he would abandon his title and marry you. No one thought Albert would legitimize the marriage.”
“Are you claiming you’re the reason I’m with Alexander?” The words tasted sour—wrong. I’d never believed in fate exactly, but the idea that I’d met Alexander because of some larger plan was ludicrous. We had found each other. We had fought for one another. It was the only truth in this world of lies.
“No, we merely encouraged things—sped them up, if you will,” he said.
I recalled the stories in the papers, a new scandal coming out as soon as the last one settled. They’d brought us closer together rather than push us apart.
But no matter what he claimed, no one could have predicted that we would weather those storms. No one could feign responsibility for our love. I wouldn’t allow it.
“But Alexander didn’t abdicate,” I said softly.
“No, he didn’t,” David admitted. “One of our associates found this concerning, so he took matters into his own hands. He wanted to know Alexander would be out of the picture.”
“Hammond.” I hated him, even more than I hated the man who’d actually wielded the gun that day. Hammond was the man responsible for Albert’s death. “That plan backfired.”
“Indeed. Suddenly, Alexander was on the throne, and Sarah wasn’t exactly interested in playing along.” David paused, glancing to the same spot he’d looked to a number of times. It must have been where the camera was hidden. But whoever was watching us hadn’t intervened with his evening storytelling session. That could only mean one thing. “But then we discovered another problem. Something we hadn’t counted on.”
“She wouldn’t go along with the plan?”
“No. It was worse than that. After Albert’s death a number of private papers were stolen and we found out something we hadn’t realized.” David’s mouth twisted into a cruel smirk. It didn’t match the man I knew. Then again, nothing about this situation did. “She isn’t Albert’s biological child. Even if we placed her into power, she had no legitimate claim to the throne. If there was any question, the throne would pass.”
“Then why were you brought in for Edward?” The timeline didn’t match up. David and Edward had been an item before Albert’s death, even before I’d met any of them.
“I was to become his confidant,” David confessed. “I was an insurance policy in case Sarah didn’t work out. Someone who saw him for who he really was, and I did a good job. Too good.”
He claimed he’d fallen in love. I could see the truth of it in his eyes, but it would never erase what he’d done.
“So you wanted the throne to pass to him but I messed it up by having an unplanned pregnancy?” I was growing weary of this story, given that I’d guessed how it would end. But I still didn’t have the answer as how my son played into their schemes.
“Not exactly,” he said. “They planned your pregnancy. Gave you sugar pills instead of birth control.”
I gasped my hands closing over my stomach.
“We knew by the time you met Alexander that Sarah would never fall into line. That made Edward our next option. But then it became clear that there was another way. Alexander would give up anything for you and that losing you…”
“Would destroy him.” I searched his face for signs of remorse, there was some there hiding in his dark eyes but it wasn’t enough to make me feel sorry for him. He knew what he was doing to the man I loved, the man who’d supported him and welcomed him into his family, and he was going through with it.
“I don’t understand what you think is going to happen. Alexander will never cooperate with you.” They had to know that. All of this so that they could convince him to abdicate?
“Alexander will lose the crown. It will be taken or it will be given up. It will then pass to Edward,” David said.
“What if Sarah—” I began.
“That won’t happen. Evidence would surface regarding her mental stability, and while she may not be cooperative, she knows when to heed a warning.”
I wondered when they’d threatened her. Had it been under our watch? Had we been so focused on the outside that we’d forgotten to take care of our own people? The fact that David sat across from me now was my answer.
“So you’ll be married to the King and you can turn his head any direction they wish,” I guessed. It was a basic plan with a lot of promise. But maybe David didn’t know Edward as well as I did. My best friend would catch on—wouldn’t he?
“For a time,” he admitted, “and then when he’s ready, your son will return and claim his birthright.”
“Return?” I repeated, blinking at this declaration. “From where? If his father abdicates…”
“He won’t abdicate for a dead child. There’s no point. Your son’s legacy will remain intact.”
The coldness in his voice hit me almost as hard as what he was saying.
“You’re going to let Alexander believe he died. That he lost both of us,” I said in broken pants. My stomach heaved but it was empty so I simply gagged and coughed on air.
I was going to be sick. That was their plan all along: to break my husband’s heart—to take everything from him and watch him fade into nothing. I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t begin to know how.
I knew their entire plan and I had no way of helping the man I loved. I wanted to scream until I shattered like my heart was doing now. But what good would that do?
I was better than that. I had to be.
“We need to be certain he breaks,” David said in a quiet voice, perhaps sensing how fragile I was. “And when your son returns with true royal blood, Edward will step aside, especially when he learns the truth.”
I shook my head. “What truth?”
They would never admit what they did to Edward. David never would. He’d be by his side pretending at a marriage while carefully pulling strings whenever he could.
David paused as if he wasn’t certain if he should reveal more. Then he shrugged off whatever hesitation he felt. It must be easier knowing that I was going to die. A corpse couldn’t tell tales. “He isn’t Albert’s child either.”
I stared at him as this information processed. Now, I knew enough. I didn’t want to know any more. I didn’t want to know any of it. Instead, I made a choice.
I looked to the tray of food, then up to the camera. They’d been waiting for this. I wouldn’t make them wait any longer. Picking up the apple, I took a bite.
Chapter 15
ALEXANDER
Nothing was out of the ordinary. At least that was the takeaway from a five minute debriefing the next morning. By the time, Brex had finished walking through what they hadn’t found, I was yawning.
“You need to sleep,” Georgia chastised me.
“I need to find my wife,” I snapped, rubbing my eyes. I’d resorted to coffee to keep myself awake for most of the night. But it wasn’t quite enough to keep my mind sharp. No matter how much I drank.
“And when we do,” Georgia said firmly, “and we will, you can’t be a zombie. She’s pregnant. The baby could come any time…”
“That’s exactly why I don’t have time to sleep.” I was tired of arguing this with them. “I’m doing the best I can.”
Brex and Georgia shared a look that suggested they thought my best hadn’t shown up recently. It was no use calling them out on it. They were right.
I wasn’t at my best, because I couldn’t be without Clara. She was my best. Without her, no matter how much I tried, I was simply half a man. How long had I wasted keeping her out of certain parts of my life? How much time had I spent denying her all of myself? And for what? To protect her? I’d failed at that.
“What about our new leads?” I asked wearily, steering the conversation away from me and my faults. After Smith’s and my meeting with the Ghosts, we’d arranged a tail for both Sarah and Anders. The results were frustrating.
“Sarah is barely speaking to anyone,” Georgia said, sinking into a chair with a frown. She knew she was being guided to a new topic and she wasn’t happy about it. “She’s ignoring Pepper’s calls. She isn’t leaving the house. There’s been no unusual activity on her mobile.”
“Maybe she’s waiting for instructions,” Brex said in his usual clipped and direct way. Unlike his partner, he was former military and followed unspoken commands easily.
“We don’t have any proof of that,” Georgia added quickly. “It’s just something we should consider.”
No one—not even me—was sure how I would react to proof that my sister was the one who betrayed us.
“Keep watching her,” I said after a beat. “What about Anders?”
“Well…” Brex and Georgia looked at one another.
“What?” I demanded. Had I been duped twice? I’d opened my home and my heart to new family—a task I hadn’t found easy. Had I been trapped by my own sentimentality?
“It’s not suspicious,” Brex said swiftly even as my mind spun. “But we think he caught on that he’s being followed.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “What gives you that idea?”
“He, uh, signaled our guy,” Brex said uneasily.
“Signaled?” I frowned. “How?”
“You know.” Brex made a lewd gesture at me.
“Oh.” So he knew we had someone following him, and he wasn’t hiding that he knew. In truth, I hadn’t suspected him. Norris had run thorough checks when we’d discovered his existence. They’d been clean. I’d met his mother. If his life was a cover, even he didn’t know it. But the ghosts had spooked me. I no longer felt like I could trust my gut. Because I’d never looked twice at Sarah and she’d been in the middle of this the whole time.
“What do we have on MI-18?” I asked.
“That’s the bad news,” Georgia said gently. “We were hoping we could scare up some interest from them.”
“But they aren’t taking the bait,” Brex told me.
Wherever they were, they were simply burrowing deeper into their hole. They had no interest in communicating with us, which meant they had nothing we wanted or they weren’t interested in sharing. Neither possibility sat well.
“What do you want us to do?” Georgia asked.
“Keep up the surveillance. Keep looking into MI-18, and…” I dropped my head in my hands, biting my tongue.
“And?” she prompted.
“If you can’t find my wife, find Norris.” I knew what I was asking was impossible, but with each day that passed my hope dwindled more.
I had no idea what had happened to Norris, and even though I knew that he would never leave my wife without protection, I couldn’t accept that he was dead. No body. No proof.
It wasn’t quite hope, but it was as close as any of us were going to get.
“We’ve been checking in with hospitals.” Brex cleared his throat before adding, “And morgues. Nothing so far.”
No body. No proof.
It wasn’t quite hope, but it was as close as any of us were going to get.
“Keep looking,” I ordered him. “Where’s Smith?”
Georgia hesitated. “Checking on Belle. She’s not feeling very good.”
And she was busy taking care of my daughter. I stood, swaying a little on my feet. Brex clapped a hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Poor Boy, but you need a shower and a nap.”
“What I need—”
Georgia cut me off. “What you need is to take a moment to take care of yourself. You aren’t going to be able to take care of Clara like this.”
“What about you?” I accused, blatantly ignoring that, while Brex needed a good shave, he was in fresh clothes—as was Georgia. I was the one who’d adopted a patina of homelessness ill-suited to my life. But how could I care about things like soap and hot water and pillows when Clara might have none of those things?
“We’ve been taking shifts,” Georgia said. “Churchill style. A few hours of sleep while the others keep working.”
“And it’s your turn,” Brex informed me.
“Is that an order?” I said in a low voice.
“If it needs to be,” Georgia said, crossing her arms.
This was what came of choosing rebels and renegades for friends. They didn’t give a shit who I was. They didn’t listen to my orders. It was why I liked them. Usually.
I was halfway to my private quarters when my phone rang. It was a welcome distraction from the dread building inside me. I’d been avoiding our rooms since the morning I’d faced her disappearance. There was nothing for me there but a life I might have already lost.
I sighed when I saw the caller ID. Anders really wasn’t trying to hide anything from me. “Hello?”
“Are those your guys acting like bad shadows or do I have a problem?” Anders asked.
“They’re mine.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. I’d told Anders some of what was going on, but that was before things had spun out of control. He had no idea why I was having him watched now. He didn’t know Clara was missing. There was no point involving him.
“Is this a permanent perk?” he grumbled.
“Welcome to the family.” It was easier to pretend that it was just another burden of royal life than more than that.
“Great. First, you send Miss Bossy Knickers to criticise my every move and now I have bodyguards.” He paused. “What happens if I move to Australia?”
“I suggest you learn to surf.” I didn’t have time for this, but it was serving to distract me from the fact that I’d arrived to my rooms.
“By the way, tell your wife to call her sister. I tried to reach her, but she’s ignoring us. Is this some type of isolation torture—shove us together and see what happens if we’re left to our own devices? Because I’m not sure—”
“I’ll tell her,” I cut him off and hung up. I didn’t have time for his little problems. Once one member of Clara’s family began to question her absence, others would, too. The last thing I needed was a panicked Madeline Bishop fluttering about the war room.
I paused outside the entrance to my home within Buckingham. I’d been all over the palace since the day I lost her, but I’d been avoiding this. Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door.
It was surreal—familiar and foreign at the same time. This was my home, but the involuntary joy I usually felt when entering was absent. Instead I felt hollowed out as though I’d found myself in a vacuum. There was nothing here. All the light had gone out from this place.
Around me the little reminders of Clara sparked nothing more than a numb sadness. How long would it be before they sparked nothing at all?
I decided not to dwell on it. Instead, I went to our bedroom, hesitating near the door across the hall. Elizabeth’s room. I’d been avoiding her to. Unable to face our daughter, knowing she wouldn’t understand what had happened to her mother.