by C. J. Miller
Their sacrifice wouldn’t be forgotten. She would contact their families soon and offer her condolences and what she could to help them.
“I was so worried when I heard,” Santino said.
“Worried because you feared I was with Casimir?” It was an unfair statement, but she wasn’t ready to forgive her uncle for the mammoth pressure he had put on her to marry King Warrington and what he had said about her and Casimir.
In the end, Santino had what he wanted. She and King Warrington were engaged and she would sign the union agreement soon enough.
“I was worried about you being with Casimir, but not in the manner you mean.”
Her uncle cleared his throat and extended to her a large envelope. “I’ve had Casimir followed. He may not be who he claims. I thought you should have eyes wide-open about that man.”
Serena took the envelope, not sure of her uncle’s intent with his accusations. “Who do you think he is?”
Her uncle didn’t answer. He pointed to the envelope.
She sighed her displeasure and pulled a stack of photographs from the envelope. A few were impossible to place, close-ups of Casimir shopping, a couple from the wedding in Elion, a few with Fiona close to him. “What are you angling at?”
“Do you think it’s strange that Casimir is always around when you need someone to rescue you? First, your father’s birthday party. At the symphony hall during your engagement and then tonight.”
Serena shook her head. If her uncle was implying Casimir was an assassin targeting her, he was wrong. “Someone is targeting me and Casimir is staying close. He cares about me and wants me to be safe.”
Her uncle reached into the stack and drew out one of the pictures from the bottom. It was a picture of Casimir speaking to Demetrius DeSante.
“Casimir has been social with DeSante. I’ve been to those same functions and seen them speaking.”
Her uncle rocked back on his feet. “Serena, you are painfully dense. They are more than casual acquaintances and you need to speak with him about that.”
Serena would ask him about the extent of his relationship with DeSante, but Casimir had proven himself loyal. She felt bad about questioning him. Rolland had implied that DeSante had sent him. Casimir would not be part of a plot like that; his life had been in danger, too.
Her uncle held up a recording device. “If the pictures don’t convince you, then you need to listen to this.”
Serena’s stomach tensed. “What’s on the recording?”
“It would be better for you to listen to the recording. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression or confuse you with my interpretation of what I heard.”
Serena tried to process yet another bomb of information.
“Do you want me to alert King Warrington that we have a situation? How much have you told Casimir Cullen about your plans for Acacia?”
Too many questions. Serena looked at the recording device. Should she ask Casimir about it first and give him a chance to explain? Or listen to the conversation and draw her own conclusions? Serena couldn’t remember every word she had spoken to Casimir about Acacia. He had never told her he was friends with Demetrius DeSante and they behaved like near strangers when they were in each other’s company.
At best, Casimir had been hiding something from her. At worst, he was conspiring against her with DeSante as his partner. Was it the reason DeSante had positioned himself close to Iliana?
Serena held up her hand, silencing her uncle. “Enough. Give me time. I need to think about this.”
Santino nodded once, bowed slightly and left her alone on the porch. Shoulders heavy, she entered her house and closed the doors behind her. She could see Casimir through her front windows, speaking with the police.
He looked handsome and strong but what she might hear next could devastate her. Her heart ached. Could Casimir have been fooling her this entire time? Was he involved with her because of a hidden agenda?
She had given her heart to Casimir. She was thinking of ways to be with him, to escape her marriage arrangement with King Warrington. Was her uncle right that she was naive and overtrusting?
Feeling as if she was betraying Casimir, she pressed Play.
Some static and then Casimir’s voice clear and strong. “I understand.”
A long pause, then Casimir’s voice again.
“She knows it’s a mistake, but she’s in a difficult position.”
A pause.
“I haven’t wavered from our plans.”
What plans? If Casimir was indeed talking to DeSante, it sounded as if they were working together. Working together against her? Why? What did they want?
More static on the line and then the recording ended.
The recording didn’t prove much to her. How could she be sure that Casimir had even been speaking to DeSante? The recording was from her uncle, so considering the source, she gave it some validity. Was Casimir talking about her marriage to Warrington? He had expressed to her that he didn’t want her to marry the king. That was nothing new. But what were the plans he’d mentioned?
She called to question the past several days. She and Casimir had made love. Was that only to keep her and King Warrington from growing closer? Was Casimir giving her advice based on his loyalties to President DeSante and whatever they were conspiring to do?
Anger swamped her, mixing with sadness. She needed answers and only Casimir had them. She strode out of the house, directly to Casimir.
Maybe it was the look on her face or the fact that she was shaking with anger, but the entire yard fell silent.
“Leave us,” she said. She was looking at Casimir.
The police and others fell back.
His scent, heartbreakingly delicious, lingered on her skin, tantalizing her. She grappled for her resolve. Casimir needed to explain to her what was going on between him and DeSante.
“What’s wrong?” he asked and extended his hand to touch her.
She moved out of his grasp. “I need to know something from you. Whatever you tell me had better be the truth.”
If he was a liar who was worried about being caught doing something wrong, he hid it well. His face was impassive.
She handed him the pictures. He glanced at them. “You had me followed?”
No accusation or hurt in his voice. Had he expected it because he was a liar who knew the truth would one day come to light?
“Do you want to explain what it is you’re doing?”
He looked at the pictures again. “What do you want to know?”
He was pretending nothing was wrong and it infuriated her. She held up the recorder. “I have a recording of you talking to the president of Icarus. Care to explain that?” She felt shaken and broken, but her anger urged her forward.
“May I listen to the recording?”
She had hoped he would deny talking to DeSante. “Why do you need to listen to it?” So he could figure out what she knew and what lies he could tell to keep her in the dark?
“I think you may be misinterpreting things or taking words out of context.”
Her anger was hot and she struggled not to escalate the conversation into shouting at him. “Explain how you know President DeSante.”
“He and I are friends.”
That would have been important information on day one. “Friends? You’re friends with him? Are you also friends with King Warrington? Doesn’t that make you a traitor? This recording makes it sound like you work for DeSante.” And that he was working for him in a task that involved her. “Did you know the assassin’s name because you were part of the plan to kill Warrington? Were you part of the plot to kill my father?”
Casimir lifted his chin and squared his shoulders. “I had nothing to do with your father’s or your sister’s deaths. I work for myself. I am friends with Demetrius DeSante.”
When faced with the truth, why was he holding back? “What are you two planning?”
Casimir clasped his hands in front of him.
Casimir’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Serena, there are matters you don’t fully understand and can’t possibly know. I need your trust. I need you to trust me.”
He was withholding information and keeping secrets and he wanted her trust? “I cannot trust you if you will not tell me everything.” The words burned in her throat.
Hurt flickered in his eyes. “I cannot tell you everything. I have too much on the line.”
She had wanted him to bring her into his confidence. “Deceiving me sits well with you?”
“My plans have nothing to do with you.”
He could not have spoken more hurtful words. She had believed that they had some future together, however difficult it might seem. But he was making his own plans; he was carrying out his own agenda. “What arrangement have you made with the president of Icarus?”
He hedged. “I cannot tell you that except to reiterate I had no hand in killing your father or your sister.”
She fought against the negative thoughts that clouded her: Casimir was using her. He had been using her from day one. She had made a terrible mistake in judgment by trusting him. Her uncle and her detractors had been right about her.
Those soul-sinking ideas were too easy to hold on to. She went for broke. “Do you have feelings for me?”
“Yes,” Casimir said. Except his face was once again impassive. If he cared for her, wouldn’t he scramble to make this right?
“Why did you come to Acacia?” she asked.
“The answer is complicated.”
“Lies usually are.”
He met her eyes, but didn’t respond.
She threw her hands in the air. Her emotions were a tangled mess. “Say something to convince me that you aren’t a liar and a coward and a thief.” A thief who had stolen her heart.
“I have not stolen from you.”
She wouldn’t admit she had lost her heart to him. “You have taken a great deal from me.”
“The less you know the better.”
Now he was insulting her. “Why do people say that to me? Because you think I’m an idiot who can’t handle the truth?”
Casimir extended his hand to touch her and she jerked away before he could.
He didn’t try again. That she wanted him to spoke of the depth of her feelings for him.
“There is a history you don’t understand. There are situations that have unfolded and I don’t want you caught in the cross fire. Look what happened tonight because you were in the middle of DeSante and Warrington!” Casimir said.
“How noble of you to want to protect me,” she said, letting the sarcasm drip from her voice.
“I have honorable intentions for you. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Yet he had. Deeply. “You can tell me the truth or you can be escorted from here by the police.”
Casimir stared at the sky. “You are asking me to either drag you into a war or keep you from it.”
“But haven’t you heard, Casimir? There will be a war. Countries are choosing sides and I will be dragged into the middle of this no matter what I do next. The only thing I know, here and now, is that you are guilty of crimes against Acacia.”
She summoned her police and pointed to Casimir. “Arrest him for espionage and treason against Acacia.”
Her heart broke at the words, but she made sure her face betrayed no emotion. She had finally mastered the art of wearing her queen facade, but it wasn’t a triumph. She felt as if she had lost everything that was important.
Chapter 11
Serena paced in her office. Iliana was sitting on the window seat watching her.
“You have something to say. Say it,” Serena said. She was in a foul mood and hated to take it out on Iliana.
“You need to talk to him to find the truth,” Iliana said.
“I asked him for the truth and he refused to give it to me.”
“Give him another chance.”
Give another chance to the man who had conspired against her with President DeSante?
“Are you hearing this from DeSante?” Serena asked.
Iliana shook her head. “No, Serena. My loyalty is to you. First to you. You know that. I haven’t spoken to DeSante about this.”
The hurt in Iliana’s voice struck her. “I’m sorry, Iliana.”
Her cousin waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t be. I feel like a moron. I blew things with DeSante out of proportion. He was using me and I think that’s never been clearer before now. Please, don’t mention DeSante. I’ll just feel more stupid.”
Serena understood. It was how she felt when sorting through what had happened with Casimir. “What was Casimir trying to accomplish?” Was his agenda to influence her to ally herself with Icarus? Was there more to his motives? Had she given away anything, said anything in front of him that gave Icarus leverage over her?
She had been foolish to fall for Casimir’s charms. The setup and everything he had said and done had been too perfect. He could have studied her for months.
“The only person who can answer that question is Casimir,” Iliana said.
“He’s been lying to me. Why tell the truth now?”
Iliana stood. “You’re right. He doesn’t have to. But he cares for you. He saved your life.” She pressed her lips tightly together and sighed. “The way he looks at you and speaks to you. He can’t be pretending all of it. So give him a chance to come clean. Then decide.”
Serena’s heart ached to talk to Casimir. War was on her doorstep. DeSante and Warrington were ready to pounce on each other. Now was her chance to find the truth and ally herself with the right side.
Perhaps Casimir knew something about Icarus and DeSante or Rizari and Warrington that was critical. As a queen, Serena needed to know what that was. As a woman, she needed to know how he felt about her.
* * *
Casimir was inside a jail cell in the castle, with bars on the windows and the door locked. He wanted to speak to Serena, explain who he was and what he wanted. Outside at the beach house, he had been caught off guard. He had been scared for her after what had happened with Rolland and he had shut down his emotions and tried to think like a king and not like a man who wanted to protect the woman he loved.
He needed to speak with her now.
Yet asking one of the guards to see or talk to her would rush her. Serena had a methodical approach to everything. She would think and then would come see him. He would wait.
Casimir didn’t have to wait long. The lock on the door creaked open and Serena entered the room. He noticed a change in her. Her timidity was gone. He read anger and hurt in her eyes. She moved like a predator and he liked seeing her strength.
He stood from the bare metal cot where he’d been sitting.
Serena remained near the door. “You will not be given another chance to talk. Tell me everything.”
Casimir kept his hands at his sides. He wanted to reach for her and draw her into his arms, assure her that he had no intention of hurting her. He didn’t want to manipulate her.
He started with the truth, the simplest fact. “My name is Constantine Casimir Warrington the fourth.”
He gave her a moment to digest his last name. Her eyes flickered with recognition.
“My first cousin on my father’s side is Samuel Warrington. He inherited the throne from my father, but I am the rightful heir. My mother was forced to leave Rizari while she was pregnant with me. My father never knew I existed. Samuel killed my father and his father in a hunting accident he arranged. His mother is partly responsible for my mother’s exile from Rizari. I want revenge on both of them. I want what is rightfully mine,” Casimir said.
“You believe the throne should be yours?” she asked.
“Yes.” He w
as encouraged that she didn’t immediately call him a liar and storm out of the room.
“How did you become involved with Demetrius DeSante?”
“My mother and I lived in Icarus after she was exiled from Rizari. When DeSante was a general in the Icarus military, I served under him for five years. I made a name for myself. I worked to become close to Demetrius, then I helped him topple the previous government and take over as president.”
“He’s a dictator,” Serena said.
“Call him what you want. I told him the truth about who I am. He knows what I intended to do. He has been my ally in this matter because he knows that I will be a better king than Samuel. Better for Icarus and Acacia and Rizari.”
She inclined her head. “What about me? What did you intend to do with me?”
“I didn’t intend to hurt you. I came to your father’s birthday party planning to kill Samuel Warrington. When my plans were interrupted by the assassination of your father, I realized I had an opportunity to find out what happened to my mother and my father and expose the truth.”
“You planned to use me to do that?”
“Yes. But what’s happened between us has been genuine. I didn’t sleep with you to acquire information. I did it because I wanted you. Want you still.”
He could read nothing on her face, but her knuckles were white from clasping her hands so hard.
He was getting to her and while he didn’t want to use their chemistry to manipulate her, he ached for her. He ached to take her to bed. To make love to her and talk until they had cleared the air and she again looked at him with affection and respect. Would she ever look at him that way again?
He knelt at her feet. “I know you’re hurt. I should have confided in you sooner.”
She shook her head. “I can’t trust you.”
Her nipples were puckered under her blouse. It was strange to notice it now, but he was tuned in to her. “You can.”
She shook her head. He would remember the look on her face for the rest of his life. Sadness, hurt and longing, all mixed into one.