by Bella Grant
“Of course.” He pulled into traffic after informing her security team who were following in a separate car of their destination.
All but one guard rode separately. Julian sat up front with the driver, watching the roads and staying in constant contact with Antonio. She wondered if he would have a few teasers for her that evening about her trip to the library.
The more she thought about his careless words, the more hopeless everything began to seem. She had always been likely to end up married to a man less for love and more for politics, that was the way of it in royalty, but she had hoped to at least find a man who found some value in her other than between the sheets.
The library was quite busy when the car rolled to a stop at the entrance. Isabella waited for Julian to give the driver the all clear in order for him to open her door. When she stepped into the entrance of the building, she was taken aback by the enormity of the place. She’d seen large buildings before, but the library was something else altogether. The echoes of people speaking quietly around her, the architecture that spoke of a completely different era, and the familiar smell of bound books all brought her anxious mind to a halt.
Taking a deep breath, she grinned at Julian and surged forward to the stairs that would take her down to the lecture halls. “Smile, Julian. Maybe you’ll find something interesting here.” She patted him on the shoulder and began her descent.
She tried to ignore the stares as she entered the room with her full security detail surrounding her. She hated taking them everywhere she went. She wasn’t on royal duties, she just wanted to enjoy the lecture. “Would it be possible for all of you to either wait in the hall or sit toward the back and blend in?” she whispered to Julian.
He scanned the crowd. “The others will sit in the back, but I’ll remain at your side.” He nodded and told the others where to position themselves.
That was as good as it was going to get, she supposed.
Her phone vibrated in her purse, but she decided to ignore it. After a few more movements from the phone, Julian pulled his own phone out of his vest. “Your husband would like a word,” he leaned over and told her. She looked around to find a clock.
“The lecture is going to begin. Please tell him that I’ll call him as soon as it’s over—unless, of course, it’s an emergency.” She never took her eyes off the podium as she whispered to him, so she didn’t see if he was surprised by her reluctance to speak to Antonio or not. She didn’t really care either way.
The author was introduced, and Isabella sat back in the folding chair and let herself be whisked away from her desperate reality.
Stepping into the hotel room, Isabella was surprised by the flurry of activity taking place. All of the men on Antonio’s security team were in the room on phones, typing on laptops, or in small clusters having discussions. Other members of his cabinet were also present. She knew several of them had traveled with them to Chicago, but she hadn’t crossed paths with any of them until that moment.
Dropping her purse on an empty arm chair, she went in search of Antonio. Julian, who had been with her all afternoon, had given her no indication that something was amiss. If something terrible had happened to Antonio, surely they would have called his lead security man back to the hotel.
Antonio found her before she saw him in the crowded room. “Isabella, come with me.” He grasped her hand and pulled her toward the bedroom. Once inside, he shut the door and hugged her to his chest. She could feel the tension in his broad chest even through the layers of clothing between them.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” She searched his expression when he finally released her enough for her to look up at his face. Dark eyes met hers. Deep wrinkles riddled his forehead, and his fingers were still digging into her arms, as though he were afraid to lose her by letting go. “What is it?” she asked again, more earnestly.
“I have to ask you a question, and I need you to answer honestly. No lies, no secrets—you must answer me.”
The urgency in his tone worried her. Something grave must have happened for him to be so worried. “Is it your parents? My family? What’s happened? Did the rescue not go well?” Her stomach dove in her body.
“My question first. How did you get that information on Karen Vega? Where did it come from?”
She took a deep breath. To tell him would be a betrayal to Elisabeth and her brother. “Antonio, I told you—”
He gave her a little shake. “No. You must tell me. No more secrets. It’s very important.”
“Why? What happened?” She urged him to tell her. If she knew why, knew what had happened, maybe it warranted her telling him about Claudio. But, if it wasn’t anything he was involved in, she might be able to keep his secret for him.
Antonio growled and released her, his concerned features hardening in frustration. “Dammit, Isabella. I am telling you to answer me, and don’t you dare be dishonest. If you lie—” His hand touched his belt, and she felt her entire body stiffen.
“That’s how you want it? Then you can go out and broadcast to everyone that you’ve finally gotten your wife to heel?” The rage she’d been trying to conceal since Maria divulged Antonio’s conversation with Silver finally surfaced, and there would be no stopping her now. “I won’t tell you a damn thing until you tell me why.”
“You think to tell me what will happen and when? You forget so soon that I am your husband and you are the wife?” His voice raised, and his eyes were wild with something she’d not seen from him before.
She took a steadying breath, trying to calm herself. If nothing else, she knew that was true, and with all of the security men in the next room, she was alone. Completely alone. The enormity of that fact hit her, and the muscles in her tense shoulders loosened. The strength she needed to fight him at that moment simply wasn’t in her.
“Just tell me what’s going on, Antonio. Why are all these men in our rooms? What’s happened?” She hoped her softer tone might calm his anger toward her.
He stared at her for a long minute, his eyes not moving from her expression. A small tick in his jaw told her he was angry, but she didn’t understand where the anger was aimed. “Fine.” He shoved his hand through his hair and turned away from her. “The rescue didn’t go as planned at all. Two woman were rescued, but not Karen. She wasn’t even there. The men we had doing surveillance never saw her leave.”
“They are sure she was there to begin with? Maybe she wasn’t with the others at all,” Isabella offered.
“She was there.” He sighed. He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking up at her with more than frustration—worry. “The team had a visual of her and the other women right up until the night before they made their attempt to rescue them. They never saw her leave, but she wasn’t there when they entered the building.”
“And you think whoever helped me get information about her might have tipped off the kidnappers?” Elisabeth’s brother wouldn’t do something like that. He worked for her country, yes, but he wouldn’t be working against Antonio’s. Their two countries were at peace with each other. Hell, she’d married Antonio to assure that peace would continue!
“I need you to tell me, Isabella. No more secrets.” His eyes wrinkled, and he looked tired.
“Antonio, can’t you trust that where I obtained the information has no bearing on what’s happening right now?”
His lips thinned. “Why can’t you trust that whatever you tell me will remain with me? It’s become quite obvious that you are protecting someone.” His cheek ticked more profoundly than before.
She wouldn’t deny it. She could give him that much truth. “Yes. A good friend who would never betray me.” Her shoulders rolled back in an act to appear more confident.
“You understand that if you are wrong, if this person has betrayed you and is involved with Libertad, that more than just this woman’s life is at stake? It could be your life as well.” He spoke softly, concern laced in his voice. Had been worried about her safety. His initial gr
eeting when she returned had been because she was alright.
“Antonio. I promise you—”
“I won’t listen to this. You will stay here.” His voice and face hardened against her. She could almost feel him shake with anger from where she stood.
Quietly, he shoved himself off the bed and marched out of the room. The click of the door shutting was the only sound she heard. Grounded again in her room… At least he didn’t take her clothing.
ANTONIO
Ringing came from Isabella’s purse. She’d left it in the living room earlier while the security team was in full swing.
The rescue had been more than difficult. Aside from the men inside the building, two of his own men had been killed. Not finding Karen had been a loss. Her father held the most influential chair in their government. He, better than most, understood why giving into these men would only create further attacks and hostility, but would he be willing to bet his daughter’s life?
A new demand had been issued. In their prisons were a dozen of Libertad men, living out their lives of hard labor sentences. Libertad demanded their release. To release those men would be like handing over armed weapons. All had been found guilty of aiding attacks on the government and attempts to steal intelligence. They could not be unleashed into the active Libertad.
Isabella didn’t understand what was at stake. Stubborn woman! If she would only answer him, give him the name of her informant, he might be able to get somewhere with the investigation. He supposed he could let Julian do an interrogation. No grown man had ever withstood it. But he couldn’t do that to his wife. If word got out amongst his people that it had been necessary to have his wife interrogated, they would lose all their love for her and respect for him. Aside from that, he knew what sort of tactics Julian used. Even if he demanded he leave all physical contact out, it would be mentally exhausting and terrifying for her. No, he wouldn’t do that yet.
The ringing began again, and Antonio dug her phone out of her purse. Elisabeth. “Hello?”
“Uh… hi. Is, uh, Isabella there?” Elisabeth sounded tentative.
“She’s not available right now, Elisabeth.” Antonio sat on the edge of the couch, staring at the closed door of the bedroom. She hadn’t made an attempt to leave the room, and he hadn’t been back inside to speak with her again. “I’ll ask her to call you back.”
“Oh. Uh… okay. Can you please let her know dinner is fine for tomorrow if she’s still interested?”
“Sure. I’m not sure she’ll be able to make it, but I’ll have her call you.”
“Antonio.” A heavy breath hit the receiver of the other end. “She’s not a bad person. I know she comes off as spoiled, but she really isn’t. It’s not her fault. After her mother died—well, her father just left her. Raphael isn’t too much older than her, so he wasn’t able to raise her while being molded in his father’s image. Which, let’s be honest, thankfully hasn’t happened. She was given whatever she wanted and allowed to roam free because it was easier for everyone. No one cared enough or took the time to show her how much they cared.”
Antonio listened to Elisabeth, staring at the closed door. “Thank you,” he said when he thought she was finished. He was wrong.
“She’s smart. I know it doesn’t seem like it because she never had the chance to go to college, or actually studied, but she really is smart. She’s taught herself a lot over the years. While everyone thought she was just lounging on the beach, she was studying textbooks she ordered. Her father stopped giving her tutors when she was fifteen. After that, he supplied her with lessons on what he considered womanly accomplishments. Fashion, make-up, conversation skills, and dance lessons.”
Antonio suddenly felt like an ass. Playing over their conversations in the past week, he could pinpoint at least a dozen times when he treated her very much the same way.
“She will kill me if she finds out I told you any of that,” Elisabeth continued. “But you need to know where she’s coming from. She deserves to know she’s valued. And if you can’t do that, or you won’t do that”—a pause hung between them before a deep breath as she plowed on—“then I’ll come over to that island of yours and take her home with me. You got me, Antonio? Don’t you dare hurt her.”
Antonio cringed at the vehemence he heard in her voice—much more menacing than most of the men he had trained in the Royal Guard. “I understand perfectly, Elisabeth.” He nodded even though she couldn’t see him. “I promise, I’ll take care of her. I’ll ask her to call you about dinner. I think she would rather like having a girls’ night out as well. I’ll arrange for the transport, but if you could pick a dance club she might enjoy and let my security team know, they will have everything set up.”
“You’re asking me to take your wife clubbing?”
He grinned at the sudden change in her tone. “Not clubbing, Elisabeth. One dance club. One. And my security team will have to approve it and will be with you the entire time.”
“Oh. Well. Okay then.” She stumbled over her words.
“Goodnight, Elisabeth.”
“Yes. Goodnight.” She hung up, and he leaned back against the back of the couch. He needed a better way to deal with Isabella. He also needed her to understand how much he valued her.
No woman had ever gotten into his head so easily and so permanently as his wife had. Even when he was irritated and wanting to rip his hair out, he would rather be with her than anywhere else in the world.
Something had to give. The joy he’d seen on her face at the charity night was the most relaxed he’d seen her in weeks. The purest of pleasure in her expression was unadulterated and completely unguarded. He wanted that all the time. He wanted all of her walls down, to have her at her most vulnerable. The need to prove to her that he could be the man she needed and wanted grew every day. The misery she had encased herself in recently pulled at him and irritated him.
Elisabeth’s call had given him an insight into who his wife really was. In some ways, she was still the lost little girl looking for guidance and acceptance. He thought about his own little sister, about the lengths he would go to in order to protect her, to make sure she felt safe and loved—and those thoughts quickly made him angry at Isabella’s brother and father. True, Raphael was but a boy when their mother died, but he should have taken more care with his sister. Instead of writing her off as a spoiled brat, he should have seen what was really going on.
He wouldn’t excuse her father. King or not, his responsibilities as a father went beyond sending the girl to the nursery. And to shelter her from an education, leaving her to do it all on her own? Although, when he went down that road, it occurred to him that he was doing very much the same thing by denying her the college she had chosen. He knew the university on his own island was lacking, which was why he was sent abroad to get his higher education. Why should he deny his own wife the same opportunity?
The bedroom door creaked as it opened. He looked up and found her peeking out of the door at him. Her eyes were soft, and her cheeks a bit flushed. Had she been crying?
“Come here, Isabella.” He patted the cushion beside him on the couch. The door swung completely open and she emerged, wearing her nightgown. “It’s not even seven-thirty.” He looked at his watch.
“I assumed I wasn’t going anywhere tonight.” She padded across the carpeted flooring in her bare feet and slid onto the couch. He put his arm out, a signal for her to come closer. She moved over until her thigh touched his, and he pulled her the rest of the way, pushing her head down onto his chest.
She smelled of honey. He couldn’t help but kiss the top of his head. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you.”
“I seem to have that effect on you,” she whispered, splaying her hand on his chest.
“You have other effects that I much prefer over anger.” He placed his hand over her fingers to still them from the exploration of the button on his shirt. If she kept going, her hand would slip inside his shirt, and if he felt her skin on his a
t that moment, he would be too distracted to get out what he wanted to say.
“I can’t tell you what you want to know. Not yet.” The statement was said so lightly he almost hadn’t heard her. What he did hear clearly was her fear of upsetting him again. He couldn’t stop his body from tensing at the prospect of his wife insisting on withholding the information he sought, but he tried to keep his voice softer.
“Why?”
“Where I got my information really has nothing to do with what happened today. If I thought for a moment that it did, that it would help you find that woman, I’d tell you. You must know that.”
He did know that. She was as serious about finding Karen as the rest of his team. Hell, she’d gone digging for information on her own about the case. “If you suspect otherwise, even for a second, you’ll tell me?” He let her hand go and brushed some hair away from her forehead.
“Of course. Do you trust me?”
“Trust has to go both ways, Isabella. If I must trust you that you’ll give me this information when I need it, you must trust me enough to give it to me. I know you think telling me will betray your source. But better to rule out that source than to leave a loose end dangling free.” He tried to ignore her unbuttoning his shirt with her nimble fingers and remain focused on their conversation.
“I do trust you. Give me one more day, then I will tell you.”
As compromises went, it wasn’t horrible. One day. His men were already hot on the trail of another lead, and odds were pretty good they’d have the woman found within the day.
“I can’t tell you anything more about the search until you tell me.” He waited for the blowback of his comment. “Like I said, trust goes both ways.”
She was silent for a long moment then nodded. “I understand.”
“Did you really want to spend the night in?” he asked with a finger lifting the hem of her satin nightgown.
“I didn’t think you’d let me out,” she answered honestly.