by Virna DePaul
“What do you mean?” She sounded brittle and exhausted, even to her own ears.
“Simply that your mother may have misconstrued the evidence to fit what she wanted. That’s all.”
“Frederic, my mother’s many things, but she’s not a liar.” Even as she said it, she wondered if she’d misjudged her mother all along.
Frederic stared at her, as if hoping she’d hear the unspoken words between them. His coming here and speaking about the Queen in such a way was liable to get him in a large amount of trouble, not to mention the loss of respect of the entire court, and she was immensely grateful for him for doing so. Even if Frederic were incorrect, she felt how much he cared about her to tell her these things. “My dear, I care about you very much. You must know that.”
“Frederic, I don’t know if what you say is true,” she replied slowly, “but you’ve given me much to think about. I’ll look further into the evidence presented to me. I’d hate to have accused a truly innocent man.”
Frederic looked relieved and happy and sad for them all at once. “I’ll say this: no man who looked at you the way Kyle Young looked at you would ever betray you. No man. I hope you find the answers you seek, Arabella.”
“Thank you. Thank you for coming here.” She smiled. “Now, may I at least get you some tea? A jug of whisky? Absinthe?” She laughed. “Goodness, I can’t imagine this was a conversation you were looking forward to.”
Thankfully, he laughed as well. “No, it really wasn’t, but I want you to be happy, and the thought of you believing the worst about a man you love weighed on my conscience very heavily.”
“Well, I can say this: I didn’t deserve you. I hope you can find a woman who does.”
A flush crept up Frederic’s cheeks, and he coughed into his fist. “You flatter me, dear. But I’m certain you would’ve done the same for me, as we’ve long been friends.”
Arabella’s broken heart began to heal a little at those words. Having at least one person on her side made her feel less alone and adrift. No one in her family had tried to understand why she’d behaved the way she had—her brother had called but was still far away from Salasia—but Frederic’s support meant everything to her.
She rang the bell for tea. If Frederic noticed her wiping away stray tears, he was too much of a gentleman to say so.
Chapter Sixteen
Kyle’s head began hurting before his old man even opened the door to his trailer.
“Kyle!” Gary’s face was flushed and red, probably after drinking a number of beers. “What are you doing here?”
Kyle stepped inside without waiting for his dad’s invitation. The trailer looked exactly the same as when he’d been a kid—faded, crumbling wallpaper of an indeterminate hue with a large, oversized chair in the corner. The sparkling flat screen taking up most of the opposite wall was new, and some blaring game was on. Two dogs approached him, sniffing and growling, but Kyle let them sniff his hand before petting them.
Then, he faced his father.
After learning that someone named “Mr. Young” had sold those photos of him and Arabella to the press, Kyle had quickly realized who had betrayed them. It only took a little investigating and some hush money to get the blog owner to admit that it was Gary Young who’d sold them the photos and asked them not to use his first name. Kyle had a feeling his dad wouldn’t have cared if anyone found out, but if they did, they’d assume it was Kyle, not him. This was classic Gary Young.
Kyle had nothing left to lose. He’d already lost Arabella, his career was hanging by a thread, and the media had only left him alone after pillorying him for a few weeks thanks to another NFL scandal by someone on another team. Kyle couldn’t care less if Gary gave that tell-all he’d been threatening to do for years now. What did he have to protect now? His reputation was already in tatters.
The woman he loved believed he had betrayed her for a few quick bucks. It couldn’t get any worse.
“How did you get those photos?” Kyle barreled up to his father’s face. He was a head taller than his dad, especially now that Gary had stopped caring for his diabetes and was stooped due to his rapid weight gain.
Gary stared at him, then laughed. “I should’ve known you’d figure it out!” He slapped Kyle on the shoulder, like they were best of buds. “I gotta say, son, I was impressed that you managed to land a princess. Did she wear a tiara when you fucked her?”
Incensed, Kyle yanked on his dad’s collar while gritting his teeth in fury. “How much did you get from those photos?”
“Twenty grand although I tried to get fifty. Stingy assholes.”
“How did you do it?” Kyle demanded, shoving Gary back so hard, he fell into his overstuffed chair.
One of the dogs jumped into his lap and whined. “You didn’t notice? I hired a guy to follow you after you were seen with the princess in New York. I knew you wouldn’t be able to keep it in your pants if you went to her country, and I was right. He took the shots and sent ‘em to me. Piece of cake.”
“So, you sold out your only son for money. You know, I never expected anything from you, but that’s taking it to an entirely new low. Even for you.”
The brand-new air conditioner in the window chugged on, filling the musty trailer with cold air. “And so you came here to tell me off? Cry about it?”
“Twenty thousand isn’t going to last you very long at all. Enjoy it while you can.” Kyle snatched the remote from his dad’s hand, turned off the TV, then tossed it onto the scratched-up coffee table. “It’s over, Dad. The money, the gambling, the booze. All of it. I’m not paying one more cent to keep you from opening your big mouth.”
Gary blinked and flushed redder. But the man had been playing poker for too long to let his emotions loose so easily. “You’ve said that before, and then when I got an interview all set up, you backed down. How’s this time different?”
“Because I have nothing left to lose. Because of you, the woman I love thinks I sold her out. My career is gone to shit because of this. What’s one more scandal, Dad? What’s one more interview? At this point, I don’t care. But for you, this sucks big time. Because me caring was the only thing keeping you from losing your cash cow.”
Gary’s fists clenched against the arms of the recliner. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and the dog on his lap began whining even louder. “Shut up!” he shouted at the dog, who just whined even louder. “You won’t really do this. You know I can’t work. You’re going to put me on the street? After I took care of you your whole childhood?”
“What do you call ‘taking care?’ Getting skunk drunk while Mom struggled to pay the bills? Besides, you get enough social security that you won’t starve. My money’s just extra. And starting today, you won’t get a dime of it. It’s over.”
The two men stared at each other, though Kyle felt a tremendous burden lift off his shoulders. He wasn’t the least bit nervous about confronting his dad anymore. For too long he’d played to Gary’s every whim just to keep him placated. Now, without that burden hanging over his head? He was free. Finally free.
But not happy. He could never be happy—not without Arabella. He knew that. But this was at least a step in the right direction.
Gary stood with a jolt, knocking the dog off of his lap and onto the floor. “You ungrateful bastard!” he roared. The dogs ran off into the bedroom. “I raise you up, give you everything, make you what you are, and you fuck me over like this? I won’t stand for it!”
Kyle huffed. “You didn’t do a damn thing for me except drink and spend the little money we had. While I worked my ass off and got into the NFL without your help. I’m the player I am today because of my hard work, not yours. You haven’t done a day’s worth of hard work in your entire life.”
“You don’t know anything. You only know what your mother told you.”
“I know what I saw. I know what you did to her. How you hurt her. And yet she stayed with you. And God, I couldn’t stop it, and that’s something I struggle with every
damn day.”
Gary’s face flushed, so much that Kyle feared his dad might have a stroke. “You don’t know what it was like. And now you’re fucking me over. I can’t believe my son would be so heartless.”
Kyle refused to let his dad guilt him. “Be grateful I’m not pressing charges, because I could, and I’d win. But from now on, you won’t communicate with me. You won’t get a cent of my money. And you can rot in this trailer for all I care. We are done.”
Gary stared at him, and Kyle thought he might’ve detected real tears in his eyes, evidence of a beating heart. But if they were there, he blinked them back quickly and sat heavily down into his recliner again, anger draining out of him. God, he looked so pathetic, so diminished, the ghost of a man from who he’d been when younger.
“Why are you still standing there?” Gary said with a resigned sigh. “Just go. I’m tired.” He tried to reach for the remote, but it was too far away, and instead of getting up, he sat back with a sigh.
Kyle picked up the remote and handed it to Gary, who took it without a word. He clicked on the TV. Kyle knew he’d been dismissed, and deep in his heart, despite everything, despite the fact Kyle had loved his mother very much and hated the way his father had treated her, he was sad to know that he might not ever see his dad again.
It was over. Done. It had been for ages now, and this had only been the final nail in the coffin.
“I hope you can be happy, Dad,” Kyle found himself saying as he opened the front door. He meant it, too. He hated his father, but a small part of him would always love him, feel sorry for him.
“And I hope you rot in hell.” Gary sniffed and began changing the channels.
Kyle stepped onto the front porch and into the sunshine. Then, he shut the door on that part of his life forever.
Chapter Seventeen
“Louis!” Arabella jumped from her chair and threw her arms around her brother. Prince Louis—tall, dark-haired, and handsome—hugged her back tightly.
“Hey, Bella,” he said into her hair. “How are you?”
She pulled away to examine him and found a tired, thinner Louis in her arms. Arabella was surprised at how much she’d missed her ne’er-do-well brother. After his scandal with his married lover, Louis fled Salasia for a time, mostly to cool his heels and allow Elisabetta to calm herself over her eldest child’s behavior.
“It’s been months since I’ve seen you, Louis. Way too long. I’m as well as can be expected. Have tea with me?” She gestured for him to sit.
He grinned as she poured tea for them. “Still as proper as ever, I see. I thought you’d shaken off all sense of propriety when you ran off with your American!”
“Louis!” She blushed furiously. Of course she’d known that her brother knew what had happened, but to have him talk about it so openly? She glanced at the servants in the corner, who were trying not to look interested and failing miserably.
Louis laughed at her embarrassed expression. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. But my point still stands. When I heard the news, I didn’t believe it at first. My sister, the always proper Arabella? Surely there was some mistake. But then when I saw the photos! Well, I may have fainted dead away.”
“You’re ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes with a wave of her hand. “Do you want tea or not?”
“No tea. And, by the way, it was the best news I’d heard in a long time.” Louis winked at her.
She paused, her teacup halfway to her lips. Gazing at her brother over the rim, she tried to assess if he were joking with her or not, but his expression was as serious as ever. “Your opinion is the unpopular one.”
“Does that surprise you? Mother called me, hysterical, about to lock you in the dungeon…” He paused to laugh. Arabella smirked. Their wine cellar had been converted three hundred years ago but was still referred to as the dungeon every now and then. “And she was certain the entire royal family was doomed.” He pitched his voice higher, imitating their mother. “Doomed! Doomed! This wretched family has broken my heart!” Louis sat back, looking heavenward. “If there’s anyone who can milk a scandal, it’s Mother.”
Arabella sipped her tea quietly. She’d done as Frederic had asked her and looked further into who the other “Mr. Young” really was, but so far, had found nothing conclusive. However, her initial anger toward Kyle had mostly faded away, and now she only wished that things could’ve been different.
“I’m sorry Mother roped you into all of this. She still won’t speak to me. She called me something I prefer not to repeat, and we exchanged…words.” Arabella thought back to that day. “I told her she could go to hell. Not my finest moment.”
Louis barked out a laugh. “Did you really? I’m even more impressed! I’ve been waiting for you to tell Mother to go to hell for years. I’m glad one of us did.”
She allowed herself a moment of pride for standing up for herself, though she wished it wouldn’t have had to happen.
“I also heard about the speech you’re giving tomorrow,” Louis said.
Ah, yes, that. She set down her teacup. After Frederic’s visit, she’d decided to stop hiding from the Salasian people and address this scandal head-on. “I thought it best to stop acting as if I did something truly wrong. It may not have been in the best of taste, but I refuse to be treated like a criminal.”
Louis smiled ruefully. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m proud of you, Belle. You’re courageous, which is more than I can say about myself. I’ve been too scared to face our family, whereas you’ve weathered the storm beautifully.” He took her hand, squeezing it.
Arabella choked back tears. She’d felt at sea lately, so alone except for Frederic’s distant support. She squeezed his hand back. “I don’t know if Kyle’s guilty of selling those photos,” she said. “I thought he was, but now that I’ve had a chance to cool down, look at things more closely…” She shut her eyes against the pain filling her chest. “I want to believe he’s innocent. But above all, I hope that he can lead a happy life regardless.”
“I’ve never met him,” Louis said, as he folded her hands in his, “but if he’s worthy of being loved by you, then he sounds like a great man. Besides, having one of us with an American lover will send our mother into such a fit that she’ll probably never recover.”
“You’re terrible!” she said, laughing along with him. With a sly look, she asked, “Have you truly been a bachelor while you were away? Come on, you can tell me anything.”
“I can’t tell you anything, because you’re my little sister, but I can say that I may have met someone. And she’s not married, by the way.”
“Oh, you!” She threw a cushion at his face, which he caught and threw right back at her, as their servants looked on worriedly.
When the day of the speech arrived, Arabella was so nervous she thought she might faint. Getting dressed and having her hair done felt like a faraway dream, and although she knew people were talking to her, she could hardly understand a word they were saying.
As she, her attendants, and Louis all walked toward the sitting room where the royal family held press conferences, Elisabetta stepped out of a room looking flustered and touched Arabella’s arm. “I wanted to wish you the best of luck,” her mother said quietly. “I’m certain you’ll do beautifully.”
Arabella could only stare at her mother. She hadn’t expected an apology, but this was close to one. She nodded and murmured a faint thank you before continuing to walk. Elisabetta didn’t stop her.
Now at the podium with a microphone in her face, she felt a calm she hadn’t experienced in a long time. I can do this, I can do this… she thought, as the journalists and newscasters watched her expectantly.
“Thank you all for coming today,” she opened, nodding at the small group of cameramen and reporters in attendance. “I’m sure you’re curious as to why I’ve called this press conference after so many weeks absent from public life.”
A few people shifted closer. Arabella swallowed, her thr
oat dry.
“I’ve tried to live my life as honestly as possible, but in this instance, I have hidden and refused to face the truth. You see, I did run away with the American football player, Kyle Young, that night at the ball.” The room took a collective breath. “I asked him to take me away, because I felt as though my life were no longer my own. I felt trapped, bereft. I felt like nothing I said or did mattered, but Kyle—Mr. Young—showed me that wasn’t true.”
The camera flashes went off intermittently, as she prepared to say her next lines.
“Mr. Young showed me the world could be honest, and good, and kind. He showed me that I was worthy of such things. Yes, I fell in love with him. And I still love him.”
She heard gasps in the audience, but she pushed onward, tears in her eyes.
“We are not together now and that’s my fault. Because although he’s never given me any reason to doubt him, I did. I made a horrible mistake, one I doubt he could ever forgive. And I don’t blame him for that. But I still want to say thank you to him. He changed my life, for the better. Please forgive me for any pain I may have caused this country, but know this: those days with Kyle Young were ones I will never forget as long as I live. I will cherish them to my dying breath.”
She paused and stared at the crowd. Many reporters stopped scribbling, staring at her in astonishment. A few even had tears in their eyes.
Arabella’s heart felt full and at peace. “Thank you, everyone, and may you find your own special happiness.”
Chapter Eight
“I’ll have another.” Kyle handed his glass to the waitress. Alec and Heath were giving him “the look,” but he didn’t care. If he wanted to drown his sorrows in a melancholy fog of alcohol, he would do it, and nobody would stop him.
In the last week alone, he’d taken the steps to cut his dad off completely, despite Gary’s repeated angry phone calls begging him not to do it. Kyle had also blocked his dad’s number and gone ahead with his promise: it was over, and he was moving on.