“Go,” I said.
She closed her eyes a second before taking her father’s offered hand. Then, Nicolas instructed the third guy who’d cold-cocked me. “Take care of this, Shawn,” he said before exiting the house. All his security following.
“What does that mean?” David yelled but Nicolas didn’t stop to explain.
When we were all alone, Shawn came forward. “He wants me to ensure your cooperation.”
“Cooperation,” David said and barked out a hateful laugh. “What the hell is happening?”
“I’m trusting you,” Shawn said to me before consoling David. “Trust me. I can help you find your sister. Just let me handle this.” Then to me he said, “You can trust me. I left your wallet and phone in place in Riverdale. If you need to know more, ask Connor’s wife about Matt.”
Then, he was walking out the front door. Matt. Some where I’d heard that name before. Was it Lizzy’s brother’s name? Who was he to Shawn?
When it was just David and me, he yelled, “What the fuck? Who the fuck are you really?”
“I am who I said I am. King isn’t my legal last name, but he is my father. I’m sorry I deceived you, but I had to see her. It was the only way. But know that I always had your back.”
He shook his head while hysterically chuckling. “Really? The sculpture falling, you cutting your hand, the helicopter stunt. That was all so I couldn’t get close to her?”
I shrugged. “You may like her, and I can’t blame you. She’s beautiful and kind. But she’s mine. I can’t let you have her.”
“I should fire you,” he said, and he was right.
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll call the boss and get you a replacement team.”
My phone had been buzzing in my pocket and I finally took a look at the screen. Apparently, Grant had relayed my message or what he’d heard, and Griffin was already in route with a team. All I had to do was wait. David had left me standing alone in the foyer and my mind went back to Shawn.
Connor had told me during the planning phase of this operation that Lizzy’s brother was in Chicago working under cover. Could Shawn be Matt? He wasn’t blond like his twin sister. That didn’t mean anything. They hadn’t shown me a picture. But even if he was, he could have dyed it for the op.
If it was Matt, did that mean the cops were onto Nicolas? Did that put Natalie in more danger? But this Shawn seemed smart. He would know that she wasn’t a willing participant in anything her father did. I had to trust he’d keep her safe or I wouldn’t be able to leave Chicago to convince Royce to talk to Nicolas. I had no idea how I was going to pull that off.
Sixteen
Natalie
Chaos invaded my life, and it was more out of control than ever. Surreal didn’t even cover it as I was hustled into the limo. My father on my heels.
The door had barely shut before I laid into him. “You bastard, and I mean that quite literally. How could you?” He only rolled his eyes. “You know what it’s like to be the product of an extramarital affair, yet you treated me like dirt?”
“I treated you better than I’d ever been.” Disgusted, I turned my face away. “I loved your mother,” he added, sounding wistful.
“Save me the bullshit,” I spat.
He didn’t seem to hear me, or he chose not to. “Remarkably, she had no idea who I was. I was free to be me in a way I never had. She showed me love unconditionally.”
So he was finally admitting that she hadn’t been using him. “Then, why did you shit on her life?”
His sneer matched my own. “She left me.”
“You were married.”
Our gazes were locked together like bull horns.
“She found out about the parts of my life I had no control over, and she left.”
I’d save that little bit of knowledge. Had he been forced into marriage the same way he was forcing me into one? “No. She left because you lied about being married. She would have stood by you in that court room, but you choose to take your wife.”
“A wife my father chose for me.”
He looked away as shock set in. I was right. For a second, I might have felt sorry for him. “And yet, you are doing it to me?”
“The fate of many before you from kings and queens to common people of all walks of life. Those pairings have lasted longer than some claiming it in the name of love.”
It wasn’t the Middle Ages, but I didn’t tell him that. “I love Liam.” The words tumbled off my tongue easily, despite this being my first time saying it or even admitting it to myself.
“And you’ll see the foolishness of that statement.”
I whipped my head around to face him. “You gave him two days.”
“A generous amount considering he’ll never accomplish any of it. Then, you’ll marry David as planned.”
“You never intended on giving him a fair chance,” I accused.
“I wanted you to see.”
“See what? That you ruined my life?”
“Ruined. I’ve only ever tried to protect you.”
“You call manipulating me through someone I thought was my best friend and stopping any relationship I ever had, protecting me?”
The ache ran deep when I thought about Jody, which was why I hadn’t. She’d been the one person in the world I’d trusted with all my secrets outside of my mother. It had been a sham all along.
“I call hiring a man with skills and relationships to keep his daughter safe from potential enemies a good thing. You mother didn’t seem to understand the risk she put you in by taking you away. If anyone had found out I had an unprotected daughter, they could have used you in ways you don’t want to consider in order to hurt or try and control me. So yes, I did protect you. And those relationships. Those boys wanted nothing more from you than to satisfy their needs. You were better off.”
“Those mistakes were mine to make,” I argued, because the rest of what he said unfortunately rang true.
He laughed. “You can’t admit it, can you?”
“What? That maybe you tried to protect me. Why didn’t you tell my mother?”
“Oh, I don’t know. She didn’t listen to me the first time when she stole you away and changed your name. Why would I think she’d listen if I told her I had someone watching for her own good?”
Damn him for sounding reasonable. It still wasn’t right. “You had someone watching me too.”
“A benefit by product of good hiring.”
“And Liam. If he comes through, will you let me marry him?”
“And when he doesn’t, will you marry David?”
We didn’t answer each other. When we arrived back at his compound, the first bit of good news came.
A frantic housekeeper came running into the room. “She’s gone! She’s gone!”
My unflappable father held her by the shoulders as he tried to calm her. “Who’s gone?” he asked, though I suspected he knew.
“Mrs. Valentina. She packed a bag and left.”
For a man who tried to suggest that his marriage was nothing but a piece of paper between two people in the way of a contract, he seemed mighty pissed. I smiled, because though things might have started off that way between them, I didn’t think that was how things stood.
I marched to my room like I was floating on a cloud. I wanted the man to pay for all the wrong he’d done, including imprisoning me and, for the second time, trying to kill Liam. I hadn’t closed my door so when it clicked shut, I spun around.
Dad’s right-hand man, Shawn, stood in my room. “I don’t have a lot of time. He’s distracted for a moment, but he’ll come looking for me soon.”
“What do you want?” I asked with an edge of malice, prepared to fight to the death if I had to.
“We have Valentina. It looks like she will talk. If so, we won’t need you.”
Confused, I asked, “Who is we?”
“Ask Liam when you see him next. I am a friend.” With that, he left as silently as he’d come in.
Someone had Valentina and she might talk. My best guess was the authorities. But he’d said, they didn’t need me? I’d never bargained with the cops or Feds on my father. Not that I wouldn’t. I hadn’t had the conversation. What did that mean? He suggested I could get answers from Liam and that he was a friend. Shawn had always done my father’s bidding. Could I trust him?
What I didn’t have, was a phone.
Alone and able to process all that had happened, I finally thought about Liam’s willingness to marry me. That had been the key that unlocked my feelings. Though he’d said it when we’d been alone, his declaration to my father made it real. His explanation had been well thought out and made a lot of sense.
What I didn’t know was if he loved me too. Or was it just the honorable thing. He cared for sure. I needed the words. In two days, would I have them?
Seventeen
Liam
David insisted on riding with me to the private airport where I was to meet Griffin. I’d tried to get David to wait. His house was left defenseless, and I didn’t know what Nicolas might do.
“Remind me again,” David said. “You met Natalie weeks ago, not years?”
“Does it really matter? When it’s right, it’s right.”
“You did all of this for a woman you barely know?” he chided.
“I’ve known her longer than you, and you were ready to marry her sight unseen.”
“That’s different.”
It was a good thing he was in the back. I didn’t want to see any smugness on his face.
“It’s not. I can’t say I believe in love at first sight. But I can say it’s pretty darn close. Like my brothers have told me, when you meet the one, you know. The fact that you haven’t fought me hard over her means she’s not your person. Lick your wounds and let it go,” I said.
“I wasn’t given a chance.”
“Again,” I began as I pulled to a stop. “You don’t need a chance. When I met her, I couldn’t keep her off my mind. As much as I tried to keep us just friends. It was always more than friends between us.”
“She told me she wasn’t a virgin. Was that you?”
I didn’t answer. I got out of the Yukon and walked toward the small terminal.
“It was, wasn’t it?” he called after me. A plane was landing when I stepped in the terminal, if you could call it that. There were two groupings of leather chairs to the left and a counter to the right. I passed them both with David on my heels. “This is a shit situation.”
“That I got you out of. You’re welcome,” I said.
I exited out the other side of the building to walk toward the plane. They rolled the stairs over to the door. To this point, I hadn’t met my new boss, Griffin, in person. When he came down the stairs, I was taken aback.
He was a big guy with bright blue eyes and wore jeans, a button-down, cowboy boots and hat. When he spoke, it was nothing like the Scottish accent I’d gotten on blast whenever we’d spoken.
“Howdy,” he said, sounding as native as any Texan would.
He held out his hand and that was when I remembered David, who took his proffered hand.
“We’ve got you a team assembled of three men. I can get you more if you need.” Three guys appeared. I’d been so busy in shock over Griffin’s personality swap.
“Two men will be with you at all times. They will rotate. But one will stay at the house. They blindsided you this time. That won’t happen again.”
It was eerie how perfect Griffin’s rendition of an American Southern accent was.
“Liam, keys,” Griffin ordered.
I handed them over.
“They’ll drive you back. I’ll contact you once we land in New York.”
He shook David’s hand. The man didn’t bother with a sendoff. I clearly hadn’t made a friend. I sighed as Griffin waved me up the stairs.
“You can fly, right?” he asked, his Scottish brogue was back now that David wasn’t in earshot.
“Yes, why?”
“Technically, the pilot should be on a break. So—”
“So you need me to fly.”
He nodded.
“And what was up with that whole Texan vibe?”
“People trust their own easier.” He left it at that. “I do have some news for you.” He picked up the manila envelope. “But you might want to wait to open it until after we land.”
It had to be the DNA results. “We have time while they refuel and do the maintenance checks.”
“I’ll leave you to it.” He moved to the back putting his phone to his ear.
I sat in one of the front chairs without going to the cockpit. My hands shook as I tore open the flap. It wasn’t that I was nervous. I had no reason to doubt the outcome. There was also a lot riding on it, especially with my declaration to Nicolas. I could use this as leverage to get Royce to comply with my request.
There was only one sheet there. It read:
The DNA data supports the biological relationship between the potential father sample and the child sample.
I grinned to myself because I’d won. But there was more.
The sample of the potential father is likely to be that of the uncle of the child. For more conclusive results we would need to test the mother and the brother of the samples.
“This is a lie,” I shouted. “A fucking lie.”
Griffin moved his hands to suggest I should lower my volume. “This is exactly why I suggested not giving you this now,” he said.
“How do I know this is real? They could have paid someone off,” I said.
“This is a shit show for sure. But trust me. I know Connor and Kalen. They wouldn’t lie to you about this.”
There was pity in his eyes. Did everyone know the results?
“What about Royce? He could have paid someone off,” I said.
“I suggest do your own test. According to the lab, they need the mother’s DNA to narrow the window. Test you, your mother, and… Mr. King’s brother. Don’t tell anyone. Then, you’ll have your answers.”
That was sound advice. Only I had other worries. “That doesn’t solve my problem.” I raked my hand through my hair. “I have two days.”
He frowned. “Two days for what? Maybe you better tell me what happened with Nicolas at David’s.”
I did. I unloaded it all, except my extracurricular activities with Natalie. I had to hand it to Griffin. When I was done, he quickly came up with the rough outline of a plan.
First, I had to get us home and not crash the plane. We didn’t go to New York. I flew directly to Maryland by sheer will as my mind worked through how the results could possibly be true. When I landed, I called my mother and asked her to have Ted, the man I’d thought was my uncle, with her when I arrived home.
As I pulled up in front of the little two-bedroom ranch I’d grown up in, I sat gathering my thoughts until there was a knock on the window.
I wiped away the rage and disappointment from my eyes to see that it was Grant. Any other day, I would have called him cousin. What do I call him now?
“Hey, man,” I said, rolling down the window.
“You summoned the cavalry. Yet you’re sitting here.”
I nodded and rolled up the window before getting out. “You didn’t have to come.”
“Really?” he said. “After your phone call, Jo insisted I fly up. Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
Since he mentioned Jo, I assumed he’d taken my advice. “I don’t think I can say it more than once. Let’s go in.” Though I hadn’t considered it, he had as much right to the truth as I did.
The door was unlocked, as were most in our town. I hadn’t thought anything of that routine before I left for the military. After all of that and everything that happened in New York, it was time I convinced my mother to change her no lock rule.
“Mom,” I said. She stood in the middle of the room, clasping and unclasping her hands. I recognized how nervous she was and wondered if I would learn that she’d lied t
o me after all these years.
Uncle Ted, or should I call him Father, stepped into the room from the kitchen holding two mugs. He handed one to Mom.
“Liam. What’s this about?” he asked.
With a heavy hand, I lifted my burden as if it carried the weight of the world. He stepped forward and took the paper from me with the lightness of someone unaware what was about to unload on him.
The thin piece of paper, no longer crisp, bore the wrinkles of much handling. I’d reread it a number of times before I’d been forced into the captain’s chair to pilot the plane I wasn’t sure I was steady enough to fly.
The Air Force taught me a lot. Especially the art of flying in the direst of circumstances. Though in the moment, I would have preferred being shot at over the hours of circumspect reflection I’d endured.
They say the eyes are windows into the soul. I watched his for signs of surprise, which came. He handed it to my mother and held my gaze with his back straight.
“What’s going on?” Grant complained.
“Tell him, Liam.”
I turned to my brother, cousin, whatever, and said, “It’s the DNA results. According to them, Royce King is my uncle.”
Grant looked away, having thought that. He mentioned it once in passing, but quickly dismissed the suggestion when I wouldn’t give it a second thought. Oh, how right he’d been.
“It’s a lie,” Mom said with all the bravado of a woman who believed it. “They’re lying, Liam.” She pleaded with me and I so wanted to believe her until Ted took her hand. She stopped and looked at him. “Tell him, Teddy. Nothing happened between us for over two years after your wife left. Tell him,” she pleaded.
He didn’t look at me or Grant, just into my mother’s eyes. “Remember the night after she left?” He rarely gave voice to his ex-wife’s given name. We always knew when he was speaking about her.
“Yeah, Grant had gone over to spend the night at his friends,” she said.
He nodded. “Everyone in town felt sorry for me and wanted to give me a night to myself.”
Queen Her Page 8
