by Diana Ames
“Oh, yes, I know that Dominic is my child. Thank you for having the tests run for me. It saves me so much time and energy.”
“You’re psychotic,” Alondra said.
“Yada, yada, yada,” Gilly said before faking a yawn. “I’m so sick of hearing that same old tired line. With you being a writer, I would have thought you’d be more original, sister.”
“I’m not your fucking sister!” Alondra shouted. “Now, let me off this bed!”
Gilly just laughed. “You mean, Anton hasn’t told you? Oh my, this is interesting. Of course, I guess half-sister is actually more accurate.”
Alondra paled at her words. She refused to show anything but annoyance and aggravation. She wasn’t going to let this crazy woman know that she was getting to Alondra.
“I don’t know what you’re going on about, and I couldn’t give a shit. Let me up!”
“You weren’t the only one running DNA tests, sweetie,” Gilly went on, ignoring Alondra completely. “Apparently, Anton had reason to suspect that you might be a relative. He would have been better off leaving well enough alone, of course, but you know men.” Gilly rolled her eyes at Alondra as if they were just having a friendly chat.
“Relative?” Alondra whispered.
She didn’t want to listen to this crazy woman, but what she had said struck a chord. Anton had been obsessed with finding out who Alondra’s parents were, and his obsession made sense if he’d thought he could be related to Alondra.
“Oh, yes,” Gilly said gleefully. “You and I share the same dear old dad. You’re a royal princess, sister dear. Isn’t that a kick?” She frowned then. “Of course, in the process of testing, the doctor found something awfully strange about that.” She leaned over close to Alondra as if about to share a secret. “You see, the first go around, Anton had you tested against his blood, and you two aren’t closely related at all. But when he tested you against Daddy-O, ding, ding, ding.” She chortled. “Ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine—well, the nines could go on forever. Suffice it to say, the king was a match to be your father.”
“But Anton—” Alondra sputtered.
“Oh, poor Anton,” Gilly said with fake sincerity. “He’s a bastard now just like Damian. That mother of theirs sure got around. The doc hasn’t been able to figure out just who Anton’s father is yet. It could be anyone.”
“Oh my God,” Alondra whispered. “The King of Colania is my father. He murdered my mother.” She started to breathe hard, panic filling her lungs instead of oxygen. “Anton was having me tested—”
“Okay, take a minute and adjust,” Gilly said to her. “Once your little anxiety attack subsides, we’re going to talk about how you’ll help me get my son.”
That got Alondra’s attention. Her eyes snapped to Gilly. “I wouldn’t trust you with a dog. Why on earth would I help you get a child?”
“Because,” Gilly said, her voice full of malice, “if you don’t, you die.”
CHAPTER 30
Anton paced in front of the fireplace, exactly as he had been doing for the last hour. He was still stunned and confused at Mellissandra’s outburst. He knew she wasn’t in love with him. She wasn’t even in lust with him. The way she would look at Damian was enough to tell anyone and everyone that she was his from the roots of her hair to the soles of her feet.
For a moment though, it had stroked his ego to think that the beautiful woman who had been the object of his every waking thought for over a year could feel something for him in return. Then, another woman’s face had flashed through his mind, and he had known that what he felt for Mellissandra wasn’t passionate, romantic love. There was no doubt that he loved her, but it was the kind of love shared between friends or siblings. Sure, when he had crawled into bed at night, there had been times when he was jealous of all that Damian had. But the first time Anton had felt his lips against Alondra’s—even if he couldn’t admit it then—he had known that his desire for Mellissandra was the desire to have what she and Damian had, a soul-deep connection to another person.
Anton mentally shook himself. Everything would keep coming back to Alondra, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He’d told Mellissandra that he wasn’t ready to ask Alondra to stay. But now he wasn’t so sure that had been the truth. Alondra had been asking to go home since she got out of medical days ago, and he’d kept refusing. Why couldn’t I let her go? He had her blood. He could find out who she was without her remaining here. She wouldn’t run her story without all the facts, and she couldn’t get those from thousands of miles away.
He didn’t know why he was so fixated on Alondra. He couldn’t understand why she made him feel things that no other woman ever had. Damn it. He needed to talk to someone about this, and he wasn’t about to call Dr. Servo with everyone in his apartment.
He glanced over at Wally and Ryan and shuddered a little. They were good people, and he liked them both. Wally had a raw, gritty honest quality to her that would make it impossible to lie to her. She just wouldn’t tolerate bullshit. Ryan’s size was intimidating, but the man was as gentle as a baby. They were total opposites, yet they completed each other.
Anton wasn’t sure he could handle Wally’s opinion though. He knew the older woman held Alondra in contempt for everything that Mel had been through in the past few weeks. Mel had complained enough about how Wally was pushing her to leave Damian because of it. Wally wouldn’t even help Anton with Alondra when he’d asked her because her dislike was so strong. But maybe Ryan—
“Well, spit it out already,” Wally said, breaking into Anton’s thoughts.
“What?” he sputtered, caught completely off guard by her sudden statement.
“Fine, if you want to play it that way,” Wally said. “What you’re feeling is the beginning of being in love, dumbass.”
“Walinda,” Ryan scolded gently, “go easy on him.”
“Well, I’m sick to death of all this brooding,” she told her husband. “He’s obviously too thick to realize what’s happening to him. He caught the same foot-in-mouth disease that every man catches when he falls in love. Now knowing a little about him, I’d say he doesn’t have a clue as to what he’s feeling right now,” she said. All her words were directed to Ryan, but she was looking at Anton.
“I haven’t known her very long—” Anton began.
“Who says love has a time limit? It can happen in a minute, or it can happen over twenty years,” Wally told him.
“I’m screwed-up.” Defeated, Anton sat down in his overstuffed chair. “She doesn’t deserve to be saddled with all my issues.”
“Does she know about all your issues? I’d say that’s her choice to make,” Ryan said quietly.
“She knows enough,” Anton said.
“Before or after?” Wally demanded. At Anton’s dumbfounded look, she clarified, “Before or after she slept with you? From what you told us, she has issues of her own. If she slept with you after knowing your history, then I’d say she made her choice.”
Anton just stared at Wally. She was right. Alondra had known his history before they’d ever gotten close to one another. She’d had plenty of opportunities to turn him away, even after he’d pounded her out of his bathing chamber.
“Do you think”—Anton gulped—“she could feel the same about me?”
“From the look on her face when you told her she had no one to care about her or vice versa, I’d say you nearly broke her heart right there,” Wally told him. “Dumbass,” she muttered.
“Why is Anton a dumbass now?” Damian said, leading Mellissandra back into the living room.
Silence filled the room as everyone turned to the returning couple. Shouting had been heard coming from the bedroom earlier, but it had been too muffled to make out the angry words. From the look of their clasped hands though, Damian and Mellissandra had made up. Regardless, tension filled the air once again.
“Anton,” Mellissandra said, going over to him. She fell to her knees beside the chair and took his hands in h
ers. “I owe you an apology.”
When he began to object, she held up a hand to stop him.
“I have been using you as a crutch instead of facing the problems between Damian and me. That hasn’t been fair to any of us. I’m sorry if, for any moment, I led you to believe there could be more between us. I’m sorry for freaking out earlier and for accusing you of betraying me. You have been a wonderful friend to me, but I have not been one in return.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were bright with moisture. “If Alondra is the woman to make you happy, then I want you to do everything you can to win her heart.”
Anton pulled Mellissandra onto his lap and hugged her hard. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“If she hurts you,” Mellissandra whispered back, “I will tear out her hair by the dyed roots.”
Anton just smiled at her and set her on her feet.
Rising, he rubbed his hands together and glanced around nervously. “I guess I should go find Alondra and apologize,” he said.
“Start with, I love you,” Wally advised. “That will get you far.”
Anton nodded and headed for the door. “If she murders me, remember that I probably deserved it,” he said with a halfhearted laugh.
Opening the door, Anton stopped short at the sight of Captain Hicks, two other security guards, and the little doctor from medical who had been running the DNA tests for him.
“We’ve got a situation,” Captain Hicks said.
“Well, what is it now?” Anton said with impatience.
“This would be best discussed behind closed doors, sire,” Captain Hicks said. “If we could come in…” He let his words trail off.
“Come in then.” Anton sighed. He’d finally come to terms with his feelings for Alondra, and he wanted nothing more than to make things right with her, but now, he had to deal with this. “Look, can you talk about this with Damian? I have something I need to do,” he said to the captain.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow you, any of you, to leave this apartment without a security team,” Captain Hicks said.
Anton led the four men into the living room.
“What’s going on?” Damian asked. “I thought you were going to find Alondra.”
“Well, Hicks, this is your show,” Anton said, plopping down into his chair once again. “What’s the problem now?”
“Dr. Melianos came to us about an hour ago,” Captain Hicks said in a flat tone. “Apparently, due to his medical credentials, he has been able to keep an inside track on Gillian, but his motives are less than pure.” Hicks glared at the diminutive man. “Three hours ago, our security cameras captured Melianos granting access to the castle to an unknown person. The supply entrance was not manned with security because the door can only be opened from the inside,” Hicks explained. “For the same reason, we didn’t have someone watching the cameras in that area.”
“I didn’t know she was going to do this,” the doctor said in an anguished cry.
“Someone had better explain fast,” Anton said, his eyes narrowed into a fierce glare.
“Dr. Melianos escorted Gillian Portsmith into the castle nearly three hours ago,” Captain Hicks said. “He came to us about forty minutes ago—”
“I’m so sorry, sire,” the doctor cried. “I didn’t know she was this disturbed. She is a royal princess. My loyalty has always been to the bloodline.”
“What have you done?” Damian said threateningly, taking a step forward.
“Gillian has taken Ms. Burkheart,” Captain Hicks said. “The doctor came forward when he realized what she had done.”
“Why haven’t you recaptured her and gotten Alondra to safety?” Anton yelled.
“Dr. Melianos can explain,” Captain Hicks said.
***
“You really are crazy,” Alondra said incredulously. “I’m not going to help you, and if you think that threatening me is going to make me any more inclined to do so—”
“Sisters are supposed to help each other,” Gilly told her. “You said you would help me before, but it’s been a month. After everything I’ve been through, you promised you would help me.”
“We might share DNA, but we are not sisters,” Alondra said hotly. “You have murdered three people. You kidnapped an innocent woman and forcibly impregnated her. You attacked me and strapped me to this fucking bed.” Alondra’s voice rose an octave. “You nearly killed Anton—”
“That was an accident,” Gilly cut in. “And those people were meaningless in the grand scheme of things. That whore was trying to steal Anton away from me, and the driver was going to help her. And even you have to admit that Stephen was a slimy excuse for a human being.”
“Slimy or not, he was still a human being!” Alondra shouted at her. “He didn’t hurt you or anyone else. You don’t get to be judge, jury, and executioner just because you have some piece of paper that says you’re royalty. Don’t you have a sense of right and wrong?”
“Where is your sense of right and wrong?” Gilly screamed. “You promised to help me get my child!”
“You lied to me!” Alondra screamed back. “I believed you were an innocent woman wronged by a corrupt monarch! It turns out the only corrupt monarch is you!”
Gilly began pacing the room like a caged animal. Her entire body seemed to be shaking with rage or anxiety or maybe both. When the woman turned back to Alondra, the look in Gilly’s eyes frightened Alondra. Gone was any semblance of rationality, and in its place was a frenzied panic that could only be described as complete insanity.
“You want him for yourself, don’t you?” Gilly’s voice was deceptively soft. “Have you already slept with him? He’s amazing in bed, isn’t he?”
Gilly’s eyes weren’t on Alondra but fixated on something above her head. She moved over to the bed and began fussing with equipment that Alondra couldn’t see.
“Sisters aren’t supposed to steal each other’s boyfriends,” Gilly said. “That’s the worst thing a sister could ever do, and you need to be punished for it.”
“What are you doing?” Alondra whispered.
“You’re going to go to sleep now, sister,” Gilly said in a cheerfully deranged manner that made Alondra’s skin crawl. “Don’t worry. You’ll wake up—this time, at least.”
***
Anton couldn’t breathe, and a severe pain was spreading through his chest. The doctor had just declared him a bastard and told him the man he’d grown up idolizing wasn’t really his father. Even worse, the man who wasn’t his father was Alondra’s father—the man who had murdered her mother.
But Anton couldn’t allow himself to focus on any of it. Gilly had Alondra. Gilly, who had already murdered three people in cold blood, had Alondra strapped to a bed in some unused medical room. The doctor didn’t know exactly what Gilly’s plans were, but he’d been frightened enough to turn himself in to security and ask for help. For the first time since early childhood, Anton felt real fear.
“She wants you, Prince Anton,” the doctor told him. “You and her child.”
“Shortly after taking Ms. Burkheart, Gilly disabled the cameras in and directly around the room where she’s held up,” Captain Hicks said. “We don’t know the current status of Ms. Burkheart at this time, but we have no reason to believe she’s been harmed as of yet.”
“What are you waiting for?” Damian snapped. “You know where she is, so go in and get her!”
“It’s not that simple, Prince Damian,” Captain Hicks told him. “My men can’t just rush in. We cannot use deadly force, and without knowing what weapons she has or the condition of Ms. Burkheart, going in blind could cause more harm than good.”
“Get me some paper,” Anton snapped. “I’ll write you a fucking royal decree to use whatever means necessary to stop Gilly.”
“With all due respect, sire,” the captain began hesitantly, “given the information that has just come to light—”
“I am still the only acknowledged offspring of the former k
ing,” Anton bit out. “Regardless of DNA test results, unless someone comes forward to dispute my right to the throne, I am in charge here.”
No one said anything. Everyone in the room glanced back and forth between Anton and the captain of the guard, waiting to see who would blink first.
“I can’t ask any of my men to take on a task that could lead to a death sentence,” the captain finally said.
“When this is over, Captain Hicks, you can expect your termination papers for disobeying a direct order,” Anton said. “In the meantime, I want to know where she is. I will take care of this myself.”
“Anton, no!” Mellissandra shouted. “She’s crazy. She’ll kill you.”
“This is my problem, Mel,” he said kindly. “I can’t let her hurt Alondra or anyone else because of events I put into motion. I’m sure as hell not going to let Gilly get anywhere near Dominic.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ryan said, standing up. “This woman is a threat to people I care about and people they care about.”
Everyone gaped at the gentle giant in shock. Ryan rarely strung that many words together at once, and he typically avoided anything that was sure to lead to violence. Even working behind the bar at the whorehouse didn’t usually put him in direct contact with barroom brawls or drunken punches.
“Thank you, my friend,” Anton said, embracing the big man in a masculine hug. “But I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you because of all this. Gilly wouldn’t find it easy to harm me, but I can’t say the same for anyone else.” The minute he said the words, Anton knew that they were completely true. He was the only one who could get to Gilly without anyone being injured.
“Sire, you’ll need body armor,” Captain Hicks said. “We don’t believe she has a gun, but the Kevlar should help to protect you from any slashing weapons she might have.”
“Let’s get this show on the road then,” Anton said. “The longer we wait, the greater the risk to Alondra.”
It was quickly decided that while Anton would be the one to go into the room where Gilly was holding Alondra, a security force would be in the corridor. In addition to the body armor, Anton would be outfitted with a tiny security camera and a microphone that would feed directly back to the security office. If Gilly attacked Anton or managed to injure him, the security team would have just cause to use deadly force.
