“He could stay here forever if he wanted to. Even after he marries that girl from the village.”
“You noticed too, huh?”
“Oh yeah.” We both laugh.
“Thank you for everything. For being there for him when I couldn’t, and for not hating us even though we lied to you.”
“You lied to protect my family, and me in particular. I know that. I also know that you never lied about your feelings, and neither did Noah.”
“We didn’t. I hope we can stay in touch, Jen.”
“I’d like that.”
We hug goodbye and then I leave the house with my friends. We pile into SUVs and drive to the airport. I can’t help but look at the castle as we drive by. Nate reaches over, and squeezes my hand.
“He’s an idiot. I know, because I used to be one, too.”
“It’s okay. I’m okay.”
“No you’re not. But you’re also not alone.”
“Thank you,” I say as I lean over and kiss his cheek.
* * *
Brayden
I stand in the shadow of the gates, and watch the SUVs drive by. I fight the urge to run after them and beg Darcy to give me another chance. I know that’s not possible, but God, I wish it was. In the light of day, I can admit to myself that I was an ass last night. Yes, she lied to me, but she also loved me. I don’t doubt that now. I really didn’t then, either. I just couldn’t see past the betrayal.
“You’re going to just stand there and watch her go?” Jen asks, pulling her car up next to me.
“Yes.”
“I can’t believe we’re even related.”
“Because I don’t go chasing after some girl like a love-sick fool. Kings don’t do that.”
“No, they just convince a girl with more honor in her little pinky than most people have in their entire bodies, to swear an oath to them. One that will put her life in danger while they sit back and relax.”
“You’re mad at my dead father?”
“Yes, and my living one, too.”
“They protected our line.”
“At the expense of the man they called their best friend, and his wife and children.”
“They weren’t forced to help us.”
“Are you even listening to yourself? You’ll make a great king, that’s for sure.”
“I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.”
“You shouldn’t.”
She drives on through the gates and parks. I hear her car door slam and then the front door does the same. I can’t help replaying her words in my head, but I won’t allow myself to believe them. My father and uncle did what they had to do in order to protect us. That can’t be wrong. Would I do the same thing? Probably. Maybe. I don’t really know. I’ve never been faced with that kind of decision, and I don’t really think it’s something you can prepare for.
Just like I couldn’t prepare myself for falling in love. I love Darcy, and I know that no one will ever come close to replacing her. It’s just not possible. I do have to choose a wife, though, and I’ve arranged for the first candidate to come by this afternoon. Her family happily put her on a plane the moment my mother had her lady in waiting place the call.
I walk back inside and decide that I have time to take a nap before our guest arrives. I think I’m going to need to be well rested for this whole thing. Just the thought of picking one of these women makes me feel ill. I shouldn’t be settling for good enough when I could’ve had the best.
It’s a few hours later, and I’m standing in the foyer, waiting for the woman who could possibly be my future bride. I purposely dressed in the most formal of my suits, and I’ve styled my hair into submission, making sure not a single strand is out of place. I also made sure to shave for the second time today, because Darcy always loved it when I had a little stubble to rub over her skin. Dammit, I need to stop thinking about her, especially right now.
“Welcome,” I say with a smile I’m not feeling, as the door opens.
The woman who walks through the door is exactly what I was expecting, and everything my heart doesn’t want. She has long, straight black hair and is dressed to within an inch of her life. She screams “money” and “designer” and I want to run.
“Hello, Brayden,” she says, batting her eyes. Honestly, she just batted her eyes at me.
Jen rolls her eyes at me, and I have to fight the urge to laugh. I hold my arm out to her, because it’s expected, and she grips it like it’s her lifeline. I flinch a little, and then smile when I see the hurt cross her face. Why did I think this was a good idea? Oh right, because I have to marry someone like her.
Dinner is a study in torture. This girl—whose name I’ve already forgotten—only wants to talk about how many rooms our castle has, where we have other homes, and how much money she’ll be given for her shopping sprees. The thought crosses my mind that maybe if I did marry her, I could give her enough money so that she’d just leave me alone.
“Do you play any video games?” Jen asks her with an innocent look on her face as I almost choke on my wine.
“Video games? Of course not? Why would you even ask me that?”
“No reason.”
We finish dinner, and I give her a chaste kiss on the cheek, sending her off with a maid to her rooms. She looks like she wants to protest, but she’s too refined to do so. A proper lady can’t ask for a fuck, even if she wants one. Thank God for that. I’d have to say no, and that could lead to an international incident when her feelings get hurt.
“She really thought you’d shag her,” Jen says, falling back on the couch in laughter once we’re alone in my study.
“She’s not that bad.”
“What’s her name?”
“It’s written down somewhere,” I tell her with a wry smile.
“Why are you even doing this?”
“Because I need a proper, royal wife.”
“No, what you need is to get your head out of your arse and go after Darcy.”
“I can’t take her as my bride.”
“Why not? The people love her, and Derrick is gone.”
“I never wanted to be a king who fought for change.”
“So what, you’ll just be reformed playboy prince who takes the throne and does nothing?”
“That’s not fair. I’ll do everything I can to make sure my people are happy and taken care of.”
“Brayden the Martyr, making sure his people are happy while he’s miserable. It’s bollocks. All of it.”
“It’s my choice.”
“Oh I know, believe me I know. If I had my way, Darcy would be here now, and so would Noah. You remember him, right? Your best friend.”
“You’re on a roll tonight, aren’t you?”
“This is just the beginning. If you insist on mucking up your life, expect me to be right next to you, reminding you of all the mistakes you’re making.”
“You don’t need to remind me. I’ll never forget.”
“Will you at least talk to Noah?”
“Not yet. Maybe in a month or two, but it’s too raw right now.”
“He’s going to be my guest at the coronation, because I know that both of you will regret it if he misses it.”
“You’re probably right, so thank you.”
“I usually am, and you’re welcome. I’m going to bed. Remember to lock your bedroom door tonight.”
“You’re funny.”
But I am going to lock the door. All I need is to wake up to some woman I don’t want trying to seduce me after I’ve been dreaming about the woman I do want. It’s just going to be me and my hand tonight.
Chapter 19
Darcy
I’ve been back in Vegas for a few days now, and while I’ve been in sweats, eating my weight in ice cream during that time, I need to go into the office today. It’s our big meeting with the mentors. No one knows what to expect, even Reina. She’s been staying in my guest room, and joining me in my ice cream diet while she avoids Matt. We
both had to get dressed in real clothes today, and of course she looks flawless. I look pretty good, too. My training has taught me to never go into battle unprepared, and clothing can sometimes make or break a meeting.
We all file in and take our seats. The family representatives are here, too, along with Alex, Aiden, Nate, and the fiancés. Whatever happens today will affect everyone in this room, and many people who are outside of it. That’s something that none of us can forget.
“Thank you all for coming,” Jane says once everyone is settled. “I know you all have opinions on what happened, and we will listen to all of them. We have already expressed to you the reasons why we did what we did, and again, I need to say how sorry we are that we had to hurt you, Darcy.”
I don’t say anything, because I can’t absolve them of their guilt. They did more than hurt me. They made me question everything I’d believed for the last seven years. That’s not going to go away anytime soon.
“I’ll go first,” Audrey says. “I’ve been part of this team for longer than anyone else, and I-I just don’t even know where to begin. I’ve seen a lot of things, but what you did to Darcy…Dios Mio. I never thought I would see the day when the Society would purposely hurt one of us. Yes, you forced Stella to keep a secret, and have kept things from us from time to time, but to make Darcy feel that you’ve been using her all this time? It’s wrong. So wrong.”
“I agree,” Stella says. “When you made me keep that secret from Kace, I seriously thought it would be the end of my time here, but this is so much worse.”
“I can logically understand why you did what you did,” Isa says, “but it still doesn’t make it right. I know we’re all about the greater good, but you even kept this from Reina. She’s our leader now, and she was forced to act on her own. Which seems to have been part of your plan as well. What if we hadn’t stepped up to help Darcy?”
“Then you wouldn’t be the women we know you are,” Cyndi answers.
“We passed all of the training you put us through, and have loyally served you for years. We didn’t need to be put through yet another test. We didn’t deserve what you did. Darcy was hurt the worst, but you manipulated all of us,” Ellie tells them.
“And you hurt us, too. When I tried to log onto my tablet, and found my access revoked, I was hurt. It wasn’t just about all of the programs that I had built, but also the people I had depending on me. If this had been real, I would’ve never been able to say goodbye to them, or thank them for their work. I recruited my team, and you took them from me,” Ainsley says. Zack reaches out and puts his arm around her.
“All I have to say is that it’s bullshit,” Jade says. “Pure, fucking bullshit.”
“You took me back when I tried to leave because I thought I wasn’t good enough, but how do I take you back when you made my friend believe she was just a pawn to you?” Faith asks.
“My son looks up to you, you know that. He considers you to be his surrogate grandmothers. What would I have told him if this was real? What do I tell him now that it’s not? He helped Darcy when she needed it, because he believes in what we do. He believes in us. How could I tell him that he’s wrong, that we’re nothing special?” Tegan asks.
“We are special. All of us. With or without these five women,” Reina says, finally speaking up, and looking over to Jane. “You almost destroyed everything you’ve worked for, just to force something to happen. And yes, it did need to happen, but not that way. You could’ve told us. We’re all trained to be the best actors possible, and we could’ve pulled it off, but you didn’t trust us. There have been women before us, and there will be women after us. But we’re the women of the present, and we deserve way more respect than you’ve shown us. You say you chose me to lead because of my bond with these women, and yet you didn’t trust me to lead with you. If we all walked out of here right now, the Foundation and the Society would continue on, but would it be as strong as it is right now? I don’t think so. In forgetting that you need us, you’ve diminished our existence, and that is something that I cannot forget and may never be able to forgive.”
Wow. Just wow. How do I speak after that? Here goes nothing. “I can’t top that, so I’m not even going to try. I just need to say that you’ve made me question my presence here. I can’t forget the words you said to me, telling me I was only being used. I want to believe that you didn’t mean them, but it’s hard. They’re lodged into my heart and soul, and I hurt. You can come back now and say you always wanted me, and you were looking out for me, but you can’t erase words with other words. How do I know you’re not just saying you always wanted me because everything worked out? I need to see that I’m important. Not to my friends, because they all came to my defense, but to the five of you. I don’t even know how you can make me believe again, but I need you to try.” Stella leans over and hugs me to her. I put my head on her shoulder and try not to cry. Again.
“I appreciate all of you speaking candidly. We will earn back your trust. It’s not something we take lightly, and all five of us need you to know that. We need you to know that we’ve never been prouder of any group before you, and we doubt than any after you will earn our respect more than you have. We have a plan for the future, but we need to discuss it with Reina before we reveal it everyone else. Reina is your leader. She earned that title years ago, and her recent actions have shown us once again that we made the right choice. I have to tell you, on a personal level, that hearing you speak right now gutted me, Reina. You have to know how much you mean to me. And if you truly don’t, I will spend the rest of my life proving it to you.
“As for the Foundation and the Society, we are giving total control to Reina, effective immediately. We would still like to help and mentor if you’ll let us, but we will never interfere again without permission. We have always put the Society first, and we realize that our methods may not have been the right ones, at least not this time. Reina has proven that she can be tough when she needs to be, but she will also protect all of you while protecting what we’ve built. We’d like to talk to you all individually, so we’ll stay here today as long as you want. We don’t want to lose any of you. We truly do love you all.”
There’s not a dry eye in the room—the guys included. Mallory comes over to me and Stella as soon as the formal meeting breaks up. We talk to her, and listen to what she has to say to us. When she tells me again that she’s proud to have me here, my doubts fade a little more. I talk to the other mentors, too, and they all tell me the same things. How sorry they are, and how happy they’ve been since I joined them. It’s going to take time to trust again, but with Reina leading us, I feel comfortable staying on.
I go to my office, where my team all greets me, telling me how happy they are to have me home. I answer their questions as best as I can, and tell them that being deactivated was a mistake. They want to know about Brayden, but all I tell them is that he’s hopeless at video games. I can’t say anything else about him without needing more ice cream again.
They all go back to their stations, which range from gaming chairs with monitors in front of them, to cubicles that look like they belong in Versailles. That’s what happens when you recruit former thieves, some of whom are also gamers. My personal office has a cool black chandelier, a sleek desk, and all kinds of retro gaming posters. I look around, wondering if I should re-decorate. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to play Call of Duty again without thinking of the man who’s so horrible at it. The outer “public” office looks like a giant game room, or man cave. There are old game machines, new game machines, pinball, foosball, skee ball, and pretty much all the other things a grown up gamer would love to have in their house. My apartment’s pretty much the same. I hate to ask Chloe to do it, but I think it’s time for a change.
* * *
Brayden
I’ve gone on dates with seven princesses in seven days. My coronation is in two days, and I haven’t made a choice yet. My mother’s been pressuring me to choose, while Jen and my un
cle tell me what an idiot I am. I am an idiot, but I also know that I do have to choose. Not the woman with bright orange hair, hypnotizing green eyes, milky white skin, and enough attitude to keep me on my toes. No, I have to choose a proper woman with perfect highlights, designer clothes, and no mind of her own. Or at least not one she’ll use to challenge me.
I hang my head and run my fingers through my hair as I try to pick my date for the ball. One of them should be at my side for the coronation, telling the world that I’ve chosen my path. I just can’t stomach the thought of any of them. They’re all very nice—well, okay, most of them are nice—and would make a great trophy wife for a king. But I’ve had love, and it’s hard to ignore that when looking for a wife.
“It’s time for you visit with the children,” my press secretary says, entering the room.
“Yes, of course,” I tell him.
Today is my day to go to the biggest of our parks and meet with the future generation of my country. They’ve been told that they can ask me anything. It’s something new—it was actually Noah’s idea—but we all agreed that it’s a good idea to make everyone feel like they have a voice. Tomorrow I’ll be visiting the elderly at a local center.
I smile and wave at the children when I arrive at the park, sitting on the grass in front of them. There are about 200, and I’m ready for a tiring day of repeated questions about how many rooms are in the castle, and whether I have a dragon or not. I’m not expecting the questions I actually get.
“When is Darcy coming back?”
“I-uh, I don’t know,” I answer cautiously.
“My mommy says you’re taking someone else to the coronation ball. You can’t do that.”
“Wouldn’t you like me to take a princess to the ball?” I ask. Please say yes, please say yes.
“I want you to take Darcy. Can’t she be your princess?”
Oh, holy hell. This is not going to end well. At all.
“We want Princess Darcy.”
“I’m going to be so mad if you take another princess.”
“I’ll give you my toy truck if you bring Darcy back. I miss her.”
Inheriting a SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 7) Page 15
