Seated in a tapestry wingback, Enrique Medina stared back at her from beside a stained glass window. Even with his ill health, the deposed monarch radiated power and charisma. His dogs asleep on either side, he wore a simple dark suit with an ascot, perfectly creased although loose fitting. He’d lost even more weight since her arrival.
Enrique thumbed a gold pocket watch absently. “Do not mind me.”
Had Tony sent her to this room on purpose, knowing his father would be here? She didn’t think so, given the stilted relationship between the two men. “I don’t want to disturb you.”
“Not at all. We have not had a chance to speak alone, you and I,” he said with a hint of an accent.
The musicality was pleasing to the ear. Every now and then, a lilt in certain words reminded her of how Tony spoke, small habits that she hadn’t discerned as being raised with a foreign language. But she could hear the similarity more clearly when listening to his father.
While she’d seen the king daily during her two weeks on the island, those encounters had been mostly during meals. He’d spent the majority of his time with his daughter. But since Eloisa and her husband had left this afternoon, Enrique must be at loose ends. Shannon envied them that connection, and missed her own parents all the more. How much different her life might have been if they hadn’t died. Her mother had shared a love of music.
She stroked the keyboard longingly. “Who plays the piano?”
“My sons took lessons as a part of the curriculum outlined by their tutors.”
“Of course, I should have realized,” she said. “Tony can play?”
Laughter rattled around inside his chest. “That would be a stretch. My youngest son can read music, but he did not enjoy sitting still. Antonio rushed through lessons so he could go outside.”
“I can picture that.”
“You know him well then.” His sharp brown eyes took in everything. “Now my middle boy, Duarte, is more disciplined, quite the martial arts expert. But with music?” Enrique waved dismissively. “He performs like a robot.”
Her curiosity tweaked for more details on Tony’s family. Over the past couple of weeks, their relationship had deepened, and she needed more insights to still the fears churning her gut. “And your oldest son, Carlos? How did he fare with the piano lessons?”
A dark shadow crossed Enrique’s face before he schooled his regal features again. “He had a gift. He’s a surgeon now, using that touch in other ways.”
“I can see how the two careers could tap into the same skill,” she said, brushing her fingers over the gleaming keys.
Perhaps she could try again to find a career that tapped into her love of music. What a gift it would be to bring joy deeper into her life again.
Enrique tucked one hand into his pocket. “Do you have feelings for my son?”
His blunt question blindsided her, but she should have realized this cunning man never chatted just for conversation’s sake. “That is a personal question.”
“And I may not have time to wait around for you to feel comfortable answering.”
“You’re playing the death card? That’s a bit cold, don’t you think, sir?”
He laughed, hard and full-out like Tony did—or like he used to. “You have a spine. Good. You are a fine match for my stubborn youngest.”
Her irritation over his probing questions eased. What parent didn’t want to see their children settled and happy? “I appreciate your opening your home to me and my son and giving us a chance to get to know you.”
“Diplomatically said, my dear. You are wise to proceed thoughtfully. Regrets are a terrible thing,” he said somberly. “I should have sent my family out of San Rinaldo sooner. I waited too long and Beatriz paid the price.”
The darker turn of the conversation stilled her. She’d wanted more insights into Tony’s life, yet this was going so much deeper than she had anticipated.
Enrique continued, “It was such chaos that day when the coup began. We had planned for my family to take one escape route and I would use another.” His jaw flexed sharply in his gaunt face. “I made it out, and the rebels found my family. Carlos was injured trying to save his mother.”
The picture of violence and terror he painted sounded like something from a movie, so unreal, yet they’d lived it. “Tony and your other sons witnessed the attack on their mother?”
“Antonio had nightmares for a year, and then he became obsessed with the beach and surfing. From that day on, he lived to leave the island.”
She’d known the bare bones details of their escape. But the horror they’d lived through, the massive losses rolled over her with a new vividness. Tony’s need to help her had more to do with caring than control. He didn’t want to isolate her or smother her by managing everything the way her husband had. Tony tried to help her because he’d failed to save someone else he cared about.
Somehow, knowing this made it easier for her to open her heart. To take a chance beyond their weeks here.
Without question, he would have to understand her need for independence, but she also had to appreciate how he’d been hurt, how those hurts had shaped him. And as Antonio Medina and Tony Castillo merged in her mind, she couldn’t ignore the truth any longer.
She loved him.
Approaching footsteps startled her, drawing her focus from the past and toward the arched entry. Tony stepped into view just when her defenses were at their lowest. No doubt her heart was in her eyes. She started toward him, only to realize his eyes held no tender feelings.
The harsh angles of his face blared a forewarning before he announced, “There’s been a security breach.”
Thirteen
Shock jolted through Shannon, followed closely by fear. “A security breach? Where’s Kolby?”
She shot to her feet and ran across the music room to Tony. The ailing king reached for his cane, his dogs waking instantly, beating her there by a footstep. Enrique steadied himself with a hand against the wall, but he was up and moving. “What happened?”
“Kolby is fine. No one has been hurt, but we have taken another hit in the media.”
Enrique asked, “Have they located the island?”
“No,” Tony said as Alys slid into view behind him. “It happened at the airport when Eloisa and Jonah’s flight landed in South Carolina. The press was waiting, along with crowds of everyday people wanting a picture to sell for an easy buck.”
Shannon’s stomach lurched at another assault in the news. “Could the frenzy have to do with the Landis family connections?”
“No,” Tony said curtly. “The questions were all about their vacation with Eloisa’s father the king.”
Alys angled past Tony with a wheelchair. “Your Majesty, I’ll take you to your office so you can speak to security directly.”
The king dropped into the wheelchair heavily. “Thank you, Alys.” His dogs loped into place alongside him. “I am ready.”
Nerves jangled, Shannon started to follow, but Tony extended a hand to stop her.
“We need to talk.”
His chilly voice stilled her feet faster than any arm across the entranceway. Had he been holding back because of concerns for his father’s health? “What’s wrong? What haven’t you told me?”
She stepped closer for comfort. He crossed his arms over his chest.
“The leak came from this house. There was a call placed from here this afternoon—at just the right time—to an unlisted cell number.”
“Here? But your father’s security has been top notch.” No wonder he was so concerned.
Tony unclipped his iPhone from his waistband. “We have security footage of the call being made.”
Thumbing the controls, he filled the screen with a still image of a woman on the phone, a woman in a white swimsuit cover-up, hood pulled over her head.
A cover-up just like hers? “I don’t understand. You think this is me? Why would I tip off the media?”
His mouth stayed tight-lipped and close
d, and his eyes…Oh God, she recognized well that condemning look from the days following Nolan’s arrest and then his death.
Steady. Steady. She reminded herself Tony wasn’t Nolan or the other people who’d betrayed her, and he had good reasons to be wary. She drew in a shuddering breath.
“I understand that Enrique brought you up to be unusually cautious about the people in your life. And he had cause after what happened to your mother.” Thoughts of Tony as a small child watching his mother’s murder brushed sympathy over her own hurt. “But you have to see there’s nothing about me that would hint at this kind of behavior.”
“I know you would do anything to secure your son’s future. Whoever sold this information received a hefty payoff.” He stared back at her with cold eyes and unswerving surety.
In a sense he was right. She would do anything for Kolby. But again, Tony had made a mistake. He’d offered her money before, assuming that would equate security to her. She had deeper values she wanted to relay to her son, like the importance of earning a living honorably. Tony had needed to prove that himself in leaving the island. Why was it so difficult to understand she felt the same way?
Her sympathy for him could only stretch so far.
“You actually believe I betrayed you? That I placed everyone here at risk for a few dollars?” Anger frothed higher and higher inside her. “I never wanted any of this. My son and I can get by just fine without you and your movie theater.” She swatted his arm. “Answer me, damn you.”
“I don’t know what to think.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Tell me it was an accident. You called a friend just to shoot the breeze because you were homesick and that friend sold you out.”
Except as she’d already told him and he must remember, she didn’t have friends, not anymore. Apparently she didn’t even have Tony. “I’m not going to defend myself to you. Either you trust me or you don’t.”
He gripped her shoulders, his touch careful, his eyes more tumultuous. “I want a future with you. God, Shannon, I was going to ask you to marry me later tonight. I planned to take you back to the chapel, go inside this time and propose.”
Her heart squeezed tight at the image he painted. If this security nightmare hadn’t occurred, she would have been swept off her feet. She would have been celebrating her engagement with him tonight, because by God, she would have said yes. Now, that wasn’t possible.
“You honestly thought we could get married when you have so little faith in me?” The betrayal burned deep. And hadn’t she sworn she’d never again put herself in a position to feel that sting from someone she cared about? “You should have included some azaleas in the bouquet you chose for us. I hear they mean fragile passion.”
She shrugged free of his too tempting touch. The hole inside her widened, ached.
“Damn it all, Shannon, we’re talking.” He started toward her.
“Stop.” She held up a hand. “Don’t come near me. Not now. Not ever.”
“Where are you going?” He kept his distance this time. “I need to know you’re safe.”
“Has the new security system been installed at my apartment?”
His mouth tight, he nodded. “But we’re still working on the restraining orders. Given the renewed frenzy because of Eloisa’s identity—”
“The new locks and alarms will do for now.”
“Damn it, Shannon—”
“I have to find Alys so she can make the arrangements.” She held her chin high. Pride and her child were all she had left now that her heart was shattered to pieces. “Kolby and I are returning to Texas.”
“Where are Shannon and her son?”
His father’s question hammered Tony’s already pounding head. In his father’s study, he poured himself three fingers of cognac, bypassing the Basque wine and the memories it evoked. Shannon wrapped around him, the scent of lilies in her hair. “You know full well where she is. Nothing slips past you here.”
They’d spent the past two hours assessing the repercussions of the leak. The media feeding frenzy had been rekindled with fresh fuel about Eloisa’s connection to the family. Inevitable, yet still frustrating. It gnawed at his gut to think Shannon had something to do with this, although he reassured himself it must have been an accident.
And if she’d simply slipped up and made a mistake, he could forgive her. She hadn’t lived the Medina way since the cradle. Remembering all the intricacies involved in maintaining such a high level of security was difficult. If she would just admit what happened, they could move on.
His father rolled back from the computer desk, his large dogs tracking his every move from in front of the fireplace. “Apparently I do not know everything happening under my roof, because somebody placed a call putting Eloisa’s flight at risk. I trusted someone I shouldn’t have.”
“You trusted me and my judgment.” He scratched his tightening rib cage.
His father snorted with impatience. “Do not be an impulsive jackass. Think with your brain and not your heart.”
“Like you’ve always done?” Tony snapped, his patience for his father’s cryptic games growing short. “No thank you.”
Once he finished his one-month obligation, he wouldn’t set foot on this godforsaken island again. If memories of his life here before were unhappy, now they were gut-wrenching. His father should come to the mainland anyway for medical treatment. Even Enrique’s deep coffers couldn’t outfit the island with unlimited hospital options.
Enrique poured himself a drink and downed it swiftly. “I let my heart guide me when I left San Rinaldo. I was so terrified something would happen to my wife and sons that I did not think through our escape plan properly.”
Invincible Enrique was admitting a mistake? Tony let that settle inside him for a second before speaking.
“You set yourself up as a diversion. Sounds pretty selfless to me.” He’d never doubted his father’s bravery or cool head.
“I did not think it through.” He refilled his glass and stared into the amber liquid, signs of regret etched deep in his forehead. Illness had never made the king appear weak, but at this moment, the ghosts of an old past showed a vulnerability Tony had never seen before. “If I had, I would have taken into account the way Carlos would react if things went to hell. I arrogantly considered my plan foolproof. Again, I thought with my emotions and those assassins knew exactly how to target my weakness.”
Tony set aside his glass without touching a drop. Empathy for his father seared him more fully than alcohol. Understanding how it felt to have his feelings ripped up through his throat because of a woman gave him insights to his father he’d never expected. “You did your best at the time.”
Could he say the same when it came to Shannon?
“I tried to make that right with this island. I did everything in my power to create a safe haven for my sons.”
“But we all three left the protection of this place.”
“That doesn’t matter to me. My only goal was keeping you safe until adulthood. By the time you departed, you took with you the skills to protect yourself, to make your way in the world. That never would have been possible if you’d grown up with obligations to a kingdom. For that, I’m proud.”
Enrique’s simply spoken words enveloped him. Even though his father wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know, something different took root in him. An understanding. Just as his mother had made the silver security blanket as a “shield,” to make him feel protected, his father had been doing the same. His methods may not have been perfect, but their situation had been far from normal. They’d all been scrambling to patch together their lives.
Some of his understanding must have shown on his face, because his father smiled approvingly.
“Now, son, think about Shannon logically rather than acting like a love-sick boy.”
Love-sick boy? Now that stung more than a little. And the reason? Because it was true. He did love her, and that had clouded his thinking.
H
e loved her. And he’d let his gut drive his conclusions rather than logic. He forced his slugging heart to slow and collected what he knew about Shannon. “She’s a naturally cautious woman who wouldn’t do anything to place her son at risk. If she had a call to make, she would check with you or I to make sure the call was safe. She wouldn’t have relied on anyone else’s word when it comes to Kolby.”
“What conclusion does that lead you to?”
“We never saw the caller’s face. I made an assumption based on a female in a bathing suit cover-up. The caller must have been someone with detailed knowledge of our security systems in order to keep her face shielded. A woman of similar build. A person with something to gain and little loyalty to the Medinas…” His brain settled on…“Alys?”
“I would bet money on it.” The thunderous anger Enrique now revealed didn’t bode well for the assistant who’d used her family connections to take advantage of an ailing king with an aging staff. “She was even the one to order Shannon’s clothes. It would be easy to make sure she had the right garb….”
Shannon had done nothing wrong.
“God, I wonder if Alys could have even been responsible for tipping off the Global Intruder about that photo of Duarte when it first ran, before he was identified.” The magnitude of how badly he’d screwed up threatened to kick his knees out from under him. He braced a hand on his father’s shoulder, touching his dad for the first time in fourteen years. “Where the hell is Alys?”
Enrique swallowed hard. He clapped his hand over Tony’s for a charged second before clearing his throat.
“Leave Alys to me.” His royal roots showed through again as he assumed command. “Don’t you have a more pressing engagement?”
Tony checked his watch. He had five minutes until the ferry pulled away for the airstrip. No doubt his father would secure the proof of Alys’s deception soon, but Shannon needed—hell, she deserved—to know that he’d trusted in her innocence without evidence.
The Maverick Prince Page 15
