“I am not a whore.” Her breath was coming in harsh gasps, fueled by adrenaline and anger. “Don’t you dare call me that again.”
“Are you pregnant? You’ll have a formal test done before this wedding proceeds.”
Pregnant? Her hands automatically went to her lower abdomen. Her mind did frantic sums and tried to remember if they’d ever been unprotected. She was on the pill; she’d remembered to take it every day, hadn’t she?
“I can see by your face that it could be a possibility. Well, now with Finn gone, it looks like I’ll be raising his bastard.”
“What? What do you mean he’s gone?”
“I’ve exiled him from Brazenbourg, and ensured that he would be exiled from Valleria. He’ll never come near you again.”
Despair filled her at the thought of never seeing him again. “What? He’s your brother. How could you do that?” She couldn’t believe his own brother would exile him.
“I take it you haven’t seen the papers this afternoon?”
She hadn’t wanted to look at any news since this morning; she hadn’t even checked her phone. “No.”
“If you had, you’d realize that he was a traitor to my country. Now, he’s finally gone and hopefully dead.”
Dead? An image of Finn, cold and lifeless, sprang to her mind and she cried out. “No.”
“Oh, yes.” Henry’s grim smile sent chills through her.
“If I am pregnant, why would you even still want this marriage? I don’t understand.”
“I will claim the child as my own. No one is ever to know the truth.”
“But why?”
“The car crash that killed our parents also injured me. Apparently, I cannot have children of my own. I always hated Finn but, after the accident, I knew he could become ruler because of my impotence. Brazenbourg is mine. No one else’s.”
What had she done? What had she agreed to? She’d trusted the wrong man, and betrayed the one she should have held close. History was once again repeating itself, but now there may be a child at risk because of her foolishness and rash behavior. What had she done?
Arianna let out another cry when Henry tore the delicate strands of the necklace apart with his bare hands, scattering the jewels and diamonds across the room. “Valleria isn’t your home anymore. It’s Brazenbourg. It’s time you accepted that.”
He turned to leave, Arianna frozen on the other side of the room. “Oh, and Arianna?”
She turned to face him, her eyes wary and her body stiff and defensive. “What?” she asked quietly.
“The next time I come to your bedroom, I want you naked and waiting for me.” With that chilling demand, he walked out.
Only when Arianna heard the outer door close and silence ensue did she finally collapse onto the floor in tears. What had she done?
After her tears abated, her hand once again went to rest over her womb. There was a possibility she was pregnant, and with Finn’s child. She imagined a young boy with his warm, green eyes, and suddenly hoped it was true. But what kind of life was she bringing a child into? She couldn’t marry Henry, that was absolute, regardless of whether or not she carried Finn’s child. Her child.
Their child.
She wondered what had become of Finn. Suddenly, the article this morning seemed too convenient, too over the top. Hadn’t she seen and heard Finn’s feelings for her firsthand? The pictures must be fake. Why hadn’t she just asked him about the article instead of jumping to conclusions?
And a traitor? She knew how much he loved Brazenbourg; it was same love her father and Alex, and all of them, really, held for Valleria. He would never betray his country. She spied his cufflinks fallen to the floor nearby, where she must have dropped them when Henry came after her.
What had she done?
She slumped further onto the floor and her hand came in contact with two glittering jewels: one emerald and one amethyst. She rolled them around in her hand, feeling their smooth surface and remembering how the necklace had once felt as it laid against her skin. The first time Finn had seen her had been in this necklace.
And now Henry had destroyed it.
She had to speak to Alex; he may know where Finn was. First, however, she needed to speak with her mother. Mama always knew what to do.
Arianna used the secret passageways to travel from her apartments to her mother’s. Her father would still be in his office, she knew, but Mama always had too much to see to the day after a ball.
Arianna reached her mother’s door several minutes later and knocked. “Mama? Are you there?”
Unlike the other secret doors, the one that led to the King and Queen’s rooms could not be opened from inside the secret hallways; only someone on the other side could open it. And so her mother did a few moments later.
“Arianna? Whatever are you doing here? Your father told you to stay in your rooms.”
Arianna took barely a second to throw herself into her mother’s arms. “Oh, Mama. I just don’t know what to do.”
“Oh, darling. Oh, my baby girl.” Genevieve shut the secret door and then led Arianna to a living room. As they sat down on a long couch, Arianna tightened her hold on her mother’s frame. Despite having nine children in eight pregnancies, Genevieve’s waist had remained fairly slim, but the rest of her body was curved and soft; perfect for a child needing comfort, no matter how old they were.
“Are you upset about your father?” Genevieve stroked Arianna’s hair with one hand and held her tight with the other.
Arianna shook her head. “I made a terrible mistake, Mama, and I don’t know what to do.”
“The engagement?” Arianna nodded against her mother’s bosom. “This morning you thought it was the right thing to do. What changed?”
Arianna sat up. She took a deep breath and told her most of what happened during Henry’s visit. Her mother’s brown eyes darkened in anger with each word she spoke.
“Have you told your father?”
“It just happened. I came straight to you. Mama, there’s something else. I think I could be pregnant.”
Genevieve’s gasped and her eyes widened. “Henry’s?”
Arianna shook her head. “Finn’s.”
“Oh. Well, no wonder you don’t want to marry Henry anymore.”
“I’m not sure that I’m pregnant. Actually, Henry was the first one to suggest it.” Accuse her of it, more like.
“That doesn’t give him the right to manhandle you.”
“No, I know.” She told Genevieve what Henry had said about raising Finn’s child. “But I can’t have my child grow up with a father like that. I just can’t. Oh, Mama, what do I do?”
Genevieve brushed back some of Arianna’s hair, which was several shades darker than her own dark blonde. She cupped her daughter’s face, and caressed Arianna’s cheek with her thumb. “Let’s see if you’re pregnant first. Then, we’ll talk to your father.”
“We need to talk to Alex, too.” Arianna told Genevieve that Henry had exiled Finn. “I’ve got to find him, Mama.”
“Where do you think he’d go?”
“Home to Brazenbourg, I’m sure of it. He loves the country and his people too much to abandon them to Henry’s tyranny.”
“Then we’ll see what Alex can do. Come, I’m going to call the royal physician to check on you.”
“Oh, but he’ll tell, won’t he?”
“He’s paid very well to be discreet, trust me.”
The physician came quickly and, though the blood tests confirming the results would take time, several home pregnancy tests all confirmed what Arianna knew to be true: she was pregnant.
Even while the euphoria of becoming a mother filled her, despair at never seeing Finn again did, too.
Genevieve requested that Gabriel and Alex both come straight to her as soon as possible; a demand like that was never ignored. Arianna was sitting, holding hands with her mother, when they arrived.
“Arianna, what are you doing here? You should be in your room.” Gabriel’s sharp vo
ice caused the tension to grow and her heart to race. What would her father think of her?
“Sit down, Gabriel.” With a pointed look from Genevieve, he sat down, as did Alex, whose face was etched with concern.
“I’m sorry I disobeyed you, Papa, but I needed help so I came to Mama.”
“Help?” Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “Help with what?”
“It’s all right. Go ahead and tell him. All of it.” Genevieve squeezed Arianna’s hand in encouragement.
Arianna took a deep breath and told Gabriel and Alex everything that happened during Henry’s visit. When she got to the part about the bed, Gabriel and Alex both stood, eyes flaming with fury, mouths in a hard.
“I’ll kill the bastard with my bare hands,” Gabriel said.
“I’ll help,” Alex added.
“Why didn’t you call for help?” Gabriel asked. “There are guards just outside your doors.”
“I didn’t think of it. I’m sorry, I know that’s horrible, but I didn’t. Not with what happened next.”
She took another deep breath. “Henry asked me if I was pregnant with Finn’s child. He said he’d raise the child as his own if I was.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Why would he agree to that? He’s just banned his only brother from the country. I can’t see him wanting to raise the man’s child.”
“He’s impotent. At least, that’s what he told me. He was injured in the crash that killed his parents, he said. He knows this is the only chance to keep the royal bloodline going.”
Alex cursed. “I knew we shouldn’t have let him go.”
The hair on the back of Arianna’s neck tingled. “Go?”
“He left for Brazenbourg this morning. My guess is that he left just after visiting you.”
“Finn.” Arianna said the word aloud before she could restrain herself.
“Do you love Finn?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes, I do,” she admitted to both herself and them. “I do love him. Mama.”
“I know, I know,” Genevieve said as she pulled Arianna into her embrace. “It’ll be all right.”
The sight of his daughter crying tore Gabriel’s heart in two. He sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms. As he stroked her hair, he remembered her crying as a young child with scraped knees or as a sister being teased by her older brothers. Now, she was a woman, and what the hell was a father supposed to do when that happened, when all he could picture was the little girl she once was in his arms?
“Don’t exhaust yourself,” Genevieve said as she stroked Arianna’s back. “It’s not healthy.”
“Why isn’t it healthy?” Gabriel asked, though he already knew the answer.
“Because Arianna needs strength for our grandchild.”
“Oh my God,” Alex whispered. “Truly?”
Genevieve nodded. “We called the royal physician to examine her. He took some blood to confirm, but five home pregnancy tests say we should expect a bundle of joy.”
Alex looked flummoxed. “But you’ve only known Finn for about a week. How is this possible?”
“That’s more than enough time, my son,” Gabriel said, as he continued to stroke his daughter’s hair. “Trust me.” He gave Genevieve a secret look; they knew only too well how quickly pregnancy could come when it wanted to.
“I’m sorry, Papa.” Gabriel lifted Arianna’s head and she faced him with teary eyes.
“Why would you be sorry for such a blessing?”
“I know it’s not how you envisioned your first grandchild being born.”
“I envisioned my grandchildren being born healthy to loving parents, and that’s what you soon will be. Tell me: do you really love Finn?”
“Yes, Papa. I really do. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall in love with him, honestly.”
Gabriel laughed. “Of course not. Who does?”
“We need to find Finn,” Genevieve said. “Arianna thinks he may be in Brazenbourg.”
“He is,” Alex replied. “Or he’s well on his way there. He’s sneaking across the border, from the French side.”
“What does he plan to do?” Arianna asked, her voice hoarse from her tears.
“Confront Henry, I assume. He’s also gone to check on his contacts regarding the information Henry supposedly has for us. In light of recent developments, however, my initial thoughts that he was just toying with us seem to ring true.”
“I agree, my son,” Gabriel said.
“What are you talking about?” Arianna asked.
Gabriel gave Alex a nod to speak freely. “We suspected, almost as soon as Henry’s offer came, that something may be amiss. I admit, I was keen last month to at least meet with him, and hear what he had to say. I can say that not long after we did meet with him, I didn’t trust him.”
“You were right,” Arianna sighed. And she was wrong. Again. Now, she had not only put her family’s life in danger again, but now Finn’s, the father of her child. What had she done? “We need to find him.”
“We will,” Alex said confidently. He strode over and took Arianna’s hand, giving each one a kiss, before dropping a kiss to each of her tear-stained cheeks. “He’ll contact me as soon as he knows something.”
“Are you disappointed in me, Alex?”
“No, I’m not. And you shouldn’t be disappointed in yourself, either. A positive attitude is best for a pregnant woman.”
Arianna huffed a laugh. “An expert on pregnant women, are you?”
“I did live through Mama’s seven other pregnancies, you forget.”
“So did Cat.”
“That’s beside the point. I’m going to be an uncle, and Uncle Alex knows best.” They all laughed.
Arianna pulled her hands away to brush away her lingering tears. “You’re so full of it. I don’t know how Rebecca puts up with you.”
“Neither do I,” he replied honestly. “Come on. Let’s tell the rest of the family.”
“Oh, Alex, Papa, Mama. I don’t know about that.”
“No one’s judging you, my dear,” Genevieve said softly. “Tell them, and let them make a fuss over you, all right? Then you can go to bed early. Tonight, you’ll stay in here, in our apartments.”
“Oh, Mama.”
“No, I won’t hear of anything different. Now that you’ll be a mother, you’ll understand the need to take care of your children, even when they’re grown.”
Arianna nodded. As they rose and left the room - Alex messaging the rest of her siblings to meet in the shared family living room - her hands once again went to her womb. She said a silent prayer for both Finn and their child.
Please be safe, Finn. I love you, and I love our child.
Chapter 20
After a restless night’s sleep, which had been filled with dreams of Arianna and nightmares of her slipping away from him, Finn woke early and met his contact at the edge of the golf course.
“George,” Finn said and shook the man’s hand. Had it only been several days ago since he was strolling by George’s stand on Food Street with Arianna?
“Prince Finn,” the bear of a man responded as he shook back. “I just want to say, right up front, that all of us vendors, and many other besides, don’t believe the lies in the paper, not one word.”
A small sense of relief filled him; at least not everyone was intent to believe Henry’s lies. “Thank you, my friend.”
They both climbed into his van and George began driving away. “I’m not the only friend you have; many have joined together to help you.”
“I’m not trying to lead a revolution here.”
“Neither are we; we only want to help, however we can.”
“Can you get me over the border?”
“Yes. One of the border guards is a friend and has agreed to help us.”
That didn’t sit easy with Finn. “Are you sure you can trust him? Henry has spies everywhere.”
“Trust me, Prince Finn. Henry does not have as many spies as he thinks. Let’s go.”
As they slid into the car, Finn asked, “How is the rest of the country faring with the news?”
“Split, I would say, with the majority of us not believing a single word of those piece of shit articles.”
“And the rest?”
“They either believe it, because they’ll believe anything printed in a paper, or they’re unsure of what to believe.”
Arianna & Finn (Royals of Valleria #3) Page 21
