by Diana Ames
“Gilly, my father…our father paid the man you thought was your father to marry your mother. You are my sister. You are the daughter of the king.”
“After everything I’ve done for you!” Gilly shouted, a frenzied look filling her eyes. “I’ve impregnated a woman with our child, I killed that whore who thought she could take you away, and I killed that bastard driver who wanted to take her away from you. I did it all for you, and you are just ungrateful!”
“Gilly, you’re sick. Let me get you help,” Anton pleaded. He wasn’t angry any longer. He could see that something inside of her was broken. He couldn’t help but think he was the one who’d broken it.
“There is nothing wrong with me, Anton!” she screamed. Her hands were fisting her hair in panic. “Nothing wrong that your love won’t fix.”
“You are my sister!” he shouted. “I cannot…I do not love you the way you want me to. I am so sorry for all that I’ve wronged you. Let me make it better.”
Anton took a step toward her, and when it looked like she wouldn’t run from him, he took another. He extended his hand to her and continued moving until he was nearly touching her. He didn’t expect her to pick up the poker from the fireplace and swing it at him. The blow glanced his shoulder hard enough to knock him back a few steps. Her height and position against the fireplace hadn’t allowed for a well-placed hard swing.
“Gilly, what are you doing?” he cried out.
She went to hit him again. “You won’t take everything away from me, not after I’ve worked so hard to get it!” she yelled. “If I can’t have you, I will still have my baby!”
He tried to block the blows, but he didn’t want to hurt her. Despite everything, he did love her in some way, and he felt responsible for this. But he was taking hits by trying to get close enough to restrain her. And then it happened. He’d gotten too close, and Gilly got a lucky swing. When the poker connected with his temple, Anton went down like a ton of bricks.
***
Anton heard beeping. It was an annoying sound, and he tried to reach out an arm to shut off the offending alarm clock. When his arm wouldn’t move, he opened his eyes slowly and saw that he was in medical. All at once, everything came rushing back to him. He groaned and closed his eyes again.
Mellissandra heard Anton and rushed to his bedside. She and Damian had been taking turns sitting in Anton’s room for the last week. The doctors weren’t sure when he would wake up. He’d taken a hard blow to the head.
“Anton,” Mellissandra whispered when she saw his eyes were closed. She was sure she’d heard him make a noise.
His eyes popped open at the sound of her voice.
“Oh, Anton. Praise God, you’re awake,” Mellissandra cheered. “Let me get a doctor.”
“Wait, Mel,” he whispered. His throat was dry, his voice hoarse. “Gilly…what happened to her?”
“They got her, Anton. Captain Hicks saw her coming out of your apartment on the security camera. He didn’t hesitate, and they got her before she got out of the royal wing,” Mellissandra told him. “She was transported to the psychiatric ward of the prison in the next village. She’s not going to hurt anyone ever again.”
“She said…” He swallowed and tried again. “The blonde, a baby…Gilly is my sister.” His eyes filled with tears.
“Yes, she confessed to everything when they took her in,” Mellissandra said. “The blonde, for everything she’s been through, is okay. She is pregnant, and the tests confirmed that the child does belong to you and Gilly biologically.”
“Abortion,” he whispered, tears rolling down his face now.
“Let me get a doctor, Anton. You’re in pain.”
“No. Must abort that baby. Gilly…my sister,” Anton tried to get out.
“Don’t you think enough innocent lives have been lost in this whole mess, Anton?” Mellissandra said, annoyed. “That baby is healthy. They’ve run test after test, and everything is normal.”
“Don’t want it,” Anton said, fighting the pain in his throat and in his chest.
“No one said you had to keep it, Anton,” Mellissandra snapped. “But I will not allow you to just kill it. It’s a life, a child. It is completely innocent of all the crazy shit its mother did. I won’t allow it.”
Anton closed his eyes. He knew he’d lost this battle. He loved Mellissandra too much to go against her on this.
“Now, I’m going to get a doctor and call Damian,” Mellissandra said. Then, she leaned over and kissed Anton softly on the forehead. “I’m so glad you’re going to be okay,” she whispered.
EPILOGUE
Seven Months Later
In side-by-side delivery rooms, two babies were waiting to be born. One baby’s future was already in place. It had parents that loved it already with a home waiting for its arrival. The other baby’s future, however, was uncertain. Its mother was in prison, its father wanted nothing to do with it, and the woman about to deliver it into the world just wanted to escape.
In the days following Gilly’s capture and arrest, Jenalynn had been moved out of isolation and into an apartment in the royal wing. Mellissandra spent months trying to gain her friendship, but the woman had been too badly damaged by everything she had experienced in the castle.
Despite all of Damian’s efforts to excite Anton on the birth of his child, Anton would not budge. Every time he would think of the child, all he could think about was how much he had hurt Gilly. He became so withdrawn that the only person who could get him to relax, even for a few minutes, was Mellissandra.
Damian knew Anton was in love with his wife, and he knew his wife cared for Anton. He surprised even himself that he was not jealous over their relationship. He didn’t doubt Mellissandra’s love and fidelity, and he knew Anton would chop off his own hand before he dishonored Mellissandra. Damian was actually glad that the two had formed a bond. He worried less when he had to be away, knowing they had each other for support.
Damian and Anton sat in chairs outside the delivery rooms, waiting for news on the babies. Well, Damian waited for news on both babies. Anton only cared about what happened with Mellissandra’s baby. The men winced each time they heard a scream come from one of the rooms.
After hearing Mellissandra scream again, Damian muttered, “I swear that I’m never going to touch her again.”
“I think she might object to that, brother,” Anton told him with a laugh. “It’ll be over soon. Don’t worry.”
“Easy for you to say,” Damian griped.
Just then, they heard the wail of a baby immediately followed by a second wail. The babies were born at the same time. The delivery room doors swung open, and nurses rushed out to give the men the news.
“It’s a boy!”
“It’s a girl!”
The following preview of Royally Tamed has not been fully edited and is subject to change.
Royally Tamed
A Royals of Colania Novel
PROLOGUE
Anton watched as Mellissandra played on the floor with the two chubby babies. Anyone looking on would never know that she was not the natural mother of both of them. She hugged them equally, tickled them equally, and loved them equally. Anyone looking on would also see him as a doting father and husband gazing at his family.
But the truth was, Mellissandra was married to his brother, even though Anton most definitely loved her; and only one of the babies she was currently playing patty cake with was from her womb. The other belonged to Anton and his half-sister, Gilly, who now resided in the psychiatric unit of the Colania National Prison. But that truth was not widely known. The official records stated that Mellissandra gave birth to fraternal twins, one boy and one girl; and that their father was Damian Bellaro.
Anton groaned inwardly when Mellissandra picked up the baby that began fussing and opened her shirt. She had no reservations about baring her breasts to nurse in front of him or anyone else. She claimed it was the most natural thing in the world, what breasts were made for, and she was
n’t going to starve one of her babies because someone else had a problem with it.
Anton’s issue wasn’t disapproval though, it wasn’t even sexual. Because, honestly, there was nothing sexy about a woman with a hungry child at her breast. Anton’s problem was that every time he saw her nursing one or both of the babies, his love for her grew.
At first, Anton had been afraid that he would see what his mother had done to him.
“Come here, my son,” the beautiful woman said.
Anton dragged his feet though. He had just seen a man leave this room and he knew what that meant. His mother had let the man on top of her and now she smelled funny. But even more that that, she wanted him to drink milk from her again.
Anton didn’t like the milk. It was warm and tasted weird. And Gilly had told him no one else did that with their mother, only babies. Anton wasn’t a baby, he was five. One whole hand. But if he didn’t do it, he knew his mother would cry and say he didn’t love her anymore.
“Anton,” she said, “come here my darling. It’s time for a feeding.”
Frightened because he didn’t want to upset his mother and maybe get a switching, Anton went and climbed on his mother’s naked body. When he latched onto her breast, hot tears slipped over his eyes.
But when he first saw Mellissandra with a baby at her breast, he’d only been able to see a wonderful and loving mother. She embodied everything maternal.
Anton sighed. He could gaze at the red goddess in front of him for a lifetime, worship at her feet for eternity. But she was his brother’s wife, and Anton knew that the love the two shared ran deep. Anton loved Damian as much as he loved Mellissandra, just in a different way. He knew he would do everything he could to prevent his feelings from creating any tension between the three of them.
Rising to his feet, Anton left the room swiftly without a word. He was doing what he always did when his feelings for Mellissandra became overwhelming; he ran.
***
Damian saw Anton leave his apartment as he was returning from the club. Since the babies had been born, he worked days for the most part. He didn’t like being away from his family at night, when Mellissandra was most tired and the babies were cranky. He knew Anton would check on them, even sleep on their sofa, if Damian asked him. But Damian couldn’t bear to put more of a burden on his brother’s heart.
Damian knew Anton was in love with Mellissandra. You only had to see them together to realize Anton was a different person around her. Since Gilly’s arrest nearly a year ago, Anton closed himself off from everyone; everyone except Mellissandra. Damian also knew the feelings weren’t all one sided. Mellissandra had a place in her heart that was reserved for Anton. This didn’t threaten him though, because Damian knew the biggest part of her heart was his alone.
Damian entered the apartment and called out to his wife. She didn’t respond, but he followed the sounds of the soft coos and giggles coming from the living room. When he saw them, he just stopped and watched for a few minutes in awe.
Mellissandra was in a pair of old, ripped jeans and one of his button down shirts. She had a baby to one breast and was tickling the one playing on the floor between her outstretched legs. Her flame red hair was pulled back in a braid because the babies loved to pull and tug on the brightly colored locks. She took his breath away.
“Anton just left,” she said without glancing at him.
“I saw him, but he went the other direction,” Damian replied coming in to sit beside her on the floor.
“We need to do something, Damian,” she said finally looking at him. “It breaks my heart to see his heart breaking.”
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot, my love,” Damian said staring deeply into her eyes. “But I don’t know if you’ll like the solution I’ve come up with.”
“As long as you’re not thinking of moving us out of the castle, I’ll do it.” The stubborn look he loved so much came over her face. “I won’t desert him, Damian.”
“Neither will I, love,” Damian said. “We’ll talk after the babies are to bed. For now, let me bask in the glow of my family.” Damian reached over and took the satisfied baby from her arms. “Oh Arabella, you’re getting fat,” he teased the baby as he put her on his shoulder to burp her. “And how has Dominic been today?” he asked Mellissandra.
“Wonderful as usual,” she replied. “I swear two more opposite children have never been born.” She leaned over to kiss Damian’s lips before picking up Dominic. “And I wouldn’t change a thing about either one of them.”
***
Alondra sat in front of her computer reading the small article about the woman who’d been imprisoned for nearly a year. When her boss had given her the assignment, she’d moaned and groaned about another country ruled by a monarchy. She didn’t want to travel there and be subject to their laws, laws that usually only favored men and rarely protected foreign visitors.
But the more she researched, it seemed the less she found. The woman in question, Dr. Gillian Portsmith, was reported to have murdered two people, attacked the Crown Prince, and held a woman hostage in her hospital. For someone who was supposed to have committed such heinous crimes, very little information was available.
The latest article she’d found, only the third, stated that the good doctor had a nervous breakdown and was screaming about murdering the queen at the request of the Crown Prince. Her location was a village a few miles from the castle, which also happened to be the only real city-type place in the entire country.
Alondra smelled something fishy with the whole situation, and as much as she hated traveling to foreign countries so lost in the past that they were still ruled by something as archaic as a prince, she knew if she didn’t follow up on this one she would regret it. Alondra used her computer trip planner software and booked herself a plane ticket, then a boat ticket to the small island country. She was leaving tomorrow.
