Chapter One #2
But he never agreed. Never supported. Never acted to make any of her dreams come true.
Because he’d always known. She saw it so clearly now, in this terrible moment where her future was turning to darkness. She’d let herself build a fantasy on him. He’d let her.
But fantasy was all it was.
Fine enough to risk the king’s wrath when he got a princess sneaking into his bed out of the deal, but not enough to actually…do something.
“You said you loved me.” That he had said.
And it was a lie.
“Let us not make a scene at your brother’s wedding,” Jordi said, patting the hand that held on to him. When the wedding wasn’t set to start for another few hours.
She looked at him, his handsome face. Those green eyes she’d been so taken with that refused to meet her gaze. The way he held himself, leaning slightly back as if he was afraid she might transfer a sickness to him.
The sickness of being a Lidia.
Something inside her broke. Whatever youthful na?veté she’d managed to hold on to in this place. Whatever belief she’d had that Jordi might have seen her and loved her, was gone, and with it…all her hopes for a future out of her father’s influence.
She heard her name, turned to see two of her father’s guards striding toward her. Because she would not be given a moment of freedom any longer, not after threatening to kill herself. So now it was all over.
Hope was dead.
Gabriel Marti did not relish spending time in Alis.
He found the small, military-obsessed country stifling.
His father had been born here, had been a diplomat from Alis to Italy when Gabriel had been born, but had fallen in love in Italy.
Though Gabriel had spent his very early years in Alis, his father had moved them to his mother’s home country before King Enzo had gotten too obsessed with might and violence and canceled all diplomacy to other countries.
He’d gotten them out just in time too. Not long after Gabriel had turned eight, King Enzo had shut down the borders and kept all citizens prisoners, essentially. Father would often lament that Enzo was a simple man who had followed the simple adage—absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Gabriel would not visit at all, but Prince Alexandre Lidia had been his best friend since he could remember. First here at the palace, and then at the boarding school his parents had allowed him to attend so that he and Alex could continue their friendship.
Gabriel owed Alex much, his entire life, really. So he’d spent the past week at the Lidia palace preparing for the royal wedding where he would stand up for his friend.
Besides, Gabriel had long ago learned that finding humor in a complicated situation was far better than getting sour about it, taking it too seriously, and then traveling the path toward ruin.
Sometimes he worried that visits to Alis would end with the king finding some way to keep him here. One never knew with King Enzo, and since Gabriel had built himself up into an independent, wealthy businessman, he knew the king had some interest in him, claiming him to Alis in some way.
But so far, he had outwitted all the king’s attempts to keep him here and claim him as an Alis citizen. Gabriel was confident in his skills…but not so arrogant to ever let his guard down.
This trip, the king had been surprisingly hands-off. Gabriel hoped it was because he was busy and wrapped up in the wedding, but he still didn’t let his guard down. All throughout the ceremony, and into the reception, he kept himself in a group at all times.
And since he valued enjoyment and having a good time no matter the circumstances, mostly the groups were made up of beautiful, glittering women.
Until Alexandre came up to him and handed him a glass of wine.
The smile was fake. No matter how good Alexandre was at being stoic, Gabriel had known him long enough so that he knew how to read him.
He also knew that if Alex was moving him toward a shadowy corner, away from the flirtatious royals, debutants, and so on, it was for good reason.
“I need you to do me a favor,” Alex said, his voice low and intense. His gaze tracked around the room. Gabriel noted the king was currently talking to the bride and her parents. Occupied. But Alex kept his dark gaze on his father.
“On your wedding night? Shouldn’t you be more concerned with your new bride?”
Alex’s gaze moved to Ines. His expression seemed to grow more grim, if possible. Gabriel knew there was no great love match there. If anything, Alex and Ines tolerated each other for the greater good.
Gabriel thought it was a pity. He wasn’t sure he believed in something as deep and abiding as soul mates. Such depth of feeling would be dangerous, no doubt. But he had spent his childhood in the warmth of his parents’ good marriage and figured a bad one would be rather soul sucking.
Ines was a pretty thing, but…fragile seeming, and the huge white confection of a dress did little to dispel that aura. She seemed the kind of fragile that would never survive life in the Lidia palace.
Oh, Alexandre was a good man who would try to protect her, because nothing survived here without Alexandre’s protection. But Gabriel had his doubts that even Alex could save Ines from the life she was about to lead.
“Evelyne,” Alex said, mentioning his sister. “You must use one of your escape routes and take her away.”
Gabriel choked a bit on the drink he’d taken. He coughed, cleared his throat. “Away?” he croaked.
“Without anyone knowing where. Including myself.”
“Alex…” This was a great task. One with immense meaning. And great risk to Gabriel.
“My father has promised her to General Sergi Vinyes.”
Gabriel looked across the ballroom to the woman in question. Evelyne had no aura of fragility like Ines. She was bright and vibrant, a shining beauty. He had often wondered how she maintained it in a place such as this, with a father such as hers.
Evelyne was another reason Gabriel did not care for spending time in Alis these days. As she’d grown into a beautiful young woman, she’d become a temptation. For some time, Gabriel had made certain to indulge all his temptations.
But Evelyne was one that reminded him of the adolescent he’d been—full of rage and obsession. Alex had saved him from that, so he could not go back to it. Certainly not because of his little sister.
Like every other sane person in this palace, he owed Alexandre too much to fool around with the prince’s sister.
But no one deserved General Vinyes. Gabriel didn’t even know the man, spent very little time in Alis, and still the military man’s reputation for blood lust, revenge, and fury was something well known across Europe. Something that kept many countries from invading this small, belligerent one.
So no, no one deserved the general. Certainly not a young, vibrant princess as beautiful as Evelyne.
Tonight she was dressed in a glittering green dress that didn’t match the wedding colors but complemented them.
The garment skimmed along her curves, a sensuous delight Gabriel knew better than to allow himself to notice.
Her hair—somewhere between a honeyed blond and a shiny chestnut—was pulled back in an elaborate twist. Her lips were painted a dark, purplish red that would have short-circuited his brain if he allowed his vision to linger there.
Instead, he noted the two serious-looking guards who flanked her, both armed.
“Get her away from the guards without causing suspicion,” Alex was saying fervently.
“Get her out of here. Take her somewhere she won’t be found.
If possible, on a plane that can’t be tracked to either of us.
Tonight. Then set her up with a new life.
While my father is distracted and thinks I’ve no time to plan.
I will pay you back when I am able. It is too much to ask, I know this, but I must ask it anyway. She cannot be married to that monster.”
In any other situation, Gabriel might have led with a joke, with the aura of casual nonchalance, but not with Alex. Not with the one man in the world he allowed himself to owe.
“There is no ask too big, Alex,” he said, even knowing this was the biggest ask for a wide variety of reasons. “You once saved my life,” Gabriel reminded him.
Alex sighed impatiently as he often did when Gabriel brought it up. If Alexandre had faults, his stark refusal to admit he was near saint levels of good was one of them.
Gabriel looked at Evelyne and the guards once more.
He’d have no trouble getting her out of the palace—he and Alex had studied and planned escape routes for nearly two decades now.
And thanks to that, Gabriel’s entire personal fortune was built on understanding and implementing security for the well-connected wealthy, the royal.
And since it was, he knew how to get around it, especially since he’d designed and implemented much of the palace and country’s security himself.
But the guards… They were under King Enzo’s command and King Enzo’s command alone.
Getting around them would take some doing.
Not that Gabriel had any doubts he could accomplish it, but it would require time with Evelyne.
In that dress. “Have you told Evelyne of your plan?” he asked, his mind already imagining and rejecting ideas.
“No, I’m afraid she’ll…do something unwise if I give her warning. You must simply whisk her away. You can tell her my plan once she’s on a plane. Safe from the king.”
They both looked at the king across the room, holding court.
Gabriel was well acquainted with evil—the different shapes and sizes of it that existed within men.
So often it came cloaked in power, influence.
So often it hurt the glittering innocents like Evelyne.
He had found that even power and money could not always protect a woman in this cruel world.
King Enzo knew how to wield it all. As General Vinyes would.
No, he could not allow such to be wielded against Evelyne, both for Alex and for the princess herself.
“I trust you, Gabriel. With my sister’s safety.”
And because Alexandre had once saved him from the evil he had been close to succumbing to those years ago, Gabriel nodded, now determined.
He would help Evelyne, regardless of personal sacrifice, and honor the debt he owed her brother.
And he would certainly keep his hands to himself while he did it.