Chapter Nine
Gabriel did not believe in anxiety. He was not a man who allowed himself to worry. He dealt with. He acted.
But the tight band around his lungs as they drove up to the palace under the cloak of night was something, and he could not seem to work his way through it.
He felt Evelyne’s hand curl over his, squeeze. He was horrified she might see the worry in him, but when he glanced over at her, he realized it was she who was worried. She watched the palace get closer with wide eyes and clear distress.
But when the car pulled to a stop at one of the private, side entrances, she let out a slow breath and smiled over at him.
“Thank you for bringing me home.”
How could she undo him so simply? To thank him for something he wasn’t even doing for her. He was doing it for Alexandre. If it had been up to him…
Gabriel said nothing and got out of the car, but he skirted the hood and made it to her door before she managed to open it. He did so, then braced himself for impact and offered his hand to help her out.
She took it, and he was grateful that in the dark he could not make out the expression on her face. Or he might be inclined to keep her hand in his. He might be inclined to hold her close and assure her everything would be okay. Instead, he broke the contact.
Except, it was dark out here, and he worried that in her condition she might trip over something or…
Cursing his life choices, he tucked her arm into his so he could guide her.
“I will come back and get our things later,” he told her quietly.
The door had been left unlocked for him, so he pushed it open and ushered her inside.
Much like when he’d arrived the night of the king’s—the former king’s—death, the palace was dark. Gabriel led Evelyne through the dark hall, keeping her arm in his, until they reached the king’s wing.
Alex had instructed them to meet him in his private library, so that was where Gabriel lead Evelyne. The warmth of light from the doorway cascaded out into the hall, and Evelyne’s pace increased when she saw it, their arms disconnecting.
Gabriel told himself it was relief that coursed through him. Certainly not regret.
She made it to the door before he did, and stopped there, taking in whatever sight was before her. Gabriel couldn’t help but watch her face. The excitement, the joy, the relief, the love.
It roiled around inside him like a sickness, but he forced himself to continue forward. To step into the library with her.
Alex was pushing himself out of a chair. He set down the book he’d been reading, his eyes on Evelyne.
“Evelyne.” Alexandre moved toward her with a genuine smile on his face. A rare thing for a very careful and private prince.
King, Gabriel corrected himself. Alexandre the king.
Evelyne’s expression bloomed, and tears filled her eyes. She moved for him too. They embraced tightly, and said nothing, but the way they held on to each other spoke volumes.
Gabriel had understood that they worried about each other, but he had not realized perhaps how much that separation and worry for the other had weighed on each of them.
How much they had simply missed each other.
Though Alexandre had spent many years at boarding school with Gabriel, it was no doubt the siblings had long since relied on each other to be safe places in their father’s awful kingdom.
They had both done some excellent acting over the past nine months to pretend as though the separation had not been as soul crushing as it had been for them.
It eased something inside Gabriel to see them together. To see them happy. A relief, his own version of joy, and feelings deep enough to cause him even more worry. This was not the surface level he needed to operate with.
Until Alexandre moved back from Evelyne with a frown on his face. He looked down, and while the coat she wore hid much of her shape, no doubt the tight hug gave away what lay beneath. “What…”
“Surprise,” Evelyne said cheerfully. She shrugged out of the coat she’d been wearing that had somewhat hidden her baby bump.
She turned to Gabriel and handed him the coat.
The worry and nerves he’d seen in her eyes on the drive in were nowhere to be seen now.
Gabriel knew it was an act, but it was a hell of an act.
“Evelyne…” Alex was shaking his head. “What…”
“I know it’s a surprise, but I hope not an unhappy one.” She patted her belly. “I am happy, and I think that should be taken into account. I know how much you respect Gabriel. We only kept it a secret because of Father. And now he’s gone, so now we don’t have to. You’re happy for us, aren’t you?”
“Happy…” Alexandre’s eyes moved from Evelyne’s stomach to Gabriel. “You…”
Evelyne moved over to Gabriel, slid her arms around his waist, looked up at him lovingly.
An act, he reminded himself when the warmth of the gold in her eyes shuddered through him like a promise.
“Gabriel saved me. Not just from this place and the general, but my sanity when I was alone and homesick. He was so kind and understanding and…caring. Which, as you know, was in short supply around here.”
“Evelyne, I don’t understand,” Alexandre said, moving his gaze from Gabriel to his sister.
But she kept chattering on, inventing this phony love story.
“I’ve always had a kind of crush on him, but this allowed us time to really get to know one another as people, as adults, and why…
I just couldn’t help but fall for him.” She patted Gabriel’s chest, grinned at Alex as though everyone was just as happy as she was pretending to be.
Instead of shell-shocked on his way to fury—which was what Gabriel thought Alex was.
“I’m sure you can’t blame me for that. You know what a good man Gabriel is. And well, I happen to think I’m a bit of a catch myself,” she quipped.
Gabriel could not bring himself to look at Alex. His gaze was caught on Evelyne’s hand on his chest.
He needed to get her a ring. And since that felt like something blatant he should have thought of, his only option was to cover her hand on his chest with his own. Hide his failing until he had a reason for it.
“It wasn’t that we wanted to get married without you.
It was just…we wanted that commitment. That promise to one another.
” Evelyne beamed up at him. It was almost too much.
Almost amusing. He almost found himself smiling back down at her.
“We certainly couldn’t wait—or thought we couldn’t—for Father to die.
So we married, and now we are expecting. ”
“Married. Expecting…” Alexandre said these words like he didn’t quite understand the meaning of them.
“I’m sorry if that ruins your…procreation plans,” Evelyne said, looking at Alexandre now. “It was not exactly planned. We got carried away on the wedding night… Well, you don’t need to hear that. I only mean to say, I don’t wish you to be angry with us.”
“Of…of course not.” Alexandre cleared his throat.
“Surprised, but not angry. Perhaps without the pressure, Ines will… Never mind.” He raked a hand through his hair, reminding Gabriel of the night King Enzo had died.
“You must be exhausted,” Alex finally said, his voice sounding a little rough.
“We can… Let us get some sleep, deal with everything…in the morning.”
“Alex…” Evelyne crossed to him then. Before she could say anything, Alex put his arm around her shoulders.
“I am happy for you, Evelyne. Very happy. It has just been…a lot of change in a short period of time. We will get through it, but I think it’s best if we all get some sleep tonight.”
Evelyne nodded. “All right. Yes. I’m…so happy you’re king now.” Gabriel watched her swallow. This emotion was not put on, even if her story was.
Then her gaze tracked to his. “Gabriel has taken such good care of me.”
Which was a lie. He had left her alone for six months. Pregnant. She held some blame for that—she could have told him. But he still felt the guilt sting.
“But I’m so happy to be home,” she continued.
“A joy only equal to mine, Ev. Get some rest now. I… I should go tell Ines you are home.” His eyes darted to her stomach, then to Gabriel. “We’ll have a nice family breakfast in the morning. The…four of us.”
Alex crossed the room to Gabriel before Evelyne moved. “Congratulations, brother.” And Gabriel might have been fooled into believing there was an actual congratulations behind that, but Alex didn’t stop there.
He spoke the rest quietly, possibly so that only Gabriel himself could hear. “We will talk in the morning. Before breakfast. Alone.”
And he did not sound like a man talking to his friend.
He sounded like a king ordering his subject.
Evelyne walked to her room in silence. She didn’t know what to say, and it was so dark and quiet in the hallways. She was exhausted, and a little hungry. She didn’t have the energy to ask for something to be sent up, but she did have some snacks in her purse.
She yawned as Gabriel opened her old bedroom door. How funny to have Gabriel in her old room. It felt like her previous life had belonged to a different person. The thought of poor, cowardly Jordi almost made her laugh.
Gabriel was a great many things, perhaps even a coward when it came to her, but she had no doubt he’d stand up to any threat for her and her child. He wouldn’t run away or stand down to a threat. Even if he didn’t love her.
He was here, wasn’t he?
She stopped short a few steps into the room.
Everything looked…exactly the same. She turned a slow circle.
A picture of Alexandre and their mother still sat on her bureau.
The linens on the bed were the same she’d picked out when she’d been sixteen—pink and frilly, befitting a princess.
Everything in this room spoke of a life of ease and luxury and royalty.
She supposed that had been purposeful. Some of the staff knew how her father treated his children, but he also kept much of it under wraps. This had all just been a veneer over the horrible truth.