Chapter 17
The next afternoon, Raul walked through the private door to his father’s office in the palace for their twice-weekly lunch meeting.
His father sat in the leather chair behind the huge carved wood desk, his computer screens casting a blue glow on his silver-gray suit. Both Mikel and Bruno Sanz, the king’s executive assistant, sat in the tan leather chairs in front of the desk. All three men wore grim expressions.
“ Buenas dias , Pater,” Raul said before nodding to the other two men and waving them back into their seats when they started to stand. “Mikel, Bruno. You look concerned.”
“Ah, hijo, ” his father said. “Odette Fontaine is troubling us yet again.”
They had worried that the woman he had once considered a beloved family friend would try to disrupt Gabriel’s wedding. They just didn’t know how since she was incarcerated in Caleva’s maximum security prison for life.
As Raul took the empty chair in front of his father, he wondered if Odette planned to reveal her relationship to Grace, and guilt jabbed at him again. “What is she threatening now?”
“To have Jean-Pierre Dupont tell the whole story of el duque’s kidnapping,” Bruno said. “With all the…unpleasant details.”
Raul felt a confusing combination of relief, fury, and shame.
Odette would keep Grace’s secret as she had promised.
But Gabriel had fought hard to get past the trauma of his abduction and mutilation.
This would dredge it all up again and drag him back into that dark time when he should be feeling nothing but joy.
As for Raul, he would almost welcome having the public know that Gabriel had sacrificed himself for the prince’s sake. But he reminded himself of Mikel’s advice. In this case, what would help Raul’s conscience would not help Gabriel.
“Isn’t Dupont in jail in France?” Raul asked, pushing away his thoughts.
“Yes,” Mikel said. “But he is allowed visitors, including the press. I could call in some favors to have him temporarily secluded, which might keep the story from coming out before the wedding. But he can’t be silenced for long.
And we know from past experience that Odette maintains her contacts outside of prison. ”
Not for the first time, Raul regretted the elimination of sentencing criminals to be thrown off the cliffs of Acantilado Alto.
Gabriel was stronger now, and he had Quinn to support him, but to make him relive the horrors of his abduction would be cruel beyond words. Odette and Dupont had to be silenced.
“I will go see Odette. Again,” Luis said, rubbing his hand over his face. “It’s me she wants to punish.”
“No, I’ll go,” Raul said. His father suffered with every visit. It was Raul’s turn to face the madwoman who plagued his family.
Three surprised gazes swung toward him.
“Maybe a new target will deflect her,” he said. He hoped.
His father shook his head. “It’s me she wants to drag into the prison.”
“Perhaps we shouldn’t let her get what she wants,” Raul said, beginning to feel more confident.
“He might be right, Su Majestad ,” Mikel said. “Surprise could work in our favor.”
“Raul, she is a monster,” Luis said. Raul could see the worry shadowing his father’s face. “I don’t want you exposed to her poison.”
“I know what she is, Pater.” Raul locked his gaze with his father’s. “I can handle it.”
No one spoke for a long moment as he and his father faced each other in a battle of wills.
“Bien,” his father said at last. “Do your best to stop her. But do not let her hatred burrow into your soul. And if you cannot prevent her from carrying out her threat, you should not feel you have failed.”
Raul squelched the quiver of nerves running down his spine. He had not seen Odette since the woman had threatened to shoot him at a private family gathering and ended up winging Gabriel instead. The intensity of her desire to destroy anyone whom the king loved was chilling.
“I will do everything in my power to succeed,” he said, lifting his chin.
“I already know that.” His father nodded to him before he turned to Mikel. “You will arrange the visit to CárcelMax.”
“Of course, Senor .” Mikel and Bruno stood and bowed to the king before exiting.
“ Ay, Raul, I wish you would reconsider,” his father said, pushing his chair back and walking around the desk.
“She will be in chains, will she not?” Raul asked. “She cannot hurt me.”
“You have no idea how deadly her words can be,” his father said. “You must refuse to let them take root in your mind and spread their infection.”
“What can she tell me that I do not already know?”
His father shook his head. “She begins with the truth and then twists it until you can’t tell what is real and what is a manipulation designed to damage you.” Luis put his hand on Raul’s shoulder. “I hate to give Odette the opportunity to sink her fangs into you too.”
“I will stay out of striking range.” Raul put his hand on his father’s. “You should not have to bear Odette’s enmity on your own.”
His father went still, his pale blue gaze scanning Raul’s face. “I sometimes forget that you are no longer a child I need to protect. Thank you, hijo mío .”
“No thanks are necessary, Pater.” But Raul basked in the glow of his father’s acknowledgment.
“Shall we eat?” His father waved him toward the table set in the corner of the paneled office.
They both stripped off their jackets and hung them on the wooden valet beside the table.
Seating themselves in high-backed oak chairs, they lifted the silver domes off their plates.
A selection of Raul’s favorite tapas was arranged on his—stuffed mushroom caps, pickled shrimp, Serrano ham, various cheeses, and fresh fruit.
A basket of fragrant, warm bread sat in the middle of the table.
His father spread fig preserves on his bread, laid a slice of ham on top, and took a bite before he said, “The Duquesa de Riquet mentioned that Francine has returned from Boston now that she has completed her master’s degree. Didn’t you go out with her a few times before she left for the U.S.?”
Ah, the not-so-subtle pressure for the crown prince to find a noble wife. Usually, Raul could let it roll off his back. But now Erica’s vivid face overlay Francine’s, and he could not even recall what the comtesse looked like.
“I barely remember her. She’s been gone for two years, after all.” Raul jabbed his fork into a shrimp.
“She’ll be at the wedding reception, so perhaps you can get to know her again,” Luis said.
Raul had to quell a grimace. There would be dozens of eligible noblewomen at the wedding reception, and he would be expected to dance with many of them. That included those from other countries as well.
Alliances by marriage were welcome in the Calevan royal family. His aunt Hélène was from French aristocracy and had some influence in her home country. Of course, that had been a love match when it began. Sadly, it had deteriorated over the years.
Usually, he didn’t mind doing his duty by whirling young ladies around the dance floor.
He had developed the skill of flirting enough to make the evening pleasurable for himself and his companions without creating any expectations.
However, light flirtation had lost its appeal.
The only person he wanted to talk to was Erica.
And she was off-limits.
“The wedding reception is not the best place to have an in-depth conversation,” Raul pointed out. “I have to circulate.”
“ Eso es cierto , but it is a place to start.” His father slathered spread on another piece of bread. “How did your meeting with the lily grubbers go?”
Raul sighed inwardly with relief. They were back to the business of governing the country.
Erica shifted in her seat as the jet hummed along over the Atlantic Ocean, the setting sun slanting low to her right and painting the clouds beneath her pink and gold.
“Want to take a break before we start our descent?” Bertrand asked.
They were flying on autopilot from New York back to Caleva, and the weather was stable with no turbulence predicted. She had nothing to occupy her mind other than thinking about how stupid she had been to let Raul break her heart.
“Yeah, I’ll go check on the passengers,” she said, unbuckling her seat belt with a sense of relief.
Not that it was necessary. There were three stewards dedicated to the comfort of their guests. However, it was never a bad idea for the pilot to show her face and let the passengers ask questions.
As she opened the cockpit door, her phone vibrated in her pocket with a text notification. She stepped into the galley area and closed the door behind her.
“May I help you with something, Captain?” Lizanne, one of the cabin crew, asked from her seat.
“Just stretching my legs, but thanks,” she said. “I’ll let the passengers know that we’ll be starting our descent in half an hour or so.”
Lizanne nodded and flipped open her e-reader again.
Erica pulled out her phone to read the text. Surprise jolted through her when she saw that it was from a private number. That meant Raul.
I know you are flying, but I have a favor to ask of you. I need your clear-sighted perspective on a sensitive matter. Would you come to our usual meeting place as soon as you are free this evening, no matter how late it is? Just to talk.
She scowled at the screen as her longing warred with her hurt and anger.
But, in fact, she could not say no. He was the prince, and she could not refuse him.
She reread the message. It was highly flattering that he wanted her help, but she could not imagine what she could contribute when he was much more experienced at handling sensitive matters .
I land at about seven, so I can be there by nine. It will be an honor to assist you.
Stilted, yes, but she needed to keep him at arm’s length for her own sanity. She hit send and waited. He replied with one word. Gracias.
She shoved her phone back into her pocket and walked into the main cabin to chat up Gabriel’s guests.