Chapter 18 #2
“Agreed.” She smiled with a feral edge. “So, we have a deal, Little Prince. Your presence for my silence.”
“And Dupont’s.”
“That goes without saying.” Her smile widened. “He is my dog, and I will muzzle him.”
He had made his deal with the devil. Nausea threatened again, and he breathed deeply to fight it before he pushed the button to summon the guards. The door opened instantly.
“We’re done,” he said to both the guards and Odette.
One guard bent to unlock her shackles from the floor ring before they pulled her to her feet.
“What? No fond farewell?” Odette taunted. The guards hauled her to the door, where she looked over her shoulder to say, “See you soon, Su Alteza Real .”
When the door clicked shut behind her, Raul sagged back into the chair and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Stunned that Erica’s idea had really worked, he let relief flow through him in hopes that it would wash away the dread of future meetings with Odette.
Then he straightened in the chair, lifted his chin, and gripped the armrests. He had stopped Odette from sullying the joy of Gabriel and Quinn’s wedding.
He was protecting the rest of his family from Odette’s poison.
That was the thought he needed to carry with him every time he entered this office.
A quiet knock sounded on a side door.
“Come in.” Raul pushed up from the warden’s chair as Dario leaned into the office. “I’m ready to go.”
As the last steel door clanged shut behind him at the prison exit, Raul took a deep breath of fresh air.
“I need a shower. And a change of clothes,” he said as he walked toward the plain car that had carried him there.
He tilted down the baseball cap that he wore to hide his identity and shoved his hands into the pockets of the shapeless tan raincoat that concealed his bespoke suit.
“Ah, this way, Senor, ” Dario said, gesturing toward a different car.
Raul would have been suspicious of the unexpected change, but this was Dario, whom he trusted one hundred percent.
“Why?” Raul asked, changing direction.
“Mikel’s orders,” Dario said with a shrug.
Raul didn’t question Mikel. The man always had his reasons.
Dario opened the passenger door, and Raul climbed into the dim interior to discover he had company. “Pater! What are you doing here?”
His father lifted an eyebrow and said, “I’m glad to see you as well.”
“You surprised me.” Raul settled on the seat across from his father, his back to the driver.
“I tried to get here before you went in, but my schedule…” His father waved his hand in frustration. “I came as soon as I could. How did the meeting go?”
Raul was torn between annoyance that his father thought he needed support and the comfort of being supported.
“Dupont will not ruin Quinn and Gabriel’s wedding.” Satisfaction eased some of the lingering strain of his encounter.
“ Buen trabajo, hijo mío! You have done well.” His father’s face lit with pride. “But how did you do it? And how do you know she will keep her word?”
“We have so little to threaten her with that I decided to try a reward instead. One that can be withdrawn at a moment’s notice.”
The king frowned. “We do not reward criminals.”
“Call it a bribe, then.” Raul leaned forward, his forearms on his knees. “The goal is to silence Odette. As you’ve taught me, sometimes you have to bend a little to get what you want.”
“What bribe did you offer?” His father was suddenly all king. Raul always marveled at the transformation. His father uncrossed his legs, and his already perfect posture straightened even more. His chin lifted, and those pale blue eyes glowed with authority.
Raul matched the king’s posture and injected all the confidence he had into his voice. “I offered her my attention. I will visit her in prison—at my convenience—if she does not stir up trouble. If she does, the visits cease immediately and forever.”
“No!” Luis’s response was explosive. “You will not be dragged into Odette’s punishment!”
Raul had known his father would hate his solution, but the king’s anger still shook him.
“Pater, I told you I would handle the situation. I have done so. Successfully.” He hoped. Odette could change her mind. He just didn’t think she would. “I am confident in my solution.”
For a moment, their gazes locked, and the air vibrated with the contest of wills.
“Ay, hijo mío.” His father’s posture relaxed as he ran his hand over his face. “You don’t understand how evil the woman is. She will do everything in her power to torture you.”
“I have a pretty clear vision of Odette. After all, she pointed a gun at me not so long ago.” The tension in Raul’s shoulders eased as Luis returned to father mode. Then exhilaration coursed through him. He had declared his independence, and his father had accepted it.
“I brought that woman into our lives,” his father said, staring out the car window. “I cannot forgive myself for that.”
“Without Odette, I wouldn’t have a half sister,” Raul pointed out. “And you wouldn’t have Eve. The universe tends to balance good and evil.”
Luis looked startled. “Such philosophy.” He scanned Raul’s face. “Do you truly believe that?”
“I do. I’ve seen it happen over and over again, both in our family and in our country.” He looked down at the dragon claw circling his finger. “I have to think that way in order to make the tough decisions required by my position.”
His father reached across to squeeze Raul’s hand. “That’s a good belief to hold on to. We all have to find the foundation that we will rule from. I am pleased and impressed that you have discovered yours already.”
In that moment, Raul looked at his father as an equal, the two of them set apart and bound by their terrible and wonderful duty to guide their country, a heavy responsibility only they could truly understand.
“What is your foundational belief, Pater?” Raul asked.
“It’s very simple, but it never guides me wrong,” Luis said. “I ask myself, ‘Will this action make Caleva a better place for my son to rule?’”
Raul had never questioned that his father loved him and loved Caleva. But this revealed how inextricably the two were braided together, reinforced and made more powerful in combination. His lungs constricted as a roil of emotions churned in his chest.
“Thank you,” he said to his father and to the king, because the man before him was speaking as both. “I hope you will continue to ask that question for a very long time.”
“I do not intend to vacate the crown until I have grandchildren, so you will be able to ask yourself a similar question.” Luis sat back with a faint smile.
“Not that I am pressuring you. However, if you are going to remain unattached, you should work less and enjoy yourself more while you have the opportunity.”
Of course that brought Erica to mind. Those two days with her in the mountains had been a respite he hadn’t known he needed. And she was…everything he wanted but couldn’t have. Because he had the same duty to Caleva that his father did.
“Can you make that a royal command?” Raul joked to cover up his longing.
“It’s only fatherly advice. Which, in the long tradition of fathers and sons, you will not listen to,” Luis said with an affectionate smile.
“I’m selective about what advice I take,” Raul said. “This kind, I can get behind.”
“I have more, though.” Luis’s smile vanished, and he locked his gaze on Raul. “Promise me this, hijo mío . If you find the visits to Odette too onerous, you will tell me. I love you too much to let her corrode your soul.”
“I promise,” Raul said without meaning it. He had made his deal with Odette. He would carry it through.
His father searched his face for a long moment before he sighed. “Sometimes you are too much my son.”