Chapter 27 – Sebastian #2
“About four months ago, we hired a new nanny for the children,” I continue, holding her gaze.
“A nanny who immediately put me through my paces, not tolerating any of my grumpy moods or foul disposition. The children took to her instantly, and she to them in a way I wasn’t expecting.
Little by little, with barely any effort, she broke through my walls, crashing them down one by one.
She became part of our family. She reminded me what it is to live and the importance of living each day to its fullest. How fear has no place ruling our hearts or minds.
Bellamy is the light we needed to find our way back.
She is everything that is good and kind and moral and graceful and beautiful.
She’s smart and talented and holds our world in her heart. ”
I hold my hand out to her, twisting it through the air until she reluctantly leaves the safety of Rowan and the children and comes to join me. Bellamy is trembling, her hand a shaking mess in mine, but I give her a reassuring squeeze, hoping my own nerves at what I’m about to do aren’t showing.
“I love you,” I tell her, ignoring the crowd and focusing entirely on her.
“You’ve heard me say that dozens of times now, but the weight of those words is no less true each time I utter them.
I am a man who has found his other half.
A man who will love and cherish you without limits.
A king who is hoping to make you his queen. ”
With that, I lower myself onto one knee in front of everyone, the world of press beyond, and stare up at the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
Bellamy gasps, her sapphire eyes glassing up with unshed tears as I open the box I’ve had in my pocket all evening, revealing the ring I purchased just for her.
“Will you marry me?”
She nods vigorously, some of those caught tears breaking free and rolling down her cheeks.
“Oui. Yes, of course I’ll marry you.” In a flash I’m back on my feet, lifting her into the air and kissing her without holding back.
Without a second’s thought or care about anyone else other than her.
I set her down, slide the large round pink diamond onto her finger, and step back, holding her hand out in front of me so she can take center stage.
“The future Queen of Messalina,” I announce, and the applause and cheers and whistles that had seemed so distant seconds ago crash through the room.
Bellamy dips her head, her cheeks flushing.
“Thank you all. Enjoy your evening.” I hand off the microphone and lead her over to the corner of the room as the music picks up again.
I twist her in my arms, tucking her into my chest.
She laughs against me as I kiss her lips once more. “That is how you propose.”
I smile, stealing another kiss. “I did my research. Evidently, it’s all about the grand gesture.”
“That’s for sure,” she exclaims just as a sound at the back of the room jars us apart. It’s a yell of some kind, followed swiftly by the door swinging open and slamming shut.
Samil.
I caught the back of his blond head just before the door shut. Bellamy’s wide, startled eyes turn back to me. “What was that?”
I frown, shaking my head. “Samil and I had it out a bit before you arrived. He’s harboring a lot of bitterness and resentment where I’m concerned. He told me in explicit detail why you should be his and not mine. I don’t think he appreciated my grand gesture the same way you did.”
Stricken, Bellamy’s lips part on a silent breath. “Sebastian, I have to tell you something.”
“What is it?” I cup her face in my hand, turning my back on the people who continue to attempt to speak to us.
“I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to worsen a situation that was already brewing and I…” She licks her lips. “I convinced myself there was no way it was possible.”
“Bellamy, what? Tell me.”
“That morning I was running upstairs from the gym, the morning I was anxious to change and cover my bruise,” she starts.
“Samil saw me and chased after me. He cornered me. You knew about that. I told you he saw my bruise, which is true. But there’s more I didn’t tell you.
He accused me of running from him, which I denied, and then he told me he’s not the one I should fear.
That being with you is dangerous and that I should be with him instead. ”
I growl and groan, my hands scrubbing up and down my face. “Is that all?”
“No. He continued on, telling me my father needs me and that he can help me with that. I became upset. I didn’t like him speaking to me like that and definitely not about my father.
I told him I knew about the pictures, and he admitted he did that to try to upset you.
Then he asked if I knew about Nora and him and I told him yes.
He explained how he did love her and accused you of stealing her from him. ”
I scoff sardonically at that, dropping my hands to my hips. “That’s a lie. She was never his.”
“Well, he became upset with me when I told him I didn’t believe in the curse and that I wasn’t leaving.
He proceeded to say that Nora should never have been yours.
That she was always supposed to be his. He said she wouldn’t leave you, nor would she betray you.
I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but it sounded weird to me.
Then he said something along the lines of, ‘She wouldn’t listen to me.
Then she got on that fucking helicopter when she wasn’t supposed to.
He was supposed to go to her, not the other way around.
I lost her twice when he never cared about her.
Be careful, Bellamy, for you’re sure to be next. ’”
My hand grasps her forearm as all the blood in my body plummets to my feet. I turn to ice as I stare at Bellamy, my mind twisting and turning, trying to work this out when there is no other explanation. Slowly I peer around the room, at the ball going on around us, a ball where my children are.
I turn back to Bellamy. “He said that? You’re positive?”
“Yes. It…scared me. Not the threat to myself necessarily. More for you. It struck me odd because the way he spoke…it…it sounded as if he was there with her that morning. Which I know can’t be true and I brushed it off, telling myself I was imagining things because he had me so shaken.
I assumed that since he’s the prime minister, he must have known the details of that morning the way you told me. ”
“No. He didn’t,” I manage, my voice not my own.
Her brows crease. “What do you mean?”
“No one knew that Nora wasn’t supposed to be on the helicopter.
She rang me ten minutes before it was set to come pick us up and told me she was coming with it.
That she missed me, and she missed the children.
That’s why we were outside. Because the children missed her just as much and wanted to see her. ”
Her eyes search mine, shifting back and forth in sharp, bewildered flicks. “He knows because he was there that morning with her?”
“So it seems.”
Her hand goes over her trembling lips, her face a vision of pure, abject horror. “Sebastian…he was…furious that morning with me. Manic, almost. He hates you and makes no secret of it. I worry he might try to hurt you.”
I worry he might already have tried. Would he have gone so far as to tamper with the helicopter to separate Nora from me? That’s what I don’t know.
“I have to go speak with Javier and Rowan.” I take her hand, dragging us from the corner of the room and through the throngs of people getting ready to sit down for dinner.
A barrage of congratulations and well wishes brush us from each direction, but I don’t have time to slow to thank anyone.
I find my children snacking on cheese and crackers while Althea, Rowan, and two attendants keep watch.
Rowan catches my eye and immediately knows something is wrong.
“I need a word. Now. Find Javier and meet me in my office.”
He gives me a curt nod, not asking any questions, and leaves us instantly.
“Althea, can you stay with Bellamy and the children here in the ballroom?”
“Of course. Anything you need.”
“What is it, Papa?” Phaedra asks, concern in her eyes, and I force a smile, bending to kiss her cheek.
“It’s nothing, sweetheart. Just some royal business that came up. Stay with your Tante Althea and Bellamy.” I kiss each of my children and then Bellamy before turning to the attendants. “I want one-to-one and none of them leave the room unattended.”
“Yes, sir.”
I leave them here, a heavy sense of dread filling my gut with every step I take away from them.