Chapter 45
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Finally, he picks up a piece of paper from his desk. Slowly, he folds it into a paper airplane and tosses it across the room. “Why are you here?”
“For Kate. She wants answers”
“Katalina,” he corrects with a sniff.
“Kate.”
He sighs tiredly. “She’s always had such a strong mind. Don’t get me wrong, I adored that at one point, but sometimes, I just run out of energy for it. Thus, her moving to the States. We just couldn’t get along as of late.”
Fuck him. I already detest the bastard. “Maybe your energy is going to the wrong places. She’s perfect like she is, and you should be happy she’s taking care of your mother when, apparently, you’re causing trouble.”
“That’s another strong headed one. My mother.”
This asshole’s really starting to get on my nerves. “I like strong women. As a matter of fact, my sister is one too.”
He picks up another piece of paper. “Back to why you’re here. I only have so long for this little unscheduled visit.”
A soft knock interrupts us. The woman from the door steps inside. “Your highness, the documents you requested. I thought these might be important seeing who your guest is.” She sets a folder on the King’s desk.
“Penelope, speaking of guests, you let this man in without an appointment.”
The woman smiles brightly. “Of course, I knew you’d want to see your son-on-law, given how far he traveled to visit you.”
The King grumbles something and flips open the folder. I notice that Penelope doesn’t leave. She glances at me and winks. As the seconds tick on, the King’s face grows flat, then red. He scans the document again. As he slams the folder closed, he mutters a very un-royal, “Well, shit.”
“Sir?” Penelope asks. “Did that help?”
The man raises his eyes to me, ignoring Penelope. “Did you know that your marriage can’t be annulled, divorce is not an option, and that you’re now a citizen of Isla Rosa?”
My heart does a full screeching stop inside my chest, but I school my face into a perfect mask. I’ll deal with this fucked up news as soon as I get the hell off this bloody crazy island. “I take it you don’t like that news?”
With a little shrug of her shoulders, Penelope says, “I’ll be going now.” She wiggles her eyebrows in my direction as she passes my chair.
When the door closes again, the King pours himself a stout drink of whiskey. He doesn’t offer me one. After shooting it back, he clears his throat. There’s a definite edge of disbelief in his voice. “Why are you here?”
“Two reasons. First, why did you tell Mikail that he would be Kate’s fiancé without her approval?”
The man blinks at me. “I don’t understand what you are saying.”
“Mikail thinks he’s Kate’s fiancé-to-be.”
For a few seconds, the expression on the man’s face gives away his concern. “There must be some confusion.”
“Not on my end.”
He blinks some more. “Why would he think that?”
“Because you decided it, according to him.”
He shakes his head. “Oh no. Mikail’s nothing but a bodyguard. She could never marry down like that. Her marriage was supposed to be one of power and prosperity for the country.”
Humor starts to build in my stomach, it rattles loose in my chest. He just stares at me as I laugh darkly. I’m not sure he knows I’m a bodyguard without so much as a house in my name, but I could give a damn. When I speak, it’s not with humor. It’s with venom. “Fuck you, old man.”
He pours himself another drink. “I think we’re done here.”
I level him with a glare that freezes him. He averts his eyes. “Why are you trying to sell the soil from this island?”
Thin and twisted, his lips show his annoyance at the question. “It will help the people.”
“Is that you speaking or Wilton’s nonsense?”
“Wilton’s done an excellent job of helping me see how our country can benefit from—”
“Selling out?”
The King’s lip curls. “Being progressive.”
“I think you should look into Wilton’s record. I did.”
What exactly Wilton is, I don’t know, but Marshall is working on digging into that as I sit here in this chair.
After another slug of his drink, the man says, “You’re nothing but trouble.”
His face isn’t so smug anymore, telling me that I’ve planted a seed of doubt in his mind about his right-hand man.
“That’s right, Pops. I am trouble.”
I lean forward as I clasp my fist in my other hand. “And as a citizen of Isla Rosa, I object to the sale of the top soil and will make sure the rest of the people of this island see this for what it really is—selling out, because some man who’s out for his own benefit talked the King into it.”
The King clunks his crystal highball glass abruptly down on his desk. “I’ve got to get back to work.”
I casually rise out of my chair. “Suits me. I’ve got to go by the local newspaper, then get back to my wife.”
I don’t tell him I’m going to pay a visit to some of the island’s old timers.