Chapter 45 – Rowan
ROWAN
My head is spinning so fucking fast and hard I feel as though I’m going to pass out.
Desta is Marie’s daughter. How the fuck did we not know this?
Our mother sure as hell had to have, same as our father.
So now we’re not only searching for one person, we’re searching for two.
One killed my father, the other stole my sister, but I’m not sure I blame Marie so much for that anymore.
Antonia is a special brand of evil. She’s also dangerous for Marcella. Marcella killed Signoria Batorini and knows Antonia’s secrets. So yeah, not good.
I also have to imagine my sister is dead. Why would Antonia keep her alive? Any hope I had for Desta is now shriveled into nothing, and it hurts so acutely there’s hardly a name for that sort of pain. She was a baby, caught in the middle of betrayal, jealousy, and venomous hate.
But speaking of betrayal. My father was a real piece of work. Is he the one who brought the curse back to us? Is he why all of this has happened, and then Nora’s affair with Samil brought it back to us? One betrayal after the other.
My father is dead. Samil is dead. Nora is dead. Signoria is dead. I need to get Antonia. She needs to be killed. It’s the only way any of us will ever be safe again, and the curse will die.
I hold Marcella’s sweet face in my hands. “We need to get you out of the hospital and back to the palace.”
The helicopter starts its descent to the private airfield two miles from the palace.
We technically have a helipad at the palace at the back of the grounds, but after what happened to Nora, I don’t think any of us have the stomach to land there, and I’d never want to traumatize the children with that sound.
The nurse came back a moment later, and I told her we were having Marcella moved to the palace and that they needed to make arrangements for that immediately. She tried to fight me, but Marcella told her that was her wish, and that was all it took.
They got Marcella out of bed, cleaned her up, and removed the catheter. She was in a good amount of pain, but when I asked when she’d be ready to leave the hospital and travel, she told me immediately.
The hospital wasn’t happy about it, but the room Sebastian was in following the attack from Samil is essentially a hospital room, equipped with anything we should need for her, and we’ll have our own set of private doctors and nurses come to take care of her.
I went out into the hall and called Sebastian and Javier. Gabe, who has been here the entire time, was with me. I very briefly explained what Marcella told me and what I knew of the situation. We all decided this had to stay between us as we dug deeper.
That said, Marcella is still very weak, and I won’t rush what she needs to heal simply because I can barely contain myself.
We touchdown, the rotors of the helicopter slowing, and I remove the cans from my ears. Marcella has a lot on her mind. What should be the end of something now, once again, feels like the beginning.
I help her down, holding her weight with my hand on her waist. They gave her some pain medicine before we left, and not only has it made her drowsy, but it also hasn’t touched her pain the way the IV stuff did. The doors of the SUV slam shut, and Javier throws me a look in the rearview mirror.
“We need to talk about Antonia Albini when you get back. We’ve done some digging,” he says, and I sit up straight even as I keep Marcella’s head on my shoulder.
“What did you find?”
He doesn’t reply at first, his eyes dashing to the side, indicating Marcella.
I smile. “You can talk in front of her. She’s the one who brought us this information, remember?”
He frowns and sets off. He doesn’t want to do that, and I get it. But I trust her. I trust her with my life. And I know Sebastian trusts her.
“It’s okay,” she says softly. “You don’t have to speak in front of me.”
I drag my lips along her forehead. “I think we’ll need to. I think you have more information than any of us combined.”
Her eyes close, and her head rests on the space between my shoulder and chest. The drive to the palace is short, not even five minutes, and the doors are opening for us again.
Marcella is out on her feet, and I have her put into a wheelchair despite her protests.
“I think you should rest for a while before we all talk more.”
“No,” she says sternly. “I can rest later. I want to see Jaqueline, and I want to tell you, the king, and your security team anything that might help you.”
“Are you sure?” I press, not wanting her to overdo it.
She glances up at me and squints against the sun to hold my gaze. “I’m positive. These aren’t my first broken ribs. Trust me, I can take it.”
I wince and press my lips to hers. “No one will ever hurt you again. I mean it. I realize I said that before, and then this happened, and there are no actual promises or guarantees in this world, but I will spend my life making sure no one else does.”
She smiles softly up at me. “That’s what I want to do for you and your family.”
I kiss her a little harder and deeper than I should, but I have to. She’s alive, and she’s here with me, and despite everything, there is no fighting my joy with that. I take her hand and have the attendant wheel her to Sebastian’s study.
She winces. “I broke into his computer,” she admits, and points over to the table on the other side of the room.
“I knew you and he had been working in here earlier that day, and Signoria wanted me to get into his system and see what was on it.” She pauses.
“She and Samil told me over and over again that the king was corrupt. That he had been taking bribes and misappropriating funds. I didn’t find any of that on there.
I found that in Samil’s folder instead, and I watched the videos of the night he attacked the king and queen.
” She releases a breath. “That was the moment I decided I no longer wanted to be part of their scheme. I had been wavering, and it ate at me. The children were innocent, and so was Bellamy, and she was just lovely. I didn’t want to hurt them.
I hated the idea even though I felt like a traitor to my brother.
But the evidence was indisputable. I realized I was a pawn for him too.
It broke me. He only saved my life so he could use me. ”
I run my hand down her hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know him well, but I’m sure he loved you, even if he did use you. Not everything was bad, Marcella. He was obsessed, and obsession breeds madness.” I wink at her. “I should know.”
She smirks and slowly pushes herself to stand, not wanting to be in a wheelchair.
I help her to the sofa and prop her up with pillows.
A half-beat later, Sebastian, Althea, Javier, Gabe, and Jaqueline come in.
Jaqueline races over to Marcella and throws her arms around her, making Marcella cry out in pain.
Jaqueline bursts into tears. “Oh god! I’m so sorry!”
Marcella kisses her cheek and wipes the tears. “You just have to be gentle with me for a while. I’m fine. We’re fine now.”
“Sorry about the cracked ribs,” Gabe says to her. “Those came from me.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not. You saved my life.” She turns to Sebastian. “Your Majesty, I’m—”
“Alive, which we’re grateful for,” Sebastian cuts her off. “The rest isn’t important. Well, except what we’re here to discuss.”
She swallows and nods. “Yes, sir.”
“Sebastian,” he corrects. “Please call me Sebastian. My brother is in love with you. The formality feels weird.”
A blush tints her cheeks, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her blush before.
I sit beside her, and Jaqueline takes the other side.
Bellamy is still at the hospital with the twins.
It was announced last evening that they were born and that everyone was stable.
It’s been all over the news and social media.
Sebastian has been bouncing back and forth between the hospital and the palace, and that’s on top of everything else that’s been happening. Sebastian takes a seat on the sofa across from us, beside Althea. Javier and Gabe are at the table with their laptops open and ready.
“Marcella, I know you’ve been through unspeakable trauma, not just over the last few days, but over your lifetime.
I also understand your loyalty to your brother and what you told me about him and Nora has shaken me to my core.
I can’t go back in time. But if I had known sooner, well, maybe many things would be different now.
I don’t know. I don’t regret marrying Nora.
She was a good woman and a good queen and my friend.
She was also the mother of my children, and for that, I’ll always be grateful to her.
That said, I have so many questions, I hardly know where to start.
I suppose my first question is, do you have any idea where Antonia could be? ”
Marcella glances at Jaqueline. “I heard Signoria asking you about her when I arrived at the house. You said you didn’t know where she was.”
“I didn’t,” Jaqueline states. “Antonia drove me to the bay house, tied me to the chair, and said Signoria would be back. That was it. She left, and I haven’t seen her since.”
“She knew Signoria was coming to meet me in Tourin,” Marcella picks up, though she’s deep in thought. “I don’t know where she could be. As far as I know, she doesn’t own any property. She lived with us at the Batorini estate and would go visit her mother overnight once a week.”
“Her mother?” Gabe questions.
“Yes. Um, Signoria’s much older sister. She’s an Albini. I think she lives near Carona, maybe.”
Everyone exchanges glances, and both Gabe and Javier type away.
“Maryanne?” Gabe asks.
She nods at him. “Yes. I think that’s it.
“She’s dead.”
Marcella’s jaw drops. “You’re sure?”
“Died about six years ago.”
Marcella’s eyes close and she sighs. “I don’t understand. That’s where she told us she went every week. I have no clue about anything else.”
“We searched Signoria Batorini’s home,” Javier explains. “All of Antonia’s things are gone, as well as Signoria’s jewelry and some other expensive items that were listed on her insurance forms.”
“Then she’s gone. She was either planning that from the start, thinking I was going to kill the king, and then Signoria would kill both Jaqueline and me, or she discovered something that made her do that. I don’t know.”
“Althea, did you know Desta wasn’t our mother’s child?” I ask.
Althea is visibly distraught. “No. Your mother was pregnant. The last time I saw her before Desta was ‘born’”—she puts air quotes around the word—“was when she was seven months along. I wasn’t living in the palace then, and your mother and I were never all that close.
Shortly after that visit, she told me she was going to stay at a wellness retreat for the remainder of her pregnancy because she needed to get away from the stress and to relax.
Then three months later, she came home with Desta. ”
“I remember her being pregnant,” Sebastian says. “That’s why I couldn’t understand.”
“She must have lost the pregnancy,” Althea speculates.
“Then stole Desta from Marie, knowing she was the king’s child and therefore of royal blood.
Losing a pregnancy that late in term had to be horrific.
Your mother was never the same after Desta was born.
We thought it was postpartum depression.
She was on a lot of medication to help it.
After your father was killed and Desta was taken, she withdrew completely. ”
“Marie still worked there, though,” I state. “Our mother didn’t fire her until a few weeks before Desta was taken.”
“Maybe Marie started making threats,” Althea suggests. “The baby was hers and being raised by another mother. Maybe it got to be too much for her, and your mother fired her to get rid of her.”
Sebastian stands and goes over to the bar and pours three large tumblers of whiskey. It’s the same thing he did after my mother left the last time. “You’re on pain medicine,” he says to Marcella. “But would you like one?”
“No. Thank you for offering, though.”
“Gabe, Javier? I think I already know what you’ll say, but I’ll offer anyway.”
Both shake their heads and Sebastian returns and hands Althea and me our glasses, and I take a hearty sip despite how my stomach is roiling.
“Antonia worked in the palace,” Javier states. “She was the king’s assistant. He fired her a year before Desta was born.”
I lean back against the sofa, my hand on my forehead as I think. “Why would he fire her? Because he wanted Marie instead of her?”
“I told you what Antonia’s like,” Marcella says in a low tone. “She wouldn’t have handled the king ending it with her for her sister well.”
“Tell us about Marie and Antonia,” Althea requests, finishing off her drink and setting the crystal on the small table beside her.
“They hated each other,” Marcella explains. “They had the same mother and got the job at the palace from her. That’s all I know. Marie came to the palazzo twice. The first time I was very young. I only remember she was sobbing. She kept saying, ‘She’s gone. Where is she? Who took her from me?’”
“She talking about Desta,” I manage. “Jesus.” I swallow down the rest of my drink, and Sebastian does the same.
“The last time she came was two years ago, and they fought. This time I didn’t hear them.”
“I did,” Jaqueline whispers. “I snuck outside the sunroom and listened. Marie was looking for something and accused Antonia of taking it. Antonia denied whatever it was. They screamed, and Signoria had Marie escorted out. After Antonia told Signoria she had the piece stolen from Marie but didn’t have it as the thief ran off before she could get it and kill him. ”
“The piece?” Sebastian asks.
Jaqueline shrugs. “That’s how they referred to it.”
I exchange glances with Sebastian, Althea, Javier, and Gabe. The tiara. It had to have been that. And the thief who took it and ran off before she could kill him had to have been the ones from the house in France.
Now it seems Marie stole the tiara back. And Antonia is nowhere to be found.