AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Understood,” says Ben, and this time, when he looks at me, it’s more than just a glance. “I’m truly sorry, Evan, for everything. I should’ve welcomed you into the family with open arms, and instead…” He trails off, as if he’s too ashamed of the details to recount them, and I narrow my eyes.
“Instead you tried to destroy my life,” I say bitingly. “You told everyone about—”
“Trust, once broken, is impossible to mend completely,” says Alexander suddenly, loud enough to drown me out. “By virtue of blood, Benedict, you’ll always be family. But if you want to be part of this monarchy, too, then you need to prove you’re willing to uphold the values of the crown. You need to earn your role and your titles and every privilege that comes with them, and there will be no more second chances. Is that understood?”
Ben nods, seemingly abashed, but I gape at my father, too stunned for words. After everything Ben did, after every lie, every threat, every betrayal, Alexander is letting him waltz right back into our lives like it was all nothing.
“No,” I blurt with such force that I take an involuntary step forward. “You know what he did, Alexander. You all know—”
“Why don’t we speak outside, Evan?” says my father calmly, like I’m the one who’s being unreasonable. Like he hasn’t just offered a lifeline to the person who leaked the video of Jasper trying to rape me, and who might still have evidence that Maisie was the one who really killed him.
“Is this some kind of joke?” I say incredulously as Alexander strides toward me. “Or is this just good old-fashioned nepotism, and we’re expected to excuse any and all toxic behavior, so long as you were born into the right family?”
I look around the room, but while Maisie is glaring at Ben, she doesn’t speak up. And as Alexander joins me and sets his hand on my elbow, I peer at Kit, expecting at least some level of support. But he won’t even meet my eye.
This, more than anything—more than Constance’s cold stare, more than Maisie’s silence, even more than Alexander’s gentle attempt to guide me toward the door—is what finally makes me move. With my jaw tight and my heart racing, I jerk away from my father and storm back into the hallway. I’m not sure where I’m going, but it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s as far from Ben and the rest of my callous family as possible.
I make it twenty feet before I hear hurried footsteps behind me, and yet again, Alexander’s hand is on my arm. “Evie—”
“Don’t touch me,” I snarl, whirling around to face him so quickly that he nearly runs straight into me. He hastily raises his hands and takes a step back, like I’m some wild animal threatening to rip out a chunk of his flesh.
“Evangeline,” he says in a measured tone that only incenses me further. “Why don’t we discuss this privately—”
“Do you not remember what he did to me? To Maisie?” I say. “Are you seriously going to forgive him just because he spent ten minutes coming up with some speech about how much he’s changed? Because he hasn’t, you know. You don’t do the kinds of things he did and then suddenly find your moral compass because you’ve petted a few elephants.”
“I know,” says Alexander quietly. “And I would very much appreciate the opportunity to speak to you behind closed doors.”
This is such a strange request that the fire fueling my rage sputters, and I still. Both Kit and Maisie linger in the corridor behind him, only a few feet from the drawing room where everyone else is still gathered, and both of them look…grim. Angry, I think. Maybe even scared.
At last, even though I have no desire to hear whatever justification Alexander’s come up with, I nod stiffly. He leads me a safe distance down the hallway and into the empty dining room, and with my hands balled into fists, I take up a position near the windows, my arms crossed and my posture rigid.
Alexander waits until both Maisie and Kit have joined us, and he closes the door with a soft click. “This has nothing to do with how we may or may not feel about Ben,” he says at last, his voice low and serious. “This is about making sure Venetia never discovers the details.”
I blink, not sure I’m hearing him right. “Venetia? That’s who you’re all worried about?”
“She has the biggest mouth in the history of this family,” says Maisie bitterly. “Whenever the money’s getting low, she writes a new book, milking her farce of a marriage to Uncle Nicholas for all it’s worth. If she finds out what really happened over the summer, then the entire world will know before the week’s out.”
I frown. “But she must have some idea of what went down. Ben just apologized in front of her.”
“And you’ll note how he took care not to mention any specifics,” says Alexander. “I suspect he’s told Venetia that he was unkind toward you—a bit of a bully, perhaps, or a little too aloof. But nothing that can’t be forgiven in time.”
“So she doesn’t know Ben leaked the video of me and Jasper?” I say. “Or that he drugged my drink, or threatened Maisie, or—”
“The rule of thumb to follow with Venetia,” says Alexander, “is if the press doesn’t know, then neither does she.”
We stand in silence for a long moment as I process this, and slowly my temper ebbs. Not completely—I’ll never not be angry about what Ben’s put me through, or what he could still do to my sister, or what passes for acceptable in this supposed family. But at least it isn’t directed at the three of them anymore.
I let my arms drop in a show of tentative peace, if not surrender. “If she’s such a blabbermouth, then why not just kick both of them out now?”
“Because,” says Alexander wearily, “we can’t send either of them away without informing Venetia of all that’s happened. And if Ben is whispering his version of events in her ear, and she runs to the press…”
He trails off, and I look between him and Maisie. “Then we’ll deny it and tell the world about every despicable thing he’s done,” I say, baffled that this hasn’t already occurred to them. “Wasn’t that the whole reason I gave that interview? So Maisie has plausible deniability if Ben ever goes public or the recording ever resurfaces?”
Alexander grimaces. “Yes,” he allows. “But…”
“But what?” I press, though no one says anything. “Maisie, back me up here.”
She takes a deep breath, and even from across the room, I notice her hands are trembling. “Daddy’s right,” she says as Kit squeezes her elbow. “Venetia’s widely seen as a credible source of insider information about our family. She embellishes from time to time, but she’s never outright lied about our lives, and the public knows it.”
