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“Ugly?” She couldn’t imagine Luis being anything but honorable.
“Carlo died a month after Raul’s birth. Luis and Sofia were crowned king and queen. Luis was working day and night to pick up his newly acquired reins of power, while Sofia was struggling as a brand-new, inexperienced mother.”
“Surely she had staff to help. She was the queen!”
“She suffered from severe post-partum depression, something no army of nannies could cure. Unfortunately, no one understood the severity of her issues until Sofia tried to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills.”
Quinn winced.
“Luis is still eaten up by guilt over the fact that he didn’t notice his wife’s despair,” Mikel said. “He blames himself for not spending enough time with her to see what was happening. Of course, he got her help immediately. He thought she was improving, but six months later, she drove off the side of a mountain.”
“So the car crash that killed her wasn’t an accident?”
Mikel shrugged again. “The investigators ruled it an accident. Luis believes she finally succeeded in taking her own life, even though she left no note indicating that.”
“So how is Odette involved in all this?”
Her boss lifted a hand to counsel patience. “As I said, Luis still blames himself for Sofia’s death. Back then, he evidently went a little crazy with the guilt. Odette came to visit Hélène and Lorenzo, and Luis vented his grief in what he described as a tempestuous affair with her.”
“Wow! I wasn’t expecting that,” Quinn said. “He seems so…controlled and so aware of the fact that he’s the king, so he has to behave like one.”
“He was young, only twenty-five. He was under tremendous pressure as he stepped into his father’s shoes. He was a new parent. And then his wife killed herself. I think he had to let all those emotions out somehow, or they would have eaten him alive.”
What was she doing at age twenty-five? Trying to make an honest living, which had required distancing herself from her father as much as possible. She’d thought that was a lot of pressure, but it paled next to what Luis had gone through.
“So does Luis react negatively to Odette’s name because he regrets having the affair, or is there something more to it?”
“He says it ended badly when he realized his behavior was endangering the crown. Even more, he was neglecting his new son, who now had only one parent. He terminated the relationship somewhat abruptly and focused on those two aspects of his life.” Mikel grimaced. “Reading between the lines and knowing Odette, I suspect she was angling to be the next queen. Getting dumped would not have sat well with her.”
Mikel paused and then shook his head.
“I know revenge is a dish best served cold, but that was more than twenty-five years ago,” he said. “Odette has found success in her own right. I can’t see her suddenly deciding to go after Raul now. Especially because her success in business is a direct result of her ties to Caleva.”
There would have to be a trigger of some sort. Quinn would look for one.
“I think we should run her name by Ricci, even though his initial list led nowhere,” Quinn said. “I’ll embed it in a set of other names to see if he reacts.”
“You really think that Odette is involved?” Mikel sounded intrigued and skeptical at the same time.
Quinn shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt to take a hard look.”
“Keep it discreet,” Mikel said. “Hélène would not be happy to have her longtime friend’s reputation damaged without good reason.”
Great. Gabriel’s mother would be pissed at her. Quinn swallowed. “Understood.”
“And how did the dinner go other than arousing your suspicions about Mademoiselle Fontaine?” Mikel asked, his tone dry.
“The food was really good. They even served apple pie in my honor.”
Mikel waited.
“Okay, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Mostly.” Quinn pushed her glasses up on her nose. “Gabriel claims that the king likes me.”
“Gabriel may be biased.”
“Yeah.” She thought for a few seconds. “I think I surprised the king by being…not awful.”
Her boss huffed out a laugh. “It is rare to surprise el rey. Buen trabajo! Well done!”
