I planned to take you back to the chapel, go inside this time and propose.”
Her heart squeezed tight at the image he painted. If this security nightmare hadn’t occurred, she would have been swept off her feet. She would have been celebrating her engagement with him tonight, because by God, she would have said yes. Now, that wasn’t possible.
“You honestly thought we could get married when you have so little faith in me?” The betrayal burned deep. And hadn’t she sworn she’d never again put herself in a position to feel that sting from someone she cared about? “You should have included some azaleas in the bouquet you chose for us. I hear they mean fragile passion.”
She shrugged free of his too tempting touch. The hole inside her widened, ached.
“Damn it all, Shannon, we’re talking.” He started toward her.
“Stop.” She held up a hand. “Don’t come near me. Not now. Not ever.”
“Where are you going?” He kept his distance this time. “I need to know you’re safe.”
“Has the new security system been installed at my apartment?”
His mouth tight, he nodded. “But we’re still working on the restraining orders. Given the renewed frenzy because of Eloisa’s identity—”
“The new locks and alarms will do for now.”
“Damn it, Shannon—”
“I have to find Alys so she can make the arrangements.” She held her chin high. Pride and her child were all she had left now that her heart was shattered to pieces. “Kolby and I are returning to Texas.”
* * *
“Where are Shannon and her son?”
His father’s question hammered Tony’s already pounding head. In his father’s study, he poured himself three fingers of cognac, bypassing the Basque wine and the memories it evoked. Shannon wrapped around him, the scent of lilies in her hair. “You know full well where she is. Nothing slips past you here.”
They’d spent the past two hours assessing the repercussions of the leak. The media feeding frenzy had been rekindled with fresh fuel about Eloisa’s connection to the family. Inevitable, yet still frustrating. It gnawed at his gut to think Shannon had something to do with this, although he reassured himself it must have been an accident.
And if she’d simply slipped up and made a mistake, he could forgive her. She hadn’t lived the Medina way since the cradle. Remembering all the intricacies involved in maintaining such a high level of security was difficult. If she would just admit what happened, they could move on.
His father rolled back from the computer desk, his large dogs tracking his every move from in front of the fireplace. “Apparently I do not know everything happening under my roof, because somebody placed a call putting Eloisa’s flight at risk. I trusted someone I shouldn’t have.”
“You trusted me and my judgment.” He scratched his tightening rib cage.
His father snorted with impatience. “Do not be an impulsive jackass. Think with your brain and not your heart.”
“Like you’ve always done?” Tony snapped, his patience for his father’s cryptic games growing short. “No thank you.”
Once he finished his one-month obligation, he wouldn’t set foot on this godforsaken island again. If memories of his life here before were unhappy, now they were gut-wrenching. His father should come to the mainland anyway for medical treatment. Even Enrique’s deep coffers couldn’t outfit the island with unlimited hospital options.
Enrique poured himself a drink and downed it swiftly. “I let my heart guide me when I left San Rinaldo. I was so terrified something would happen to my wife and sons that I did not think through our escape plan properly.”
Invincible Enrique was admitting a mistake? Tony let that settle inside him for a second before speaking.
“You set yourself up as a diversion. Sounds pretty selfless to me.” He’d never doubted his father’s bravery or cool head.
“I did not think it through.” He refilled his glass and stared into the amber liquid, signs of regret etched deep in his forehead. Illness had never made the king appear weak, but at this moment, the ghosts of an old past showed a vulnerability Tony had never seen before. “If I had, I would have taken into account the way Carlos would react if things went to hell. I arrogantly considered my plan foolproof. Again, I thought with my emotions and those assassins knew exactly how to target my weakness.”
Tony set aside his glass without touching a drop. Empathy for his father seared him more fully than alcohol. Understanding how it felt to have his feelings ripped up through his throat because of a woman gave him insights to his father he’d never expected. “You did your best at the time.”
Could he say the same when it came to Shannon?
“I tried to make that right with this island. I did everything in my power to create a safe haven for my sons.”
“But we all three left the protection of this place.”
“That doesn’t matter to me. My only goal was keeping you safe until adulthood. By the time you departed, you took with you the skills to protect yourself, to make your way in the world. That never would have been possible if you’d grown up with obligations to a kingdom. For that, I’m proud.”
Enrique’s simply spoken words enveloped him. Even though his father wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know, something different took root in him. An understanding. Just as his mother had made the silver security blanket as a “shield,” to make him feel protected, his father had been doing the same. His methods may not have been perfect, but their situation had been far from normal. They’d all been scrambling to patch together their lives.
Some of his understanding must have shown on his face, because his father smiled approvingly.
“Now, son, think about Shannon logically rather than acting like a love-sick boy.”
Love-sick boy? Now that stung more than a little. And the reason? Because it was true. He did love her, and that had clouded his thinking.
He loved her. And he’d let his gut drive his conclusions rather than logic. He forced his slugging heart to slow and collected what he knew about Shannon. “She’s a naturally cautious woman who wouldn’t do anything to place her son at risk. If she had a call to make, she would check with you or I to make sure the call was safe. She wouldn’t have relied on anyone else’s word when it comes to Kolby.”
“What conclusion does that lead you to?”
“We never saw the caller’s face. I made an assumption based on a female in a bathing suit cover-up. The caller must have been someone with detailed knowledge of our security systems in order to keep her face shielded. A woman of similar build. A person with something to gain and little loyalty to the Medinas…” His brain settled on…“Alys?”
“I would bet money on it.” The thunderous anger Enrique now revealed didn’t bode well for the assistant who’d used her family connections to take advantage of an ailing king with an aging staff. “She was
