CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Jonas,” she kissed him on the cheek, which, for the first time in years, was clean-shaven. His blue eyes shone bright and his hair was neatly cut and he looked alert and alive and.… “I can’t believe this. You look amazing.”
“Feel pretty good, too. Clean and sober.”
“I’m thrilled.” The misgivings about having him here, which had been breeding in her heart for days, began to subside. She’d started out on this crazy journey hoping that The Fountains would deliver her brother from his druggy prison and give him back to her, and against all the odds it really seemed to be happening. “Wait, don’t move, let me hug you again!”
Jonas and Darias had met before, of course, under less than ideal circumstances, so she felt so proud to reintroduce her newly awakened sibling to him. Darias welcomed him warmly and invited him to stay as long as he wanted.
As the guests arrived for their party—a sort of outdoor picnic with a live guitarist and singer, Emma found herself relaxing. Nearly all of Darias’s siblings had flown in, keen to see what they’d done to the gloomy old castle, and Jonas handled the introductions with ease and charmed even the prickly Liesel with a compliment about the antique brooch she wore.
They sat on the castle terraces and lawns, listening to music and eating delicious gourmet picnic food. “Isn’t this great?” asked Darias to no one in particular. “Our family lost two members this year and now we’ve gained two.”
Emma stared. Did he really mean it? That they were actually family? Not just for a year but in a truly permanent way?
She didn’t dare to let her mind wander too far down that track. She toasted his announcement, wondering how his family would feel if they knew the coldhearted business arrangement that had brought her there.
Her heart wasn’t cold anymore, though. It filled with love as she watched Darias interact with his siblings, whom he clearly adored. He played an athletic game of badminton with the two youngest, Leo, short for Leopold, and Lina—who was named after their mother, Carolina. They were both on summer break from their respective colleges and had flown in following a short trip to the South of France.
Lina was bubbly and sweet and laughed uproariously at Jonas’s account of trying to help an elderly lady get her bag off the airport baggage claim conveyer and being attacked by her as a thief.
After lunch they sat around chatting. Emma relished the opportunity to relax and get to know Darias’s siblings better without the pressure and formality around the wedding and the coronation. They no longer seemed like a sea of strange faces but each a warm and intriguing individual in their own right. Even Beatriz seemed relaxed, though Emma stiffened every time Beatriz glanced in her direction. Emma strongly suspected her of leaving the note with the smiley face. Still, she hadn’t told anyone about it…yet.
Darias’s tall and frighteningly handsome brother, Rigo, an outspoken lawyer, held them spellbound with his account of his latest case that combined both large-scale water pollution and organized crime, and the sun was almost setting before she realized how late it had grown.
Where’s Jonas? She hadn’t seen him for a while. He’d settled so easily into the group—she’d almost forgotten what a charmer he could be when he wasn’t jonesing for a fix—that she’d stopped worrying about him hours ago.
Now she couldn’t see him anywhere.
“Excuse me for a moment.” She ducked out of a conversation with Darias’s mom and his sister Cosima. “I’ll be right back.”
She scanned the neatly landscaped castle garden—there wasn’t all that much of it—as she headed for the big door to the castle’s cool, dark interior. She saw most of the other party attendees but not Jonas. Already her stomach clenched. Had he snuck out to buy drugs?
She picked up the pace once out of sight inside the castle keep. He wasn’t in the great hall or the smaller sitting rooms and studies off it. She pulled her phone from her pocket and texted him.
Where are you?
No answer. Doubting herself, she climbed the stairs. The castle didn’t have that many bedrooms. In ancient times the servants must have lived in town. There were four big ones on the same floor as hers and Darias’s, and two further smaller ones up behind the battlements.
The first four stood empty, but she thought she heard an unfamiliar noise. She climbed the stairs. “Hello?”
Silence. She paused a moment. Why would anyone be upstairs? Still, she kept going. The first door opened on an empty room with a bare, unmade mattress. The second…the door was locked.
She hadn’t locked it, and the maid only cleaned up here once a week. She’d been in there since to place a new vase she’d bought for the deep windowsill.
She knocked. “Hello?”
A rustling sound made her ears prick up.
“Who’s there?”
Silence.
“I know there’s someone in there. Jonas, is it you?” She remembered that she had a skeleton key to all the new locks in the castle, and she ran back to her room to get it, then rushed back upstairs. As soon as she put it in the lock and turned it, she heard her brother’s voice.
“Can’t I get a little privacy?” She pushed the door open to see him pulling his pants on, but her eyes immediately flew to the other person in the room—Darias’s youngest sister Lina—who was struggling to do up her bra, face crimson with embarrassment.
“What is going on?”
“Really?” Her brother lifted a sardonic brow. “Don’t be dense.”
“She’s a child, Jonas.”
“No, I’m not,” she protested with a pout. “I’m in college. You don’t think I was a virgin, do you?”
Emma blinked, speechless. “Uh, I suppose not. But this is not…Jonas! I can’t believe this.”
“Really? Then you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
“Do you realize”—now she was looking at Lina—“that Jonas just got out of drug rehab? That he’s still in a very fragile state?”
Lina blinked. “I didn’t know that.”
“No, I don’t suppose he told you, either.”
Jonas shrugged, tucking his band tee into his jeans and buckling the leather belt. “She’d probably have jumped into bed quicker if I had. Girls love fixing a bad boy.” He winked at Lina, who had the decency to look a little embarrassed.
Emma sighed. Now what? Did she have to tell Darias about this? She didn’t want to keep secrets from him, and this was exactly the kind of Jonas behavior she’d been afraid of when she—
“What’s going on up here?” Darias’s voice behind her made her spin around. His sister Lina was now halfway into her tight-fitting, lacy top.
“See if you can guess,” said Jonas with a sneer.
“Jonas!” Rage flared in Emma’s gut.
“Lina, what do you have to say for yourself?” Darias’s shocked voice made his sister burst into tears, and she ran from the room, pushing past him on the way out. Darias strode up to Jonas, grabbed the front of his T-shirt and tugged him so hard she though he would lift off the floor.
Then he seemed to catch himself and instead turned and dashed out after his sister, calling her name.
Emma didn’t know what to say. “Darias did a lot for you.”
“And I’m clean, aren’t I? I have to turn into a choirboy as well?”
She shook her head, feeling lost and adrift. “Don’t say anything about this downstairs. Not unless someone else does. The less said the better.”
“Sweep it under the rug, huh? Just like Mom.”
“Don’t say anything about Mom. She loved you and supported you to the end.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “Some people just don’t learn. Like you, for example.”
“I told Darias not to invite you here.” She said it as coldly as she could, even while her heart was breaking. “I knew something like this would happen. You’re very predictable. I think you should leave as soon as possible.”
He cocked his head. “You know what will happen.”
“You’ll start using again? After all this? I did this for you, Jonas. I do love you even though I think you’re a total idiot most of the time.”
“You did this for me?” His eyebrow lifted. He looked around the castle bedroom, then out the window, where there was a lovely view down over the town’s slate roofs. “I was wondering about that. The timing intrigued me.”
“What do you mean?” Fear spiked inside her.
“Won’t they be wondering where you are?” He looked toward the door.
She glanced behind her, half wondering if the whole family might appear on the stairs, ready for revenge. “I suppose I’d better go down.” Recrimination gnawed at her gut. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to come down, too, of course.” He raked his hands through his hair, making it look artfully ruffled. “It would be rude not to. Besides, if you can marry Darias, why can’t I date his sister? Have you thought about that?”
“It’s different.” She didn’t want to say more. She was half beginning to wonder if he’d figured out their arrangement.
“I don’t think so. It’s not as if you’re titled or wealthy or even successful and brilliant. You’re just pretty. I’m handsome.” He winked.
“You’re an idiot.”
“True. Shall we go downstairs?”
She let out a long, deep breath. Did she have any choice?
Emma dreaded coming upon some big scene as they exited the dim castle interior for the outside. Even the soft sunset seemed bright, and lanterns illuminated the space. The staff had rustled up an impromptu outdoor dinner, since no one seemed to want to leave.
Emma wished they hadn’t. She’d breathe a lot easier if they all went home.
“Emma, darling, we thought we’d lost you,” Darias’s mom patted the empty chair she’d left earlier.
“Oh, I….” she had no idea what to say, so she didn’t say anything. She looked around for Lina but didn’t see her. Maybe she’d had the good sense to leave.
As soon as she sat down, Darias’s mom leaned in. “Do you know what upset Lina? She was almost in tears. She rushed off”
Emma gulped. “Uh, I’m not sure. Would you like another drink?”
Liesel pulled up a chair, carrying a plate with two tiny pork ribs and a single candied carrot. “I suspect Lina was up to no good with that brother of yours.” Her stage whisper could probably have been heard by anyone in the garden.
Emma opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“What were you thinking, to invite…” She turned and scowled at him, then turned back. “A drug user into our midst.” She hissed the words drug user so dramatically it was a miracle a shower of spit didn’t fly out.
“He’s not using drugs,” said Emma uselessly. “He was at a rehab facility and the treatment has worked really well and he.…”
Her words trailed off as she noticed Darias’s mom looking at Jonas in horror.
“I saw them sneaking off together when they thought no one was looking.” Liesel looked smug. “What do you have to say for yourself, young man?” She dragged out the last two words as if they were actually curse words.
Jonas, far from looking sheepish or trying to run for the hills like Lina, helped himself to a piece of fresh bread and smeared some olive jam on it. After taking his time doing this, he finally looked up at Liesel. “She was asking for it. She’s a college student. Did you think she was a virgin?”
Darias’s mom, shocked, rose to her feet. “Your sister is the queen!” Her voice was barely above a shocked whisper. Beatriz watched with what looked like stunned amusement.
“Oh, my sister’s always been the good one. I’m the black sheep of the family. I guess she didn’t tell you that.”
“Jonas!” Emma wished he’d hold his stupid tongue. Now he was just adding insult to injury.
“Oh!” He turned to her and made a mock bow to her, still holding his bread. “I’m so sorry, your majesty.” He stopped and took a bite of bread, then spoke with his mouth full. “I wonder if your new royal relatives realize that Darias paid you to marry him.”
Emma’s blood froze.
How could he know?
“He paid her?” Liesel rose to her feet, grabbing her sister’s arm as if to steady her.
Darias, who’d been standing off to the side presumably waiting for the fuss to die down, now strode in. “Where did you get that idea?”
“My sister,” said Jonas insolently.
“I never said anything,” burst Emma. After the words were out she realized they almost amounted to a confession. She glanced at Beatriz. Who winked at her.
“He paid you?” Liesel turned her beady blue eyes on Emma. “To marry him?”
Emma looked hopelessly at Darias. She didn’t want to lie. How would that help matters?
Darias straightened his already broad shoulders. “Emma and I do have an…arrangement.”
“What?” Darias’s mom collapsed back in her chair. “But I thought—” She looked at Emma, then Darias. A look of deep distress crossed her face.
“I knew that if I didn’t find someone within the required thirty days, you would find someone for me.” Darias’s voice was uncharacteristically deep, even for him.
“Oh, those stupid traditions.” Darias’s mom waved a hand in the air. “I always thought there could be some small changes made to the constitution, but your father and grandmother always said that…” Her voice trailed off and she looked at Darias. “But you are…” She hesitated, sneaking a glance at Emma—who wished the ground would open up and swallow her. “You are in love, aren’t you?”
Emma’s heart started to pound. Yes! She wanted to cry. I do love him. I love him so much it hurts.
“No,” said Darias softly. “I’d never met her until the day before I flew back here. It was a business arrangement, pure and simple. Sandro spotted her sitting at the desk in my New York gallery. The deal was made within hours.”
He didn’t look at her. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. She’d signed a contract to keep their deal secret—from his family and the world—and now it was broken, their deception laid bare.
“And you chose, as your wife”—Liesel spat the word—“a nobody gallery assistant with a drug-addicted brother who has now cruelly seduced your youngest sister. Obviously you should have left matters up to your mother and myself.”
Darias still hadn’t looked at her. Every cell in Emma’s body was telling her to run from the room. Not for the first time in her life, she wanted to kill Jonas—and now she rather wanted to wound Darias, too. Did he really think she’d told Jonas about their deal?
Her brother was being uncharacteristically silent. Wait—where was he? She scanned the smallish garden and didn’t see him. Emma had been so caught up in the explosive release of her biggest secret, that she hadn’t noticed him leave.
“Where’s Jonas?” she blurted.
They all looked around. “Probably went after little Lina,” muttered Liesel with a scowl.
He’s probably gone looking for drugs. Emma felt a surge of fresh desperation rise in her chest. All this would truly be for nothing. “I’ll go look for him.”
“No, you stay here.” Darias’s voice was firm. “I’ll go find him.”
“Nonsense!” said Liesel, “Let the guards look for him. You don’t need to—”
But Darias had already left the garden, striding back into the house.
“Oh, my goodness.” Darias’s mom looked pale and disoriented. “Just when I thought things were…”
“Shhh. Don’t worry.” Liesel sat down next to her and patted her arm. “We’ll get everything sorted out eventually.” Then Liesel pinned a steely gaze on Emma. “But first we need to get you out of here before the story breaks.”
“What do you mean, out of here?” Maybe she should go hide in her room.
“Out of the castle. Out of Altaleone. Back to New York or New Jersey or wherever else you came from. You can go crawl back under your rock and leave us to pick up the pieces.”
“But Darias said he needed to stay married for a year.” They knew it all now, anyway.
Liesel gasped and looked around. “Did you hear how brazen she is? She admits it freely. What kind of girl can be bought for a year?”
A pretty stupid one, apparently. “I did it to help my brother.” Her voice was barely audible.
“Who is now bringing shame to the house of Leone.” Liesel shook her head. “You should never have invited him here.”
I didn’t. She wanted to say. It was Darias’s idea. But blaming someone else would hardly make her look good.
“What’s the problem anyway?” Chimed in Beatriz. “It’s hardly different from a conventional arranged marriage. Just that there’s a deadline at the end.”
“An arranged marriage is invariably with a highly suitable girl of good family. I’m calling my travel agent.” Liesel pulled a phone out of her pocket. “To get tickets for you and your brother on the first flight heading to New York.”
Emma wanted to point out that a) it was nighttime b) she’d have to fly somewhere else first as there were no direct flights from Altaleone to New York c) travel agents were a thing of the past. But apparently Liesel got someone on the phone and barked at her in German for about two minutes, then hung up with a satisfied smile. “There’s a shuttle to Vienna leaving tomorrow at ten, which connects to a flight to New York. Pack your bags, and I’ll drive you to the airport myself.”
“Hold on a moment.” Darias’s brother Sandro, who’d been watching the disaster unfold in the same stunned silence as everyone else, stood up. “Darias hasn’t said that he wants her to leave. He made this arrangement. Let him handle it.”
“Darias is the king,” said Liesel. “His foremost responsibility is to the crown and the state of Altaleone.”
“Which is exactly why he found and married Emma,” protested Sandro. “It seems obvious to me that he did it to make old fusty traditionalists like you happy. We all like Emma very much.” He turned to Emma. “Don’t go. At least not without discussing any plans with Darias. He deserves that much.”
She nodded. She’d had no intention of going anywhere. “Of course.”
“Perhaps we should all leave Emma in peace,” continued Sandro. “She’s probably not really in the mood for entertaining.”
She swallowed. Truer words had never been said.
“Your tickets will be at the Lufthansa counter.” Liesel scrolled through a message on her phone, then rose with an arch look. “All the arrangements are made.”
Emma nodded an insincere thanks. Should she use it?
No.
Darias’s answer to the question about whether he loved her rang in her head like a tolled bell. Maybe it would be best for everyone if she did leave. Now they all had to keep the secret that their marriage was a pretense, a charade to keep up for one short year.
She pulled out her phone as they all left, punched up Darias’s number and texted: Did you find Jonas?
Should I stay? That’s what she really wanted to ask.
Yes. He was at The Ram, about to have a drink.
Exactly what she’d imagined. Jonas would throw everything she’d compromised herself for down the drain. And why shouldn’t he? He hadn’t asked her to sacrifice her integrity for him.
But don’t worry, Darias wrote, I stopped him.
She sighed. Darias was effortlessly capable. Everything he tried led to success, from what she could see. If he could manage not to get killed by the mysterious assassins who’d murdered his forebears, he’d live long and prosper and forget all about her and their strange deal.
I’ll come meet you, she replied.
She knew where The Ram was, right in the middle of the village, on the town square. She walked past the staff—now cleaning up the remains of their picnic using outdoor floodlights—and out into the street. It was odd, rather awesome really, that royals could just walk around the town like regular people.
Not that she was really royal, of course. Casteleone was one of the safest places on earth, partly because it was really tiny and everyone knew everyone else. Wrought iron lampposts held electric lanterns that cast picturesque shadows across the cobbled streets.
She turned away from the castle onto the tree-lined avenue leading to the main square, resolving not to put Darias on the spot about whether she should leave. This whole charade was his idea, and she’d wait to see what he suggested.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too mad. Either way she’d try to be brave and—
A scented cloth closed over her mouth and a hard arm grabbed her around the waist, tugging her off her feet. She tried to scream, but the sound got lost in her throat as sudden blackness enveloped her.