Eve groaned. “But you don’t have to lay it down right now; you can always keep it for another hand.”
I raised a brow at my best friend. “Are you steering her in the wrong direction to win?”
She tsked, shifting in her chair. “Of course not.”
“Go ahead. Lay it down, Maddy, and take the hand. You won it,” I told her.
Madelyn smiled, picking up the stack of cards.
“So, when does the infamous Cranfield come back?” Eve inquired. I gave her a hard stare, then glanced over at my ladies, who were looking at me with curiosity.
“I have no idea,” I replied coolly.
“It didn’t say in the letter you received from him today?” Madelyn asked, obviously not catching on to my dodging of the conversation.
“No.”
“Interesting,” Eve commented, fiddling with her cards.
“Well he’d better start getting used to keeping you informed,” Lucy stated. “It’s rude and selfish to keep you wondering.”
I went to open my mouth, but Miranda spoke first. “Especially when he gives you open affection in public.”
I cringed at her words, knowing exactly what she was referring to. The day Garrett left for Wellerent, he leaned over his horse, cupped my chin, and placed the most heartfelt kiss on my lips that I’ve ever felt. In that kiss, I could perceive that he’d miss me, that he didn’t want to go, leaving me dizzy and weak at the knees.
I furrowed my brows. “How did you know that?”
Madelyn averted her gaze to her cards. “Well...I was outside the stables, and—”
Eve raised a brow. “Did he now? Please go on, Maddy.”
“No, please do not go on, Maddy,” I retorted, feeling the heat grow on my cheeks.
Eve ignored me. “Don’t leave out any details.”
Madelyn looked at me, not knowing what to do. I let out a heavy sigh and threw down a card.
“He gave her the most passionate kiss,” Lucy chatted, taking it upon herself to continue. “Maddy said it was quite romantic.”
Eve chuckled while I lowered myself in my chair, wanting to disappear from embarrassment. “I think it’s sweet. He wants to let you know he is committed. Now we’ll be counting down the days until he asks you to marry him.”
Eve smiled as I peered over my card at her, guilt settling in that I hadn’t told my best friend yet. And I hadn’t, for selfish reasons. One, I didn’t want to hear her high-pitched squealing, and two, I wanted to keep Garrett’s proposal a secret. It was something that was just ours; something no one could take from us.
“Ava,” uttered a voice from behind me. Looking over my shoulder, George stood in my doorway, his skin pale and his eyes blank. The silhouette of his body was frozen in place, his shoulders hunched over; in misery or agony, I couldn’t tell. It was almost cryptic, the way his chest heaved in and out, a blank stare covering his face.
The thudding in my chest restricted my breathing; something was horribly wrong.
The silence of the room was deafening as I pushed back my chair, the feet scraping against the hardwood floor. Forcing myself to move, I tried to swallow back my panic and the goose bumps that prickled over my arms and back.
“George, what’s wrong?”
He stared at the floor, no movement or acknowledgement that I was in the same room. It was as though he wasn’t there mentally. With my hand behind my back, I shooed the girls from the table, pulling George deeper in the room, so they could leave. Eve shot me a worried look before turning the corner, making me feel more anxious.
“George,” I repeated softly. His gaze came up slowly until it locked onto mine. His eyes were icy blue and filled with despair as he furrowed his brows at me. Movement behind him brought my attention to three armed guards, stoically staring at me.
Letting out a shaky breath, I turned to George. “Why are there guards with you?”
Silence.
Bringing my attention back to the men, I walked to the door and said, “If you need to speak with him, just come in.” The door clicked as I closed it, my attention immediately landing back on George.
George’s chest rose and fell in sporadic movement, which sent my own breathing out of control.
“Did something happen to...Garr?” The words scratched at my throat as I clenched my hands at my sides.
More silence.
My pulse raced as I tugged urgently at George’s sleeve. “What happened?”
George’s face didn’t change; it remained blank and distant. Pulling on his hand, I led him to the fireplace.
“George, please talk to me,” I pleaded. “Is he hurt? Did something happen?”
Placing my hands on his arms, I shook him, hard. “George! What happened? Where is he?”
My body began to tremble as tears pricked the back of my eyes. Fear had a unique way of taking control of your whole body. The unknown was something that always frightened me. Fate was an enemy against my happiness. And what scared me was that it took the one thing that promised me a life of bliss. I’d never recover from losing Garrett.
The man who saved me.
Who promised me a future.
Who took a piece of my soul.
Who told me he’d come back.
My anxiety started to turn to anger the more time that George stood silent in front of me.
“If you don’t tell me, George,” I raved, pressing my fingers into his skin. “I swear I’ll go insane. Where is he?”
George let out a breath, his hand finding mine and squeezing hard.
“My father, Ava,” he replied slowly. “He’s been murdered.”
Garrett
Chapter 34
I don’t remember riding home.
I don’t remember stopping to grab a fresh horse.
The enemy was in the castle where my family and Ava stayed and slept. Lurking around in broad daylight or within the shadows, the simple fact was, I had no idea. Nor was I any closer on finding out.
I was set up. It was written in black in my head. The moment I left the castle, my father was a dead man, his days numbered. I should have kept more of my men there, should have seen the signs that things were too quiet around the royals. The assassins, or whomever was leading them, were calculated.
I should have taken the last warning more seriously.
Edward steps down. Or more people die.
Thing was, I didn’t think of my father.
I thought of the people. The villages. My mind was boggled down with another problem, that more innocent people would die. But maybe that’s what they wanted me to believe all along. Removing my focus from the royals and placing it elsewhere.
Away from Father.
Away from George.
Away from Hara and Mama.
Away from Ava.
A sharp pain pierced my stomach; that, I do remember.
My head was dazed with the possibilities of what I would come home to face. The panic, the fear, the plan I had to set in place to protect my loved ones.
Especially her.
I needed to see Ava. To see for myself that she was safe, and that no one touched her again. That no one touched my family.
I failed my father.
But I wouldn’t fail again.
My lack of intel, and not torturing Pierce’s men as much as I should have, ate at me. I should’ve killed every single one of them, slowly and painfully, until one of the fuckers spoke. Yet, I babied the shit out of them, like a decent human being. I should’ve done what Pierce’s men planned on doing to us on that grassy field when we brought Ava back to the castle. Slaughtered them like cattle.
One by fucking one.
When John and I arrived at the castle, two of my Elite met us at the stables. Motioning for John to obtain whatever intel we had, I made my way inside the palace. Two days of traveling, worrying, and ripping my mind apart on who was behind all this made me stir-crazy. I needed my cure; the one person who could make me forget.
Striding through the castle, I stopped a guard, demanding him tell me where Ava was. He pointed to the west wing, and I proceeded in that direction. Lords and ladies stared at me with mixtures of pity and sympathy on their faces, but I ignored every one of them. Someone bellowed my name behind me, but I kept moving forward. I wasn’t about to have an hour-long conversation with some stupid ass who wanted to know what was going to happen next.