“The queen never moved against them?”
“Russia is a terrifying country. Without any evidence, there was nothing we could do. The public was angry for the first year, but eventually, people moved on with their lives. Obviously, I never have. So I encourage Russian enemies to do the dirty work for me.”
I wasn’t expecting such an extravagant tale. It was mind-boggling and heartbreaking at the same time. “I’m sorry. I know I said that already, but I mean it…”
“I know.” He moved his hand to my chest and brushed his fingers against my soft skin. He watched my lips for a moment like he might kiss me, but then he thought better of it. He lowered his hand. “He’ll get what’s coming to him eventually.”
“So, Finley raised you?” Now it made sense why they were so close.
“For the most part. He’s been part of the family for a very long time.”
“Do you have any other family?”
Crewe shook his head. “I’m the last of the bloodline.”
“That means you need to have children.”
He nodded. “I do.”
That meant he would let me go eventually. Obviously, I couldn’t be his wife and give him children. He would have to marry a duchess or a princess or something, not some American woman.
We stared at each other in silence, the sadness hanging in the air between us. I lost my family far too early in life, but he lost his even earlier. My parents weren’t murdered, but we still had a lot in common. “I’m going to use the restroom. Do you know which way it is?” I wanted a moment to compose myself, to really think about what he just said.
His hand moved to my waist, and he nodded to the hallway. “Down and to the left.”
“Thank you.”
He placed a kiss on my temple before he released me, my body feeling warm at the unexpected touch. The second his hand released me, I felt the sting of the cold. He gave me a final look before he walked away, his shoulders broad and powerful. He commanded the room with just his silence, his kingly grace.
My eyes were transfixed before I finally turned away and followed his directions. I entered the hallway and turned to the left. A man stood there in a waiter’s uniform, but he didn’t contain a tray. His eyes honed in on me like he recognized me, but I didn’t have a clue who he was so there was no way I was familiar to him.
He stepped in my way, his hand behind his back. “London Ingram?”
How did he know my name? “Yes?”
“Please come with me.”
“Where?” I demanded. “Why?”
“Just follow me.” He walked down the hallway and turned right, away from the bathroom.
My body told me this wasn’t a good idea, that I could be walking into some kind of trap. But my gut told me to follow because he would lead me somewhere I was meant to be. We were under the queen’s protection, and Crewe was just a room away. If anyone could help me, it would be him.
So I followed.
I walked up the stairs and reached the second landing, which was absolutely silent. The sounds of the merriment from the party drifted to my ears, and my dress trailed across the hardwood floor underneath my heels.
He kept going. “This way.” He reached the fifth door on the left, checked the hallway to make sure no one was watching, and then opened it. “Go inside. We don’t have much time.”
“Who are you?”
“Just go.” He held the door open.
My arms were covered with bumps, and sweat formed on my temple. My heart was beating so fast it hurt. I tried to steady my breath and remain calm as I walked inside, unsure what I would find waiting for me.
A man in all black stood with his back to me, his hands in his pockets as he stared out the window.
I stared at him, recognizing the soft brown hair that was similar to mine. His posture was familiar, the way he shifted his weight to one foot. The build of his arms reminded me of someone I’d known all my life.
The waiter shut the door, leaving us alone together.
Joseph turned around and stared at me, his eyes taking me in like he hadn’t seen me in twenty years. He wasn’t an emotional man, usually teasing me rather than paying me a single compliment. But the moment he looked at me, the sadness took up his entire body. “London…” He closed the distance between us and hugged me, holding me so tight it didn’t seem like he wanted to let me go. “I’m so sorry…”
I held on to my brother, recognizing his cologne instantly. The last time I saw him on his feet, he had come to the city for Christmas. It was just the two of us in my cramped apartment while the snow fell outside. My radiator was broken, so we spent an entire day freezing until he managed to fix it. At the time, it was terrible. But now it was a cherished memory.
He pulled away, the same sadness in his eyes. “I don’t have a lot of time.”
“How did you get in here?”
“We don’t have time for that either,” he said quietly. “I need to get to the point, London. Crewe is a paranoid man.”
“Do you have a plan?”
He nodded. “But you aren’t going to like it.”
“Do you want me to destroy the detonator. I know he keeps it on him most of the time. I don’t know where he puts it when he sleeps…” But if I did enough digging, I could figure it out. He couldn’t keep it from me forever.
“That won’t work,” he said. “Even if you recover it, he’ll have a way of overriding it.”
“You think?”
“Definitely. Crewe always covers his tracks. He’s not a guy you fuck with.”
But yet, you did. “So you’re saying there’s nothing we can do? We aren’t even going to try?”
“There’s only one way out of this. And it’s not a plan either of us will like.”
He was going to ask me to kill Crewe. There was no other way. But the idea of ending his life, stabbing a knife through his heart, brought me nothing but pain. I had every right to do whatever was necessary to save both myself and my brother, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Despite what he’d done to both of us, I didn’t want to hurt Crewe.
“You have to get him to fall in love with you.”
I stared at him blankly, unsure if he really said those words. “Are you insane? That’s never going to happen. I thought you were going to ask me to kill him.”
“That would never work,” he said. “Crewe is too smart for that.”
“And he’s too hollow to feel anything real for anyone—especially me.” Crewe had a line of beautiful women at his beck and call. He could be with princesses and foreign diplomats. He could go to Milan and find a model. There was no way I would ever be enough to keep him around.
“I don’t believe that. He took you to one of the biggest social events of the year. He could have taken anyone, but he chose you.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.” I had to admit it was odd to bring some boring American girl. But I couldn’t read too much into it.