arms flying out.
The single word clipped the air between us like scissors.
My chest heaved with dying hope. “What do you mean everything?”
“I mean everything,” he bellowed, moving and speaking in a frenzy, spilling everything out. “There’s nothing left. The land, house, even the furniture and animals! There is nothing left.”
Grief punched into my chest, filling my eyes. My home. My horses. The place I grew up, taught my sister to ride, played with the lambs in the spring with Landen.
Our legacy.
Gone.
“We are living on borrowed credit,” he hissed like it was insulting. “Last night, I used the last of the credit to dig us out. It was supposed to be a sure thing. The odds completely in our favor. But the horse was disqualified.”
I dipped my head, understanding clearing my hazy mind. “And let me guess, Lord William is the one who gave you the loan?” Please, please say I’m wrong.
“He was the only one who would help. Believe me, I despise that man, but there was nowhere else to turn. I had no choice.”
My lids shut, the truth hammering into my gut.
“I guarantee you will be on your knees in my office, begging me to help you. That you will do anything.” Lord William’s claim repeated in my head, his smug face, knowing one day I would learn the truth. “How much I’m going to enjoy when that stubbornness is groveling at my feet. I have the means and the money to protect you, Spencer, or destroy you.”
Bloody. Fucking. Hell.
Lord William was laying his terms down on the table without me even realizing the transaction. He made sure when I found out I knew exactly what I could do to save my family. How I could stop this. And if I didn’t go to him, he’d expose us.
“Oh god,” I muttered into my hand, feeling the weight of the position I was inadvertently put in.
“I’ll fix it. No one needs to know.”
“Will you?” Incense flung my arms out. “All you’ve done is drown us more in debt. Not once thinking about your family, but yourself! Too ‘respectable’ to get a real job.” I curled my fingers, my nails digging into my palms. “How many offers have we gotten to turn Chatstone Manor into a tourist site? Dozens, maybe hundreds. But no… instead you wanted your name in glory again. To be revered as a figure in this country! So what did you do? You gambled away not just Landen’s inheritance, but mine and Olivia’s. Our money, our home. This is all on you!”
“Oh, poor baby. You will be living in a castle someday, wanting for nothing!” He flung his hand toward the palace. “And it wasn’t all on me. As if your father would have done anything!” Fredrick moved to me, his face streaked with fury. “He may not have been the one making the bets, but his impassiveness, doing nothing to keep us from sliding further into the red, was just as bad. And your mother and my wife just continue to spend money we don’t have to keep up appearances. At least I tried to save this family!” He plunged his finger into his chest.
The prickles of ire and shame told me he was semi right. My father was sweet and kind, but not good at dealing with problems. Neither was my mother, which made everything important fall to Fredrick. Not that he didn’t fully take on his position and like everyone looking to him, but my parents didn’t help by letting him because they didn’t want to deal with it.
“I will find a way,” he huffed, tugging at his cuffs. “All I ask is you do not tell anyone about this.”
My mouth parted.
“No. One,” he ordered. “Your father, the prince, your mother, or Landen. They don’t need to know.”
“This involves them too.”
“Spencer, promise me.” He tilted his head with authority. “Give me a chance before you drag the whole family in. You know it will only cause more stress and drama. How do you think your mother or aunt will respond to knowing we are completely broke?”
Not well. They were not built to handle crises or being penniless.
“I will figure it out. I will visit Lord William and speak to him.”
“You think he will help?”
“He might give us a little more loan to pay off the debt collectors.”
Wow… we were in deep. “A loan for a loan we already can’t pay back to him.” I have the means and the money to protect you, Spencer, or