“Get her in here,” Theo says, glancing at the door. “We need to figure this out.”
“She’s gone.” My voice is completely flat. I stare at a spot on the wall, seeing nothing.
“What do you mean she’s gone? She’s with Beckett?”
“No.” I snap out of my stupor, glancing at Theo. “She left with the twins this morning to go back to Farcliff. We broke up. I guess… I guess she didn’t feel like she could stay here.”
Luca sucks a breath in, slumping down into a chair. “That complicates things.”
I snort bitterly.
The three of us are silent for a moment, until Theo raps his knuckles on his desk. “We need to get Margot back here. She’s carrying Argyle royalty, and she shouldn’t be on her own in Farcliff. We need to protect her.”
I frown, staring at the King. Shame curls in the pit of my stomach as I realize that he’s right…
…but I still can’t bring myself to agree with him.
I know that no matter what Beckett has done, Margot’s baby should be part of our family. That’s especially true now that Luca and Ivy are married. We can’t leave her out in the cold to fend for herself.
We accepted Beckett as our brother, even though he never believed it. Margot’s child is part of this family, too.
Yet, I can’t bring myself to say it out loud. Whenever I open my mouth, the only thing that wants to come out is bitterness and anger.
Why couldn’t she have just told me the truth? Why did she have to hide this from me?
It makes me wonder what else she’s hiding, and why she hid it in the first place. Beckett’s words echo in my mind.
Margot always seemed like a crafty woman. I guess since she couldn’t be with me or Luca, she chose the next best thing.
His voice plays in my head like a broken record, pushing out any virtuous thoughts that might have taken hold. I can’t trust her. I can’t believe her. She was just using me.
It feels like I’m a child all over again, confused as to why my mother has left. Mad at her for abandoning us. Mad at her for cheating on my father and lying.
“…So, will you? Dante?” Theo is staring at me, eyebrows arched. Luca’s staring at me, too, and I try to straighten up in my chair.
I clear my throat. “Sorry, what was that?”
“Will you go to Farcliff to get Margot back here? She can’t be on her own over there. We need to keep her safe.”
I shake my head, and my brothers frown at me. “I can’t.” It comes out as a hoarse whisper, and shame makes my cheeks burn.
“What?” Luca grunts, leaning toward me.
“I can’t,” I repeat.
“Why not?”
“I can’t. I’m sorry.” I push myself out of my chair and stumble out of the room.
Making my way back to my own chambers, I grimace when I see Margot’s things still strewn around the bedroom. She was in such a hurry to get away from me that she didn’t even take her belongings.
Throwing open her suitcase, I start flinging her stuff into it. I scoop all her toiletries into a plastic bag and chuck them into the suitcase. I don’t bother folding her clothes. I just crumple them up and toss them in.
How can my brothers not understand how I feel? How could they ask me to go fetch her back to Argyle?
How can they trust her?
Margot lied to us. All of us. She was closer to Beckett than we thought, and she kept it hidden from everyone. She hated the fact that Ivy started a business, and her agent tried to poison her sister.
How can we be sure that she had nothing to do with that? She’s at the center of everything bad that’s happened to us!
I repeat the words to myself, mumbling angrily as I pack her things away. When I zip the suitcase up and lift it onto its wheels, I’m sweaty and panting. I take a step back, staring at the black bag as if it’ll start talking to me.
Huffing, I call a valet into my room and tell him to send the suitcase back to Farcliff. Storming out of my bedroom, I make my way outside. I need some air. I need a drink. I need something.
I wander through the palace grounds, but everything reminds me of Margot.
Her laugh. Her smell. Her touch.
I’ve lost everything that I never even knew I wanted.