Stealing Kisses With a King (Kings of Carolina #3)- Sylvie Stewart Page 0,78

you be a dear and bring me any materials you can find on treason and beheading?” It had all descended from there, and I was certain Trevor would be spending the rest of the day listening to all of Mother’s opinions on the subject. I almost felt sorry for him.

At least I’d been spared more than a frown of disapproval at any role I might have played in antagonizing Andrew, so I felt a sense of relief to have it over and done with. Now I just had to pull off an interview, get a few more flawless public addresses under my belt, and stand up and speak to the nation at my coronation. No sweat.

“Have you met with the therapist yet?” Leo rested an arm on the support of a nearby weight bench.

I pressed the down button on the treadmill’s speed control since Leo was clearly geared up for a conversation and I’d be unable to participate if I died of a heart attack.

“We met for an hour this morning and we’re scheduled for two more before the interview this evening.” Swiping a white towel over my face, I heaved in another deep breath. Dr. Levinson, the behavioral modification specialist, had been pleasant if not a bit unimpressed, and I was sure he’d be fine.

Leo nodded. “Do you think it will help?”

I shook my head, not so much answering in the negative as acknowledging the uncertainty of everything at present. “Who knows? I’d been doing quite well with Alice’s help, but she’s not speaking to me right now. The interview should go all right, though. I haven’t had trouble speaking one-on-one to anyone—it’s only when it’s a crowd I freeze up. It’s the damnedest thing.” It felt almost like a relief to discuss it so openly now.

“You’ll figure it out. You’ve been under a massive amount of stress these past weeks, I regret not pushing you more on the issue.”

I showed off my multitasking skills by jogging and flipping him the bird at the same time. “Since when have you been able to talk me around to anything I didn’t want to do?”

“Excellent point.” He returned the gesture. “Still, I share some blame in not treating it with the urgency it clearly required.”

“Alice told me you and she had discussed it. I owe you one for covering for me at the public health conference.”

Leo just nodded his acknowledgment. “Ah, so the proverbial cat is out of the bag. I hope you weren’t cross with Alice over it.”

Going into detail would only provoke him. “I was, but I’ve moved past it.”

“So, dare I ask why she’s not speaking to you? Did you call her by the wrong name or make any idiotic comments on her appearance?”

Pathetic. “Nothing like that. She did something which threw me.” I tossed the towel over the handrail as I kept my speed steady, pounding out the day’s stress—or at least attempting to.

“It couldn’t be anything compared to what Andrew just did.” Leo scratched absently at a label on the support with a fingernail. “You know, I should have known it was him from the first moment it appeared in the press, but I suppose I couldn’t allow myself to fathom it.” He shrugged and looked back at me. “Andrew’s always been loyal, despite his obvious frustrations with you. It’s all part of the job, after all.”

I slowed my steps, forgetting to adjust the machine and nearly fell arse over tits before catching myself and shutting the machine down. “What do you mean you should have known it was Andrew? None of us would ever have guessed.” The treadmill belt came to a stop and I hopped off, grabbing the towel again and wiping the sweat from my face and head.

Leo’s expression grew contemplative. “It was the public health conference. I didn’t want you to know I was there or you would have accused me of being your nanny, so I stayed just inside one of the doors where I could easily slip in and out.” He gestured as he recounted. “Andrew was posted several feet in front of me and, I didn’t give it much thought at the time, but he appeared to be recording you on his phone.” Leo shook his head and shrugged. “He must have examined the recording enough to suspect something and then kept his eye out for further evidence.”

I thought back to the subsequent appearances where I’d hardly faltered at all under Alice’s tutelage. Andrew was at each of those,