It also meant that my leftovercaponato Sicilianahad been tossed out of the fridge, and that, too, made me unreasonably irritated. I was hungry, at loose ends, and on the verge of being pissed at my husband. It was not a happy combination.
I was hunched in the armchair in our bedroom, idly flipping through a social media app on my phone, when I heard the front door open and close.
“Ky? You upstairs?”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized that I’d been holding before I answered. “Yes. In our room.”
There were a few thumps on the steps, and then Nicky rounded the corner and came into our bedroom. He stopped short, frowning when he saw me.
“What’s wrong?”
I lifted my eyes to his, although the rest of me stayed still. “What could be wrong?”
“I ... don’t know.” Nicky folded his arms and leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb. “Why don’t you tell me? I come home, and you’re sitting up here with a look on your face that says you’d like to see me drawn and quartered. Since the last time I saw you, you kissed me good-bye and said you’d see me this afternoon, I really can’t imagine what I could’ve done to make you angry.”
“Can’t you?” I countered, tossing my phone onto the bed. “Really, Nicky? Well, let’s start with the fact that you lied to me about what happened in Scotland.”
If I hadn’t been watching his face so closely, I might have missed the subtle withdrawing, the way his eyes shuttered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t lie to you about anything.”
“You didn’t tell me everything, Nicky, and that’s a lie of omission.” Anger bubbled up within me, and even though I knew it was mostly borne out of fear for my husband’s safety, that knowledge didn’t temper my words. “You didn’t say that you were in danger in Scotland. That your safety was—compromised.” My voice trembled.
“I told you about the protestors, if that’s what you mean.” A tic pulsed in Nicky’s cheek. “We talked about them last night.”
“You said there were people outside the conference hotel. Didn’t you think I might see how much more it was than just that?”
Nicky closed his eyes. “I’d hoped not, to be honest. I hoped that no one would say anything, and that since you tend to avoid the news, you’d miss it altogether.” Some of the stiffness melted away from his body, and he ventured closer to me, dropping to his haunches next to my chair. “Ky, darling, please. I wasn’t trying to lie to you. I didn’t want you to worry.” He spread out his arms. “I’m here, alive and well. Unharmed. I promise you, it looked more frightening than it actually was. Security was in complete control the entire time. I was never worried at all.”
“You could have told me all of this last night.” Despite my lingering mad, I reached out to cup his jaw. “A reporter asked me about it this morning, and I looked up the footage on the web. Nicky, it was terrifying.”
“It wasn’t as bad as it looked,” he repeated. “I’m here with you. I’m fine. These things happen from time to time. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Hmmm.” I linked my fingers behind his neck. “I don’t like being kept in the dark. But I suppose you could make it up to me this weekend while we’re in the country. As long as you promise that you won’t try to hide this sort of thing again.”
Just as I had the other night, I saw a shadow fleetingly cross Nicky’s face. “Ah, actually, this weekend is going to have be postponed. I’m sorry, but that’s where I was just now—over to the Palace offices. There was some kind of mix-up, and I’m going to have to cover one of my father’s engagements.”
“Oh.” Deflated, I released my hold on Nicky and sank back in my chair. “Well ... that’s all right. We can go another time. I don’t have anything on my agenda, so we can still enjoy being home together.”
“Unfortunately, I won’t be in town. I have to leave tomorrow morning, and I won’t be home until Sunday.”
“Where are you going?” I had still the uneasy sense that I wasn’t getting the whole story.
“Winchester. There’s a training regiment at the military post, and Dad’s an honorary colonel. I’m presenting awards to a unit there.” He was smooth, I’d give him that, but I prided myself on having a graduate degree in all things Nicholas Windsor. He wasn’t being totally open with me.
“Okay. So not that far away, right?” We’d opened a senior center in Winchester early this year, before our wedding. I knew where it was ... generally speaking. “I could go with you.”
“I don’t think so, Kyra. I’m sorry.” He stood up, his hands on his hips as he stared past me through the window behind my chair. “This isn’t the sort of engagement where I can just bring you. I’ll be staying on the post there, in guest barracks. It’s not a pleasure trip.”
“Well, I could stay nearby.” I was being unreasonably stubborn, but part of me hoped that pushing Nicky might annoy him into coming clean with me.
“Why would you want to do that?” Nicky turned around and circled our bed, pausing to take off his watch and drop it onto the dresser. “It would be a waste of your time and a colossal pain in the ass to organize. No, Ky. This time, you’ll have to stay home.”
The note of finality in his voice and his tone of decisiveness threw gasoline on the spark of irritation already smoldering inside me.
“Oh,I’msorry. I didn’t realize that our marriage was an autocracy, where you tell me what to do and I just agree, meekly. Like one of your subjects. I guess I missed that memo.” Standing up, I stalked around to the door. “Here I thought we were different. I thought my opinions mattered.”
“Honestly, Kyra.” Nicky rolled his eyes, and I had the strongest urge to scream. “You’re behaving like a child. You know there are rules in our life. You knew this from the start. Don’t act as if this is some unpleasant surprise to you.”
I fastened him with an icy stare. “I’m not behaving like a child. My husband istreatingme as if I’m a child, and I’m expressing my unhappiness about that. I’ve tried to do so in a more reasonable way, but apparently, my message isn’t getting through. So until I can think more clearly—and honestly, until I can calm down enough to think—I’m going out to walk in the gardens. I need some air.”
