Page 57 of Break Me: Smith and Belle

That statement was directed at me. Everything hurt too much. I couldn’t process this, so I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s a game,” she told me. “She always loved to play games.”

“Who?” I asked, but before she could answer, Mrs. Winters appeared with a cake. She’d taken the time to ice the chocolate cake with delicate flowers and there was a single, oversized candle burning brightly at its center.

“Shall we sing?” she asked, sounding more cheery than usual. She placed the cake on the table in the corner of the room, and continued, “Of course, we’ll want to serve it in the dining room, but I thought…“ She trailed off when she finally lifted her head to find us staring morosely at each other. “Is this a party or a funeral?”

I choked back a sob, and Edward sank into the chair next to me. He kept one arm around Penny, holding her carefully, and wrapped the other around my shoulder to pull me close.

“You brought a cake?” Alexander said out of nowhere. “But if you’re…“

“Will someone explain what’s going on?” Mrs. Winters said, looking put out. “I spent all day in the kitchen on that. You should sing a song and blow out your candle.” When none of us moved, she turned and huffed back to the kitchen.

“Who is it?” I turned pleading eyes on Georgia. She opened her mouth to answer when I realized it didn’t matter. Time was running out. There was only one thing to do now. I forced myself onto my feet. “Tell me where he is.”

The time for requests was over. It didn’t matter who my husband was facing, so much as that he was doing it without me. I had no idea what had driven Smith to such extreme measures, but I wasn’t going to wait here while he did it.

“The pond,” Georgia said in a strained voice as if she’d barely convinced herself to come clean.

“Stay with Penny,” I told Edward before starting toward the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” he called.

“To find my husband.” I barely made it two steps before Georgia’s hand tightened over my arm and yanked me back.

“Let me go.”

“I promised him,” she hissed.

“I promised him!” I exploded. “And he promised me, and he is not going to face whatever this is alone.”

“Of course he isn’t,” Alexander interjected. He turned and held out a hand to Brex. His guard studied him for a split second and, finally, sighed. Brex reached under his jacket and drew out a black handgun. He deposited it in the king’s palm before drawing another from the other side.

I started toward the door again, and Georgia pulled me back one more time as a chorus of no’s erupted from everyone.

“You can’t ask me to stay here while he’s in trouble!”

“No,” Georgia agreed, “but I can ask you to stay here for your daughter.”

Her words ripped through me, and I looked over to where Edward still held Penny, his own face masked in shock. She was right. I knew why Smith had left tonight. He’d done it to protect us—to protect his family. Whatever—whoever—was waiting for him had planned this.

“They want me to come, too.” The realization slipped from my lips. If someone had wanted to hurt Smith or I they would have had plenty of chances to do so—individually. This was about something bigger than that. Someone wanted to hurt us. Someone wanted to break us. As strong as we were together, tonight we might be stronger apart.

“We’ll handle this,” Alexander promised, but Georgia stepped in front of him.

“We’ll handle this. We’re the bodyguards, remember?”

“She’s got a point, Poor Boy,” Brex agreed. “Someone needs to stay here. This might all be a ploy to get them alone.” He hitched a thumb in my direction.

Alexander looked on the verge of detonation, but almost instantly he smirked. “Good point. We need security here. There are multiple potential targets. Brex, you need to stay behind.”

“That is not—”

“Georgia, you will accompany me as my personal security. It’s a better use of our resources. And I owe Smith Price, so don’t make me put either of you down.” The tone of his voice left no room for disagreement. At another time I might have marveled at his cunning manipulation of the situation, but now all I could think of was the ticking clock. He crossed closer to Brex and whispered something to him. Brex pulled back with surprise, but didn’t say anything.

“We’d better get going.” Georgia drew her own gun and looked to the clock on the mantle. “The letter told him to meet her at seven.”

They started toward the door, but Alexander stopped and turned to his brother. “Edward…“