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“True, but that could be tricky. What if one of the clients or the girls came forward and backed up that story? Either way, it would make waves that I really just don’t know if I want her to have to deal with. What else?”
“The only other option is getting rid of Reg Everly completely,” Brat said, leaning back in his chair. “That doesn’t mean your secret is safe forever, but it means it’s safe from him. But man, these are really crazy ideas. I mean, these kinds of solution to the problem are worse than the problem itself. I wedo any of this, it will become
another secret we have to keep hidden from the world.”
I nodded. “I know,” I replied. “And you know I hate violence, Brat. You know that this is not something I would even consider if it weren’t so important.”
We sat in that meeting room for hours, throwing ideas back and forth to each other. I ordered a steady stream of coffee. I could tell it was an all-nighter. We only had until Monday afternoon to make our move, and it was already starting to get light outside again. I hadn’t heard a peep from Adriana and assumed she ended up going to bed without me.
I sent one of the service people to check on her around five in the morning, and they reported that she was up and moving around but seemed okay. I hoped that what I said the day before didn’t upset her too much. I never liked letting her go to bed without me, after leaving her alone so many nights before, but this was vital to our survival as a family.
I grabbed a donut off the tray of food by the counter and shoved it in my mouth. I needed some air. I was starting to feel hopeless. I walked over to the window and cracked it open, letting the approaching morning breeze hit me right in the face. Brat was at the table, jotting down different options, but in reality, we had pretty much tapped the reserve on ideas. I was starting to think, whether I liked it or not, taking Reg completely out of the picture might be the only way we got around this whole issue. My biggest problem with that, besides the obvious, was the slippery slope that would send us down. Not only would I face execution if I were implicated in a murder, but what would happen when the next person arrived, screaming he knew the secret? How many people would we end up killing just to hide our past?
This was all starting to sound like a bad mafia storyline, and I couldn’t believe I’d even thought about resorting to violence. I thought about Adriana and the baby, safe and sound inside the castle walls, and the feeling of comfort that that gave me. What if all that was taken away? What if we were cast out of the castle to fend for ourselves? I would never forgive myself if anything happened to Adriana or our child. It was just too risky. I needed to get this situation under control and fast.
I closed the window and started to pace the room, making plans in my head for an assassination of sorts. It would be simple, especially since Reg was nobody of high regard. But making sure all the details were set and secure was something that I absolutely had no idea how to do.
I walked over and sat down next to Brat, grabbing a pen and piece of paper. I thought about all the things I would need to do to make Reg disappear, and I started to make a list. If I was going to go down this path, we would have to get started. The clock was already ticking, and it wasn’t going to slow down for anyone. I tapped my pen against my mouth as Brat leaned back and stretched his arms over his head. He looked down at my paper and jumped from his chair, grabbing the notepad from my hands and tossing it into the fireplace.
“What are you thinking man?” Brat sounded shocked and appalled.
“I got to do what I got to do,” I replied, straight-faced.
“Okay, well before you go starting to assassinate people, hear me out,” he replied.
I watched as he walked over and grabbed his notepad off the table, giving me a sideways look as he began to pace the floor. He scanned his finger down the lines and lines of notes on the page. When he had gotten himself back together, he stopped in front of me like he was presenting to a board.
“Here is what we can do,” he explained. “There is legal recourse we can take here. Blackmail is a crime, especially against the Royal Court. Now, if we brought in a few trusted advisors, they could build a legal defense against Reg, barring him from speaking about Adriana, and possibly giving him a good amount of jail time for blackmail.”
“But what advisors could we bring on board that we trusted enough with that kind of information? I couldn’t be sure that it wouldn’t get leaked. And in the end, when all the court proceedings became public, so would her past. Either way, we would be exposing her, one way would just be controlled, while the other would be in Reg’s hands. Man, this seems impossible.”
“It’s not impossible,” Brat said with frustration. “We have to try to deal with this in a way that doesn’t dig an even bigger hole for us.”
I tossed the pen across the table and put my head down in my arms. I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept well in days, and I was so wildly out of it, I had actually considered murdering someone. There had to be away around this that didn’t include destroying my bride and my child in the process. No matter what Adriana said, I knew if the truth came out, she would be mortified, and possibly never forgive me. No matter what understanding we came to, I knew my past actions played a role in our future. I picked my head up as Brat’s phone vibrated against the table. He reached over and pressed the button, looking down at the screen. His eyes grew wide for a moment before he turned toward me. I lifted an eyebrow at his reaction and grabbed his phone from his hands. What could it possibly be now?
“Wait, how do you work this thing?” I tilted the phone back and forth trying to see the video he pulled up.
He grabbed it and set it up in front of us. As the screen popped back up, we watched as Adriana, dressed in a beautiful suit with perfect hair and perfect makeup, sat down on the couch in the Queen’s interview room. My mother was standing behind her and a journalist was to the left. I looked at Brat with panic, and he put his hand on my shoulder. She was getting ready to tell her story, and there was nothing I could do to stop her.
Chapter 29: Adriana
I knew it was a risk, and I knew Milos was probably going to be angry, but after he left the night before, I really thought about everything. When it came down to it, I knew I was right. I knew that if I could tell my story, if I could tell it from my perspective, I would be able to control it. Otherwise, either it was going to get leaked and I was going to humiliate myself, my husband, my child, and the Kingdom, or Milos was going to do something that really put him in danger. I didn’t even want to think about the lengths that man would go to protect me and our family. It was terrifying. So, I made the choice. I went to the Queen’s chambers and told her everything.
I was so nervous, sitting there in front of her, watching and waiting for her disappointed look. I left out the part about the marriage contract, only because it wasn’t important, and I was pretty sure that Reg had no idea that part had happened. When I was done telling my story, she took a deep breath and sat silently, sipping her tea and thinking. It seemed like the longest five minutes of my life, waiting for her to either throw me to the wolves or agree to help me carry out my plan. Finally, she set her tea cup down on the table and leaned forward.
“Adriana,” she began. “I knew all of this.”
“What?” I said, flabbergasted.
“Did you think I wouldn’t do a little research into the next Queen of Silesia?” she responded with a chuckle. “When it came down to it, I saw you for who you were. You are a kind-hearted, strong, intelligent woman that I believe will lead this country even further into greatness. I knew that this situation would come up eventually, and I assumed after watching my son leave in the worst disguise ever, that you would be knocking on my door soon enough.”
“I’m sorry for lying to you,” I responded.
“Water under the bridge my dear,” she said, patting my hand. “Let’s get this all squared away, shall we?”
That is how I ended up here, sitting in the interview room, with clammy hands, too much makeup, and a very respectable skirt suit, waiting for the reporter to get there. I knew this was a dangerous gamble, and neither I, nor the Queen, knew how everyone was going to react. But I couldn’t live the rest of my life in fear, wondering when I was going to turn the corner and see my face on the cover of the tabloids. I also knew that I could not live with the idea of Milos having blood on his hands for “taking care of” the situation. This was the only choice I had, and I knew that no matter the outcome, it was the right one to make.
The Queen seemed to know exactly what to do
