Page 63 of Daughter of Secrets


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“I’m making you breakfast, so just relax and I’ll be right back.”

She snuggled under the sheets and grinned. “Yes, sir.”

“I won’t be long, my lady.” He leaned over and sealed her lips with his. When he pulled away, she gazed up at him, her cheeks flushed. “I could get used to that look,” he whispered and let the back of his hand graze her cheek. “Now will you excuse me? Her ladyship expects breakfast.”

***

Christian had a skip to his step as he walked out of the room and into the dim hallway. Judging by the light coming thought the small windows, it must have been late morning.Walking on air, he though.So this is how it feels?

He almost whistled as he stepped down the enormous stairs, past the old paintings and metal knights. The cheerful feeling disappeared, however, as soon as he heard the voices in the great hall.

“Oh, there he is now!” he heard the angry voice as the great hall came into view. He saw Elena and Alina, and they didn’t look pleased. Alina was sitting on one of the sofas next to the fireplace while Elena marched toward Christian. She looked ready to explode, her face purple. He braced himself for the coming storm.

“Mihai told me you slept in her room last night! I should have known better than to trust a man, not even the town’s so-called angel!” she shouted in his face. “I paid you to show that helpless girl Romania, not what’s in your pants!”

Her voice echoed through the hall, bouncing off the walls. Christian opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Elena’s rants.

“I should have known; you men are all the same!” she kept glancing at Alina as if expecting backup. “I trusted you,” she continued, her face contorted in disgust, as if she smelled something foul. “What did you tell her, huh? That she is special? That you have never felt like this before?”

Once again, Christian opened his mouth to speak but she cut him short. “I will tell you this, while you were here on some romantic getaway”—she fell silent, waiting for the echoes of her voice to die down—“your mother has gotten worse. She is in the hospital as I speak.”

“Hospital?” Christian said. “What? Since when?”

“You would know that already if you weren’t so busy chasing after an American heiress,” Elena answered.

He looked up when he heard Olivia’s voice from the stairway. “What’s going on? I heard voices and—” Her words cut off when she saw the horrified look on Christian’s face. He glanced away.

Elena, still with an unpleasant look on her face, walked up to Olivia and grabbed her hand. “His mother is unwell.”

“How terrible. I’m so sorry!” Olivia said. She walked over to Christian. “You should go to her now. They need you.”

He looked at her and then at Elena.

“Don’t worry,” Olivia said. “I’ll be fine with them here. Your family needs you now.”

He nodded and realized his hands were shaking. The last thing he wanted to do was picture his mother dying in a hospital bed. He wanted to ask Elena how bad it was, what state his mother was in, but at the same time, her answer terrified him.

“I’ll call you on the landline as soon as I can,” he said to Olivia.

She rubbed his arm, mouthing the words,go now.

He nodded and looked at her one last time, then turned to rush out the door.

***

The van revved noisily as he tore through the driveway and hurried down the road, dust rising behind him and fading with the castle. The weight of the news of his mother and the thought of leaving Olivia behind were mixing into a distasteful mess in his head—and heart.

.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Olivia recounted the story of the bear attack over breakfast in the dining hall. It felt good telling someone about the encounter and how brave Christian had been. Alina looked horrified, letting out dramatic gasps and clasping a hand over her mouth each time.

“That sounds terrifying,” Elena said.

“It was,” Olivia agreed. She told them about the app on her phone that had scared the bear off. “The bear cub was cute, but its mother . . . I felt the ground shake when she attacked.”

Alina shook her head in shock.

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