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My mouth went dry, and I…was hurt really badly.
Very badly.
We met in the groundkeeper’s lodge.
It was small and a short walk from the main house…however, there was a secret passageway from the back kitchen. We pretended to drive off the estate before circling back going through that passageway to end up in the lodge’s living room, where she sat in a wood rocking chair by a going fire, Iskandar standing watch beside her.
The moment she saw me, she smiled. “I told you I’d see you at your next crisis, didn’t I?”
Iskandar moved to leave; however, I held up my hand to stop him. “No, stay. I feel as though I may need a witness. God knows what else you have planned, Sabina.”
“You didn’t like the photos?” she asked, rising from the chair. “I thought they were flattering.”
“Is this a game to you?” I hollered.
“Why are you the only one allowed to play with people?” she shouted back.
“I never played with you. I told you from the start what we were and when we would end. And it ended, so what now is all of this? What the hell are you doing?”
“You screw me up and down any time you have a problem. Spill everything to me. And then when you say it’s over, you don’t even say goodbye! I find out you are engaged months later. Then after you brush me off…brush off is kind. No, you just completely shut me out. Never once did you explain anything—”
“I never thought I had to!”
“You are fucking selfish! And everything works out for you!” she screamed back at me. “You become King, and you have a pretty, sweet queen. Me? I’m the laughingstock all over again! I’m mocked and laughed at by ugly stuck-up nobles, pretending that somehow, they are all better than me. That I’m trash. Meanwhile, Prudence was married and throwing herself at you anytime she could! But the slut laughs at me.”
“That’s why you released the photo of her? She laughed at you?”
“Yeah.” She nodded and shrugged as if it was the most common sense in the world. “Why would I protect her? Why am I protecting you? We are over, right? So I am going to be selfish now too.”
“What exactly do you think you are going to get out of it?”
Again, she shrugged. “I get to watch live as you squirm whenever someone asks if you are cheating. I get the pleasure of knowing the twinge of fear that runs through her every time she sees a new photo, wondering if it’s from the past or not. I haven’t even dropped the most scandalous one yet. That will really screw up her fake smile. And lastly, I get paid very well for the photos.”
“So, in the end, it was all just for revenge and money?” I asked.
“You are the one who made it this way,” she said. “I tried coming to you. I tried being patient…and you kept kicking me down. So I’m going to do whatever I want now. Hell hath no fury, remember?”
Frowning, I stepped closer to her, and when I did, in the corner of my eye, I saw Iskandar step forward as well. “You are making a very big mistake, Sabina.”
“Is that a threat, Your Majesty?”
“The House of Monterey has stood for centuries. We have faced wars, Nazis, treason, assassinations, coups, famine, great fires, storms, and earthquakes, and we have survived it all. You can throw anything you want at me. Bring everything, in fact. Don’t hold back, so I won’t have a single ounce of sympathy or mercy when we come for you! Do you think I have nothing on you? You are not going to war with the same Gale you knew back then! You are going to war with a king!” I hollered in her face.
When she flinched, I stepped back, taking a deep breath before looking away.
“Iskandar, make sure Ms. Franziska gets home safely. I don’t want her to have even a scratch. She should be in her best shape for what is to come.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Gale, I never wanted—”
“It is Your Majesty, and I do not care what you want any more,” I snapped. “Iskandar!”
He took her by the elbow, leading her out the back door. When he was gone, I released my fist and straightened my tie. “Balduin.”
“Yes, sir.” He came into the room.
“Begin a media campaign against Sabina Franziska. Hold back nothing,” I said sternly because I knew for sure…I was about to destroy her life.
