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“Holly Abercrombie admitted to having dined with you. I saw how you reacted when Eaton Farris asked if the two of you arrived at the theater together. How could you be so careless?” My hand flies involuntarily to my chest, demonstrating the words I won’t say.How could you be so careless…with my heart?
“It wasn’t me she dined with. It was Albert.”
I scoff. “You expect me to believe that? She said ‘he and Ihave been acquainted for many years,’ not ‘the princeand I.’ And she touched your shoulder when she said it. If she truly has known you—or the prince—for long, then she knows better than to get the two of you confused. Isn’t that what you said? Those close to the prince would never mistake him for his decoy?”
He runs his hand through his hair, sending his well-styled tresses into disarray. “Did you expect her to blow my cover? To admit to the reporter that the man posing as Albert was a fraud?”
“You’re avoiding giving a direct answer,” I say, although I admit I feel a bit abashed at his explanation. He’s right. If anyone was friendly with Dante or Albert, they would know to act accordingly without outing Dante’s mission. Still, it doesn’t cool my anger.
Finally, he says, “Yes, Holly and I were acquainted.”
A shard of ice pierces my heart. “Romantically?”
He opens his mouth, but before he can answer, I wave my hand at him.
“No, it doesn’t matter,” I say, my words tasting of lies. “You can be romantically involved with anyone you want, and the same goes for Albert. All I asked for was discretion, and you failed me.”
“That’s why…” His jaw tightens, and he begins to drum his fingers against the head of his cane. I’m familiar enough with the gesture to know it means he’s fighting not to say something. He’s probably trying to sort out how to best lie to me. “It’s just…it’s complicated.”
I fold my arms and lift my chin. “It’s not. An old flame came to town, and you couldn’t help but reconnect with her—”
“No, that’s not...” He steps closer, his gaze intense, pleading. “Hear me out, Amelie, please. Yes, I knew her. And, yes, for a time, I courted her. Long ago.”
“I don’t need to hear any of this.” I throw my hands in the air and try to skirt around him, but he mirrors my every step.
“Then she got me to introduce her to Albert,” he says in a rush. “And she chosehim.”
I pause midstep and glance up at his face. There’s a wounded quality to his expression, and it makes my chest feel tight. But wounded or not, it doesn’t prove he didn’t abandon me to meet withher.
“They’ve been on and off for years,” Dante says. “I had no idea she was coming to Faerwyvae, but Albert did. They’ve both known since before this marriage was first arranged. He knew about the play and planned on reconnecting with Holly during her stay on the isle. If I’d known he’d be—”
He shakes his head, averting his gaze, and slams the end of his cane onto the carpeted floor so hard, I’m surprised it doesn’t pierce a hole into it.
Then, with a heavy sigh, he returns his attention to me. His eyes turn down at the corners as his shoulders sink. Even his voice dips low, as if crushed by a leaden weight. “If I’d known he’d be so foolish as to compromise your reputation, I would have tied him to a chair, prince or no.”
My breaths grow shallow beneath the earnestness in Dante’s eyes.
“Albert snuck away from his guards and dined publicly with Holly in Port Dellaray. They were seen kissing, touching. I escorted her here to ensure neither she nor Albert did anything idiotic. She was half convinced to quit the show and stay with Albert at his hotel. I knew I couldn’t let that happen, for it would only be a matter of time before the two of them snuck out in public again. Miss Abercrombie can’t handle being out of the spotlight for long.”
He says it matter-of-factly, with neither bitterness nor fondness. It helps ease the spike of jealousy that made its home in my heart.
His lips curl in disgust, and his tone darkens. “I promise you, Amelie, I had no idea Albert would do such a thing. I told him about your rules, told him that protecting your reputation was equally as important as forging peace between Faerwyvae and Bretton. I thought he understood. That he valued your marriage. Now I see that I confused my own ideals for his, assuming we were of one mind. But even our hearts were in different places.”
The way he saysheartsin that strained, anguished tone has my breath catching. My pulse flutters in a terrifying rhythm. One I’m not ready to hear yet.
I step away from him but manage to gain only a few inches of space before my back comes up against the quartz counter of the sink behind me.
“I’m so sorry,” Dante says. “I did everything I could to control the damage done. As soon as Albert’s guards got word to me about what happened, I made haste to Port Dellaray. I reminded Albert what was at stake. Told him I would rather turn traitor and end his life than see him humiliate you. After that, I hunted down every reporter in the area, every photographer, and bribed, threatened, and stole the story from them. Yet it seems my efforts weren’t thorough enough.”
A surge of warmth runs through me. He went through all that trouble…for me? I shake the thought from my head, reminding myself that I have more reasons to be upset with him.
I purse my lips, standing tall to hide how badly I wish I could retreat from him. “I don’t need you to save me.”
He frowns, brows knitting together. “You would have rather I let Albert’s indiscretions reach the papers?”
“No, that…that was acceptable. What you didn’t need to do was attack a reporter on my behalf.”
He has the decency to look ashamed, but when he opens his mouth, it isn’t to apologize. “He’s lucky I didn’t slit his throat on the spot.”
