Page 74 of The Beach Hut on Plum Island
“Oh!” Finn’s eyes widened even more as he realized the gravity of Harriet’s situation back then and now. “Harriet obviously knows all this?”
“Oh, yes,” Julie nodded. “My children know the truth. Titus also knew that even if he’d had children, unless something happened to mine, they weren’t in line for the throne.”
“So that’s why your husband never fully gave up his seat? Was it because he knew what his brother would do?” Finn said.
“Yes,” Julie confirmed. “Titus hit Harriet when she was at her weakest, then just carried on rubbing salt in the guise of emotional balm on the wound.”
“Did Leon hit her?” Finn’s voice was low and came out as a soft growl.
“Harriet fell for Leon because he is handsome, charming, and had been groomed by Titus on just how to reel her in,” Julie’s voice resonated with anger and disgust. “She wasn’t talking to us as she accused us of lying to her, and well, we won’t get into that.” She sighed, but Finn saw the hurt flash in her eyes. “But we still had our secret weapons in the guise of her other best friends and Gray. They slowly opened her eyes to what Leon really was. But by then, she’d agreed to marry him, and when she tried to break it off, Leon got, shall we say, aggressive.” She said it through clenched teeth. “Only, he didn’t realize the power he was going up against and soon backed off. So did Titus after he was warned by his father and Pat.”
“You’re talking around my questions,” Finn told her, not able to keep the impatience out of his voice as he felt his fury bubble up for Leon.
“Yes, Leon hit Harriet,” Julie answered Finn’s question. “He gave her a black eye and a broken hand. However, Harriet got that by punching him back. Only he is a lot bigger than her and managed to break three of her ribs.”
Fury, the likes of nothing he’d felt before, washed over him as a red haze swam before his eyes. He knew that Leon Gladstone Junior wouldneverget out of prison if he had anything to do with it. “Did you file charges?”
“No.” Julie shook her head. “We all begged her to, but she refused. I only found out years later that Titus had threatened her not to. The Joyce family may own the olive trees that sit on the Gladstone land, but that doesn’t mean they can’t stop supplying Joyce Island.”
“What do you want me to do?” Finn asked Julie.
Finn knew he’d chosen the right side and done the right thing by breaking King Titus’s confidence. He also knew that he was playing in a league far above any he’d played in before. If theJoyce family was a sports league, they would be the Titans of leagues.
CHAPTER 13
Harriet had been awake for nearly an hour, but the hospital staff had only let her sit up and have some water five minutes ago. Restlessness prickled under her skin. She needed to get out of this bed, out of this room, and find out who had drugged her and tried to kidnap her. Deep down, she had a sneaky suspicion of who it might be.
Just as she was plotting her escape from the hospital, Finn walked in. A smile split his lips as soon as their eyes met, which did crazy things to her heart.
“Hello, Princess. It’s good to see you awake,” Finn said. “You gave us all a huge fright.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Harriet assured him. “I bet Murphy’s saying this is karma.”
“Why would he say that?” Finn’s brow creased.
“Oh, because I’ve done that to him once or … uh… maybe twice!” Harriet grinned sheepishly.
“Ah.” Finn nodded. “But I bet you didn’t put enough on his pillow to nearly kill him.”
“Of course not,” Harriet said before his words sank in, and her eyes widened. “What?”
“There was enough sleeping powder in your hair to knock out an elephant,” Finn said. “Okay, maybe not an elephant, but there was more than there should’ve been.”
“Is that your roundabout way of trying to tell me that someone was trying to kill me?” Harriet’s eyes widened.
“Or put you in a coma!” Finn said.
“Lovely.” Harriet snorted. “It’s such a joy knowing someone wants to put me in a coma so they can kidnap me.”
“Do you have any idea who’d have that kind of access to your room?” Finn asked.
“I have no idea,” Harriet told him. “Besides housekeeping, the only people who have been in my room were you, me, and Estelle.” Her eyes widened. “She could’ve gotten sleeping powder.”
“Yes, we found a tin of sleeping powder in her room,” Finn told her. “Estelle is under room arrest at the moment at the Summer Inn Hotel. But we need to find out if she was working alone and ensure we have the right person.”
Something nagged at Harriet. “I don’t think it would’ve been Estelle.” She shook her head. “First, she’s not strong enough to kidnap me. Estelle knew there were guards at my door, and she’s already blackmailing me.” She shrugged. “I don’t think she’d try a stunt like that. I do think someone wants us to believe Estelle did it.”
“I guess,” Finn said. “But for now, she’s our top suspect.”
