Page 75 of Raul
But Raul did not feel settled. He wanted Erica back. Even Mikel thought she was a good person. But she was not someone Raul could marry, and it wasn’t fair to her to continue the relationship. It would just get harder to break it off the longer they were together.
Right now, he hated being the prince.
Chapter 17
The next afternoon, Raul walked through the private door to his father’s office in the palace for their twice-weekly lunch meeting.
His father sat in the leather chair behind the huge carved wood desk, his computer screens casting a blue glow on his silver-gray suit. Both Mikel and Bruno Sanz, the king’s executive assistant, sat in the tan leather chairs in front of the desk. All three men wore grim expressions.
“Buenas dias, Pater,” Raul said before nodding to the other two men and waving them back into their seats when they started to stand. “Mikel, Bruno. You look concerned.”
“Ah,hijo,” his father said. “Odette Fontaine is troubling us yet again.”
They had worried that the woman he had once considered a beloved family friend would try to disrupt Gabriel’s wedding. They just didn’t know how since she was incarcerated in Caleva’s maximum security prison for life.
As Raul took the empty chair in front of his father, he wondered if Odette planned to reveal her relationship to Grace, and guilt jabbed at him again. “What is she threatening now?”
“To have Jean-Pierre Dupont tell the whole story ofel duque’skidnapping,” Bruno said. “With all the…unpleasant details.”
Raul felt a confusing combination of relief, fury, and shame. Odette would keep Grace’s secret as she had promised. But Gabriel had fought hard to get past the trauma of his abduction and mutilation. This would dredge it all up again and drag him back into that dark time when he should be feeling nothing but joy.
As for Raul, he would almost welcome having the public know that Gabriel had sacrificed himself for the prince’s sake.But he reminded himself of Mikel’s advice. In this case, what would help Raul’s conscience would not help Gabriel.
“Isn’t Dupont in jail in France?” Raul asked, pushing away his thoughts.
“Yes,” Mikel said. “But he is allowed visitors, including the press. I could call in some favors to have him temporarily secluded, whichmightkeep the story from coming out before the wedding. But he can’t be silenced for long. And we know from past experience that Odette maintains her contacts outside of prison.”
Not for the first time, Raul regretted the elimination of sentencing criminals to be thrown off the cliffs of Acantilado Alto.
Gabriel was stronger now, and he had Quinn to support him, but to make him relive the horrors of his abduction would be cruel beyond words. Odette and Dupont had to be silenced.
“I will go see Odette. Again,” Luis said, rubbing his hand over his face. “It’s me she wants to punish.”
“No, I’ll go,” Raul said. His father suffered with every visit. It was Raul’s turn to face the madwoman who plagued his family.
Three surprised gazes swung toward him.
“Maybe a new target will deflect her,” he said. He hoped.
His father shook his head. “It’s me she wants to drag into the prison.”
“Perhaps we shouldn’t let her get what she wants,” Raul said, beginning to feel more confident.
“He might be right,Su Majestad,” Mikel said. “Surprise could work in our favor.”
“Raul, she is a monster,” Luis said. Raul could see the worry shadowing his father’s face. “I don’t want you exposed to her poison.”
“I know what she is, Pater.” Raul locked his gaze with his father’s. “I can handle it.”
No one spoke for a long moment as he and his father faced each other in a battle of wills.
“Bien,”his father said at last. “Do your best to stop her. But do not let her hatred burrow into your soul. And if you cannot prevent her from carrying out her threat, you should not feel you have failed.”
Raul squelched the quiver of nerves running down his spine. He had not seen Odette since the woman had threatened to shoot him at a private family gathering and ended up winging Gabriel instead. The intensity of her desire to destroy anyone whom the king loved was chilling.
“I will do everything in my power to succeed,” he said, lifting his chin.
“I already know that.” His father nodded to him before he turned to Mikel. “You will arrange the visit to CárcelMax.”
