His expression crumples, and he collapses back into the chair, covering his face with his hands and breathing through his fingers. “How do you know that?”
“I overheard her and Signoria talking about it before, but she had also mentioned it a few times in passing over the years.”
His hands fall to his lap with a thud. “You’re telling me the woman who killed my father was literally within my grasp yesterday? How was she involved?”
“Because she worked for your father and was one of his mistresses.”
He gulps. “Why would she kill him?”
“I don’t know all the details. Only pieces I overheard. There was resentment. I think your father dumped her for Marie and fired her. She knew Marie was going to try to take Desta and she hated the king.”
“My father broke up with one sister to fuck the other?”
There’s nothing funny about the way he says that, other than his deadpan expression and tone. “Yes,” I say apologetically.
“So she killed him out of what…jealousy?”
I shift ever so subtly. “I guess. Antonia is big on hate and retribution. She loves to make others suffer the way she says she has.”
“Jesus,” he hisses. “How is there such evil in this world, and how has it all found my family? I can’t begin to fathom how you lived in that world with them.”
“I’m sorry. I know this is a lot to hear and must be very painful.” Something is sticking with me, though. Something the king said when I was in his study. “I have to ask, why are you searching for Marie?”
“Because she took our sister,” he says simply. “We want to put her away for life and hopefully find Desta.”
“She doesn’t have her. I mean, I don’t know where Desta is or if she’s still alive or anything about her specifically. I only know that Antonia stole her from Marie shortly after Marie took Desta all those years ago, though I don’t think Marieknows it was Antonia who did it. Marie has been searching for Desta since. Same as you have.”
His jaw unhinges, and he stares unblinkingly at me. “What? Why would Antonia do that?”
“She hates Marie. She did it to punish her.”
“How would taking Desta punish her?”
“Because Desta was Marie’s and the former king’s biological daughter.”
45
ROWAN
My head is spinning so fucking fast and hard I feel as though I’m going to pass out. Desta is Marie’s daughter. How the fuck did we not know this? Our mother sure as hell had to have, same as ourfather. So now we’re not only searching for one person, we’re searching for two. One killed my father, the other stole my sister, but I’m not sure I blame Marie so much for that anymore.
Antonia is a special brand of evil. She’s also dangerous for Marcella. Marcella killed Signoria Batorini and knows Antonia’s secrets. So yeah, not good.
I also have to imagine my sister is dead. Why would Antonia keep her alive? Any hope I had for Desta is now shriveled into nothing, and it hurts so acutely there’s hardly a name for that sort of pain. She was a baby, caught in the middle of betrayal, jealousy, and venomous hate.
But speaking of betrayal. My father was a real piece of work. Is he the one who brought the curse back to us? Is he why all of this has happened, and then Nora’s affair with Samil brought it back to us? One betrayal after theother.
My father is dead. Samil is dead. Nora is dead. Signoria is dead. I need to get Antonia. She needs to be killed. It’s the only way any of us will ever be safe again, and the curse will die.
I hold Marcella’s sweet face in my hands. “We need to get you out of the hospital and back to the palace.”
The helicopter startsits descent to the private airfield two miles from the palace. We technically have a helipad at the palace at the back of the grounds, but after what happened to Nora, I don’t think any of us have the stomach to land there, and I’d never want to traumatize the children with that sound.
The nurse came back a moment later, and I told her we were having Marcella moved to the palace and that they needed to make arrangements for that immediately. She tried to fight me, but Marcella told her that was her wish, and that was all it took.
They got Marcella out of bed, cleaned her up, and removed the catheter. She was in a good amount of pain, but when I asked when she’d be ready to leave the hospital and travel, she told me immediately.
The hospital wasn’t happy about it, but the room Sebastian was in following the attack from Samil is essentially a hospital room, equipped with anything we should need for her, and we’ll have our own set of private doctors and nurses come to take care of her.