“You better,” I tell him as I climb into the backseat of the car after Dahlia while the driver stoically holds the door open for me. The door shuts behind us, and I settle in for the drive back to the castle.
“What was all that about?” Dahlia asks as Leo and the driver climb into the vehicle and the rest of the protection detail assemble in the vehicle behind ours.
“I thought I saw Suzanne,” I admit to her, watching the world go by as we drive back through the villages that make up the island.
“I thought you said you thought she was dead?” she asks me.
“Why is that the first thing everyone always says?” I mutter to myself.
“Because you said you saw her die and she’s not dead,” she explains. “Everyone is super worried about you by the way. Hey, do you think we could get burgers on the way home, I’m starving.”
“Wait… What?”
“I asked if you think they’d swing through for burgers on the way home because I’m starving,” she says.
“No, not about the burgers, before that?”
Dahlia tips her eyes to the side while she thinks. “You mean when you asked why everyone asks why you think you saw Suzanne because you also said she’s dead?” she asks me.
“No, after that.”
“Um, the part where I said because she’s not dead?”
“Exactly,” I shout. “What do you mean that she’s not dead?”
“She’s at the castle,” Dahlia explains.
“What do you mean she’s at the castle?” I gasp. “Everyone has been looking for her since she tried tokill me at my wedding reception!”
“She tried to kill you?” Dahlia asks.
“Your Highness, that was need to know information,” Leo says pointedly.
“Dahlia isn’t need to know?” I ask.
“Yeah, why am I not need to know?” she snaps at him. The look on her face makes me think poor Leo is about to be in the doghouse with Sammy. Dang.
“Okay,” I say, clapping my hands. “Let’s get back to the part where Lady Thomley is at the castle. Did you know she was there, Leo?”
“No, ma’am, I did not.”
“What about the part where she tried to kill you?” Dahlia snaps.
“She gave me a lip gloss with bee venom in it,” I explain, and she lets out a gasp. “How do you know she’s at the castle? Have you seen her?”
“Ugh, no,” she answers. “I’ve been avoiding everyone other than the people in this car right now.”
“That’s entirely valid,” I tell her.
“Can we stop with the fecking group therapy? And Dahlia tell me how you bloody know that Lady Thomley is in the castle before I lose my fecking mind?” Leo snaps.
“Oof,” I say with wide eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this mad.”
“He was this mad the last time I came home stinking drunk,” she says.
“That’s also valid because you were not being thesmartest and I say that with all the love in my heart,” I tell her.
“I know,” she says, continuing our little bubble of conversation before leaning in and wrapping her arms around me. I instantly reciprocate and hug her right back.