“Do you regret coming along yet?” Rhys asks quietly in my ear.
“No,” I growl.
His deep chuckle rings in my ear.
“We’ll see how you answer after I’ve turned your pretty arse red.”
“Hmpf,” I reply, opting to ignore him and focus on getting out of this underground lair alive.
Leo stops at the top of the stairs and cracks open the door. The light is blinding for a second and he ducks his head out to see if the next hallway is clear. We follow him out into a hallway similar to our residential one, only this one has walls lined with a hunter green jacquard with a muted hunting plaid. The moldings and trim are a creamy white and go all the way to the tall ceilings. The area is beautiful even with the painter’s tarps and scaffolding.
This must be Albert Hall.
“What is this place?” I ask again only this time it’s a compliment.
“Welcome to Albert Hall, my love,” Rhys says, taking my hand in his again. “This is meant to be a home for the heir to the crown.”
“Then how come you live in the suite?” I ask.
“Because that’s where you live,” he answers.
“Solid answer.”
“I try.”
“You succeed,” I reply.
“Once we were married,” he continues. “I’d assumed we’d move into the royal housing and Taylor and Dahlia would move here but Saoirse is dragging her heels.”
“I’m shocked,” I droll.
“We’ll take the left side, and you take the right,” Leo says. “It’s still so closed up, I doubt anyone has been in here.”
“Aye,” Rhys says. “I agree.”
We open the first door to find an office with a big mahogany desk and bookshelves. The next is a children’s bedroom and my heart beats faster at the idea of this being a baby’s room. Next to it is a much more modest bedroom and bathroom for a baby nurse to live.
Leo is right, there’s nothing here but construction materials and the decorator’s uncompleted projects with various antiques and expensive knickknacks thrown together in a very Ralph Lauren kind of way.
The next room is bigger, more luxurious but still a child’s bedroom and bathroom. I’m frustrated and angry and there’s no sign that Maeve or Suzanne have even been here. I’m so tired.
“This is bullshit,” I snap as I push open the next door. It leads to a large sitting room, not unlike the one in our suite. I let out a blood curdling scream because hanging from a rope in the closet is Suzanne—Lady Thomley—in the same fucking blue dress that I’ve been catching glimpses of for days.
Chapter 16
God Save the King
There’s been no sighting of Maeve since the search of the castle grounds that led to the discovery of Suzanne’s body.
Although it had been staged to look that way, Suzanne did not commit suicide. The doctor who performed her autopsy said she’d been dead for days, so the timeline adds up with what I saw at the opera. Of course, we can’t prove anything, and the earl has been smug about it.
He walks around the castle as if his daughter is still the Queen and the rest of us are beneath him. Rhys won’t have the earl removed because with him here, Rhys and Leo can keep an eye on him but off the grounds who knows who he might be in cahoots with.
All of this would be fine if today wasn’t coronation day.
Rhys and I prepare for the day separately. He showered and left for his office early this morning where Craig will help him with any final preparations. I’m glad he’s at least on the grounds, but I won’t see him until we climb into the carriage and head for the church.
I’m left to dress by myself. There’s something really sad about the fact that Maeve is the one who helped me prepare for every event since I arrived here not so long ago, and now she’s gone and I’m worried. And sad. Where is she? Is she all right? Why did she betray me? Or Rhys, for that matter? I could ask questions all day long but there’s no one here to answer them so now I’m all alone.