A Royal Engagement: The Young Royals Book 1 (27 page)

"I will call her today," she replied.

"Good," I replied, "Can you also let Alex know that I will be working from Jacob's office for the rest of the week.
 
If anything comes up and someone needs to see me, send them there."

Meredith nodded.

Jacob's office was in a much better state when I entered it this time.
 
His secretary, Jeremy, stood by his desk waiting for me.
 
He bowed low as he greeted me.

"Your Highness," he said, "I am sorry for your loss."

I took his hands in mine and looked him in the eye.
 
I had hardly spent any time with the personal staff of my brother and my father since I had been back and now I felt bad for it.
 
These people were hurting too and I had pretty much abandoned them.

"Thank you Jeremy," I said, "And I am sorry for yours."

He nodded and swallowed.
 
'Thank you," he said and then cleared his throat, "Please let me know how I can be of service."

I smiled at him, "I want to know everything my brother had been working on.
 
I understand he had a project underway with Lord Darkly."

"Yes, Your Grace," he said, snapping into professional mode, "The Prince was working with Lord Darkly on a way to export his cheese products."

That made me irrationally happy and I was at a loss to make sense of it.
 
It was cheese, for God's sake, but it was really good cheese...and it was Will's cheese.

"Show me," I said and he led me into the office.
 
A laptop sat on the desk that hadn't been there last night.
 
"Whose laptop is this?" I asked.

"It was the Prince's," Jeremy answered, "He had me lock it up in the wall safe every night."

"Is there anything else in the wall safe that we should know about?" Benjamin asked.

Jeremy shook his head.
 
"If you're talking about the secret investigation he was conducting, no.
 
He wouldn't even tell me what was going on."

Benjamin nodded and then looked around the room.
 
I indicated for Jeremy to show me what Jacob and Will had been working on.

The next few hours passed quickly as I read through the documents and emails that Will and Jacob had shared.
 
They had put together a strong business plan and had gone into the venture as equal partners.
 
By the looks of the financial reports, the business was flourishing and Will was no longer the impoverished Duke that everyone assumed he was.

Pemberton Cheese and Dairy had indeed broken into the international market and had won several notable awards.
 
Will had repaid the debts of his father and had restored his fortune tenfold.
 
He was now a very rich man, and yet he didn't flaunt it like so many of the other Peers would have.

I looked through the articles of incorporation and, though not a lawyer, I understood the majority of it.
 
Jacob had been named as an equal, but silent, partner and upon his death the proceeds of his share would pass to Georgina.
 
I smiled at his forethought for the woman he loved, but I wondered why this hadn't been included in the reading of his will.

"That was Lord Darkly's doing," Jeremy said when I asked him.
 
"Lord Darkly insisted that the Prince's shares remain with his estate.
 
The Prince hadn't yet declared his intention publicly and Lord Darkly didn't want the private matter of his promise to Lady Darkly to become tabloid fodder."

Will continued to amaze me.
 
I had often thought him standoffish and cold, but he was a deep thinker and held his cards close to his chest.
 
I feared that Will felt very deeply and kept such things bound up so as not to be hurt.
 
My heart melted a little at the thought of how he had been protecting his sister and Jacob from public scrutiny.
 
Will was loyal to a fault and I had misjudged him.

Meredith knocked on the door and I looked up at her.

"Lady Darkly is here," she said, "Would you like to take tea in the salon?"

Hearing Meredith behave like a court secretary brought a smile to my face and I nodded.
 
She poked her tongue out at me before turning and walking away.

I stood and stretched.
 
Despite the circumstances that resulted in me finding all this information out about my brother and his close association with the Duke of Pemberton, today had been a good day.
 
It was nice to see that my brother had not intended to be a King like my father.
 
He'd had a vision and a plan for Merveille and I felt a close connection to him because of it.

I walked out of the office and made my way through the Palace to the salon.
 
Georgina stood as I entered and I went to her and pulled her into a tight hug.
 
When I let her go and stood back, she had tears in her eyes.

"You know," she said simply and I nodded.

We sat down and a few stray tears fell from her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

She shrugged, "He hadn't made it public, I don't think even your parents knew.
 
It wasn't my place to say anything."

"Oh, Georgina," I whispered, "It was absolutely your place.
 
You have been grieving all this time on your own."

She smiled sadly, "Not alone," she said, "I've had Will."

"Your brother loves you very much."

"Yes," she said, "He has always been my protector and my champion."

"How...how did you and Jacob come to be...close?" I asked cautiously.

"There was some trouble a little while ago," she began.

"Your father?"

She nodded, "And...and another man."

"Jordan?" I asked kindly.

She looked away from me, staring out the window for a moment and then she seemed to come to a decision.

"Will would kill me if he knew I was telling you this," she said, "But I think you need to know."

"Go on," I said and a heavy feeling settled in my gut.

"I, uh, I overheard you and Will fighting the other day," she said in a rush, "And I want you to know the truth about what happened between Jordan and I."

"Okay," I said slowly.

"Jordan did come to us, that is my father and I, when Will was away at school.
 
My father wasn't coping with the death of my mother and he was drinking too much and not looking after the estate.
 
Jordan offered to help and for a while, things seemed to get better."
 
She took a breath.
 
"I fell in love with him, well," she shook her head, "What I thought was love anyway and he...he took advantage of it.
 
He insinuated himself into my father's business and into my affections.
 
He proposed to me and I said yes and then the estate took a turn for the worst.
 
It was leaking money and we had no idea how or why.
 
Jordan got angry and he..." she closed her eyes and swallowed, "He tried to rape me.
 
He said if there was no money to be had in the estate then he would at least get something out of it.
 
Jacob stopped him."

"Oh, God," I said, my hand flying to my mouth in horror, "Oh Georgina, why didn't you press charges?"

She laughed hollowly, "No one would've believed me.
 
We were engaged and Jordan has friends in the police.
 
He is a high ranking soldier with an exemplary record and a father who sits in the House of Lords.
 
I was the daughter of a disgraced Lord with no money or prospects.
 
I knew how it would go."

"But Jacob could have testified on your behalf," I said.

She shook her head, "I would never have asked him to put his neck out like that for me.
 
I wasn't harmed, a little shaken up maybe, but not harmed.
 
Jordan called off our engagement and disappeared for a few months.
 
Will was livid when he found out and would probably have shot Jordan on sight if he had been here."

"Surely Jacob didn't leave it at that," I said.

She shook her head again, "No, he was wonderful.
 
He started keeping tabs on Jordan, making sure he couldn't do to someone else what he's done to me.
 
He had vehemently opposed Jordan's appointment at the palace, but he wasn't in a position to block it."

"Oh God," I said, "I didn't know." I stood and shot a glance to Meredith who had been sitting nearby listening intently.
 
Her eyes were dark with anger and I nodded to her.
 
She would need to report this to Benjamin especially in light of what had happened to me yesterday.

Jordan was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
 
No doubt he was the man that Jacob had been investigating, but did that also mean that he was the one to murder my brother and father?
 
It didn't seem possible.

I sat back down and clasped Georgina's hands in mine, "Where's Will?" I asked.

"He's in France, I think," she replied, "But I'm not sure how long he will be there.
 
He had a long list of places that he had to visit."

"Is he keeping in touch with you?" I asked.

"Yes," she nodded, "He emails me daily."

"Okay, good," I said aware that I was scaring her.
 
I smiled and softened my voice, "I came across the business agreement he had with my brother and I'd like to honour it."

"Oh, no, you don't need to do that," she said, "It wouldn't be right."

I pulled the Cartier box out of my pocket and put it in her hands, "We found this among Jacob's things.
 
I know he loved you and had spoken to Will about proposing to you.
 
We would've been sisters."

She opened the box and gasped at the ring inside.
 
"It's beautiful," she whispered tracing the lines of the platinum band with a finger.

"I want you to have it," I said, "He bought it for you and it's only right that it be given to you.
 
I also want you to have the share of the business that you had been promised."

"No, I couldn't," she said, "And I can't accept this ring."
 
She held it out to me, willing me to take it..

I closed her fingers around the box, "You can't refuse me," I said, "I'm to be your Queen, you have to do what I say."
 
I smiled, "And I want you to have both the ring and the shares."

"But it's too much," she said.

"No, it's not," I said, "Besides, I have plans to show the people of Merveille that women can be a force to be reckoned with.
 
Your brother's business has seen tremendous growth and I know that you have helped so why shouldn't you reap the benefits?"

"I...uh...I don't know what to say," she stammered.

"Say yes," I replied.

When I returned to the office I opened Jacob's laptop and pulled up an email he'd sent to Will.
 
I copied the address and opened my own private email program and started a new email.

Dear Will,

We need to talk.

I believe I owe you both my thanks and an apology.

Thanks for rescuing me in the storm and for taking such good care of me and an apology for the things I said to you afterward.
 
I was out of line and I hope you can forgive me.

But that isn't all we need to talk about.
 
I was going through my brother's office and came across some very interesting information.
 
I would like to discuss this more with you at your earliest convenience.

This is my personal email address and is not accessed by anyone except me.
 
Will you write me?

Yours always,

Alyssa

I reread the email several times before hitting send.
 
I didn't want to give away all my secrets if he was still angry at me, and I knew he had been angry after that day in his kitchen.
 
But I didn't want to play games either, I was no good at these court machinations and much preferred to just speak plainly.
 
Hopefully I said enough for him to forgive me and make him curious enough to respond.

Now all I had to do was wait.

Chapter Nineteen

My dearest Alyssa

It had been several days since I had sent that email to Will and I had checked my incoming mail obsessively waiting for his reply.
 
The rest of my days were spent learning the new aspects of my more secure lodgings (tunnels, secret hallways and panic rooms) and delving into the work my brother had been doing.
 
But finally he had replied.

After much admonishing from my sister, I must admit to you that I should have been honest that day...more to the point, I should have been honest with you from the start.