Chapter 11
The four captains entered without looking at Marcus.
That frightened him.
I recognized all four.
Men who had known me since childhood.
Publicly, none had ever acknowledged me.
Privately, they taught me how to read a room before I learned to drive.
I looked at them.
“Why were you attending tomorrow?”
The oldest, George Vale, answered.
“To see how far Caldwell would go.”
Marcus laughed.
“Convenient.”
George ignored him.
I looked at my father.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Good.
That mattered.
George continued:
“Marcus approached us three months ago.”
“With?”
“Promises.”
“What kind?”
“Pembroke routes after marriage.”
My jaw tightened.
Marcus snapped:
“You accepted meetings.”
George finally looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You agreed.”
“No.”
“We listened.”
Marcus’s face changed.
I almost smiled.
He had believed observation meant betrayal.
Same mistake Preston made with me.
George looked at my scraped hands.
His face hardened.
“What happened?”
Victoria sighed.
“Oh, not another performance.”
George turned.
She smiled.
“Catherine chose to clean.”
I stared at her.
“Did I?”
“You could have refused.”
“You kicked the bucket into me.”
“Because you were slow.”
George’s jaw tightened.
Victoria continued:
“People keep making her sound helpless because she suddenly has a famous father.”
I almost admired how committed she was to cruelty.
Even surrounded.
Even exposed.
She still needed to believe I caused my own pain.
I looked at George.
“What did Marcus promise after marriage?”
“Preston would act as bridge between houses.”
Marcus interrupted:
“Exactly.”
George continued:
“Then Sebastian would gradually step back.”
My father raised an eyebrow.
“Would I?”
Marcus smiled.
“Everyone retires.”
I asked:
“And me?”
George looked uncomfortable.
“You were not mentioned.”
That was the point.
The plan required the Pembroke daughter to become wife.
Not leader.
I stared at Marcus.
“You never intended Preston to marry into my power.”
He said nothing.
“You intended me to marry out of it.”
Victoria smiled faintly.
Finally.
Truth.
“A wife supports.”
I looked at her.
“A wife can lead.”
“Not this family.”
I glanced at Sebastian.
He almost smiled.
I looked back.
“This family is mine.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
Then George placed an envelope on the piano.
Inside was a Caldwell meeting photograph.
Marcus.
Victoria.
Preston.
And one other man.
Someone I knew.
May you like
My father’s security chief.
And suddenly the threat was no longer outside the Pembroke house.
