1

Andre

When I received word that Count Sunde had arrived in town with his two eldest sons, I knew trouble was coming. I was going to speak to Mabel after work and make sure her guards were ready.

What I didn't expect was for the bastard to go right to the bank. He really had no shame and saw Mabel as an asset he truly owned instead of his own daughter. There was a line even the most sexist people didn't normally go over, but Count Sunde was an exception.

And I wanted to put him in the ground for it.

The moment the messenger arrived looking flustered that he'd been redirected to the police, I was out the door. I was closer to the bank than Mabel, but the messenger had had to come here first whereas she would go directly there.

I didn't even take the time to get horses, grabbing a few officers and jogging the couple of blocks. We probably wouldn't beat her carriage, but we'd arrive close to when she did.

Mabel was fighting back against her father when I arrived, laying into him and revealing that she'd had her name changed so he couldn't do exactly what he was trying to do. I smiled with pride that she was so smart and called the situation perfectly.

My heart broke for her at the same time. To be so used and abused by her own family and treated this way… The scars on her heart had to be greater than the physical ones left by her ex-husband.

I'd had a rough go at life, but my family had loved me. I'd lost them in the war while I'd been fighting, so coming home battling to survive and learning that had destroyed me.

But I had been loved.

Mabel never had been. From the looks of contempt and annoyance her father and two brothers gave her, that was clear.

And jealousy. Her eldest brother practically dripped jealousy.

He should be from what I'd found. Mabel was smart, accomplished, and driven.

He was a lazy idiot who barely passed through his expensive schooling that he'd only been able to attend because she'd turned the family business around. He also inherited his father's sexist view of the world, and even the most traditional noble families have been turned off by him.

And now with everything that had been going on in that family and what he allowed to happen to his own sister without caring or getting involved… He would have a difficult time finding a family who would allow their daughter to become his bride.

An exceptionally difficult time from what reached even my commoner ears. He was practically shunned at the last ball he attended.

Good. That was how it should be.

When Count Sunde completely dismissed Mabel and practically waved her off like an annoyance when he'd come there for what was hers, I barely kept my temper. Fine, he wouldn't take a woman seriously?

I wasn't a woman, and I wasn't about to let the woman I wanted to be with be treated like that. Especially when I had the power and every right to interfere.

So I did and moved things along, making it clear what the count wanted wasn't going to happen.

Ever.

I also had choice words for the bank manager. It was his job to handle matters of the bank, not force his customers to handle nonsense. She could have kept her wealth at her house if she wanted to be harassed. They were supposed to protect her from that.

Something I planned to remind the man.

At length.

Mabel's guards handled her family while the officers I'd brought would stay with her. I would have preferred the reverse, but the guards had had to get involved right as we'd arrived.

I went for the bank manager before he tried to hide in his office or stay out of this mess. If nothing else, I wanted to get a statement from him for the report.

Everything went wrong too fast.

I'd turned my back on the situation thinking it was over. That was the mistake I'd made. I'd thought it contained and not understanding there was more to what was going on than I'd known.

That was the mistake her guards also made.

The officers I'd brought with me made the mistake of being polite since we weren't arresting anyone and they didn't want to make any more of a mess.

I heard her father shout he was going to kill her and turned only to find in the few steps I'd taken the positions of everyone had changed. People had come into the bank and were upset the doorway was being blocked, so my officers had stepped aside to get out of the way… And let the people get between them and Mabel.

Which left her unprotected.

The sons had moved from off to the side towards their father and clearly had done something to one of Mabel's guards. Another guard was down, and it looked as if the eldest brother had kicked him from where his leg was.

The guard who didn't go down but was clearly in pain grabbed for Count Sunde after he'd slapped Mabel and was able to catch his jacket. But it threw both the count and Mabel off balance.

And I knew I couldn't reach them before they would land.

I pushed the other employee aside and dove for Mabel, but one of the people coming in who thought themselves important moved in my way at the last second. We collided and I landed heavily on top of him.

I ignored his protests and exclamations and pushed to my knees and slid the few feet to her and shoved her father away who was trying to go for her again.

"Do not move her, Commander," one of my officers exclaimed when I was about to touch her. "Her head landed directly on the marble."

Fuck. "Get the ambulance and healers now. Use a flare," I ordered, swallowing panic when I saw she was unconscious. I realized there were still problems going on and I moved the other officer to protect Mabel, barking out to everyone else to move back.

Then I went for Count Sunde who was fighting to get free. I didn't even respond to the monster as I handcuffed him.

And then his two sons.

"Shut up while you are behind, fools," I told them when they were exploding. "You are now also on the hook for resisting arrest and assaulting an officer which I will not ever let go. And Countess Phoenix will not drop the charges."

The first son snorted. "She's so weak she's probably dead." He sneered over at Mabel's still form. "Good. Same goal is accomplished if she dies, and now we do not have to be embarrassed with her."

It took me everything I had not to kill him.

I wasn't kidding. I wanted to kill him like I'd never wanted to kill someone before.

Even Ian after he'd broken my heart and betrayed me.

I moved away before I did something that could cost me everything and hurt Mabel's case.

More officers arrived and I gave the order for the Sunde family to be thrown in a cell until I could deal with them. Then it was the ambulance with the healers. They used their powers to make sure Mabel was stable and moving her wouldn't do more damage.

Ian arrived with Kathy and Colin right as she was being carried out. I went right to him and waved for them to get back in the carriage so I could update them on the way to the hospital.

"How could you let this happen?" Ian demanded when I was done.

"Ian," Kathy chastised. "That does not help, and everyone makes mistakes. No matter how horrible they are, that bank was full of witnesses. Even Mabel would be shocked her brothers made a move. She calls them cowards all of the time."

"I did make a mistake," I accepted. "It was—we all made small mistakes that just the timing and—what are the chances that they both fall and she cannot catch herself and lands that way?"

"You are right," Ian sighed, scrubbing his hand over his neck. "I am sorry. I am going to flatten that bank manager though."

I snorted. He could get in line.

We arrived at the hospital and Ian sent one of his knights to bring his personal healer who was known to be extremely powerful.

There must have been other people in Count Sunde's party who hadn't gone into the bank with them because there were people trying to get access to Mabel when we arrived who were stating they were family.

Chaos ensued and I couldn't even hold my temper because I was so worried about her. Ian seemed in the same spot.

"Enough!" a man roared as he arrived. "This is a hospital. Go outside and kill each other for all I care, but you will not keep upsetting my staff and patients. If you do not stop this I will knock you idiots out myself."

"How dare you speak to us that way?" one of the men we'd been arguing with seethed.

The doctor's gaze cut to him. "I do not care who are you. If you are going to behave like a beast, I will treat you as one. Behave like a gentleman and I will treat you as such. You are in my hospital. Leave."

"And this is why we have trouble securing donations," a woman next to the doctor grumbled.

I snorted. "I would rather donate now knowing it's not the typical corruption and games but everyone is equal."

"Agreed," Ian said… Which was hysterical but not something I was going to comment on at the moment.

We apologized to the doctor and made it clear to the employees that no one was to visit Mabel, especially her family after they were the ones who attacked her.

And it turned out, these people weren't her family. One was an aide to the Matthias family and was a bit squirrely on if his allegiance was to the marquis or the count.

Either way, Ian's face turned deadly and made it clear they better flee before he acted like a royal they had lied to. Luckily, they did, and that was one less headache for the moment.

"This was not a normal fall," the doctor told us an hour later after all the tests were run and the healers had scanned Mabel. "It was not simply that the count was holding her hair, and when he started to fall, she did too. That would have given us a certain force and yes, people are hurt from that."

"Then what happened, Doctor?" Kathy asked, blinking back tears and trying to stay strong as she had been the whole time we'd been waiting.

He gave her a sad look. "My guess is when the count realized they were falling, he used his strength to throw the countess down. He started to fall first, but from what the officers there said, she landed first. Not because she was shorter, but because she fell faster. He used the situation to his advantage and basically pushed her while she was falling."

"Monster," she whispered, letting out a sniffle. "You can prove this? We need her better, but we also need to protect her, Doctor. You know that means keeping them from her."

"I do, and I will give everything to the commander. You have my word, My Lady."

"Good. It's not a bribe, but expect a donation from our family for your diligence to the truth and helping people." She gave Colin a look that he would make that happen or she would yell at him.

He simply nodded, clearly agreeing.

The doctor opened his mouth but then closed it. He sighed and glanced between Kathy and Colin. "I apologize for using this moment to my advantage, but more than funds we need help changing a certain narrative. When my father ran this hospital, it used to be in style for the healers of nobles to work here so many days a week to stay on top of their game."

"But that changed now that noble families all have private doctors and look down on healers who train in hospitals," Colin muttered. "That lost the hospitals the help they needed as you cannot pay what the nobles can and the best healers went to the rich."

"Yes, My Lord. Again, I apologize, but we are hurting. All the hospitals are, and if you truly are willing to help, that is the way." He dipped his head before focusing back on Kathy. "The countess will be fine as long as she takes it easy. There was a small brain bleed that the grand duke's healer immediately took care of.

"We can heal her body but not the residual effects, as you well know. Her shoulder was dislocated from how she landed. We will heal that before she wakes but not this second so we do not put her body into shock. She's going to be sore. Her head will hurt. She will need help, and if she's anything like the women in my family, someone to make her sit still."

His lips twitched when Kathy gave an elegant snort, clearly pegging Mabel right from the rumors.

We asked more specifics, but the doctor wouldn't commit to the final instructions until Mabel woke up. She had to on her own or the healers could do more damage to her brain than good.

"I have the strongest healer and knights," Ian said after the doctor left and we were allowed into the room Mabel was in. "Kathy, would you stay with her at my residence? She will feel more comfortable that way." He met my gaze before I could even object. "Just at least while we figure out what is going on with her family and how she wants to handle the situation."

I sighed but nodded. We couldn't ban the Sunde family from the capital, and depending on how Mabel reacted publicly, they could make more problems for her. She had bought a business, and the relaunch of it under a new name was going to happen in a few weeks.

"And I mean no insult to your officers because they are the best," Ian muttered after Kathy and I agreed. He shot a look to Colin as if asking for backup.

"It reached our ears that she's hiring officers who are not on active duty meaning they are injured and have weaknesses," Colin said.

I swore several times and then apologized to his sister who waved it off, clearly having heard the language before. "There is one active duty officer on her detail. It's someone who wants extra income on their day off." I froze in what I was about to say.

Where was that third guard? I'd only seen the two who weren't on active duty.

I walked out of the room and found them, one being treated for what Mabel's brother had done to his injured shoulder. I realized Colin was with me, guessing Ian and Kathy had stayed to watch over Mabel.

"Where was the third of you?" I demanded.

"His wife went into labor, Commander," the one being treated groaned. "Right as we arrived at the grand duke's ink factory, a messenger arrived to say she went into labor a week early. The countess gave him leave because she promised we were only going there and back to the townhouse. We did. The messenger came from the bank right as we arrived and…"

Talk about bad timing.

"I am sorry, Commander," the other officer whispered. "We should have switched with the officers you brought. We—the countess was so upset. We just thought to get those people away from her, but then others came in and—"

"I made the same mistake going for the bank manager before he could retreat into his office," I forgave. "And then a nosy bastard wanted to get a better view of her hurt and the chaos and got in my way. You cannot expect something that ridiculous. We do better next time and make sure to remove her even if we think the threat is low."

"Yes, sir," they both agreed.

What a mess. I glanced at Colin and saw he felt the same. I told my officers to get better and I'd keep them updated on Mabel before we went to her room… And spent some of the most painful hours of my life waiting for her to wake up and assure us that she was going to be okay.