Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

S elena

Days had passed. Ones of darkness and anxiety.

Sadness and trepidation.

Tragedies and sorrows had a way of bringing out the best or worst in people.

With Valerio, the verdict was out.

Yes, he'd gone out of his way to make me feel like a part of his family, including helping me pack my things inside my small apartment, arranging for a moving van for what little I'd wanted to bring with me and helping me settle into his gorgeous beach house.

He'd called his attorney, arranging for a meeting between the man and myself so I could put my codicils into place, no questions asked.

Hell, he'd even set up a special bank account in my name only, already depositing one point five million dollars with promise of access to the family accountant to ensure there weren't too many tax ramifications.

But he'd been cold, completely unemotional since our return. Not a tear shed. Not a glass thrown across the room in a fit of rage. Nothing.

He'd provided me with my own suite at his house, including a room used as my exclusive office. Meanwhile, his bedroom was located on the opposite end of the house where he'd remained in the five days since our return.

Not forcing me to surrender.

Not making demands of any kind.

And certainly not sharing one moment of romance.

Yes, he'd admitted he wasn't a romantic under the best of times, but I'd never expected him to shut down so completely. It was as unnerving as him being dead set on finding a killer. There'd been so many details about the funeral, so any aspects about business he'd been forced to deal with that we'd yet to delve into his father's computer files. However, Gilly had allowed us to remove the man's private laptop from the estate the day we'd returned.

It sat in my office, neither one of us finding the energy to even open the lid. Maybe later today after the funeral was over and the visit with my father had been completed.

The other thing that I'd been reminded of more than once but had no real interest in was planning a wedding. However, the circumstances had changed and we needed to carefully put everything together in a quicker timeframe. I was sick inside thinking about how everything was a ruse.

I wasn't that kind of girl.

Then again, I wasn't certain who I was any longer.

The air felt stagnant on a usually gray day in San Diego where the sun seemed to almost always shine.

Unless the Santa Ana winds were blowing.

Even the air smelled of gloom, as if disaster was right around the corner.

While Gilly had insisted on a church service where at least two hundred attendees had come to pay their last respects, the smaller gravesite service was less formal and more about family and closest business associates and friends.

I'd never felt so lost, the smell of money thick in the air. It wasn't that I wasn't used to being around rich people from time to time given my parents' wealth, but I couldn't help but feel like a fraud.

"Are you okay?" Valerio whispered.

How could I be? Gilly was crying, her face covered in a black veil. All three brothers were somber, dressed in Armani suits. There were even tears being shed from people I had no clue about. Yet everything seemed odd, as if this was all a dream.

"I'm fine," I whispered, more cognizant than ever people were watching us. My skin was crawling.

"We'll get through this."

We. I wasn't entirely certain there was a real we other than on paper. I hadn't been able to think straight since the night he'd gotten the phone call on the island. Every day since had been one big blur.

At least Valerio was more like the man I'd enjoyed sparring with and easily surrendering to. Whether or not his more compassionate demeanor was for show or not, I was grateful he'd remained closer. In truth, he hadn't allowed me out of his sight. For that I took some comfort.

And I missed him. God, I missed him.

How could I be thinking that when his father was about to be buried?

We were standing close to the gravesite, his hand firmly planted on the small of my back as the minister said the last few words.

"O God, by whose mercy the faithful departed find rest, bless this grave, and send your holy angel to watch over it. As we bury here the body of our brother, deliver his soul from every bond of sin, that he may rejoice in you with your saints forever. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen," he said just a few seconds later.

"Amen," the small crowd said collectively.

As I lifted my head, I could see so many people studying me, uncertain of who could be with the great Valerio Royal. We were the talk of the town, so to speak, condolence calls also mentioning the bright and beautiful young woman by his side.

It was everything I'd expected.

And almost nothing I wanted.

I longed for a quiet night making dinner together and sitting by the fire with an open bottle of wine. I doubted that was going to happen any time soon. I knew Valerio's single-minded focus would continue until all the clues were unraveled.

As people started to approach to give their additional rounds of condolence, I broke away, hoping to find a few minutes to myself.

"Don't go far," Valerio told me. "I will hunt you down." While his smile seemed genuine, a moment of lust popping into his eyes, I couldn't be certain he wasn't just being the good actor like I was.

I thought about one of my mom's old sayings.

Reality is where dreams come to die.

"Where can I go?"

He winked and accepted hugs from a couple of the women who'd approached. I moved away, heading toward the closest shade tree. Even though it was a cloudy day, it was still warm. Or maybe I remained numbed from the past couple of weeks. As I checked my watch, the realization I'd be forced to confront my father, telling him my joyous news was hitting me harder than I'd expected.

I stared down at the ring Valerio had insisted on buying. I'd suggested zirconium. He'd laughed at me, telling me no wife of his would ever wear anything fake.

He hadn't paid enough attention to items in my jewelry box. I'd never been a jewels and expensive watch kind of girl. My entire life I'd preferred funky and vivid, the more subtle watch I was wearing the only one that seemed suitable for the black dress he'd also insisted on purchasing.

Along with all the other new pieces in my wardrobe from suits to slinky dresses, evening gowns to a few more expensive pairs of jeans. I'd insisted on those. You couldn't turn an ugly duckling into a princess overnight.

At least that's what I'd always thought of myself.

A sudden presence moving in front of me prickled my senses. I held my breath as I lifted my head. Seeing Gage, the youngest of the three brothers, I smiled even though I was uncertain what his brothers thought of our scheme or how they'd handle my sudden family interference.

"You can relax, Selena. I only bite those who seriously request it." He rolled his eyes when I missed his joke. "My poor attempt at lightening the mood. You look very uncomfortable."

"That's because I am. I don't belong here, Gage."

"Not true. I've heard you are quite skillful on so many levels. Business wise, of course."

His grin made me smile. I liked this guy. He was less grumpy than my future husband. "We're compatible."

"Don't sell yourself short. Even during these circumstances, Valerio has never been so happy or relaxed."

"How can you tell? By his constant clenched jaw or his gruff demeanor?"

He laughed, although he obviously was doing his best to keep his voice low. "He's a complicated man and always has been."

"Because of his cancer?"

His eyes opened wide. "I didn't know if he'd tell you."

"I think I pried it out of him, like I have almost every other scrap of information. When we're not bickering, we're…" I had to look away.

"He really does like you, Selena. A rarity."

"Oh, come on. He's had his pick of any woman he wanted, in this town or the entire country."

"Yeah, well, let me give you a hint. Don't believe everything you read in the press. Successful men not only don't make good partners, they also attract some wackos."

"O-kay. That doesn't bode well for my pretend marriage."

His smile was quite infectious, allowing me to notice the same dimples Valerio had. They were definitely brothers.

Before he had a chance to say anything, a man approached. He was wearing sunglasses even on this dark day.

"Gage," he said, acknowledging the other Royal.

"Timothy," Gage said. There was obvious recognition, but I wasn't certain if they were on friendly terms or not. "This is Serena Michaels."

"Yes, I was finally told the news. Congratulations are in order. I understand your father is Caldwell Michaels."

"Yes, I am his very proud daughter." I held out my hand, trying to figure out if the man had a tone in his voice or not. "And I am Valerio's fiancée." I didn't sugarcoat it or lay on the lovey-dovey shit. Right now was the time for prudence until Valerio and I could figure out who we trusted.

"I imagine you are. I respect the work your father has done with Task Force United. I often mentioned him to Sebastian, your father's work ethic top notch."

"Which is why I'm proud to be working with him."

"Selena, this is Timothy Carter, another vice president of Progressive Media Productions."

"Well, I would say the only vice president given Valerio will be formally named president by the board later this week," Timothy said.

"Yes, he will." Gage was still devoid of any emotion. I gathered they weren't friends.

However, I couldn't help but notice the excessive tension in the air.

"We'll all need to discuss the New York firm," Timothy added.

Gage bristled. "Now isn't the time or the place."

"You're right. Anyway, I wanted to offer my congratulations even though this is such a difficult time," Timothy added.

"Thank you very much. I hope to give Valerio all the support he needs," I told him.

"He's a lucky man. I'll talk to you soon, Gage. I need to pay my respects to your mother."

Gage did nothing but nod.

"Good guy or bad guy?" I asked after Timothy had left.

"He's been in the company for years, always loyal, always right there when Pops needed him. Good guy."

"Then why don't you like him?"

His smile returned. "Valerio said you don't miss much. We competed for the same woman, believe it or not."

"Well, if it's any condolence, you should have won hands down."

"I like you. Sadly, I didn't win but I have a feeling the two are made for each other. Let me know if there's anything I can do for the wedding or for the endeavor. I think you'll like being in this family. Or maybe I should say, I think we'll like having you in it. Sometimes we all need a solid kick in the ass."

Even the way his eyes twinkled lessened the tension.

As he walked away, I took a deep breath. I could do this. I could.

Somehow.

What I'd come to embrace over the last few days was that my acceptance had only some to do with the money in my account or the promises for the future.

My longing to be a member of the family was all about Valerio.

I shivered at the thought.

Valerio had wanted to come with me to meet my father.

In fact, he'd insisted on it, but I'd put my foot down. As much as you could with a man so powerful. However, he had insisted Tony drive me. Since the word was already out about our relationship, on top of everything else, he was on edge.

As I walked into my father's office, he wasn't sitting behind his desk as usual. Instead, he was standing in front of the window with his hands in his trouser pockets.

I closed the door, still uncertain how to broach the conversation.

My father chose to do it for me.

"Did you really not expect that I'd become aware of your upcoming nuptials, Selena?"

Oh, shit. I'd thought I would have enough time.

"From whom?"

He laughed and the sound was as bitter as I'd heard before. "Let's just say the first congratulatory call had been laughable. By the third, I'd paid attention." Turning around, he shook his head slowly. "I didn't ask you to get in bed with the enemy."

"Valerio is no more your enemy than Sebastian Royal was. And he's dead."

"That's what this business can do to you."

"He might have been murdered."

At least that bit of news caught him off guard. "Why in God's name do you think that? He had heart issues."

"He had a heart attack but on his last doctor's visit, he was given a clean bill of health. A month ago." Gilly had allowed me in on the conversation, telling us about all his doctor's visits that she insisted on going to. That's why she'd been so certain his death had been at the hands of some vile asshole. I was beginning to believe there was a much bigger scheme going on than I'd originally thought.

Or obviously my father had for that matter.

"That doesn't mean anything, Selena. You know that."

"Maybe. Maybe not. But toxicology tests are being run postmortem. We will get to the truth."

"Why does it matter to you?"

"Because we need to discover the truth. Which is why I need you to come clean for me, Dad. Have you been threatened?"

"I told you before, there are always threats."

I yanked out my phone, taking three long strides toward him. Thankfully, Braxton had grabbed the threat since Sebastian's assistant had called him first thing. He'd allowed me to take a picture of it as well. "Like this, Dad? And it wasn't the first one Sebastian had received. He was hiding the previous ones from his sons as well. You need to tell me who you think is threatening you."

I could easily tell when my father was holding back something, which was exactly what he was doing now. Whatever tactic was being used had pushed him hard. He looked exhausted, frail even.

"No, you need to tell me why you're marrying that son of a bitch."

I reminded myself that my father was supposed to remain in the dark for now. "Because I care about him."

"Bullshit. I don't know how you two met but I can only imagine he swooped in after realizing you were my daughter. You should know better. You're a highly intelligent woman, for fuck's sake." He was red in the face.

"I might not have the best record with men, but I know when I care about someone and you know what? It's my choice. I'll be thirty in a couple years. I think I might be able to figure out what's best for myself."

He shook his head. "You don't know the Royal men like I do."

"That's right. You and Sebastian used to be friends. Didn't you?" When he glanced away, I took a deep breath. "Something you just neglected to tell me?"

"It doesn't matter. That was a long time ago."

"Really, Dad? I'm no fool. I know this business better than you think I do. My guess is that the two of you were supposed to start a business together years ago but things went south. Isn't that right?"

He glared at me. "You just don't understand."

"Maybe not. What I do know is that someone is out to take down both companies and Valerio and I are determined not to allow that to happen. Now you can either help me, your daughter, in that endeavor or not, but you will allow me to do my job, the one you hired me for."

"Don't be a fool, daughter."

This was getting taxing. "Is there a firm snooping around? Did they make an offer or worse, go to the board members trying to push you into something you don't want to do?"

I could tell by the surprise in his eyes that Valerio had been right.

"Jesus, Dad. You're playing with fire. Allow me to help you get to the bottom of what the hell is going on."

"I will not allow you to steal my trade secrets because of your new husband."

"Did you really just accuse me of being disloyal to my own family? Are you serious?"

"Often love is a factor that can change everything, Selena. However, keep in mind that marriages aren't always what they are cracked up to be. Only blood matters."

I had ugly words on the tip of my tongue but reminded myself he was my father. Good or bad, he was blood. "Maybe so, Dad, but my fiancé and I are committed to finding out who threatened Sebastian, who is likely the person doing the same to you. You can either confide in me or not but I'm going to find out one way or the other."

"Not at my expense."

"Meaning what?" The way the conversation was going was exactly what I'd been afraid of.

"Meaning I'm sorry, Selena, but I will no longer need your assistance in my company."

I couldn't have been more shocked. "You're firing me?"

"Since you insist on getting into bed with my enemy, I feel it necessary to do so. I do wish you well in your endeavors."

The coldness in his tone, the way he was blowing me off took my breath away. "That's not fair."

"As I always tried to teach you, nothing in life is fair. It's what you make of it. I think you know the way out."

To say I was dazed was barely adequate. I tried my best to keep my composure but as soon as I managed to walk out his office room door, closing it behind me, I burst into tears.

What was I supposed to do now?