Page 101 of Keep Me

“A lie, like everything else he said,” Idris confirms as he looks over his shoulder at us, then back toward the king. “Isn’t that right, Your Highness?”

Fear passes through the king’s face so briefly I nearly miss it, but it’s in that split second of truth that I know he’s been lying this whole time.

“How dare you call your king a liar?”

“Because you are. We have concrete evidence that you only recently found out where Camille was. Most importantly, you lied about needing her to marry to save our country.”

Silence falls upon us as we wait with bated breath to see what happens next.

“I wanted my daughter back.” He tries to appear genuinely distraught as he looks at Camille. “And the country is indeed struggling. That wasn’t a lie,” her father defends, proving it truly wasn’t about missing his daughter, looking more and more like a coward as the seconds tick by.

That’s when Idris drops a bomb no one saw coming. “Ah, but she’s not the solution, not when this country is facing struggles because of your gambling problem.”

Her mother gasps. “Tell me that’s not true.”

Her father falls silent, answering her without saying it outright.

“That’s what I thought,” Idris says. “So you won’t be blackmailing Camille into anything. If you dare to try, I’ll be breaking it to the press that you’re gambling your citizens’ money away. Your only option here is to let her go and leave her alone for good while you do something to figure out how to save the country you are indebted to.”

The queen begins to rub at her temples, seemingly overwhelmed by the news, while the king quietly seethes as he glares at Idris, knowing he’s lost.

“My wife and I are leaving., I suggest you don’t try to stop us,” I warn, gently tugging on Camille’s hand as we exit through the side door.

“I hope you figure it out, my king, because it won’t be us who will save you,” Idris calls out before he too follows us out, along with Mathéo.

“I can’t believe he’d do this,” Mathéo murmurs as we approach the SUV with our friends inside.

Camille sighs, turning to her brother. “I can. My heart breaks for these people, but I don’t know what we can do. I’ll do anything except sacrifice my own happiness. It’s far too precious to gamble.”

“I wouldn’t want you to, sis,” he tells her earnestly. “I’ll figure something out. I’ve always loved helping. No better time to demonstrate that than now.”

“We’ll all help you. Q. We’re family.” I extend my hand out to him, and he takes it instantly, giving me a firm but welcoming grip.

“I’m glad she has you. Take care of her for me.” Mathéo places his hand in mine, giving it a firm hold then releasing it.

“You can always count on that,” I tell him, but my eyes are on her.

“Our team will do some more digging, see what we can find and how we can help,” Idris cuts into the conversation. “And you.” He faces Camille. “I should’ve expected you to run, especially when I told you to stay.”

Camille sags against me for comfort I’m more than willing to provide as I wrap my arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t see any other way and I wasn’t risking anything happening to Ryker.”

“As soon as we found the information, I hopped on the next flight out. It of course helped that I knew Ryker would be saving you from going through with the marriage, but I still needed to get here to make sure your father didn’t manipulate you any further,” Idris explains, looking exhausted from the days of nonstop investigation.

Camille’s eyes water, nose sniffling with unshed tears. “Thank you, Idris, for being the dad I never had.”

Idris cracks a smile, his head shaking. “Thanks for being the child I never knew I wanted. And for never listening, making the experience of parenting that much more real.”

We all chuckle at that, and I feel gratitude toward Idris more than I ever have. Knowing there’s someone who cares about Camille and has her back like this is everything she deserves.

“I should get back in there and do some damage control. We’ll talk soon,” Mathéo says, then hugs all of us, lingering with Camille as they whisper to each other in French.

He leaves, and we all climb into the getaway car where we explain everything that happened inside to our friends.

“Wow, Ry guy, you told off a royal member? That’s ballsy, even for you.” Theo chuckles from the very back seat as Elio drives down the path to the gate.

“Yeah, well, when he put his hands on my wife, I didn’t give a fuck who he was,” I grumble while my fingers gently trace circles on her thigh.

“Shut up!” Jasmine turns from the front passenger seat. “You’re a wife now. I’m so jealous.”

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