Page 54 of Husband for the Holidays

“What happened?” she asked in the elevator.

“I finally spoke to Cyrus. He’s standing by to talk with your mother.” He slid a look to the bank employee, reluctant to elaborate until they had privacy. “It won’t fall to you to tell her.”

“Tell her what?” Her eyes widened in alarm, but the doors opened. They were escorted down a carpeted hall, through an open cage door, and into another anteroom where Antoine and her mother were sipping coffee.

“Darling!” Lilja stood, smiling with surprised pleasure as she stepped forward to hug Eloise. “What are you doing here? You’re not putting my ring directly into your own box. No. It hasn’t seen the sun in years. I want you towearit.”

“Actually...um... I’m not sure why we’re here?” Eloise looked to Konstantin.

“Neither am I,” Antoine said with cold precision, holding Konstantin’s hate-filled glare with a staggering amount of audacity.

My fault, Konstantin realized with a fresh kick of guilt.

His neglect of these two women had allowed Antoine to believe he could not only get away with what he’d done, but that he still might.

“I apologize for the delay, Madame Roussea.” The bank manager entered. He dismissed the other employee with a nod, then addressed Lilja. “I’ve had an urgent call from our head of security. He’s requesting you thoroughly examine the contents of your safety deposit box while you’re here to ensure the inventory is exactly as you expect it to be.”

“Goodness...” Lilja touched her collar and looked at all of them in turn. “Has there been a robbery?”

“No,” the manager assured with a calming smile. “Our hope is that this is a false alarm. Will you come with me, please?”

Antoine was sending daggers into Konstantin from his narrowed eyes. Eloise looked as apprehensive as her mother. The room was filled with a charged silence.

“Take your time,” Konstantin said to Lilja, finding as calm a tone as he could. “We’ll stay here with Antoine. I need to speak with him, anyway.”

Still faltering with confusion, Lilja followed the bank manager out.

Konstantin pressed the door closed and pinned the older man with his contemptuous glare.

“I suppose you think you’ve gained the upper hand in some way?” Antoine sneered.

“Not me, no. My fiancée is the one with all the power here. Even more when she turns twenty-five and is entitled to become cotrustee of Lilja’s fortune.”

“I didn’t want to believe he was that rotten.” Eloise grappled for the back of the nearest chair.

Konstantin took a quick step to grasp under her elbow, bracing her.

“Until then, you only have the privilege of consultation and the right to demand a full audit if you feel there is just cause,” he explained. “I would say there’s more than just cause, seeing as Antoine has been withholding your living allowance and all the statements and notifications that you ought to be receiving.”

“Is that why you wanted to marry me off to Edoardo?” she asked Antoine with outrage.

“Now you know whyhewants to marry you,” Antoine scoffed, pointing at Konstantin.

“Nice try,” Konstantin snorted, but was aware of his hand tightening incrementally on Eloise’s arm, feeling under threat at a very primeval level. “I only found out about this today. Cyrus was surprised you didn’t know about these arrangements,” he continued explaining to Eloise. “He sent a letter to you at your mother’s home when he retired, outlining everything in detail. I’m guessing it was waylaid.” Konstantin curled his lip with disgust as he looked to the reason for the letter going astray.

Antoine was stiff and watchful, mouth twitching into a snarl.

“She wasn’t even coming home,” Antoine said as though it was a sensible defense of his actions. “She was behaving as erratically as a drug addict. I was protecting Lilja’s fortune from someone who was not responsible enough to use that money wisely. Now she’s marryingyou? How well do you think that will play in court?”

Antoine’s derisive tone was a poison-tipped arrow directly into Konstantin’s chest. He shouldn’t have been surprised. This particular secret reared its head occasionally, but it always leaked toxins throughout his whole body, turning it to stone. He only wished he’d taken his chance when he’d had it. Eloise had asked him a few days ago, and he’d turned away from the opportunity to bare all. He hadn’t wanted to ruin the day.

Instead, it would ruin her view of him.

He had the old sense of holding something he had desperately wanted and having it snatched from his grasp. Again.

“I do my homework, too.” Antoine’s mouth wore a smile that was nothing but a denigrating stretch of his lips. It sent a chill of premonition through Eloise’s nerves, curdling her breakfast in her stomach.

“See if your mother—” Konstantin began, but Antoine spoke over him in a tone of evil satisfaction.

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