Page 36 of The Billionaire's Royal Crown

“Let us hope,” Elena said.

Caroline rose and retrieved her handbag, handing it off to Elena as she strode to the door. “Thank you, Caroline. See you soon.”

Her ladies’ maid offered her a smile and a nod as she stepped into the hall. She froze as the door clicked closed behind her, her features twisting into a frown.

“Hello, Elena,” Julian said with a smirk.

The air chilled as he stepped closer, his voice dripping with ominous delight.

“What do you want?” she demanded.

He wiggled his eyebrows. “I have some news I wanted to share. And I thought you should be the first to know.”

Her pulse raced as he said the words, his voice filled with the haughtiness that belied a coup he thought he had. What bombshell would he drop now?

CHAPTER 10

NATE

Nate paced the floor of the library, his lower lip aching from the amount of gnawing he’d already done on it. Stephen’s admission about leaving the house and going near Chloe’s apartment last night had been enough to put him over the edge.

But the second bit of information had sliced at him like a knife. “Mom was there.”

His heart thudded against his ribs again. What was his mother doing at Chloe’s in the middle of the night…just before the woman was murdered?

He didn’t want to suspect the woman who had raised him to be kind, compassionate, and caring, but Chloe had come close to ruining the lives of both of her sons. Had she snapped and wanted to put a stop to it before things got worse?

He ran a shaky hand through his hair, wondering if they’d be facing a trouble none of them had ever seen coming.

His father fully expected Stephen to be a suspect, but what if surveillance video made his mother the target.

With a shaky hand, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pressed the call button next to Elena’s name.

She answered after two rings, the sound of her familiar voice already easing the tension between his shoulder blades. “Nathan, how are you? Has there been any developments?”

“Yeah, I…really needed someone to talk to. I’m sorry to dump this on you, but–“

“You’re not dumping anything, darling. We’re a team.”

He turned sharply, his footsteps sinking silently into the thick, ornate rug that sprawled across the library’s floor. “Right.”

“What’s happened? Has Stephen been accused?”

“No, uh…not yet. But…”

“Nathan?” she prodded gently.

He froze, sliding his eyes closed as he tried to find the strength to say the words aloud. “Stephen admitted he went out last night–to Chloe’s. He swears he never went inside.”

“Oh, no. Do you believe he was caught on any cameras? Will the police assume he was involved?”

He inhaled sharply, his hand clutching at the fabric over his stomach as a tight knot of anxiety twisted within. “I’m not sure, but there’s something else.”

“What is it?”

“He says while he was there, he saw someone else at Chloe’s.”

“Oh,” her voice said, sounding hopeful, “well, that’s a good thing, right? There is another suspect then.”

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