Page 41 of Surrender
“She isn’t Betsy Carson. She’s not the First Daughter.”
Disbelief and anger flooded him.
“Impossible.” Merokk jumped to his feet. “I’ve seen numerous pictures of Betsy Carson.”
“The real Betsy Carson ran away to escape marriage to you. Apparently, American officials panicked when they couldn’t locate her in time for the wedding. They found a woman who very closely resembles Betsy to take her place.” Penka ran a hand through his hair. “The real Betsy, however, was just discovered in Vermont and arrested for treason. I know this news must be shocking, but I want you to calm down. Whoever this replacement is—”
Merokk scoffed, cutting off his father. “You’ve just informed me that the human female I married is an imposter, and you’re telling me to calm down?”
“I do not know all the details yet, as this situation is unfolding, but I suspect the American officials coerced Betsy—the fake Betsy—into marrying you.”
“Yoususpect?” Merokk asked in a mocking tone. “How charitable of you. This imposter is a criminal.”
Penka rose to his full height and shot a dark look at Merokk. “I must leave now to attempt to smooth over this situation, as it is a very delicate matter. After all, your union with Betsy was an important part of the treaty. I suggest you speak with your bride—and yes, sheisyour bride. If you exchanged vows and consummated the marriage, she is indeed yours, whether she wed you under a false name or not.”
Betrayal was a sharp pain that sliced through Merokk’s chest.
The room spun around him, and he took a deep breath to regain his bearings.
An imposter. The woman he’d married was an imposter.
All these weeks, these months, she’d been lying to him.
For every moment of every day.
Penka turned to leave, but he paused in the doorway. “I’d started to think of her as a daughter. This wounds me too, though I know you are suffering far more than I am. But you must calm yourself before you confront your wife. Don’t do anything rash.”
“What are you afraid I might do?” Merokk asked with a snarl. “Throw her onto the streets? Cut out her lying tongue? Give her the sound thrashing she deserves?” The instant he finished spouting such threats, that damnable emotion known as guilt surged in his chest.
Fluxx. He might give her a sound thrashing, he might even take a leather strap to her bottom, but he would never go beyond that. Whoever she was, he still felt overly protective of her. Perhaps that was the reason for his building anger. Because he’d grown to care for her, damn her, and she’d ripped out his heart. There was an aching hollowness in his chest where that particular organ used to reside.
Penka spun and his eyes flashed with fury. “I know you have a temper, Merokk,” he said in a cutting tone. “But you also have a brain. I suggest you use it. Do not take your fury out on your wife. You will not cause her any serious harm. Consider that an order, if you must.”
Merokk raged inside. The world had become sheathed in a layer of red so thick that he barely saw his father depart the room. He slammed his fist upon his desk and the wood splintered in fragments.
Then he exited his study, intent to find his imposter of a wife.
May her God save her from his wrath.
Chapter 24
Fiona checkedher appearance in the mirror and applied a layer of lip gloss. She ran a hand through her hair and turned around slowly once, making sure her outfit looked okay. Even after months of wearing Betsy’s clothes, she still sometimes felt like a stranger in them.
She checked the time and rushed to put on her shoes. Layla would be arriving soon, and Rentzaq would escort them to the café they’d taken to frequenting.
Just as she exited her closet, Merokk burst into the bedroom, his eyes blazing with dark, unrestrained fury.
She gasped and her stomach dropped as she regarded her livid husband. His gaze was fixed squarely on her, with an accusing stare that pelted her with guilt and shame.
Icy fear settled in her veins, and she imagined she heard the audible crash of her whole world collapsing around her.
Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God.
He knows.
She took a step back, but there was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. He had her trapped, and she’d never seen him look so furious before. And beneath the anger she glimpsed in his eyes, there was something else, something raw and wild.
Heartbreak?
