Page 114 of Ruthless

But as everyone waited for her to comment, she realized she didn’t have a say. Not really. She couldn’t say no. This was who her family was, and while being named queen had always seemed like only a remote possibility, she had known it could happen.

Trying to be as gracious as possible, Eve said, “With gratitude and humbleness, I will accept the honor of being the future queen of Ile de la Lune.”

Her words were met with nods from Louis and Stephan, a brilliant smile from Jacques, and a teary-eyed, emotional expression from her father.

“Very well,” the king said thickly. He then cleared his throat and said, “We’ll work out the details of the announcement in a few moments. I’ll have a press conference scheduled for Thursday.”

Oh sweet heavens, that was only two days away. Still, there was no point in waiting. She had agreed to do this. The only thing she needed to do now was talk with Gideon. What his thoughts would be, she could not even begin to guess.

“What I’d like to talk about now,” the king said, “is how to inform the country that the Prince of Ile de la Lune was responsible for the attack on our homeland and the murders of his brother, sister-in-law, and nephews.”

“We should do it all at one time,” Eve suggested. “Announce what Alexandre did and then reassure our country that the line of succession is intact.”

Instead of agreeing with her, the king glanced over at his brother briefly. Jacques turned to Eve and said resolutely, “We have an alternative suggestion.”

“All right. What is it?”

His face grim, the king said, “I would announce that there was an unseen complication from the bullet wound Alexandre received. An undetected fragment of the bullet shifted and pierced his heart. He died before he could reach the hospital.”

“Papa, you would lie to the people?”

Her father released a heavy sigh. “It’s not something I take lightly, Lina. For the half century I’ve ruled this country, I have done my utmost to speak only truth, no matter how painful. But I also know that this country is in a vulnerable position. If it’s revealed that the treason came from within our family, not only will we look weak to others who seek to destroy us, inviting them to try, we shake the confidence they have in the monarchy. Your rule will be difficult enough without having this additional burden to bear.”

“And what happens if it’s discovered that Alexandre is alive and imprisoned here at the castle?”

“He’s not at the castle.”

“Where is he?”

“I will share that with you at a later date.”

“I think it’s something we need to discuss now.”

“Very well.” Giving Stephan, Louis, and Jacques a telling look, he said, “Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse us.”

The men stood as one, each offering her sympathetic glances as they passed by.

At the click of the closed door, she turned to her father. “What’s going on?”

“There’s no other way to say this than to just tell you. Alexandre is dead.”

“What? How?”

“He died in his cell last night. When the guard took him his breakfast this morning, he was found hanging.”

“You don’t believe it was suicide?”

“Do you?”

Alexandre had been a sociopath, a personality disorder that didn’t lend itself to suicidal tendencies. However, he had been found out and captured, as well as almost certainly losing the support from the people who were funding his attempted coup. But she knew her brother. Even handcuffed and bloodied, with tape across his mouth, he hadn’t looked defeated. Only arrogant and angry.

“No. I don’t think he would do that. Alex would always think there would be a way out for him.”

“I agree. I spoke with him a few hours after he arrived. There was nothing in his demeanor that would make me believe he would even consider such a thing.”

“Were there cameras?”

“Disabled.”