King Frederick said nothing, but the tension in the room pulled taught. Clearly Daphne and her father had discussed this previously, and it didn't take any of Jacob's extensive training in reading body language to know that it hadn't gone well.
"He always assumed that he would get to have that conversation with my future husband, but... he didn't." There was no regret – or much of any emotion – in her tone. The absolute control she'd maintained over her emotions since they'd climbed off of the plane fascinated him. He was used to it among his colleagues, but he had never experienced it from a civilian in exactly this way. His eyes carefully studied the muscles in her face, looking for tells.
Whether she disliked the scrutiny or just wanted to redirect his attention, Daphne sat up and leaned toward the computer monitor in front of her. "What day was that posted? Exactly a week ago?"
Jacob glanced back down at the timestamp. "It just says 'one week ago.' I'm sure there's a more specific time stamp somewhere." His mind flashed to Marcus bragging loudly about how he had hacked most social media sites by the time he graduated high school. "Why?"
"Gus didn't propose until the eighth. Which means there's a chance that this person knew about the proposal before I did. Before any of us did."
The room went so still that Jacob's ears nearly rang with the lack of sound. It was like the aftermath of an explosion all over again.
It took Jacob a moment to realize that the king hadn't said anything in quite a while. He glanced back at his commander. It appeared that the older man was waiting for them to figure this out themselves.
"So does that mean the person behind this is... Gus?" Jacob felt inexplicably awkward calling the movie star by his well-known nickname.
The king shook his head. "We've cleared Gus and..." he cleared his throat, "the other woman as well."
"Wait." Daphne held up one hand in her father's direction, as though her hand would physically stop the words coming out of his mouth. "When did you do a background check on... her?" The emphasis on the final word fell with an almost-audible thump in the room. Jacob wondered if he could politely excuse himself to allow them the opportunity to talk.
The king just sighed.
Daphne closed her eyes, her face turning an odd almost-green. Jacob wondered if she was going to throw up. "So you knew that he was... involved with her. Before last night?"
The king nodded. "We did."
We. Jacob winced internally, forcing himself to remain perfectly still. He wasn't about to let on that he'd been in Rome for that exact reason.
"And you chose not to tell me." .
"We thought it best to let the situation play out. I was worried that if I told you before you were ready to hear it, you would never forgive me."
Daphne stood up and started pacing. Jacob wished King Frederick would dismiss him so he could do something with his own emotions.
"How long were you going to let me be blissfully happy in a lie? Would you have let me walk down the aisle? Get married to him and find out for myself? Or did you all somehow know that he would be forced to come clean on national television and that would be the end of everything?" Her voice broke slightly on the last syllable.
"I don't think it was the right decision in hindsight," the king admitted. "We assumed that he would eventually get caught. Or else that he would confess, and then it wouldn't matter when we knew. But..." He trailed off and no one bothered to finish the sentence.
YOU ARE READING
The Elite (Romantic Suspense)
Romansa"Keep your head down," he said. "I don't like what's going on in there." Daphne leaned forward until she was almost bent in half, cheek pressed against the satin skirt of her gown. "What is happening in there?" she managed after a moment. And who ar...
