A Love that Endures 3 Read online

  Stunt driver? That didn’t make much sense.

  “What about the hire itself? Does it look suspicious? I can’t imagine why the king and queen’s palace staffer would want to roll the dice with someone who doesn’t have chauffeur experience.”

  David glanced up at his father, who was looking at him inquisitively. Then he looked around once more to make sure he wasn’t being listened in on.

  “He does have chauffeur experience, Señor. Several years of it, working for a Chinese company that now appears to be defunct. I wasn’t able to trace his employment back to any HR or public record, so it’s hard to verify. Could be fabricated.”

  “Is there any way to prove that this could be traced back to . . .” David looked around again and lowered his voice further, wondering if the man he’d just noticed was merely a curious tabloid reader, or something more sinister. “You-know-who?”

  “Not definitively. All I could find was that Cassie was photographed touring one of the Bollywood film sets that Horace worked on. But that’s tenuous, at best.” She sounded unsure.

  “Okay. Thank you for this information, Mia,” David replied. All of it was weird, definitely sketchy, but it didn’t quite scream danger to him. Now more than ever it was imperative that he speak to Katy, so they could work through the details together. Was Katy’s intuition right? Was there more evidence to the story that David wasn’t seeing?

  “One last thing, Señor.”

  David paused, clutching the phone tightly.

  “Get in touch with the driver that this man is replacing before he leaves the country. And your friend in the camp, make sure you don’t lose contact with him either.”

  Knowing where Mia was going, David sighed. “It’s still just the word of several disgraced and disgruntled employees against a member of the royal family. I don’t know if it would do any good.”

  “Sí, Señor. But trust me: we need all of the help we can get at the moment.”

  David agreed and ended the call. As Marcos eyed him curiously, Mia’s words hung in his head.

  They needed all the help that they could get because Cassie was currently playing the game too well. Even if they foiled one plan, she didn’t seem likely to just give up. If Katy’s wariness about her parents’ new driver turned out to be for a good reason, they couldn’t take a chance until they’d figured this out. They couldn’t guarantee their safety and happiness until Cassie’s full plan was revealed.

  And David didn’t know how they were going to do that.

  32

  Katy

  Cassie had always been overprotective. She had a lifelong habit of refusing to let Katy be alone, even if she just needed time to think. So her constant presence wasn’t necessarily out of the ordinary.

  But with the new suspicions and fears in Katy’s mind, she no longer felt like her cousin’s presence was just sympathetic.

  She felt like she was under watch.

  After Katy’s accidental outburst following the announcement of her cousin’s pending title, Cassie had seemed so concerned for her. She’d checked on her in the restroom and insisted upon spending the night with her, ostensibly to talk through Katy’s emotions about her cousin’s new status in life.

  Earlier in the week, Katy would’ve been touched by her cousin’s concern, even if she really did need her alone time. But now she wasn’t so sure. Her mind was still spinning from her realizations. It felt like she lived in a new reality, where she was finally aware that huge parts of her life were lies.

  And her entire relationship with Cassie felt like one of them.

  “C’mon, hon. It’s obviously bothering you on some level. Boris and your parents said the same thing,” her cousin said back at the palace, after walking Katy to her room and then lingering in the doorway. “And right after you talked to David? I just hope he didn’t lie to you.”

  Katy’s mind worked through her cousin’s every word carefully now. Does she always insinuate that my thoughts are planted like this? Because it definitely works. Is this something she learned in psychology classes at Harvard? Or just a natural skill?

  “And I never want marriages or titles to come between us,” Cassie went on. “So let’s get it all out in the open and work through it.”

  Cassie made it sound like Katy was upset about her title and her marriage, as opposed to the fact that it looked like she had received a title as payment for something unknown to Katy. And, of course, there was the glaring red alert that she had probably gotten a loyal employee fired because he’d disobeyed her shady commands. It was all too convenient.

  But her insinuation that it’s personal makes me feel guilty. Is this how she has always operated? Come to think of it, I’ve always felt a tinge of guilt any time we don’t agree on something . . .

  Katy wanted to be alone, to work through her tangled thoughts and try to determine whether her immediate response to the strange announcements at dinner was overblown. But she had already way overused the “I just need some time to be alone and think” excuse. She knew how important it was that she keep up appearances for David’s safety. So she had no choice.

  “Of course you can stay,” she said.

  But I’ll be listening very closely to what you have to say.

  Cassie came in and walked to Katy’s sitting room before casually plopping herself down on a sofa. Katy followed.

  “It meant so much to me that the king and queen were willing to do this,” Cassie started. “With the title, I mean. I don’t know if I’ve ever outright said it, but for a while now I’ve felt a bit overlooked.”

  Katy’s mind thought back to all of the little put-downs and negative comments Cassie had slipped into their conversations through the years. Katy always assumed that it was simply due to Cassie’s lack of filter. But perhaps not. Perhaps it had been intentional, all along.

  Was it all a reaction to this? To feeling . . . overlooked?

  “But of course I’d turn it down if it upsets you, Katy. I hope you know that.”

  More guilting.

  Katy put on her well-practiced princess smile and shook her head. “Of course I don’t want that, Cass. I’m so happy for you.”

  Cassie didn’t look convinced. Maybe because she knows what it looks like when I’m acting. Do I know what she looks like when she’s acting? I thought I did, but . . .

  “Then what’s wrong? What happened at the restaurant? You didn’t exactly seem happy for me.”

  And you didn’t exactly seem surprised to hear about the king and queen’s gift. It almost seemed like you expected it . . . like you had negotiated it yourself, perhaps.

  “Is this because I dropped my glass?” Katy asked coyly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take away from a happy moment. I’ve just been so jittery since everything happened at the party.”

  “You mean your conversation with David?” Cassie asked expressionlessly. It was so hard to tell whether she was being sincere, concerned, prying . . . or manipulative. Leading Katy’s thoughts back to blaming David.

  Has it always been like this?

  “Cass, no,” Katy replied quickly and, hopefully, convincingly. “I told you. That was a mistake.”

  She cast her eyes down and tried to look remorseful. “You were totally right. I saw through his lies as soon as he started talking. I just needed to see him to realize it. I think I’m finally going to be able to move on from that.”

  It felt so strange to lie to her best friend, but she couldn’t silence the little voice inside of her that told her something was wrong. That something wasn’t what it appeared. That Cassie wasn’t who she’d always thought she was.

  Cassie stared at Katy for a few tense seconds after she cranked up the acting, and Katy wondered if she had overdone it. But then she patted her hand in a way that seemed so compassionate and loving.

  The gesture made her skin clammy. Was Cassie so messed-up and manipulative that she was able to hold Katy’s hand and fake concern so effortlessly?

  “Well,�
�� her cousin said, tucking a piece of short blonde hair behind her ear. “I guess that’s that, then. I’ll let you get some sleep.”

  When Cassie began to rise from the sofa, a thought occurred to Katy. And suddenly she wasn’t as keen on being alone anymore.

  “Actually,” she said quickly. “How about a movie or something before bed? I’ve been pretty wound up. Could use my best friend here to calm my nerves.”

  If Cassie was on to Katy’s newly formed plan, she was an even better actress than Katy. “Yeah, that sounds fun,” she replied casually.

  Too casually? Katy was already mentally exhausted from trying to answer all of her own questions.

  They moved to Katy’s bed and began streaming a rom-com, something they’d done many times before. But this time felt quite different.

  “Can’t believe Edward was thieving from my parents,” Katy started in an offhand way, hoping to get some sort of clue out of her cousin without sounding too interested or involved. She’d never believed the charges against the longtime chauffer for a second. “What a bastard.”

  Cassie shrugged. “Some people aren’t who you expected. It’s a shame all around.”

  Katy cast furtive glances over at her cousin beside her on the bed as they talked. If Cassie was lying, it was impossible to tell by her face alone.

  “I hope this new guy is better,” she said casually, going in for another round. “Do you know anything about him?”

  Katy listened to the bland account her cousin gave of the man, citing secondhand sources, and tried not to look like she was memorizing the details.

  Later, after Cassie fell asleep sitting up in bed, Katy managed to sneak off one quick text to David: “New driver’s name is Horace Jensen. Dutch.”

  * * *

  The next morning wasn’t much better. Cassie lingered in Katy’s room, and Katy was far too nervous to ask to be alone.

  What if she thinks I know, but she’s not sure yet? Anything I do or say could tip the scales against me.

  “So,” her cousin said, pouring herself a cup of tea from the silver tray that the palace staff brought every morning, “I noticed that you didn’t talk about Oliver much last night. Why wasn’t he at dinner?”

  Katy tried not to look surprised by the question, as if it truly had a simple answer. But internally she fretted some. How much did Cassie already know? Is she testing me now?

  “We had a bit of a row, to be honest,” Katy replied; a half-truth. No use pretending that things were totally okay. For one, because Katy found it easier to lie when she was merely exaggerating details. But also because if Cassie already knew about the breakup, then lying outright would shoot Katy’s reliability out of the window.

  “Oh, no. Katy. Is everything okay between you guys?” Cassie brought a cup of tea for her cousin. Her voice still sounded so normal, so unassuming. It only served to make Katy less resolute in her convictions.

  Until the little hints of manipulation began to ring in Katy’s ears again.

  “He’s just so good for you. And your engagement makes everyone so happy,” Cassie went on.

  Everything she says seems designed to make me feel a little guilty. It’s probably been eating away at me for years! She’s probably been lying for almost our entire relationship.

  But two could play at that game.

  “We’ll be fine,” Katy lied with a shrug. “He knew that I needed to put things to rest with David, once and for all. And it hurt his feelings, so we’re taking some space apart for a few days. But now that I know who the better choice is . . . well, I’m going to try to patch things up with him. Obviously.”

  Cassie nodded and sipped from her tea, keeping her eyes on Katy through the motions. Katy felt the fine hairs on her arms stand on end. Being around Cassie was so unsettling now, like she could see through the thin layers of faux tenderness that she’d once been so utterly fooled by.

  Now it was like being around an entirely different person: a total fraud.

  “I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end,” her cousin said in a suddenly chipper tone. “He’s crazy about you. And I know you’ll be very happy.”

  Is that how you negotiated your title? Because I was engaged to a man who wasn’t David? Is that why you tried to claim him all those years ago at Harvard, too? How could you?

  Katy remembered the months of pining after David, believing whole-heartedly that Cassie was falling in love with him, and feeling guilty about her own blossoming feelings. But it could all so easily have been a lie, invented to keep Katy away from David so Cassie could get her title.

  What else had been a deceit? Had it been Cassie who had sent photographers to David and Katy’s secluded picnic evening, releasing the photos which had plagued Katy for years? It hit Katy that if Cassie really was tracking her phone, she would’ve been able to discreetly locate Katy’s secret spot and send somebody a tipoff. David had never been the only logical option.

  Had it been Cassie’s plan all along to pin everything on David and completely isolate Katy?

  And hadn’t it been her parents and Cassie who had pressured her into this relationship with Oliver, telling her that she should surely give him a chance when she’d first wavered at accepting his affections, assuring her that she would slowly grow to love him, and then continuing to put the pressure on her to remain in the relationship despite knowing how unhappy she was?

  And, true to form, Cassie is still doing it.

  “But you know, if things don’t work out . . . well, you should do what makes you happy, hon. If Oliver isn’t it, then that’s okay, too.”

  Katy blinked and muttered a distracted, “Yeah,” before forcing herself to take a sip from her hot cup. But then her whole line of reasoning was put to a stop with that statement. Wait.

  What her cousin had just said didn’t quite make sense. Why would Cassie suddenly stop being concerned about Katy marrying? She’d never voiced such a thought before; not once since Katy met Oliver had she insinuated that there was any option but Katy and Oliver, forever.

  It seemed clear that securing Katy’s marriage was how she had gotten her title in the first place. That’s why she was about to be Lorria’s first-ever duchess for seemingly no reason, right?

  But if that was true, then why had Cassie been so desperate for a title to begin with? And why didn’t she seem to care if Katy married or not now?

  Katy’s thoughts spiraled, and she struggled to maintain her ordinary composure. Since when was Cassie one to suggest a winding mountain path, when she always preferred to fly? Just what did Cassie have planned for her parents in those mountains with their new driver? Was Katy going insane? Or was her screaming gut instinct telling her that something was wrong for a reason?

  “How about breakfast?” her cousin asked with a sweet grin.

  Katy struggled for a moment to respond. She was quickly realizing that she couldn’t lie for a second longer. She couldn’t keep analyzing her cousin’s every expression and statement, struggling to play her part in between. She had to find a way to speak to David. No matter what.

  But she needed to be clever about it.

  She let out a disappointed sigh. “I’m going to try to take a little time to plan what I want to say to Oliver, actually. Hoping to get him to have lunch with me.”

  “Oh, that’s probably for the best,” Cassie replied. But does she believe me? “Well, maybe dinner instead! Just text me when you and Oliver are done.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Katy said. Cassie finished her tea and then hugged Katy goodbye. But Katy felt like she was holding a complete stranger.

  As soon as Cassie was safely out of the room, Katy pulled her second phone out from under the bed. There were several anxious texts from David. She skimmed through them, finding heartwarming accounts of his worry but no updates, before calling him outright.

  “Katy,” David breathed out in relief, his voice a comfort, even over the phone. “I was so worried about you. What happened last night? What . . .”


  “David,” she cut him off. In any other circumstances she would love to listen to his voice all day, but she didn’t know how long she would be alone. “Did you find anything out about the driver?”

  “Some weird stuff, actually. He’s a stunt driver by trade. Mia said she couldn’t confirm his previous chauffeur experience. And there’s a chance that he and Cassie crossed paths in India not too long ago.”

  Katy swallowed hard. The fact that Cassie and Horace could’ve met only served to deepen her suspicions.

  Can Cassie really be behind his hiring? If so, why? Just because she had to get rid of Edward?

  Or because she needs the king and queen to take a long, out-of-character drive with a new employee at the wheel? There’s no way that this is just a coincidence.

  David went on. “But Katy, you’ve got to tell me what this is about. I know you feel strongly that this doesn’t make sense, and that something is wrong here. I agree. But we need more than just intuition to pin this on Cassie.”

  Alone in her room, Katy shook her head and looked down with the phone pressed to her ear.

  “I don’t have any evidence, David. Except for what we both heard Edward tell us last night.” And how can we prove hearsay like that? “But you have to trust me: my parents never drive long distances like that. And it makes no sense that Cassie would recommend a drive right after they hired a new driver. She doesn’t even like road trips. Something is wrong here.”

  “I agree. But what do you think it could be?” David’s voice was patient and understanding. It helped calm Katy’s frazzled nerves.

  “I don’t have that part figured out yet. I mean, maybe she just needs my parents out of the palace for a while. Or maybe she just wants them to spend time alone with this new employee so that they start trusting him. I don’t know. But I have this weird feeling that it’s . . . worse than that.”