The Soldier and the Princess

Chapter twenty

Silas

Thephonerangonly once before he answered it.

“Silas?” Stone’s voice was strained, sounding more wrecked than I’d ever heard him.

“Tell me what the hell is going on,” I said, with no preamble.

“I have been calling you for half a fuckin’ day, man.” I could hear his frustration, and I tried to rein in my temper a bit.

“The service is spotty at best. We’re pretty high up at the moment and likely just catching a lucky break.” When that seemed to satisfy him, I went on. “What’s this I hear about them thinking they have Penelope.”

Stone sighed. “It’s true. I guess the clerk saw it happen when they were at the shop in Yonkers. She said two masked men came in, asking for the Pennington woman and Daphne just up and volunteered. The woman said she stepped right up and told them she was a Pennington, so they grabbed her and took off. The woman tried to go after them, but the guy fired a gun at her, so she hid. By the time Penelope realized what was going on, they were already gone.”

“Holy shit.” It was starting to make more sense now. Of course Daphne would have stepped up if it meant keeping Penelope safe. That was just the type of person she was: selfless to a fault.

“That’s not all,” Stone went on. “The ransom request finally came in. They want me to step down as CEO of Pennington Hotels. They said if I ever want to see my ‘wife’ again, I needed to announce my resignation by midnight tomorrow.”

“What the ever-lovin’ fuck? You think this is some corporate espionage kind of shit?”

“I don’t know what to think. Mom and Dad have flown in from Texas and we’re talking to all kinds of lawyers and security firms.” From the sounds coming through the phone, I could tell that Stone was leaving whatever room he was in and was headed for somewhere private. That meant he wanted to tell me something, and he didn’t want Penelope to hear it. The last thing he would ever want to do was upset her, especially now that she was pregnant.

“Silas, man, this is fuckin’ crazy. Who in the hell gives one single shit about my position in the company? It’s not like I’m some all-powerful political personality or anything. I’m just a guy, trying to run a company the best way I know how. I don’t have any lawsuits against me, no disgruntled employees I can find—and we’ve looked—not even an angry guest who might hold a grudge. Pennington hotels is a good company, a good place to work. Who would want to do this? Who would want to hurt my wife, man?”

“Stone,” I started, trying, as I always had, to comfort my best friend when he needed me. “We will figure this out. Your only job right now is to keep Penelope safe. That’s it. I will get Daphne back and then we will find the fucks behind this and rain down hell on every single one of them.”

He sighed, but I kept going.

“You will not be stepping down, do you hear me? Pennington Hotels is yours, and no one is ever going to take that away from you.”

“Silas. Please, bring her back to me. There is no one but you I would trust with her.” He paused, and I could hear his deep exhale. “I mean it.”

“I know you do, man.”

We were quiet for a moment—both of us likely remembering all our regrets—before I cleared my throat.

“Is there anything else I need to know? I’m not sure how much longer I’ll get service here.”

“Gideon’s FBI friend, Agent Styles, has been digging for anything she can find, but so far she’s come up empty,” Stone growled. “Hack found some traffic cam footage of what he thinks is the car, but there were no cameras at the actual shop, so he’s been doing his best to extrapolate from the things Daphne told him when he was able to talk to her.”

“Alright,” I said, practically vibrating with the need to get moving. “Well, I think I’m getting close to something here.” I didn’t tell him I actually had no idea if that was true or not. “Keep messaging me when you get new information. Even if they don’t go through right away, I’ll get them whenever I have service again.”

“You got it, man.”

“Kiss your wife for me.”

“I will. Talk to you soon, Silas.”

“You bet,” I responded vaguely, then disconnected the call.

“You didn’t tell him about the gunshot,” Hawthorne stated.

“What good would it have done him if I did? He’s got enough to worry about there without adding more stress.”

Hawthorn looked at me for a moment, his head cocked, before he smiled softly.

“You’re a good friend, Hedge. The best, I’m guessing.”

“I’m not, actually,” I responded gruffly.

“Why would you say that?”

I shook my head, not wanting to get into it. I turned from him, walking at the fastest pace I could manage that wasn’t an all-out run, but Hawthorn didn’t seem inclined to let the topic go.

“I mean, what would make you think that you’re not a good friend? I can see how much you care for him, how much you care for all of them. You’re here, doing this for your girl, his sister, when you could have just as easily sat back and let the authorities handle it.” I scoffed at that, but didn’t respond. “I’m just trying to see what you’re thinkin’ when you say you’re a bad friend. Seems to me like there couldn’t be one better.”

“A good friend would have respected a brother’s wishes,” I ground out, gritting my teeth against the words. “A good friend would have been able to do the one thing that was asked of him, not the exact opposite the second the guy’s back was turned.”

“So this is about her?” he guessed correctly.

“Yes, it’s about her.” It had always been about her.

“Okay, so you fell for his sister. So what?” I could hear the chuckle in his voice. “I’ve seen her picture; she’s a knockout. Could the guy really blame you?”

“You don’t get it.”

“Then enlighten me.”

I said nothing, my feet carrying me along the path as I felt my temper rising.

“I made a promise. The man told me his sister was off limits and I agreed.”

“See, that’s some bullshit, right there,” Hawthorn said, and I turned to look at him. “How can anyone tell you love is off limits? There’s no playbook for that, brother.” I scowled, but didn’t respond. “You can give your head all the rules you want, but your heart? He don’t listen for shit.”

Turning back around, I marched on, turning Hawthorn’s words over in my mind.

He was right, even if I didn’t want to admit it.

I just felt so much anger, and I had no idea what to do about it.

Anger at Hawthorne for not letting the subject drop. Anger at Stone for setting down the stupid rule in the first place. And anger at myself, both for not abiding by Stone’s request and also for not fighting him harder on it when I should have.

Daphne deserved someone who would take on the world for her.

And I meant to show her that I was that man.

Thinking of her now, I remembered again that night. How everything had been so perfect.

Daphne had given me everything, and in my panic, I had given her nothing in return.

I’d live with that shame forever.