Their relationship.
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE RIDE BACK to the palace was tense and silent.
However, the scene awaiting Annabelle was anything but.
They didn’t even make it past the great foyer before her father, followed by the king, confronted her. One glance at Grayson told her that she was in this alone. He wouldn’t look at her, much less speak to her. They were acting like she’d planned for all of this to happen. All she’d wanted were some long-overdue answers. Was that so bad?
Speaking of answers, she didn’t even get a chance to tell them that she finally had them—she knew what had happened—before her father launched into a heated speech.
“How could you do this?” Her father’s face was flushed and his arms gestured as he spoke. “I thought I could trust you. And here you go, sneaking around, risking your safety.”
“You don’t understand—”
“Oh, I understand.” Her father frowned at her before stepping in front of Grayson, who at least had the common sense to stay quiet during this confrontation. “And you, I expected more of you. And yet, you let my daughter go off recklessly without her security—”
“That was not my doing.” Grayson’s voice rumbled with agitation. “At least it wasn’t intentionally. We both got wrapped up in a heated conversation. By the time I realized that Annabelle had forgotten proper protocol, we were almost at the landmark.”
Her father’s voice echoed throughout the foyer. “How could you not realize you were leaving without any security?”
Grayson and her father glared at each other. Jaws were tight. Hands were clenched.
The king cleared his throat. “We were just really worried about you when your bodyguard reported that you’d slipped off without notifying anyone.”
Her father’s mouth opened, but before he could utter another angry word, Annabelle said, “And how exactly did you find us if my security wasn’t following me?”
Her father paused. He averted his gaze. She knew this reaction. She’d seen it in the past when he’d done something that he knew his family would not approve of.
“Poppa, what is it? What did you do?”
His gaze met hers. “It was for your own good. I knew you were out of control and that things might end badly. I had to protect you.”
“Poppa, out with it.”
He sighed. “After I learned that you stole your mother’s journal—”
“Borrowed.”
“Fine. Borrowed. I knew there was a possibility that you’d get caught up in the past and you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself—you’d have to follow the clues.”
“Of course. How could you expect me not to?”
“Well, I wasn’t about to let you go off and get yourself hurt so I installed a tracking device in your purse and your car, as well as a tracking app on your phone. I wasn’t taking any chances.”
Annabelle checked her phone. “You really did. How could you?”
“What? You’re attacking me. My forethought is what saved your life.”
Annabelle reached for Grayson’s hand, craving his strength and the knowledge that they were in this together. Her fingers brushed over the back of his hand. She was just about to curl her fingers around his when he moved his hand behind his back out of her reach.
When she glanced his way, Grayson was staring straight ahead. She couldn’t look into his eyes. She had no way of discovering why he had gone from being so helpful at the landmark to completely shutting down now that they were back at the palace. And the little voice in the back of her mind was warning her this was something different from his confrontation with her father. This thing, whatever it was, had to do with her and her alone.
She turned back to her expectant parent. “Mr. Drago wasn’t going to hurt us.”
When the king spoke, his voice was hollow as though he were in shock. “Drago, he admitted everything to you?”
Annabelle nodded. “I had to push him a bit, but in the end, it all came out.”