The breath caught in Elena’s throat. She’d been so close to making a successful escape. Why had she stopped? Maybe because she knew this would be the last time she would be welcome at the palace. Once word got out about all her ill-advised activities, no one would want her around—most especially Luca.
Steeling herself, she leveled her shoulders, plastered a smile on her face and turned. “Luca, I didn’t hear you approach.”
“And I didn’t hear you say anything about sneaking off into the night.” His dark brows were drawn together.
“Who said I was sneaking away?”
“I did. And you were.”
The smile was getting harder and harder to maintain. “Really, Luca? Sometimes you imagine too much.”
“Don’t try to brush me off. I know you, Elena. You put on a pretty good show this evening for the other guests, but I can see you aren’t happy.”
“Of course I’m happy. I’m honored that your sister still thinks so highly of our childhood friendship to invite me to such an event.”
“Annabelle likes everyone.” And then, as though he realized how that might sound, he added, “But you meant a lot to her, especially when our mother died.”
Elena had tried her best to be there for both Luca and Annabelle, but he’d pushed her away. It was as if overnight Luca had built a wall around himself and no matter how hard she tried, there’d been no scaling that wall. Eventually she gave up.
“I don’t belong here,” Elena said.
“What? Of course you do.”
She wasn’t going to argue with him. Her gaze strayed to the sweeping steps that led to the garden. “I made an appearance, and now it’s time that I go. Please tell your sister I had a good time.”
Luca crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Tell her yourself.”
The abruptness of his comment caught her off guard. “I...I will.” A written message would be so much easier than a phone conversation where inevitable questions would arise. “I’ll drop her a note tomorrow.”
“This isn’t about you fitting in. It’s about us. Isn’t it?”
She met his unwavering gaze. “Why would you think that?”
“Because I really screwed up in Paris. It was all a big mistake. I wasn’t myself that night. And if you give me a chance to make it up to you, I swear it’ll never happen again.”
The more he tried to explain, the more his pointed words poked at her hope that they’d get past this awkward stage. But now she knew the unvarnished truth. And it was worse than she’d thought.
Having no response for him, she turned to continue walking.
“You can’t just walk away,” he called out.
Why did he have to keep pushing? He wasn’t going to like anything she had to say. It was best to keep moving. She took another step.
“Elena, what is it going to take for you to forgive and forget?”
She turned, catching the frustration written so clearly on his face. “You don’t understand. The past can’t be that easily erased.”
“What are you saying?” He stepped closer to her. “Elena, what is going on?”
Elena pressed her lips together. She’d said far more than she’d intended at this juncture. And now she’d aroused Luca’s suspicion. There was one thing that Luca excelled at and that was ferreting out the truth. If she didn’t get out of here soon, her secret would be out. And this royal scandal—the earl having a baby with a commoner, the daughter of the help—would be the talk of the palace and beyond.
She knew it would happen sooner or later, but she’d been hoping for later, after Annabelle’s moment in the spotlight. After all Annabelle had been through tracking down her mother’s murderer and then being held at gunpoint, her friend deserved this bit of happiness.
“I’m not leaving here until you talk to me,” Luca said. “So out with it.”
“I just meant we can’t pretend that night didn’t happen.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, as though he were considering the sincerity of her statement. “I understand. But I don’t want to lose our friendship.”