If she’d known what she’d have to do, she could have given him that truth. In her more selfish moments, she was glad she hadn’t known, hadn’t had to tell him and see the look in his eyes when he understood she’d soon belong to another man. “I told him not to wait for me.”
“And when he hears you’ve married someone else?”
“That isn’t fair, May. I ended it.” Pain lanced through Nick, and her throat burned. “We ended it. I didn’t lie to Derek, and I didn’t make him any promises. He knows I—he—” She couldn’t cry on the street a block from the Conclave’s headquarters. She wouldn’t. “Can we talk about it later?”
The older woman’s stricken expression hurt to see, and Nick looked away again, just in time to see a dark limousine pull to a stop beside them. She tensed instinctively, but the back window slid down to reveal her father’s face.
He smiled, the expression tired. “How’s your sister?”
“Better since she found out they’re letting Aaron stay with her.” She eyed the car. “Were you going in or headed home?”
“I’m headed home, if you’d like to ride with me.” Her father’s gaze flickered to Mahalia. “Ms. Tate, I hope you’ll join us as well.”
“I’d be happy to. Nicole and I should finish our conversation, after all.”
You mean you you’re not finished chastising me for breaking Derek’s heart. “Climb in, May.”
When they’d both settled onto the seats, Nick leaned against the headrest. “Alec’s father was in there. He’s more than a little upset that his kid has no interest in trying to win my hand.”
“Alec’s involvement in the situation hasn’t won his father any points with Jorge. He’s in danger of falling out of favor, and it’s made him desperate.”
“So I’ve noticed.” Calmly discussing Conclave matters in front of Mahalia would only incense her further, but Nick couldn’t help it. “How long do you think I can make them wait before I decide which one to marry?”
Her father tapped his fingers on the seat in an absent-minded gesture. “I think that depends on whether you have one of the sons in mind. Luciano’s the least qualified for leadership, but it could be argued that makes him a better candidate as a husband.”
Mahalia made a choked noise. Nick ignored her as the splintering pain in her chest grew in intensity. “It makes no difference who I choose if I can’t string them all along until they make a formal decision about Michelle. That’s the only way we’ll get a majority vote.”
“Knowing who you’ll choose isn’t the same as making the choice. I don’t think you should string them along at all. Defer the decision to me.” His lips twisted in something that almost looked like distaste. “They can excuse me from making the decision while my other daughter’s fate hangs in the balance, of course.”
“This is bullshit.” Mahalia ground out the words. “You’re trading one girl’s freedom for the other’s.”
Her father tensed, and Nick leaned forward. “Stop it, May. It’s my choice.”
“Not when there aren’t any alternatives,” she argued. “John, how can you let her walk away from the man she loves for this kind of—of servitude?”
Nick froze. She hadn’t told her father about her feelings for Derek, and it was the one thing she’d hoped he’d never discover.
“Nicole?” Just her name, but there was no mistaking the command in it.
I don’t love him. She tried to force out the words, but they tasted of betrayal. She fought back tears and whispered, “I made a choice.” Her vision blurred with tears, at once sudden and the culmination of days of misery. “I left him, because I made a choice.”
Her father pressed a button on his armrest and a speaker crackled to life. “Paul, could you pull over for a minute, please?” He didn’t wait for a reply, just lifted his hand as the car rolled to a graceful stop. “Ms. Tate, I hope you’ll pardon my inexcusable rudeness in asking if you can walk the last block on your own. I need to have a private discussion with my daughter.”
She opened the door and touched Nick’s hand. “Nicole—”
“I know.” She tried to breathe through her tears. “You just don’t understand.”
The door slammed behind Mahalia. Nick’s father turned to her and held out both arms. She fell into them, into the same strong embrace that had comforted her as a child. “I’m okay. I can do this.”
“Shh.” Strong fingers stroked over her hair. “You should have told me, Nicole. I understand what’s at stake, but that just makes it more important for you to tell me the truth.”
She swallowed a sob. “I didn’t want you to know. This is hard enough.”
He rubbed her back gently. “I wish I could tell you there’s an easy solution. I’m still looking for the leverage I need, but the incident with your friend and Charles Talbot has left the Conclave unusually united on the Seer issue.”
The truth was stark. Terrifying. “I’m the only leverage you have.”
He didn’t lie. “Maybe. But if there’s any way to stall long enough to find more, we’ll do it.”
To hold on to that hope only to have it dashed would be unbearable. Nick sat back in her seat. “I’ll make it clear you’re the one who’ll choose my husband. Each one will find in favor of Michelle and possibly even Aaron, just on the off-chance you’ll choose his son. His family.”
“Most likely.” Her father pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her. “Noah’s the only one without a son to throw at you. It’s going to infuriate him, but he can’t stop it.”
“That still leaves three members eager to make an alliance.” She looked out the window. “When the time comes, I’ll choose Luciano. I like him, and we respect and understand each other.”
“I think he would make the best husband. I think he’d be…sympathetic to your responsibility to your sister.”
A vise tightened painfully around her heart. “You mean we’d both be doing it because we love Michelle.”
The car slowed to a stop in front of the hotel that housed her father’s penthouse. “Even with all of this, Nicole, it may not be enough to buy Aaron a reprieve. Their prejudice works in your sister’s favor, because she’s young and sheltered and in their minds may not have known better. But Aaron broke the oaths he made to the Conclave. He committed treason.”
“No.” It wasn’t an option. “If they kill Aaron, we may as well let them keep Michelle locked up for the rest of her life.”
“Aaron disagrees. Vehemently, I might add.”
“Of course he does. He can’t think about leaving her behind, miserable and hopeless, so he’s convinced himself she’s going to be fine without him.”
“Sometimes we lose the people we love, Nicole. We go on because other people need us.” His voice turned firm. “Because our children need us. Consider that before you condemn your future nephew to being born in a jail cell.”
She bristled and barely managed to check her growl. “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to fight Michelle’s imprisonment. But we need to find a way to save Aaron too.”
“We’ll try.” Her father fixed her with a stern look. “I don’t like the realities of the situation any better than you do, but ignoring them won’t help your sister, and it won’t help Aaron.”
“This is exhausting.” The confession escaped her along with a hoarse sigh. “It’s just so fucking exhausting.”
For a moment, she thought he’d agree. Instead, he changed the subject. “Mrs. Kelly has prepared lunch for us. After that, you’ll have a few hours before we’re scheduled to meet with Enrica.”
She would get through the day, and then the next, because she had to. Nick smoothed her disheveled hair and slid across the seat. “I’ll be ready.”
Nick poured a second cup of tea and arched an eyebrow at the woman across from her. “Sugar?”
“Please.” Veronica’s smile was a little shy. “Should we get the necessary unpleasantries out of the way? I’m sure you know I was sent to ferret out your evil plans like a dutiful daughter.”