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“Possibly. They say it was kids, but I’m not convinced. More likely the killer paid them off to create confusion, then cut the power to cover his tracks.”

“Did they find out who was responsible?”

She shook her head.“There were a lot of people there. The moment those firecrackers hit the place descended into chaos.”

Gran cranked up the volume on the TV.“Listen to this,” she said, and everyone’s attention turned to the screen.

“There are rumors this may have been an attempt on the Duchess of Essex’s life,” said the newscaster in the same mournful tone, “but a statement has just been issued claiming those rumors to be absolutely false.”

“Oh, for goodness sakes,” Dante said under his breath.

“Through an unfortunate concatenation of circumstances the Duchess suffered a minor injury but at no time was she in any danger, real or imagined,” the newscaster continued reading the royal statement.

“Who issued this bogus statement?” asked Dante. “That’s what I would like to know.”

“I did,” said Tessa.

“Someone tried to shoot you! I was there! I heard the shot!”

“No damage was done,” she said, touching the band-aid on her cheek.

“This is serious, Tessa,” he said, concern lacing his voice. “Someone took a shot at you. And now I’m starting to wonder if that stone ball that fell on you was an accident or a deliberate attempt on your life.”

“There was a third attempt,” said Angela suddenly.

“Mom!” Tessa said, aghast. “I thought we agreed—”

“I think it’s time you told your husband, honey.”

“But you said—”

“I know what I said. But I’ve changed my mind. Dante was standing right next to me when that shot was fired, and he was as shocked as I was.”

“He was standing next to me when that ball almost fell on me. You said he was probably working with an accomplice.”

Dante looked shocked.“What?!”

Angela took a deep breath.“Dante, someone tried to poison your wife’s tea. Also, Odelia isn’t actually Tessa’s cousin and Vesta isn’t her grandmother.”

Dante looked flabbergasted, his face taking on a scarlet hue.“She’s not your cousin? So who is she? And why has she been staying under our roof?”

“I can explain,” said Tessa with an exasperated look at her mother, who pulled an ‘I’m sorry, honey’ face.

It took Tessa a while to tell the story but she told it well, and by the end of the convoluted tale, Dante looked even more worried than before.

“We have to tell the police,” was his first reaction. “ASAP.”

“That’s exactly what I don’t want,” said Tessa. “No one can know.”

“But—”

“What’s going to happen if people become aware there’s somebody trying to kill me?”

“They’ll be stopped!”

“No, it’s going to turn into a huge scandal—one that will be plastered across all the front pages and dominate several news cycles. Your family will be faced with an enormously embarrassing episode.”

“So? At least you’ll be safe.”

“It’s attention we don’t need—attention we don’t want.”

“We don’t control the media, Tessa. They’ll write what they write.”

“I know, but I want people to pay attention to us for the right reasons. For the work that we do. The charities we support. The message we want to convey. I don’t want us to become the couple hounded by a would-be assassin. It’s going to define us and it’s going to define your family and mine and we don’t need that kind of publicity.”

“So you’re telling me to just sit back and do nothing?!”

“No, of course not. That’s were Odelia comes in. She’s handled this type of situation before, and is on the verge of catching whoever’s behind this.” She directed a questioning look at Odelia, who nodded.

“We’re making progress,” she confirmed curtly.

“Have you at least some idea who this person is?” Dante asked.

“We’re closing in on a suspect,” Odelia said after a moment’s hesitation.

Dante narrowed his eyes at her.“You don’t have a clue, do you?”

“Not an inkling,” Odelia confessed.

Dante dragged a hand through his thinning ginger mane.“Oh, God. This is a nightmare. And why didn’t you tell me this before?!”

“That’s on me,” said Angela. “You were one of my main suspects.”

“You actually thought I would kill my wife? Are you crazy?”

Angela shrugged.“I just figured that with all the negative publicity Tessa has been getting, you might want to get rid of her.”

“By murdering her?!”

“I figured that’s the way you royals dealt with troublesome spouses.”

“We’re Windsors, Angela. Not the Corleones.”

Angela rolled her eyes.“Oh, pipe down, Dante. It’s not as if you haven’t given me reason to suspect you. You keep getting into fights with Tessa. And you keep telling her she needs to adapt. I just figured you were already looking for a way out of this marriage, and seeing how you royals are allergic to even a whiff of scandal a nice ‘accident’ just might do the trick for you.”

“I don’t believe this,” he said, shaking his head with exasperation.

Just then, one of the guards approached the royal couple.“You have visitors, sir.”

“Tell them we’re a little busy right now,” said Dante.

“It’s your brother and his wife, the Duke and Duchess of Bristol.”

Chapter 22