Chapter 650: Extraction (5)
The sitting room door burst open with enough force to make both Rachel and jump apart, our romantic mont shattered like glass against stone. Rose Springshaper stood in the doorway, her auburn hair slightly disheveled from what must have been a very hasty return journey from the Ashen Territories. Her brown eyes blazed with an anger I’d rarely seen from the usually composed businesswoman.
“Arthur Nightingale,” she said again, her voice carrying the kind of controlled fury that was sohow more intimidating than Rachel’s earlier threats. “We need to talk. Now.”
Rachel instinctively moved closer to , her hand finding my arm in a gesture that was part protective, part possessive. “Rose, what’s wrong? Did sothing happen at the extraction site?”
Rose’s gaze flicked to Rachel, then back to , and I could see her taking in our slightly mussed appearances, the way we were standing close together, the lingering tension in the air that spoke of interrupted intimacy.
“Oh, the extraction is going perfectly fine,” Rose said with the kind of sharp smile that made wince. “The equipnt is working beautifully, the teams are efficient, and the profit margins are exceeding all projections. No, my issue isn’t with business, Arthur. My issue is with the fact that I had to learn about your new romantic entanglent from Reika herself.”
I felt my stomach drop. “Rose, I can explain—”
“Can you?” she interrupted, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind her with deliberate care. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you made a rather significant decision about our… arrangent… without bothering to inform the people it affects.”
Rachel shifted uncomfortably beside . “Rose, it’s not like that. Arthur was just telling —”
“After the fact,” Rose pointed out, her attention laser-focused on . “Weren’t you, Arthur? You confessed to Reika, accepted her confession, and then ca to tell us about it afterward.”
The accusation hung in the air, and I realized she was absolutely right. In my excitent about Reika’s confession, in the warmth and joy of that mont, I’d acted first and thought about the consequences later. I’d made a decision that affected all of us without consulting anyone.
“You’re right,” I said quietly, and Rose’s eyebrows rose slightly at my imdiate admission. “I should have talked to all of you first. I should have been more considerate of everyone’s feelings.”
“Yes, you should have,” Rose agreed, though so of the fire was already leaving her voice. “Arthur, I don’t have a problem with you caring about Reika. She’s wonderful, and honestly, anyone with eyes could see how she feels about you. But the way you handled it…”
She ran a hand through her hair, a gesture of frustration I recognized from our business etings when particularly obtuse clients tested her patience.
“We’re not just your romantic interests, Arthur,” she continued, her voice softer now but no less serious. “We’re partners in this… whatever this is we’re building together. When you make unilateral decisions about our relationships, it makes us feel like we don’t have a voice in our own lives.”
The guilt hit like a physical blow. She was absolutely right, and the worst part was that I should have known better. Rose, Rachel, Cecilia, Seraphina—they were all strong, independent won who deserved to be treated as equals, not just inford of decisions after they’d already been made.
“I’m sorry,” I said, aning it completely. “You’re absolutely right. I got caught up in the mont and forgot that this affects all of us. It won’t happen again.”
Rose studied my face for a long mont, searching for sincerity. Whatever she saw there seed to satisfy her, because her rigid posture began to relax.
“Good,” she said with a nod. “Because honestly, Arthur, adding Reika to our little group makes perfect sense. She’s been part of your inner circle and she clearly adores you. I’d have to be blind not to see how happy you make each other.”
Rachel looked between us with sothing like amazent. “Wait, that’s it? You’re not going to threaten him with financial ruin or demand he sign a contract promising equal ti distribution?”
Rose looked genuinely puzzled by the question. “Why would I do that? Arthur made a mistake in how he handled the situation, he acknowledged it and apologized, and he’s promised to do better. What more is there to discuss?”
“I… showed him pictures of cages,” Rachel admitted with a blush.
“You did what?” Rose stared at her in disbelief. “Rachel, please tell you weren’t seriously considering actually caging him.”
“It was just a joke!” Rachel protested, though her blush deepened. “Mostly. I an, the research was real, but I wasn’t actually going to…”
She trailed off under Rose’s incredulous stare, and I couldn’t help but smile at the interaction. Leave it to Rose to make Rachel’s earlier threats seem completely absurd just by treating them as such.
“You two are ridiculous,” Rose said, but there was fondness in her voice now. “Arthur, next ti you want to add soone to our relationship, just talk to us first. We’re reasonable people—well, most of us are reasonable,” she added with a pointed look at Rachel.
“I will,” I promised. “And Rose? Thank you for being understanding about this.”
She smiled then, the first genuine smile I’d seen from her since she’d stord into the room. “Arthur, I care about you. All I want is to be treated like a partner, not just soone to be inford of your decisions after the fact. As long as you can manage that, I think we’ll be just fine.”
The tension in the room finally began to dissipate, and I felt myself relaxing for the first ti since Rose had burst through the door. Crisis averted, lesson learned, and everyone was on the sa page. This was going much better than I’d dared to hope.
“Now then,” Rose continued, settling into one of the chairs with the air of soone ready to move on to other matters, “we should probably discuss how to tell Cecilia and Seraphina. They’re going to want to know, and I’d rather they hear it from us than through gossip.”
“Agreed,” I said, already dreading those conversations. If Rachel’s reaction had been threatening and Rose’s had been reasonably angry, I could only imagine what the princesses might say.
Before we could begin planning that particular diplomatic nightmare, however, a knock at the door interrupted us. The sound was polite but firm, carrying an undertone of urgency that imdiately put on alert.
“Co in,” I called.
The door opened to reveal Marcus, one of the estate’s senior staff mbers, looking slightly out of breath as if he’d been hurrying.
“Master Arthur,” he said with a bow, “forgive the interruption, but you have a visitor. His Majesty is here and requests an imdiate audience with you. He says it’s a matter of so urgency.”
I felt Rachel tense beside at the ntion of her father. Alastor Creighton, the King of the Northern Continent, was not the type of man to make casual social calls. If he was here, and if he was requesting an imdiate audience, then sothing significant was happening.
“Did he say what this was about?” I asked, though I suspected Marcus wouldn’t have much additional information.
“No, sir. He simply said that ti was of the essence and that you would understand the importance once you spoke with him.”
I exchanged glances with Rachel, who looked as puzzled as I felt. Her relationship with her father was complicated at best, and his sudden appearance at my estate was definitely unexpected.
“Very well,” I said, standing and straightening my clothes. “Tell His Majesty I’ll be with him shortly.”
Marcus bowed again and departed, leaving the three of us alone with a new tension in the air.
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