Love For Hire

Chapter 23: 23

Dr. Horton removed the blood pressure cuff and tucked it into his bag. “Well, I am concerned,” he said. “You are anemic and emaciated. What have you been eating?”

“He has not,” Kinsley answered for him. “He barely eats anything.”

“Well, that would explain why you are weak, underweight, and malnourished. You must eat,” Dr. Horton scolded.

“Eating makes me nauseated,” Nicholas complained.

“Well, if you do not eat, you will die. You are starving yourself; your body is actually starting to eat itself. If you keep on this path, you will start losing muscle mass, and you will look like an anorexic thirteen- year-old girl.”

Nicholas shrugged like he did not care. Kinsley had to do something she could not sit by and allow him to starve himself to death. “If you do not start eating, I will not marry you,” she threatened.

His face took on an annoyed expression. “You would threaten me?”

“Nicholas, I want what is best for you, and you promised me to do what you must to survive. Listen to Dr. Horton. If you do not, then you are breaking your promise to me, and I will not marry you,” she tried to reason with him.

He sighed. “Fine, I will eat.”

Kinsley looked over and Dr. Horton, who stood by the King and Queen. All three of them smiled at her, and Naya gave her a nod of respect for the way she handled Nicholas. In the short time his mother was here, Kinsley had picked up a few tricks on how to manage difficult men.

“Very good,” Dr. Horton smiled. “I want you on a high protein diet. You must ingest a minimum of 2000 calories a day. As for the blood, I am certain it was because you were vomiting up the lining of your stomach, given that you had no food in your system. I will give you a prescription for something to settle your stomach, but if the blood persists, I want you to go to a hospital. I am going to schedule an ultrasound so we can take a more in-depth look and be sure it is nothing more serious.”

“Fine,” Nicholas grumbled.

“I will walk you out,” Naya offered as she showed Dr. Horton to the door. No doubt to speak to him about his coming to the wedding.

“I will go see how lunch is coming along,” Teegan said as she too left the room. At that moment, Octavius came into the room and whispered to Samuel. Then they both excused themselves from the room. Kinsley now stood in the room with Nicholas seated in the armchair with Brutus next to him and Matthew, who had been silent up until this point.

“Kinsley,” Matthew spoke up. “Would you be so kind as to leave us? I wish a moment with my brother.”

Kinsley was suspicious, but he kissed Nicholas’ forehead and left the brothers alone to speak in private.

***

Matthew walked to the door as Kinsley left. He shut the door to close them off to the view of those passing by the door. “What do you want, Matthew?” Nicholas asked with a hint of hostility in his voice.

“So abrasive,” Matthew said as he walked over to the bar and poured them both a glass of bourbon. “Is it so terrible I wish some time alone with my brother?” He said, reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket. He removed a vile of arsenic. Removing the cap, he poured the poison into one of the glasses and quickly stirred it until it was dissolved into the liquid.

“You want something,” Nicholas accused.

“You are right again, brother,” he said, picking up both glasses and walked over to Nicholas, who sat in his chair, unaware of what his brother had done. Matthew offered Nicholas the poisoned drink. He accepted. “I wanted a moment to apologize for the things I said at dinner the other night. They were cruel. I was being petty and having a tantrum. I want you to know that I wish you no harm. Despite our differences, you are my brother, and I love you.”

“Thank you, Matthew.”

“A toast then,” Matthew said. “To forgiveness,” he held out his glass and clanked it lightly with the one in Nicholas’ hand. He watched with a smile as Nicholas lifted the glass to his mouth and drank it back.

Matthew had a plan; he would kill his brother before he could sire a child. With poison, he would make Nicholas ill, gradually increasing the dosage, making him sicker and sicker. His failing health would be attributed to his condition, and no one would suspect he was slowly being killed. Then in a few weeks, he’d slip him a fatal dose and happily attend his brother’s state funeral. Keeping him sick would guarantee he had no strength to have sex and prevent Kinsley from conceiving. Nicholas’ death would secure his birthright. And in the off-chance, Kinsley got pregnant anyway… well then, he’d just have to kill her too.

***

Kinsley sat in the media room watching some TV and flipping through a Modern Bride magazine, looking at the dresses and trying to decide what kind of dress she wanted. Naya had told her to find a concept she liked and that they would have the royal family’s seamstress custom make the gown for her wedding. She was looking at a stunning empress gown when she looked up to see Nicholas come in being lead by Brutus. That dog had been a great find. In a short time, Nicholas had fallen in love, whit his four-legged friend, and they were inseparable.

“Octavius said I would find you in here,” he said as he came over to the chair next to hers.

“How did you know the room was not empty?” She asked playfully.

“Peaches,” he grinned.

She giggled. “I think I should change my perfume.”

“Do not you dare? I have come to love that smell,” he snickered. “What are you doing?”

“Looking through a magazine trying to decide what kind of dress I want.”

“I wish I could see you in your dress. But I am sure whatever you pick, you will be enchanting,” that is right; he would not be able to see her in her dress. Kinsley frowned. That was kind of a downer. What was the point of a beautiful gown if her bridegroom could not see her in it? She could wear a bag, and he would not know the difference. She sighed and closed the magazine, tossing it on the small table between them. “That did not sound like a happy sigh,” he noted the change in her.

“It is nothing.” © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Well, I know when women say ‘It is nothing,’ it really means ‘you have fucked up, and now you have to guess how.’” She chuckled, and he took her hand in his. “What is wrong?”

“You are not going to see me in my dress. I always thought when I walked down the aisle that my husband would see how beautiful I look and cry. But you will not see me.”

“What if I promise to cry anyway?” He teased.

She smiled. “It is not the same.”

“If it is any conciliation, I wish I could see you.”

“You’d be able to see if that stupid tumour was not pressing on your nerve. It is just our luck; it would be inoperable,” she shook her head. “Listen to me, whine like a spoiled kid. You are the one that cannot see, and I am complaining. I know it is out of your control. I just wish… it does not matter,” she said.

He went quiet, and then he reached into his jacket. “I have something that might pick up your spirits,” he said, taking a small box from his pocket. “I went into town with Teegan, and she helped me pick this out,” he said, opening the box to show her a rose gold ring with a pink heart-shaped gem with two matching smaller gems on either side set into the band and surrounded by many tiny diamonds arraigned to look like leaves. It was breathtaking. “It is a Morganite stone. Now I know diamonds are traditional for engagement rings, but I personally like the way Teegan said this looked. A heart cut gem for the woman that holds my heart.”

Kinsley smiled as he took the ring from the box and reached for her hand. He slipped it on her finger, and she held her hand out, admiring the way it looked on her finger. “I love it, Nicholas. It is so beautiful.”

A knock at the door drew their attention to find Naya standing in the doorway. “Sorry to interrupt you two, but Kinsley, your mother and sister, are here to go over the wedding plans.”

“I am coming,” she promised. “I am sorry, Nicholas, we will spend some time together later,” she promised.

He just grinned. “Go… plan. I can wait.” She rose to her feet and kissed his cheek, then made her way to the door. “Kinsley,” he said quickly before she left the room. “It is going to be alright… I promise,” she did not understand what he meant, but she did not have the time to go into it right now, so she just left her where he was.