Chapter 85 She Shock

• She shook her head, confused by the turnaround from enemy to ally. Jared took her arm and steered her from the dining room, wanting to get her out of the highly charged atmosphere that swirled with the memories of all she’d been through. She needed to feel free, to follow her own heart without fear, and Jared knew he could give that to her now.
He took her onto the veranda that skirted the homestead—fresh air to breathe, a view that had no boundaries in sight—the vast tracts of King’s Eden stretching to the horizon and beyond. The land of my fathers, he thought, feeling a well of pride in his heritage. Because he was who he was, and all that was imbued in him, he would have Christabel and keep her, and that was a glorious feeling.
“What are these reports?” she asked anxiously. “What are we doing out here, Jared?”
“Do you still believe Rafael Santiso caused Laurens’s death?” he asked, scanning her eyes for any hint of doubt.
She expelled a heavy sigh and made a wry grimace. “No. But I still think he’s dangerous.”
“Yes. To anyone who crosses the line he draws. But not to you nor Alicia, Christabel,” he assured her with absolute certainty.
“How can you know that?” she cried, the old fear still fluttering.
“Because he’s been protecting you all along. That’s what these reports are about. He let you think you were free because you wanted so badly to be free, but he watched over you all the way to here, Christabel. And he came now because of me, to see if I’m good enough to take over the watch from him.”
Her feet faltered to a halt. She swung to face him, her agitation intense. “He could have plucked me and Alicia back any time? Is that what you’re saying?”
He nodded. “From Rio onwards would be my guess. He would have put your family under surveillance the moment he realised you’d fled with your jewellery.”
The colour drained from her face. “All this time,” she said faintly.
“To ensure your safety as best he could, Christabel, while giving you the freedom you craved.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe it.” Her gaze dropped to the file he held. “Show me. I want to see what he did.”
Jared curved an arm around her shoulders. “There’s a table on the western veranda. We’ll sit down and you can read all you want.”
She moved with him, dazedly repeating, “All this time…he knew?”
“Yes. And I’d imagine—smoothed the path for you wherever he could.”
They sat where his family usually gathered to watch the sunset—the end of the day. It was only a little past noon, yet the sense of the end to a long, long road for Christabel evoked a similar feeling of being able to relax now.
He didn’t read the reports. He listened to Christabel’s comments on them, her initial incredulity stretching into an awed understanding of how Rafael Santiso had facilitated her escape, as well as taking every precaution he could for her and Alicia’s continued well-being, without any overt oppression or constriction.
The passports in the name of Valdez were not forged, as she had believed. Rafael had organised that the name of Kruger be legally changed to the one she’d chosen. Wherever she had sold her diamond jewellery, his people had ensured she received what it was truly worth. She and Alicia had never been without bodyguards hovering close by. Even in Broome, the caravan next to hers had been occupied by Rafael’s watchers.
There was also a report on the King family—their history and their holdings—and an assessment on their possible reaction to Alicia’s inheritance. The judgment was that it would have little or no influence on the life paths they had taken. The Kings of the Kimberly were deeply rooted in their territory and would not shift from where they were.
“You see?” Christabel commented ruefully. “The intrusion into your life and your family’s has already begun, Jared.” Her eyes searched his, needing reassurance. “Do you really want to take this on?”
He nodded. “Whatever comes, Christabel.” He reached across the table and took her hand, enfolding it in the secure strength of his, determined on resolving everything for her to the best of his ability. “They’re here to lay out the situation with Alicia’s inheritance—Wissmann to deal with the money side, Vogel to deal with the legalities, Rafael to advise on protection.”
She sighed, her eyes filling with pained apology. “I had it so wrong.”
“Not with me. We have it right together, Christabel.” He smiled, wanting to soothe the angst she felt. “Remember Vikki Chan?”
“Yes.”
“A very wise old woman, Vikki. She said of you—and I remember the words exactly—There is a strong wall of integrity in Christabel Valdez which will not be broken. I think she does, and will always do, what she believes is rights.”
A little burst of pleasure brought a golden light to her beautiful amber eyes. “I felt her taking stock of me but…to read so much?”
“I’ve never known her to be wrong about people. So I’m asking you now. Can you…” He held her gaze, pouring all his love for her into his voice. “…do you believe it’s right…”
He had to hold her.
“Believe what?” she asked shakily as he stood and scooped her up into his embrace.
“I need to hear you say it’s right for us to marry, Christabel,” he declared with a passion he could no longer contain. “That nothing could be more right because that’s what I feel and I have to hear it from you…”
It wasn’t a command. It wasn’t an appeal. It was a burning certainty in his heart as he spoke the words he wanted her to say.
“…because it’s what you feel, too.”