I gather her into my arms, and her shoulders shake from the force of her despair. As my lady falls apart, hot drops of distress soaking my sleeve, I turn my attention to the man watching us with grief in his eyes. The rigid set of his jaw spells rage.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you,” I say, rubbing her back.

“I said no,” she sobs. “It wasn’t my fault.”

“Of course it wasn’t your fault.” I veer back and meet her eyes. “Do you hear me? It wasn’t your fault.”

Wiping her cheeks, she nods.

“Has he been punished?” I direct the question at Landon.

A tick goes off in his jaw. “He will be.”

“Why hasn’t he been arrested yet?”

“Elise didn’t tell anyone at first.” He hesitates. “Now there’s more to consider.”

“What is there to consider?” I try to temper my harsh tone but fail. “He sexually assaulted her and needs to be punished.”

“There’s no question of that.” He exchanges a glance with my lady, and she gives a resigned dip of her chin. “Elise has something else to tell you.” Landon leans forward, hands clasped between his knees, and I feel like we’re back in the library earlier today, in the moments before he dropped the truth bomb on me.

“There’s more?” I ask, looking to Elise for answers.

Another dip of her chin, then the whispered confession that changes everything. “I’m pregnant.”

In the quiet seconds that follow, the weight of her words settle over the three of us with stifling reality.

“Is that why Faye said you were ill?”

Elise nods. “Morning sickness.”

“Why did you leave the island?”

“I was going to abort, but…” She looks away in shame. “I couldn’t go through with it.”

I squeeze her hand. “You decided to keep it?”

“Yes.”

“You have my full support.”

“Thank you.”

“I still don’t understand why Jerome isn’t in jail.”

“No one can know about the assault,” Landon speaks up.

I gape at him. “Why not? He can’t get away with this!”

“Trust me, my queen. By the time I’m through with him, he’ll wish he were in jail.”

“So why the secrecy?”

“If Jerome learns of the pregnancy, he could demand to marry her.”

“So she’ll say no, and this time he’ll have no choice but to listen.”

“You know better than most how the men on this island honor the word no.” Frustration hardens his tone. “Jerome is a powerful man with strong ties to our government. Now that she’s carrying his child, he has a legal right to claim her as his wife.”

“Then do something about it! Elise can’t marry that monster.”

A lengthy beat passes as we stare each other down. “I am doing something, Novalee. That’s why I’m going to marry her myself.”