His jaw tightens a bit. “Your husband reached out to me.”
My head is bobbing loosely like flowers in a breeze. It feels too heavy to hold upright, too many thoughts rising to the surface all at once, demanding to be heard.
“Well.” I clear my throat and start again. “Well. Then I think you should come home with me.”
I know at least six people are frantically calling Kai right now, so I’m not going to bother. I’m not even sure what I would say to him right now.
Chapter Thirty-Three
In which some wounds cut too deep to forgive.
Luna…
The instant Kai strides into the room and spots Collin, I know he was telling me the truth. Kai glares at him before turning to me.
“Luna…” he starts, “I’d intended to tell ya.”
“When? When did you intend to tell me I have a grandfather that I never knew existed?” There’s a web of hurt, grief, and burning fucking rage constricting my heart. I press the heel of my hand against my breastbone like that will make it sting less.
“I dinna know until after we’d been married,” he says, shooting Collin a look that should have set him on fire. “I wanted time with ya before it all came out. Shite was complicated enough.”
“You hid it from me,” I correct him. “You knew I didn’t have any family. You knew how much I wanted one, and you never told me.”
“I’myour family now!” Kai says, stepping closer and wincing as I step back. “The MacTavishes are your family. Everyone here loves ya.”
“Yet here I am,” Collin says dryly, “waiting for weeks to meet my granddaughter. I wanted to do this the right way, Luna.” He gives me a small smile, like he doesn’t do it that often and he’s giving it a shot because other humans seem to like it. “I heldback until I realized that your husband was going to keep this from you for as long as possible. If he ever planned to tell you.” He glares at Kai, who glares back.
“Tell us, Collin, why did Luna’s mother and father leave California?” Kai asks, folding his arms. He stops trying to step closer to me, which makes me both glad and lonely.
Collin stands up. He’s much shorter than Kai, but even at his age, he’s strongly built, and it’s obvious he doesn’t intend to back down. “That is none of your concern. I will be happy to talk to my granddaughter about it when she’s ready.”
“Now is good,” I cut in.
He attempts to smile at me again. “Your grandmother passed away from cancer when Patricia was eighteen. She was our only daughter, and she took Caroline’s death very hard. She pulled away from the family. I understood it, a little, at least. My wife was the bond between us all. Caroline insisted on Sunday dinners with the kids. Oh, and you also have two uncles, my sons Kurt and Nathan.
“Your father Tom was a civilian, an accountant. When Patricia fell in love with him, she asked me to let her go. She didn’t want him in the life. Then, she got pregnant with you, and this time, she begged me. I…” He spreads his hands. “I said yes. I knew it would have made my Caroline happy.”
“You really never tried to see her again?” I ask.
“That was the deal. My brother Malcolm is the head of our family. He allowed it as long as the separation was permanent. I didn’t want to risk their new identities.”
“Isn’t he going to be displeased that Luna has turned up?” Kai’s speech is getting cold and formal, the way it does in dangeroussituations. “How can you guarantee her safety when you reveal her existence to your brother?”
My grandfather- no, I can’t call him that. Not yet. Collin gives him the courtesy of taking the question seriously. “A great deal has changed since my daughter left twenty-six years ago. We’ve all lost children, my brothers and I. I’ve been given the gift of a second chance with Luna, and Malcolm understands that. Her safety is guaranteed. Something,MacTavish,that you haven’t managed to do.”
“That’s not true.” Why am I defending Kai? He’s held this back from me for weeks! “There’s always security around me.”
“What about that shootout on the M74 motorway?” Collin narrows his eyes at Kai. “Yes. Of course, I heard about it.”
Kai gives a low growl, vibrating in his chest. “I protected Luna. She never lost her wits, she stayed calm and helped me steer while I fired on the mercenaries. Raised in the life or not, she was brave. In fact, she was magnificent.” He smiles at me proudly, and I rub my chest again. It’s raw enough to feel like I’m bleeding inside.
“She’s not safe here with you.” Collin says sharply.
The energy between them turns ugly.
“There is no safer place for my wife than here,” Kai snarls. “She has the protection of the entire MacTavish Clan.”
“She’ll be far more secure in my care.”
