“It doesn’t bother me.”
“It doesn’t?” he asked in mild surprise.
I shook my head. “I’d never stand in her way if she wanted him instead of me—not after what I did.”
“It’s strange. You fought for her tooth and nail throughout the war, but now that it’s over, you don’t have much fight left in you.”
I’d been staring out at the vineyard that I had to take care of on my own, but I turned my gaze back to him instead. “She knows how I feel about her. I don’t need to remind her. And Viper can try his best to slander my name, but I don’t think he’ll be successful. Even if she can’t forgive me, she wouldn’t run off with him. Not for a while…at least.”
A few days later, Talon came by.
He used to detest me every time he looked at me, and it was the first time I wasn’t pleased to see him.
He examined the line of barrels that had been placed on the shelves. “You put these here yourself?”
“Yes.”
He tried to test the weight of one but could barely get it to move. “You aren’t a god anymore, but damn, you’re still strong.”
I walked past him. “Did you need something, Talon?”
He stopped when he heard the coldness in my tone. “Do I need something?”
“I have a lot of work to do today.” I turned to him, wearing my shirt because the Rothschilds stopped by at random times and I didn’t want to be indecent. I stared him down, feeling resentment toward him when I should only feel gratitude.
Talon stared me down and slowly read the temperature of the room. “Is there a problem, Callum?”
I turned away and ignored the question, going to the crate of bottles that I’d made in my first run. They were corked without a parchment label tied around them because I hadn’t gotten that far in the process. I grabbed one by the neck and extended it to him. “Give that to Lily for me.”
He eyed the bottle but didn’t take it. “I feel animosity between us. Be a man and tell me why.”
I wasn’t easily angered and I didn’t possess a temper, but I did feel my nostrils flare out of my control. But I bit back the retort I never released, calmed myself before I lashed out at the only person who seemed invested in me besides Lily. “Why is Viper here?”
The suspicion in his features started to fade away when he understood the accusation I’d just cast. He swallowed before the hardness in his eyes faded. “I informed him that you and Lily weren’t…talking.”
He admitted it straight to my face, and while I felt betrayed because I’d thought we had some type of relationship, I respected him for being straightforward about it. But I still felt the swirls of rage inside me. “Why?” I did my best to keep my voice controlled, to keep out the venomous acid that burned my tongue.
He slowly crossed his arms over his chest, in regular attire now that the kingdom seemed safe. He looked like an ordinary man, but he still had the aura of someone in command. Someone who was respectable and calculating and protective. “I offered him dragons in exchange for what he did for Lily, but he wanted her instead. I reminded him that she’s not a sheep that can be traded for milk. That she’s not a woman who can be sold as a bride. So instead, he wanted to know if something ever divided your relationship…so he could make his advance. I shared your estrangement—but now my end of the deal is done. I owe him nothing else.”
I understood the predicament Talon was in, but I still didn’t like it.
“If it helps, Lily told me?—”
“I’m not threatened or intimidated by him. He can do his best to wear Lily down, but I know her heart belongs to me. Even if she cut ties with me, she would never open her heart or her legs to someone else so quickly.”
“Then why are you upset?”
“Because I’m upset with you, not her or him. Viper is free to pursue any woman he wants, and Lily is free to spend time with anyone she wishes. But I thought you and I had formed a bond.”
His eyes darted away momentarily, like he was uncomfortable by what I said. Whenever he had deep conversations with his kids, he stared at them with intense, unblinking eyes, but with me, he couldn’t look at me straight. He finally took a breath and looked at me again. “We do have a bond, Callum. But like I said, it’s separate from your relationship with my daughter.”
“You still prefer him to me?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“I know. I’m asking you.”
He stared at me for a long time as he tried to think of the right answer to give. He eventually broke eye contact and looked at the fields for a while before he eventually returned to the conversation. “I prefer the man she loves—and that’s you.”
