A pathetic, but adorable, whimper had him looking back down. Little Silas’ bottom lip was trembling and he was wiggling on the blanketed floor.
With panic setting in, Cecil frantically searched the large playpen for something that would stop the impending baby meltdown. There were so many toys scattered about that, for a few moments, he had trouble making sense of it.
Then he saw something that made him almost cry for joy—a beautiful green binky. Cecil lunged for it like his life depended on it—which it could, for all he knew. There was probably some archaic rule somewhere about not making the future king cry.
Right when Prince Silas’s mouth opened, to no doubt let out an eardrum-shattering scream, Cecil shoved the pacifier into his mouth. It worked…for about a minute.
A few sucks later, Silas’s eyes narrowed, his button nose scrunching once again. And then, the baby spat the binky at him. Cecil flinched as it hit his face and a loud wail tore through the room.
Picking the infant up again, he held him against hisshoulder and tried to shush him. Cecil was surprised when seconds later the cries stopped. He was even more surprised, and then very, very pissed, when the baby let out a squealing giggle, his little feet kicking happily.
Oh. My. Gods!What a little faker—the brat!
Sin was not sure what he would do to Cecil, but he had to do something. Swearing in front of a baby—really! What was he thinking?
“He is rather cute,” King Adrian drawled as the man’s child started crying—crying that cut out moments later.
With a touch of apprehension, Sin turned to King Adrian. The man was smiling slyly. “I hadn’t noticed,” Sin murmured.
Adrian was not an idiot, he would know it was a lie. While Sin knew it was wrong of him to lie to his king, at the moment, he didn’t care.
It would not stand up under the barest of scrutiny, but he hadn’t expected it to. His words were only an attempt to stop Adrian from saying his thoughts on Cecil.
Knowing the man, Sin was not so foolish to believe anything he said would stop his king from voicing his opinion. Very little stopped Adrian when he wanted to do or say something. Probably only Baylin or Xavier had any chance of succeeding in that task.
“Oh, I don’t know…I think you have more than noticed,” Adrian purred.
“Adrian, we should stay on topic. Missing people take precedence over Sin’s sex life,” King Xavier admonished.
“Cecil has nothing to do with my sex life!” Sin gasped in horror.
Heat swarmed his face when the men around him stared at him with looks full of skepticism. Well, all except for Dante’s new executioner, Jayden. The tall man was staring off. In fact, his empty black eyes were on Cecil—which had Sin’s hackles rising.
“Of course, he doesn’t,” Adrian said in an attempt to placate him.
Adrian even reached over and gave him a pat on the arm. It was not believable in the slightest. Adrian’s voice was full of too much mirth.
Worst of all, Dante’s gaze was bouncing between him and Cecil. His grin was growing wider by the second.
“Dante, if I hear even a hint of a rumor floating around, you will find me at your doorstep,” Sin said tightly.
Dante beamed at him, his eyes too shiny for Sin’s liking. “I would never gossip about such things.”
That lie was about as believable as my own, Sin thought with exasperation.
“I apologize,” Xavier rumbled. “I should have worded that differently.”
“I can’t read Cecil,” Jayden announced, effectively ending the discussion.
Sin reluctantly admitted, “I don’t think anyone can.”
“How is that possible? Are you sure?” Jayden asked blankly.
Sin nodded.
“Not even if I touched him?”
The words stirred him up in ways he would never admit. Sin wanted to block Cecil from Jayden’s view. It was a ridiculous reaction. Whether it was his second time meeting him or not, he had heard enough about the young man to know he would not hurt an innocent. Not to mention, Adrian and Xavier would never allow anyone they considered a threat around their child.
