“BecauseIwas the reason your Wren was chasing us. Or I thought I was. I would have sacrificed myself to the man who hired him because I thought that was all I was worth after all I’d done and seen. But they wouldn’t let me. Thank God they didn’t.”
“But your situation is different. Clearly you found a way to continue to protect them.”
“Yes. Wren helped us, which is why we owe him.” Hux’s jaw set a fraction, and in that moment Emilia saw how dangerous the man could be. “I owe him everything.”
“My husband won’t let go so easily,” Emilia said. “He needs me taken care of so he can marry someone else and produce the heirs he hates me for never giving him. He can only do that if my…situation is resolved. He’ll do everything in his power to destroy Wren and Aiden. He’ll do it for fun, Mr…Hux.”
“Yes, they are good at that. Men of power. You didn’t want to marry him, you said earlier.”
“No, I was forced, as is the way of these things so often,” she said.
“And your whole life, you were made to turn away from everything you wanted, everything you needed to make some other poxy fuck happy, whether it was a father or an uncle or a husband not worth a third of those two inside.”
She pressed her lips together. “Yes.”
“And now you’ll give away the same happiness, not to mention steal it from them in the process, instead of grabbing it with both hands, drawing a line in the sand and declaringno more.”
Her breath caught because those impassioned words hit her in the chest, wrapped around her aching heart and squeezed. “Will they resent me for taking what they’ve built, though?” she asked, more to herself than to him, though he answered regardless.
“I don’t know. I don’t see that in either of their eyes when they look at you. But I guarantee they’ll resent you for walking away again if you do that.”
She stared up into this man’s face and saw all the ways their lives had been different and yet all the ways they were the same. She saw her own future, a shining and happy one. And yet she still feared.
“I’ll think about what you’ve said,” she murmured.
He nodded. “Do that. May I escort you back inside so you can help with the planning?”
He extended an arm to her and she took it without hesitation. While he guided her back into the house, she asked, “Is it everything you wish it to be…being with them?”
There was a hesitation and she saw a world of emotion flicker over Hux’s handsome face. “Oh yes. More than I deserve, perhaps, everything I need and want. I would go to war to keep them with me.” They reached the study where she could hear the others talking. Hux looked at her before they entered. “I hope you’ll do the same. It’s worth it.”
He took her into the room before she could respond. And as she crossed to the two men she loved more than anything in the world, she wondered if she was strong enough to fight as Hux had. She feared she’d soon find out.
* * *
Aiden
“It was kind of them to ask us to stay here tonight,” Aiden said as he crossed the large chamber where Richard Fitzroy had put their threesome up for the night.
“It was,” Wren agreed, but he was watching Emilia.
Aiden did the same. Since her outburst earlier and then her return to the group with Huxley, she had been pensive and quiet. He and Wren had been giving her space but now, closed up in this lovely room with its big bed and roaring fire…when it was just them, he knew they’d have to discuss the future. He just hoped it wouldn’t be for the last time.
“Emilia,” he began.
She lifted her gaze from where she’d been staring at the dancing flames in the fire grate and nodded. “I know. I know, Aiden.” She stepped forward with a heavy sigh and paced the room restlessly. “What would you each do if we were to go to Athawick together?”
Wren glanced at Aiden and there was such hope on his wonderful face that Aiden could hardly breathe. He widened his eyes, hoping Wren could read his thoughts, would understand that they had to go slow if they were to convince her.
“I have connections with the royal family there,” he said carefully. “They are forming a new government and I know for a fact that the king would like help as they navigate those waters.”
Her lips parted. “Oh. I didn’t know.”
Aiden smiled at her. “Because you didn’t let me tell you, you were so driven to protect me and Wren from ourselves.”
She bent her head. “It’s what we’ve always done, isn’t it?”
Wren moved to her and wrapped an arm around her gently. He was also careful now as he said, “We had no one else to protect us, not truly, and so we all fought to become a balm to each other. And it is a wonderful drive…and also a terrible one.”
