I grin, letting a future queen school my stubborn-ass brothers before she turns to me with ointment on her fingertip, demanding, “Hold still.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I lean down so she can reach my wound. Wren’s starting to reach my heart too. It’s what our queens do.
This is what I mean by our bond, and why I’m fighting like hell for Alena to feel it.
“Can we talk about Alena? And who’s marrying her?” Axel brings her up again. Not like he wants to marry her. More like he wants to protect her.
But fuck him, I’m possessive.
I protect her.
I rush to stake my claim, “Next weekend, I’m proposing to her, and I’d like your blessing, Nash.” I look him in the eye while Wren dabs the eyebrow he busted. “You know I would, but either way, you can’t stop me.”
Shit, this feels too fast, but Nash needs to know I’m not fucking around.
Furious calculations tick across his brown eyes, solving for how he can control me. He can’t, while Wren whispers, “Did you buy her a big diamond?”
“Sort of,” I whisper back, adoring my new co-conspirator. “She likes simple stuff. So, I bought a band of small diamonds.”
Yes, Nash heard me, and I silently answer with my glare.
I know your daughter. She doesn’t like drawing attention to how goddamn beautiful she is. You see, I love everything about her.
“Nice choice.” Wren approves it, smoothing a sterile bandage over my brow.
How the fuck am I going to explain this cut to Alena? And my bruised ribs. Maybe they’re broken. I don’t know. All I care about are Nash’s next words.
“Yes, you can marry her,” Nash concedes, and my heart soars. “And no,” he insists again, “she willnotfind out who we are.”
Then it drops at his order.
I’m a fucking rollercoaster with Nash as he rants, schooling Wren on how much danger she’s in.
Alena too.
And I get that maddening instinct again. The one I get in the park, sensing a connection: Sasha, Wren, Alena, that strange man, our father, and those mountains.
It makes me believe Nash isn’t wrong, but I know he’s not right.
It makes me want to hear Alena’s voice. To know she’s okay. She thinks I’m meeting her dad at a bar, telling himman-to-man about us. Not brawling in my brother’s law office after a taboo initiation night.
I don’t say much as I leave Axel’s office. I’ve said enough. I want to go for a walk alone through Battery Park.
A cargo ship slides along the inky water of the wide Cooper River. I wait for its horn to bellow before I call Alena.
“Hey,” she answers quickly, softly. “How did it go?”
“Got a few punches and a yes.”
She stammers, “Are… are you okay? Did my dad really hurt you?”
“I’m fine, Babygirl. Told you. You’re worth the pain.”
My eyebrow stings. My jaw is sore. My ribs hurt when I breathe, but my heart doesn’t care.
I won Alena.
“But… but Loch.” She starts crying.Fuck, it kills me. “I can’t believe my dad actuallyhityou. I mean, I always knew he’d be protective, but... how dare he! I love you and?—”
