“I’m pleased you came here, too,” I admit, as we continue eating.
Eventually we decide to head back to the tavern where she’s staying and we walk hand in hand down the street.
After a minute I ask, “How are you feeling, Sugar? Really? After everything you found out earlier.”
“Honestly? I feel relieved. As much as I’ve been trying to not let my search for Ria stop me from finding my own way in this world, it’s been the driving force. And now I know she has three husbands to keep her safe, and she’s happy, I don’t have to stress about what’s happening to her, or finding her before something bad happens. I still really want to see her, but it’s like the burden of her safety has been lifted from me, you know?”
“I do. You mentioned a twin brother, will you tell me about him?”
“Yeah, Charlie. He was killed by someone when we were sixteen. Losing him was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through. Losing my parents was also hard, I loved them and we got along great. When they died, it left me alone, besides Ria. But Charlie was my twin, our connection was unique. It’s hard to explain.”
“No, I understand perfectly. I have a twin, too.”
“You do?!” she asks, stopping in her tracks to turn and look up at me.
“But I thought brothers stuck together in this world, did you lose him too?” Her eyes grow concerned as she stares at me.
“In a way. He’s not dead, at least I don’t think he is.”
“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“No, of course not, Sugar. It’s just a little hard to talk about, I’m sure you understand.” She nods as she gives me a tight-lipped smile.
“You see, Apollo was born with magic.” She gasps as her eyes go wide. “Our parents, they hated magic, they didn’t even want the word mentioned. They told him to not use it and never speak of it. But the way he explained it to me, it was as natural to him as breathing, he felt it under his skin. Denying it would be likedenying air. He did his best to hide it, and for years our parents saw nothing.
“When we were thirty, we met this woman, Caroline. Somehow, the two of us had managed to get her attention, which was pretty rare with their only being two of us. We thought we must be the luckiest men in the world. We courted her for a week.” I don’t want Penny to think I did anything with that woman so I rush to reassure her. “We just spent time together, we didn’t even hold hands,” I tell her, giving her hand a squeeze, making her smile softly up at me.
“A fire somehow started in the barn on her family’s property. Apollo and I saw the smoke and rushed there. Her parents were screaming that they would lose their horses who were trapped inside. Apollo decided to use his magic and dosed the fire in water, it stopped it dead in its tracks and saved the animals.”
She gasps, placing her free hand over her mouth before speaking. “He was a hero! Caroline must have been so happy! Did she choose just to be with him after that?”
I shake my head. “Sadly, no. That would have been better than what actually happened. She screamed at him for using magic, calling him terrible names, saying she wanted nothing to do with us.”
“But he saved her family’s animals and their barn!”
“She didn’t care. After that, Apollo blamed himself and said I would never be able to get a mate with him weighing me down. I told him I’d rather have him as my brother than a woman like her as a mate. But he didn’t care. He took off in the middle of the night and I haven’t seen him since.” I look at her and see tears slowly falling down her cheeks, so I wipe them away gently. “Don’t cry, Sugar.”
“That’s just the saddest story. I feel horrible for your brother. You really don’t know where he is?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I’ve looked for him, but I haven’t seen him in nine years.”
“I’m sorry, I know what it’s like to lose a twin. We’ll look for him after we find Ria, okay?”
My head reels back in shock. “What?”
“After I see with my own eyes that Ria is okay, we’ll look for your brother. Even if it’s just so that you can see he’s okay.”
I stare at her shock, she was willing to do that, for me? I wasn’t even her mate yet. “What did I do to deserve you in my life?” I ask her as I move to cup her face in my hands. “Marry me?”
She sucks in a sharp breath of surprise, her eyes darting back and forth between mine before a smile spreads across her face. “Yes!” she says excitedly, throwing her arms around me as she presses her lips to mine. I bend down to lift her by her ass, placing her head slightly above mine and her arms around my neck, holding me close as we lose ourselves in our kiss.
Finally, we break for air and I set her back on her feet as I kiss the top of her nose. “Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” she asks, confused.
“Yes, we’ll marry tomorrow,” I tell her with the nod of my head.
“So soon?”
