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Her eyes flitted up and then down again. “It’s a gift.”

“Whoever is getting it is very lucky.”

“Thank you.” She smiled a little wider. “Do you know how to knit?”

“No. I always wanted to learn but was short on time.”

She nodded but kept looking at me as if she had so much more to say.

“So you feel okay now?” Her hands froze as she waited for my answer.

“I’m fine. I know I might’ve looked a little scary before, but I’m okay.”

Her hands started moving again. “Why do people keep trying to hurt you?”

“Uhm… Well…” How did you answer that one? Was there a good answer?

“Because Mason hit you, and then you got poisoned,” she said, as if I needed a little help remembering what the problems were.

She wasn’t going to let this go. “Well, Mason was upset about his son.”

Her hands stopped again, and she gave me a look of someone way older. “That’s not what I heard my daddy say to Mommy. He said that Mason is a sicko that likes to hurt people. That they should’ve booted him before he had the chance to run.”

She was still staring at me, waiting for a confirmation or a denial.

“Well, that could be true, too,” I said. If Tiber wanted to call Mason a sicko, who was I to say he wasn’t?

“But why did they try to poison you?”

“I’m not sure, but there are people who would like to do bad things. I’m getting in their way.”

“But Kaden saved you.” Her eyes lit up.

“He helped me, yes. He probably did save me.” This wasn’t the first time, either, not that I’d tell her. She already appeared to be developing hero worship.

Marina crossed her legs and leaned forward, staring into the fire, as if she could make a wish upon it. “One day, I want to have a man that looks at me the way Kaden looks at you.”

She was basing her dreams on what she thought she saw with us? Two people who were perpetuating a fraud.

“Kaden and I are mated, but we’re not in love, not like your parents. That’s the relationship you should look to, not ours.” The words stung, making my chest tighten. She wanted what I’d wanted as a child, but nothing about my relationship with Kaden measured up. Yes, he’d helped me, saved me more than once, but this wasn’t a situation I’d ever envy or dream of.

“I see the way he looks at you.” She planted her chin in her hand, still gazing dreamily. “Like tonight, he was beside himself when he thought you were sick.”

“He cares for me, but it’s not all that it appears.”

She glanced my way and then went back to daydreaming. I had more than a decade on her, and she’d just given me a look like I was clueless.

“Not all who are mated are in love,” I said.

She nodded, smiling slightly. “Okay.”

Luisca walked back in the room with our tea. “Do you want to go up and rest?” she asked.

The idea of going up to bed alone was the last thing I wanted. I’d rather curl up on the hard floor and sleep here, where there were other people.

Chelsie joined us, and the four of us waited together.

“They’re on their way back,” Luisca said, smiling at me.