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“I feel like a worthless father for striking you, but I can’t train you unless I do it.”

“I know.” When the bleeding stopped, I pocketed the linen. “And I’m better for it.”

“I really did give you the best I had—without Khazmuda’s strength. You’re a remarkable fighter, Lily.” Sincerity shone through his words and reached his eyes. “There’s always room for improvement, but you stand before me as a fierce opponent.”

“You think I’d best Hawk?”

He smirked. “It wouldn’t even be close.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “As I said before, he doesn’t have the same depth.”

“Sometimes I feel like your favorite,” I said with a chuckle.

The smile faded, and the merriment to his mood did too. There was a heavy pause, a silence filled with so many things he didn’t say. “I’d always wanted a daughter. So, when you were born, it meant the world to me.”

“But families always want sons,” I said. “What made you want a girl?”

His eyes glazed over as the silence stretched. A painful smile moved over his lips, and he drew a sudden breath before he looked away. It took him a moment to look at me once more, a sea of pain in his eyes but its origins a mystery. “I just did.”

I had dinner with my mom in the dining room, just the two of us. Dad was off with Khazmuda, and Hawk was in the village.

I had bruising on my face, but my mom didn’t ask about it.

My dad must have already mentioned it. I just wasn’t sure if he told her the truth…or made up something else.

“Your father was really impressed with your spar today.”

“He was?” I grabbed the bottle and refilled my glass. I would normally be thinking about that battle nonstop, but now something else had taken my focus. Dark eyes on a white beach. Warmth in the sheets. A man who had possessed my soul even though he promised not to take it.

“Went on about it for an hour straight.” The fire burned in the hearth behind her, and she sipped her wine rather than focused on her dinner. She smirked slightly. “Didn’t understand most of what he said, but he was excited like a child.”

“I worked really hard.” I’d trained every day since I was a child, and even though I’d told my father I wanted to pursue my own interests, I’d continued to practice. I didn’t want to waste the skills I’d worked so hard to perfect.

“I know you did, sweetheart.” She gave a gentle smile. “I’m very proud of you. Even with the blood of dragons in my veins, I could never fight the way you do. You definitely have Rothschild blood, and that’s something I can never have, only pass on.”

“You’re too pretty to fight anyway, Mom.”

Her smile widened, and color moved into her cheeks. “Stop.”

“You are.”

“You’re far prettier than I was at your age.”

I rolled my eyes. “Wearethe same age.” Even though we looked like sisters, I would always see her as my mom. The relationship had slowly changed since I’d left the house, and a different kindof friendship had been formed. I think our closeness in physical age contributed to that too. In a couple more years, my father and brother really would look like brothers.

“So, how are you?” she asked before she swirled her wine. “Adjusted to home yet?”

Home didn’t feel the same, not when a new man had entered my life. He could be in this room at that very moment, watching the two of us bond from the shadows. I thought about him constantly, wondered when he would appear and hold me close.

My mother waited for me to answer the question.

“Yeah…for the most part.” A part of me wanted to tell her. I trusted her implicitly, but I didn’t want her to carry the burden of this secret. It wasn’t an ordinary secret, like when I’d lost my virginity or when I did something else questionable. Keeping this from my father would be a betrayal. So I bottled it inside and kept it to myself, my feelings a cacophony of emotion and confusion. “How are things with you guys?”

“We’re both so happy you’re home. A parent can only know peace when their children are close.”

“Does Hawk know that I’ve changed my mind?”