Page 71

Of course he did.

I should be annoyed. I should be the one to explain things to her, to make sure she understands this is temporary, that this is all just a protective arrangement. But seeing how excited she is? Seeing that light in her eyes?

Curse him and his big house.

Curse him and that damn charm.

“Can we stay with him, Mommy?” Lina asks again.

Even if I wanted to say no, I don’t think I could.

“Yes,” I say, brushing her cheek with my thumb. “But it’s only temporary, all right?”

“Thank you, Mommy!” she squeals, flinging her arms around my neck again.

Like he’s been summoned by the sound of her laughter, the man in question appears out of nowhere.

Alaric leans against the doorframe, arms folded, a grin on his face like he owns the world, and maybe he does. The look in his eyes as he watches us is quiet and full of something I don’t dare to name…

Then, in true Alaric fashion, he tilts his head and says, “Are my girls ready to go home?”

And it hits me.

He’s still pretending. This is all to keep Julian away. That’s the plan. That’s the lie we agreed to.

But the way he says my girls?

The way he says home?

I feel it in my toes. In my chest.

My wolf hears it too.

Because she howls back.

CallingAlaric’s house big is the understatement of the century.

He owns a damn mansion, complete with its own gazebo, indoor pool, and what feels like a small forest of trees and garden wrapping around it. On the outside, it resembles something out of a modern Victorian fantasy. But the inside?

It’s like stepping into Lina’s dream version of heaven. Or as she calls it, “The land of rainbows and candy.”

There are glass sliding doors, a state-of-the-art kitchen, floor-to-ceiling windows that bathe the place in light, and furniture so elegant it makes my thrift-store couch cry in shame.

Yes, what his money could buy wowed me. I won’t lie.

But what really impressed me was when Alaric turned to me and said,

“Lina’s room is next to yours. In case she gets scared or wants to sleep with you, your door will only be a step away.”

And then we went upstairs.

The squeal Lina let out when she saw her room was almost drowned out by my own gasp.

Her room…I didn’t even know what word I could use to describe it.

It was perfect.

Creamy soft walls. Pale pink bedding. Little wolf decals on the headboard. And glowing stars dotting the ceiling like someone hung the night sky just for her.