Page 7 of Fall of a Kingdom

His grin was lopsided. “I know why you’re tired.”

I snorted. “Yes. Someone decided to wake me up in the middle of the night…”

“I don’t see you complaining.”

“I’ll never complain,” I assured him. “But I might have to take a nap later today.”

Flynn finished off the rest of his espresso and then leaned back in his chair. “Hadrian called.”

“Did he?”

“He invited us to stop off at his island on our way home.”

“Hmmm. Heinvited? With our brood? He wants to talk business, doesn’t he?”

“Of course. You know how he is. The man prefers not to communicate via technology if he can help it.”

The eccentric, reclusive Scottish billionaire lived on his own private Shetland Island with his wife and preferred to remain in his own domain. Hadrian counted Ramsey Buchanan as his best friend and part of his inner circle, therefore Duncan and Flynn were included by extension.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing Sterling,” I said, mentioning Hadrian’s wife. “And the boys are on break from school until the new year, so that’s not a concern.”

“Not that it matters,” Flynn remarked dryly. “We pull them out of school frequently enough.”

“Yes, and we also donate enough to their school that the headmaster doesn’t say a word when we do,” I pointed out. “Do you think the boys are missing something by not being in school as much as their peers?”

“They don’t seem to be missing anything. I’d rather have them with us when we travel, and besides, they’re young enough that the only true thing they miss from primary school is social interaction. They’re already ahead in reading and maths. If it causes problems for them in their later years, we’ll pay for their therapy.”

I let out a laugh. “I would apologize for being able to live by different rules because of who we are, but I’m not really that concerned about it, to be honest.”

He fell silent for a moment and then he said, “The boys are at a perfect age. They can entertain themselves and they don’t need us every hour of every day.”

“You don’t want another baby,” I stated. “That’s what you’re saying.”

“I love our family, Barrett. You know I do. But I feel like it’s complete.”

“I thought you said you’d take the time to think about it.”

“I have thought about it.”

“Have you?” I raised my brows. “How can you have thought about it and come to this conclusion all in the span of eight hours when I’ve been thinking about this for weeks?”

“Weeks?”

“Months, actually. I’ve been thinking about this for months.”

“What is it you want me to say, Barrett?” He all but growled.

“I want you to consider what I asked.Reallyconsider it. Don’t just placate me and tell me you considered it when all you did was wait a few hours and then say no.”

“How long should I have taken? How many hours need to pass before I can say no?” he pressed.

I threw up my hands. “You’re basically saying you won’t even change your mind.” I shoved back from the table just as the crewmember brought my breakfast.

He jumped out of the way as I blew past him like an ocean storm. I needed to escape. I wanted to be in my own space, to have some privacy.

Even though our yacht was massive, I was still trapped. There was no way off.

“Barrett,” Flynn called. “Stop.”