Page 103 of Wedlock

It may be despicable, and it may not have been deliberate, as he claims, but I can’t help but think he’s done me a favour.

80

“So, I thought to visit you and ensure you understood the severity of the threat,” I shrug, having outlined my concerns about Revna and my desire to install security around the mountain.

In truth, I’d used my concerns as an excuse to visit. I’ve already investigated security options and plan to put in place an adequate human militia to protect this mountain top. By adequate, I mean enough men to secure a small country. No one is getting in here to harm my wife or son.

They’ll be in place by tomorrow morning.

Still, the threat Revna poses is very real. Yin and Angie need to take it seriously.

I peruse the room as I finish talking. From the rock fireplace sporting children’s toys on the mantle, to the scatter cushions, plants, and natural furnishings, it’s clear that my initial fear that Angie was living in privation was unfounded. There’s money behind this set-up, and although my impromptu visit had confirmed they had no formal security, they do have staff.

I’m relieved, and also a little envious, that Yin is enjoying the company of my wife and child, and that she’s the one to make her feel safe. At the same time, I’m grateful that Angie has a friend she can rely on and trust wholeheartedly. The place feels like a home, and it makes me more acutely aware of how empty my castle is without this woman. I breathe deeply — the whole house smells like her.

“And you don’t think she poisoned Tiger?” Yin frowns from where she stands in the doorway, not having let her guard down from the moment I entered their mountain retreat.

I lean back on the couch next to Angie. She has her legs curled under her as she nurses a cup of tea. She looks young, vulnerable.

‘Jesus, being this close to her just makes me want to pick her up and carry her kicking and screaming to my helicopter so I can go down on her at 10,000 feet.’

I try to quell my thoughts and control my cock by concentrating on the issue at hand.

“No. My security has undertaken rigorous investigations. No trail leads back to Revna or her court, and no obvious trail leads back to my queen.”

“I wondered about this,” Angie muses. “I thought Revna wanted you to have an heir so you’d be satisfied that your title remained in your family, and then you’d be free to marry her.”

“Yes, I thought so too.”

“Perhaps she simply didn’t want any trace of Angie in your life at all,” Yin suggests.

“Perhaps. She obviously doesn’t think my son is of any concern now. She visited him and seemed unperturbed that he was well. It’s not him I’m worried about. The Princess simply won’t accept that I don’t want to marry her; she sees it as a challenge to claim me. The child is not in her way, Angie is.”

“What did she say about Tiger?” Yin asks, missing the whole point of what I’m trying to convey.

‘Can’t you see that I care for you still, Angie? That this is the only reason Revna sees you as a threat?’

“Just that he had no special qualities,” I shrug. “She’s never been the most maternal of women.”

Yin and Angie look at one another, and the Japanese woman moves from the doorway to sit on the other side of my wife and take one of her hands. It’s not lost on me that she’s squeezing it — hard.

I’m about to ask what the issue is when Yin stands, pulling Angie up with her.

“Thank you for the warning, Falcon. Don’t bother ever coming here again. Next time my bullet won’t miss your heart.”

“You’re welcome, Yin, and if you insist on staying here rather than moving into my castle where you can be protected, I’ll be visiting regularly. I don’t fear for my heart, it’s already damaged beyond repair.”

81

It’s been two days since Falcon’s visit, two days since I shot my first people and Falcon intimated his heart was still broken, and Yin and I are still waxing and waning over what to do.

Partly it’s because I can’t think straight. I’ve had terrible nightmares since I did what I did, and partly it’s because we can’t agree on the way forward. Yin thinks if Jag found us, and Falcon found us, then we should pack up and flee, but just where to go and if it’s the right thing to do is what we’re debating.

“Yin,” I yawn, “would it be such a bad thing for Falcon to put security around us?”

She sighs heavily.

“Security hired by a vampire?”