Page 113 of Wedlock

“Why didn’t you tell me Jag was living with your brother and sister-in-law?” Falcon snaps.

“You didn’t ask,” I snap back. “Now, if you don’t mind, my parents are waiting for you at the table.”

Giving me a perfunctory nod, Falcon stalks towards the dining room as I place a quick hand against Jag’s chest to stop him from following.

“Whyareyou here?” I hiss.

Leaning forward, he whispers quickly into my ear.

“How else did you organise for your son’s cousin to visit you on the mountain-top?”

I gulp and lean back, staring into his eyes.

‘How did he know we’d called Suzume Talon’s cousin the day Falcon had seen them? How could he possibly know about her, unless…’

“You know?” I gasp, my mouth dry.

“I’ve known since before I visited you on the island,” he says quietly. “But you chose not to tell me the whole truth.”

“Thank fuck I didn’t,” I hiss. “You told Falcon I had twins, my assholesecret-keeper.”

“I told him you had twinboys,” he shakes his head at me, “because Eleanor had already worked out that you’d switchedchildren. The truth was going to come out one way or another, and I needed to protect what you obviously wanted to hide. Telling a half-truth was the only way. That, and ensuring Adam and Marianne were shielded from those who might ask any other questions. What I didn’t know, and indeed still don’t know, is why you don’t want him to know you have a daughter.”

“Don’t say it,” I gasp, looking over my shoulder, relieved when I hear Falcon’s low voice amid that of my family, “don’t ever say it out loud.”

“I’ll expect the truth one of these days,” he sighs. “And in the meantime, I don’t think it’s safe yet for you to be visiting regularly. I’ve put in place extreme measures for this visit.”

“Falcon said…”

“Falcon can’t have eyes and ears everywhere,” he whispers urgently, “play it safe, Angie, as you always have.”

I nod, my mood severely dampened.

“Angie?” Mother enters the room and holds out her hands to me. “Didn’t you say you were hungry?”

“Ravenous, Mom.”

Forcing a smile, I take her hands and allow her to lead me back to the table where everyone’s waiting.

90

As Angie has a private conversation with her mother, dinner finally over and most of her nephews and their parents having left, I take the opportunity to confront Jag.

I’d already had an uncomfortable conversation with Angie’s father earlier tonight, and it wasn’t lost on me that Jag had done much to smooth the waters for my visit. Apparently a shotgun full of silver bullets was her father’s idea of a warm welcome for me. Jag had managed to suggest silver cutlery might be more than enough protection, should I become unmanageable. I imagine he’d said that tongue-in-cheek, but I noticed they’d taken it literally.

Still, shotgun or no, her father clearly hated my guts, and I can’t blame him. After the birth of the twins at their farm, Adam and Marianne had informed the family of Angelina’s imprisonment in my castle, her thrall, and her desperation, and Jag had filled in the blanks. The in-between details supplied by Angie with a brief phone call as she ran, and her answers this evening to her family’s rapid-fire questions, had done nothing to warm the family towards me. They hadn’t been able to see their only daughter and sister for years because of my stupidity. I couldn’t blame any of them for wanting me dead and buried.

Apparently, though, the sun shone out of Jag.

“Here?” I scowl. “All along? Do you hope to worm your way into my wife’s affections by wooing her family?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jag mutters, swiping away the finger I poke at his chest. “That’s your game, not mine. I wanted someplace away from the world of vampires and intrigue, and they needed protecting. You were too busy being yourself to bother about the lives of anyone else.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?” I growl.

“Wolf keeps in contact,” he snorts. “I know what you’ve been up to.”

“Which is?” I snap.