Page 5 of Wedlock

I know someone who felt a pain like this once, felt it for hundreds of years. I had no idea how carrying such a burden must have felt.

I donow.

But I owe that someone no apology for making light of their agony.Thatsomeone is the cause ofmyheartache today. Thatsomeone who was gone from my estate by the time I left my wife and the baby in my suites, thank Christ, and whom I hope never to see again. That someone who should have known better than to take away the object of my affection,my angel, knowing how that felt.

Even as I think this, the ache intensifies. Twin knives are lodged in my heart, and both thrust by those I’d loved and trusted.

My phone rings and I snigger at the caller ID.

“Et tu, Brutus?”

“Falcon, please.”

“You’ve got a fucking nerve.”

“Please, hear me out. Something’s not right.”

“You’re damned straight something’s not right. You fucked my wife and cuckolded me as you supped on my food and revelled in my hospitality, all the while calling mebrother.”

“It’s your brother I want to talk to you about…”

“Enough! My brother was the only one brave enough to reveal what was going on under my nose. He always hated you, Jag, and now I know why.”

“You don’t mean that…”

I lower my voice to a deadly whisper.

“I vow by the power in my blood, the honour in my veins, that if I ever see you again, Viscount Jaguar Speardon of Versailles Province, I will end you.”

I hear his sharp intake of breath at my vow. Once made and witnessed it’s binding and ends only with the death of either of the participants, or in rare circumstances if revoked in front of the monarch, at their discretion and with consequences.

But I have no intention of revoking it. If I see him again, Iwillkill him.

Throwing my phone aside, I nod to the stewardess to come forward, every muscle in my body tensed for violence.

“On your knees,” I growl to her.

5

I pace up and down in front of the windows and shake my head at Eleanor.

For days now I’ve been recovering from the birth and getting used to my new jail. Even if I could, there’s no escape. The door is always locked, the windows don’t open, and apart from my meals being delivered by a silent maid, I see no one but Eleanor.

This room may be something akin to living in the Palace of Versailles in terms of its rich décor, but it’s still a cell.

“A nanny?” I mutter again.

“You’re only human,” Eleanor sniffs, “a nanny and a wetnurse will help bear the burden of breastfeeding a vampire. It will give you a small measure of respite. The nanny will take the boyto the wetnurse for supplementary feedings while you rest and recover betweenyourfeedings.”

“You mean she’ll make sure I don’t murder him,” I mutter, turning away from the woman’s outstretched hands and holding my baby tightly.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Angelina.”

“Me?” I swing back to her, rage making my voice tight. “Me be ridiculous? I’ve told you I love my baby. I’ve shown nothing but devotion to him, and I’ve followed every stupid rule you’ve seen fit to decree in the days since my incarceration. Still, you watch me like a hawk and act like I’m some kind of psychopath.”

“If I gave that impression, I apologise,” she sniffs. “But you have to admit you’ve hardly given me any reason to trust you.”

“Iwon’tgive my baby to a stranger.”