Page 105 of Wedlock (Vampire Bachelor Games #3)

“He knows?”

“He figured it out after his mother revealed her full plan,” Jag says quietly. “He’s just left from Adam and Marianna’s.”

“Oh God!”

“No, don’t fear,” he coughs and clears his throat, “He didn’t come to see them. This was between the two of us; it was a long-overdue discussion.”

“Discussion?” I sigh, remembering the outcome of their last ‘discussion’ at my parents’ dinner. “You mean you fought.”

“You could say that,” he mutters ruefully, “the point is, I wanted you to know that I didn’t tell him, Angie.”

“But he knows,” I whisper.

“Yes, and more importantly he knows I love you and I’m not giving up on you. I’ll never let anything happen to you or the children,” he says gently, “as painful as that was for both of us to get out into the open.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“We’re both hurt,” he mutters, “but it was belated and cathartic.”

“Jag, I’m so sorry.”

“The gloves are off, Angie,” he sighs. “I called to tell you I can protect you. Come with me, let me hide you and the children. Let me shelter you from The Families and remove you from the machinations of the Dragonspurs once and for all.”

“Jag,” I shake my head, sighing, as I look around the retreat that I’d called home for the past few years.

“If Falcon knows about our daughter I have to assume he’s either going to leave us to live in peace, or that nothing and nobody is going to stop him coming for us.

There’s no in-between with him, and nowhere left to hide. ”

“And you’ll allow him to return you to the castle as Lady Dragonspur? To bear his bite and follow his lead in all matters royal, even if that means sacrificing your daughter?”

“No, not willingly. But for the record, he said he’d never bite me.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“I believe him. He’s truly sorry about what he did before. We’ve dated for months now, he’s not the man he was. I think he’s changed, learned from it all.”

“Learned what? He still intends to return you to that cursed castle.”

“He offered to abdicate, Jag.”

I hear his sharp intake of breath.

“What?”

“He said he’ll give up his title and we’ll live as a family somewhere, a normal family.”

“He offered to give up his title ?”

His incredulity is obvious.

“Yes. His title, his castle, everything. But that was before he learned he had a daughter. And anyway, I said no.”

“You refused him?”

“Let’s be real. I’m only going to live two human lifetimes.

What happens to him after that? He’s Lord Dragonspur, that’s what he’s always been, what he’s been destined for.

No marriage, however much the two people love one another, can weather someone giving up everything.

Sooner or later he’d resent me, or the children, or both.

I could never have him do that for me, Jag. ”

“I had no idea the depth of his feelings,” he murmurs, “to have offered such a sacrifice….”

“Yes,” I sigh, “he truly does love me, in his way.”

“In his way…” he echoes as though still stunned by my revelation.

“And you, Angie, do you love him still?”

“Jag,” I sigh, “I…I’m not sure you and I should be talking about this. I don’t want to hurt you any more than I already have.”

“Answer the question, Angie.”

“Yes. Yes, I love him, but it makes no difference.”

“Your fear for the children is the only thing stopping you from returning to him.”

It’s a murmured, mournful statement more than a question.

“Yes.”

“Forgive me, Lady Dragonspur. I had no right to speak to you as I have. I have no right to any claim upon your heart.”

“Jag, wait…”

He hangs up, and I dial his number back immediately. I can’t let our call end on such a note. He’s been a good friend, a loyal friend, and I need him to know that.

But his number says disconnected.

Frowning, I prepare to phone Yin to fill her in on what I’ve just been told and ask where we should go, when there’s a knock on the door.

Normally the dogs would have barked to indicate an intruder, but they were with Yin and the kids.

“What now?” I groan as I draw my gun and straighten my shoulders, prepared for whatever, or whoever, is trespassing on my mountain.

The knock hadn’t sounded like Falcon, but it didn’t sound timid either.

Opening the door with a violent yank, I step back and level my gun at a young man, a vampire.

He looks vaguely familiar, but I know I’ve never seen him before.

He’s not wearing any of the usual uniforms I’ve seen to show which royal house he works for, if any.

He takes two steps backwards when he sees my gun.

“What do you want?”

“Lady Dragonspur?”

“Yes.”

“Lord Dragonspur asks that you do him the courtesy of reading this letter before you run again.”

He holds the letter out, and I step forward and take it from him.

Bowing, he turns and leaves at a run.

Staring around the yard to ensure there’s no one else, I shake my head and return indoors, locking the door behind me before sitting, fingers trembling, to open the ornate, gold-edged delivery.

My name is written in his exquisite handwriting on the front of the envelope, and I recall the last letter I’d received from him.

It had been an invitation to a date in Thailand, right before the final ceremony in The Games.

But this was not an invitation; it was goodbye.

‘My Angel,

You were right in saying, before I surprised you with a visit to your parents’ home, that our last date should have been Thailand. I had intended to give this to you as a wedding present, but things didn’t turn out the way either of us expected.

Enjoy your island, my love.

Falcon.’

I sit, staring at the letter for a long, long time. Pinned behind it is a map and a title.

“He bought me an island,” I whisper aloud.

Even as I say this I remember the comment I’d made to Yin when I’d learned her mother had left her a whole island in her will.

“She must have really loved you to do that.”

“Oh, Falcon,” I groan.