Page 36 of Dragon King’s Duty Bride

Aldrek held his gaze and his voice dropped lower. “You better hope she comes back.”

Lucas’s brow furrowed. “What is that supposed to mean?”

But Aldrek was already turning toward the door. He paused only long enough to glance back over his shoulder, his expression unreadable.

“Pray we never find out.”

Then he left, the door closing with a quiet, deliberate click.

As the days ticked by since they left the castle, something ugly and undeniable just wouldn’t get it out of his mind. He knew it was because of Aldrek’s reaction, but it still bothered him.

The girls hadn’t called him. They were proving that they were perfectly happy with Sia, just as they had been for bedtime stories and scraped knees.

Lucas exhaled slowly. Sia had become the emotional center of his family, but not by replacing Dian and not by forcing anything, but by loving them quietly, steadily, without asking for anything in return.

And what had he done? Kept her at arm’s length and retreated when her fingers brushed his. Reminded himself that she was only there for the girls.

Despite what his dragon rumbled, he had told himself it was loyalty but now, in the depressing quiet of the castle, it felt like fear.

He let out a long sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. There was one place he wanted to go. Somewhere he needed to go. So he walked out before he could talk himself out of it.

The cemetery sat in the royal cemetery near the base of the Silver Snow Mountains. Cool winds blew through the tall grasses as he went along. Lucas knew the path by heart.

He stopped in front of Dian’s grave where her name was carved in clean, elegant letters. Beloved wife. Devoted mother. He lowered himself to his knees.

“I’m sorry it took me this long,” he said softly. The wind answered by lifting the edge of his coat. He stared at the stone and felt something inside him unravel.

“They miss you,” he whispered. “God, they miss you.” His voice cracked. “Just like I do. And I thought I was doing right by them. By you.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face.

“I didn’t let anyone get close. I didn’t let myself get close.”

Because loving again had felt like betrayal and moving forward felt like leaving her behind. But the truth had crept up on him slowly. He had already fallen.

“I’m in love with her,” he finally admitted. The words broke free something that had been long imprisoned in his heart.

The wind stilled.

“Sia. Your sister.”

The admission felt fragile and enormous all at once.

“I tried not to be. I pushed her away. I told myself she deserved better than a man who still talks to his wife’s grave.”

His throat tightened.

“But she loves the girls. She loves them the way you would want someone to love them. She holds them when they cry. She sits up through fevers. She laughs with them. She sees them.”

His voice dropped to a whisper.

“And she sees me.”

That was the most terrifying part.

“She’s your sister,” he said, the guilt rising sharp and sudden. “I don’t know how to do this without feeling like I’m stealing something that was yours.”

He bowed his head. “I don’t want to replace you. I never could. I never would.”