Page 52 of Fractured Memories

Hurt flashes in those dark blue depths, and I hate the way it cuts at me. I’m too damn protective of Lochlan. Enough so that he’s managing to drag words out of me. “We didn’t talk.” He opens his mouth to ask more questions, and I lift a hand. “Nothing has changed. I’m still warming her up to being around me again, but it’s slow progress.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.” Rohan’s response is laced with judgement.

I sigh, leaning back and running a hand through the thick, disheveled waves. “Physically, it’s been easy to win her over.” Which is almost the inverse of how it happened before. “But I don’t know how to talk to her.”

“Because you aren’t.”

I shift my focus to Lochlan. “What?”

“You aren’t talking to her. You keep giving her space and then showing up, wanting her to remember things she can’t.” He shrugs a shoulder. “You need to start over with her, Kier.”

“Start over?” The idea pisses me off.

“He’s right,” Rohan adds to my annoyance with that comment. “You haven’t talked because you keep fighting. You need to stop bringing up the past.”

“She loves to fight me,” I bite out, looking away. A part of me recognizes that they are right, which doesn’t make me any less irritated. I know that I’ve snapped at every one of Eden’s questions, that she’s stiffened when I called her my wife or her nickname. I’ve had no patience with her, not even to try to offer explanations now that she has settled into our home again.

“This is different.” Lochlan shakes his head. “You can’t build a relationship with her off of memories she doesn’t have.”

“I don’t need to build a relationship.” My jaw flexes as I try to keep my temper in check. “We are married.”

Lochlan sighs. “Kieran…”

“You’re being too fucking stubborn,” Rohan snaps. “You want her? Find some fucking patience. Talk to her. Whether you want to admit it or not, everything that happened before doesn’t matter anymore.”

Well, fuck. What a great start to my morning. My friend who I grew up with, who is my only family, telling me the most important months of my life don’t matter.

“That was harsh, Ro.”

“It was true.” He kicks me this time, making me look at him. “Get your head out of your arse, and treat her right. You convinced her to marry you before. Do it again.”

“I don’t know how.” Sometimes I can’t believe she ever picked me once. To get her to do it again? I’m at a loss.

“You’re putting too much pressure on her to pick up where you left off,” Lochlan answers, his tone softer than Rohan’s. “Make her happy. Pick the right fights with her. You do know how.”

“Yeah, you dumb prick.” Rohan’s lips twitch. “Actually use that brain for once.”

I kick him. “You better watch how you speak to me.”

A swift jab stings my shin. “Or?”

I hit back harder. “You need a reminder?”

His grin is pure violence. “Absolutely.”

Before I can launch myself across my table at him, footsteps echo behind us. I tip my head back to see Jude coming in, which is mildly surprising. He should be at the training grounds this early.

“Oh, good.” Rohan’s words take on a teasing edge that is rare. “A real challenge.”

Jude drops into the chair next to me, picking a piece of fruit off the platter. “Not for me. Too much whiskey and sweets have made you lot soft.”

I try to hide my chuckle as Rohan’s expression falls, looking pissed. He didn’t intend to get insulted with me and Lochlan. “Now I really am looking for a fight.”

Jude doesn’t move. “Unfortunately, it will have to wait.” Rohan looks like he’s on the verge of growling, but Jude waves him off. “I’m here on business.”

“Something happen at the training grounds?” I ask as I study him. He doesn’t look distressed, but Jude is good at keeping a straight face. Maybe the best of us four.

He shakes his head. “I was going over the guard rounds for the day when I saw an internal change.” He cocks his head as his ice blue eyes slide over to me. “Did you cancel two squads from going into the lower parts of the city?”