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Mother offered her a sweet and somehow knowing smile. “Magic can do a lot for a girl’s complexion. It’s nice to meet you, Sunday. I’m Lina. Is my boy taking good care of you?”
My heart flipped in my chest, and I had to swallow back a groan. “Mother—”
Sunday rested her hand on my shoulder. “He’s an absolute doll. He saved my life, in fact. So I guess I should thank you for that. I may not be here right now if not for your son.”
Mother’s perfectly arched brows rose nearly into her hairline. Fuck. “Aleksander Alistair... You’ve never looked more like your father than you do at this exact moment. Maybe I was right to take Cora’s advice after all.”
“Who’s Cora?” Sunday asked.
“And that’s all the time we have. Sorry, Mother, I have to go. Love you.” I snapped the mirror shut and closed our connection before any more awkward conversation could happen.
“I didn’t mean to ruin your family time.”
“You didn’t. I’ll call her back later.”
My fingers itched to touch her, to feel her silky smooth skin. And then there was the memory of her lips on mine. What I wouldn’t give to get to kiss her again when she wasn’t on death’s door. She straightened, and I immediately resented the distance between us.
“So you come up here every week to chat with her? I really didn’t peg you as the kind of guy who would indulge his mom that way. She must really miss you.”
“Family is everything.”
It was simple but true. Even when we hated each other, we loved each other. My parents had fought too hard to be together not to instill the same core values in the rest of us.
Her eyes flashed with remembered pain. “Must be nice.”
I almost reached for her until Thorne made his way from the depths of the stacks, eyes laser-focused on us. Staking his claim, as usual. Bloodsucking prick.
“There you are, dove. Get lost?”
She glanced over her shoulder at him, her smile soft and her eyes warm and only for him. A dagger to the heart would have hurt less. It was then I realized just how fucked I was. Because I wanted that smile for myself, but she wasn’t meant for me. She’d already chosen someone else.
“Nope. I just stumbled upon a Viking in a reading nook and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a chat.”
“Thorne,” I said, offering him a curt nod.
“Alek.”
Sunday glanced between us and shivered dramatically. “Brrr, is it chilly in here, or is that just more alpha male posturing I’m picking up on?” Then she rolled her eyes. “It was really nice chatting with you, Alek. See you for our next lesson, yeah?”
“Of course.”
“Lesson?” Thorne asked, one brow cocked.
“He’s teaching me how to control my... warriorness.”
I laughed. “That’s not a word.”
“I used it in a sentence, didn’t I? And you knew exactly what I meant. Therefore, it’stotallya word.”
“I stand corrected. I’ll see you next time. Though I don’t think we’ll need Kingston to be anyone but himself to get you to attack.”
Her lip pulled back in a snarl at the mention of his name. “No. Definitely not.”
My brow quirked.What’d the asshat do now?
Thorne leaned in and murmured against her ear, something so low I couldn’t hear it, but from the way her cheeks turned a deep pink, it wasn’t something I wanted to know. He ushered her away from me, one hand on the small of her back in that possessive way alpha assholes had of walking with their women. I hated him on instinct. But was it because of how he was behaving with her? Or becausehewas with her and I wasn’t?
Pocketing the mirror, I flopped back in the chair and released a heavy groan. Women had never been complicated. They’d always been fun, and we’d enjoyed a shared release together with no strings attached. The time I’d spent with other women was casual and entertaining, and while I’d felt affection for them, I’d never experienced... well, definitely not whatever this was twisting me up inside.
