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I followed behind her, watching as she stared around at the glass cases and shelves of my collection. At the things that were precious and the things that were not. Things worth millions and things worth nothing at all.
‘What...is this?’ Her voice was quiet as she stared around, her eyes wide.
‘You know I told you that I wasn’t allowed anything as a child? No toys. No friends. No pets. Only school materials and the clothes on our backs. We weren’t even allowed books to read. So when I was finally old enough to be out from under Domingo’s thumb, I decided I would collect things that I liked.’
She paused beside a case that contained coins. I had some old Spanish doubloons, a few from Ancient Roman, one or two Greek. I even had adaric, a gold coin from ancient Persia.
‘Why didn’t you want me to come in that day I found you in here?’ she murmured, gazing at the coins. ‘You were furious with me. I know you were.’
‘Because this collection is private, and some of these things are very personal to me. I suppose hiding them is a habit I’ve got into. With Domingo, you couldn’t let him see that anything was important to you, because he’d take it away. So I found it easier to keep everything hidden.’
Perhaps I hadn’t needed to in the past few years, but by then it had become a habit too hard to break.
Jenny moved on to my small collection of mechanical toys, mostly from the Victorian era, staring at them in wonder. ‘I can understand that. You have so many different things...’
‘I collect anything that takes my fancy.’
She examined the collection of swords and knives from different parts of the world—some historic, some modern—that I’d had mounted on the wall. Then went on to another case full of gems, crystals and geodes. A few were very valuable, while some weren’t. Some were just ones I liked.
She paused, staring at them, and her mouth curved. ‘You have a rock collection, Con.’
I loved it when she teased me. There was so much affection in her tone.
I raised a brow, mock-stern. ‘Yes. What of it?’
She grinned. ‘And coins and swords and toys and—’ Abruptly, she broke off, her expression changing, her smile fading away, leaving her looking almost stricken. Her dark eyes seemed liquid in the light of the room.
Tension gripped me. ‘Jenny? What is it?’
She turned away, moving over to one of the other shelves before pausing again. I knew what she was looking at. My toy soldier.
She didn’t say anything, staring down at the piece of plastic sitting on the shelf.
I went over to where she stood, coming up beside her. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘That’s your toy,’ she said quietly, ignoring my question. ‘That’s your toy soldier, isn’t it? The one Valentin threw onto the roof.’
‘Yes.’ I wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
‘And all of this...’ She turned, looking up me, tears in her eyes. ‘Rocks and coins and swords... You missed out on so much.’ Her voice went hoarse. ‘And you were hurt so badly. I can’t...’
A tear slid down her cheek, making my chest feel so tight I could hardly breathe.
Reaching out, I pulled her into my arms and gathered her close. ‘I didn’t bring you here to upset you.’ I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. ‘I only wanted to share it with you. Something important to me.’
‘I know.’ The words were muffled against my shirt. ‘And I’m honoured, Con. But it makes me so sad to think about the little boy you were and what you never got to have.’
‘That’s all in the past now,’ I said gruffly.
She looked up, her face flushing pink with emotion. ‘I don’t want this for our child. I don’t want him or her to miss out on a single thing or to feel as if they’re not loved. Not even a little bit. We can’t let that happen. We can’t. Promise me.’
The tension gripped tighter. ‘I can promise you that they won’t miss out on anything.’
Her gaze flickered and she bit her lip. ‘You said that love isn’t something you can give. Do you still mean that?’
A blade slid between my ribs, so sharp I barely felt it go in. Yet it was there, deep in my gut, radiating pain. But ever since I’d met her I’d spent my life protecting her, and I wasn’t going to stop now. Especially not now we were expecting a child.
She must have read my expression, because the look in her eyes changed. ‘Oh, Con, please don’t say—’
