AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is it Benedict again?” She hasn’t asked about him in a while now. “You still believe he’s a threat?”
“I will never stop believing that. Not until I’ve seen his dead body splayed out in front of me. It’s not in themudak’snature to give up. You should know that better than anyone.”
She sighs. “Is this why you’ve been so reluctant to move forward?” she asks. “You’re worried that if we start a family, then we’ll become an even bigger target?”
“That’s part of it,” I admit.
Or at least, itwouldbe a reason—if I were interested in having a family at all. But I’ve never been interested in marriage, or kids, or any of that heartwarming bullshit that can bring a Bratva to its knees.
Until I met Adam.
Or really…until I thought I’d lost him.
Fucking hell. I might need to lay off Taylor a bit. She’s not the only one keeping secrets around here.
“You’ve protected me all these years,” Celine murmurs. “You’ll protect our family, too.”
“Celine…”
“I know, I know,” she wards off uneasily. “We’ve had this conversation before. But you always seem to table it the moment it starts and nothing ever really changes. I’m tired of waiting, Ilarion. I’ve been waiting for years. I want more than the charity galas and the fundraisers. As much as it’s filled my life, it’s stopped fulfilling me.”
Neither one of us says it, but it’s there between us—her work is no longer compensating for the emptiness in our fraudulent relationship. It’s no longer making up for lost time, or keeping her too busy to ignore the wait. She’s trying to fill the gap by coaxing us forward, and I don’t have the heart to tell her there’s nowhere to go.
“Go spend some time with your family,” I encourage her. “You have a nephew that I’m sure you’ll want to get to know.”
Her mouth twists to the side. “Is that why you found them and brought them back here?” she asks. “You thought it would distract me?”
Again, it’s part of the reason. A solid one, too. Just not thewholereason.
Sometimes, I feel as though my life with Celine has been a series of broken parts. Nothing we’ve shared has ever been whole, or true, or real. Just fractured pieces that we’ve learned to avoid slicing ourselves open on.
“Celine, please. I have work to do.”
“I let you brush me off all the time, Ilarion,” she groans. “At some point, I’m going to stop letting you change the subject.”
I say nothing. She looks at me and shivers like a cold draft just blew through. But then she glances away, and I wonder if she feels that ominous sense of foreboding in the air like I do.
“Oh, one more thing before you go?” She’s shifted into something more direct, more professional.
I pause at the doorway. “Yes?”
“I want them to stay here with us,” she says. “Taylor and Adam, and Dad…I want this to be their home.”
“Okay.”
She raises her brows. “Okay? Just like that?”
“I figured you’d want that,” I say with a shrug. “And I already decided to allow it if you asked.”
Sure. Let’s go with that. It sounds better than the truth.
Which is that I want them here, too.
I clear my throat and add,“Anyway—if Archie has to be around, I’d rather keep him close.”
Celine frowns. “He’s not going to try to get in touch with Benedict, Ilarion. He’s got everything to lose if he so much as attempts it. He loves his family too much to risk us again.”
I want to challenge that, but I remember what Archie said about why he betrayed me. And despite the way it makes me grind my teeth with frustration, I know she’s right.
