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The floor dipped under Jesse’s feet. “Do you, like, love each other?”
Emory frowned in thought. “I imagine at one time it was something like what you call love, yes. But it is different—like family but…deeper. And unbreakable.”
“So what the fuck do you need me for?”
Emory examined his face. Finally, he smiled and ran a finger down Jesse’s cheek.
“My darling Jesse,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I cannot help what is between me and Lucien. We are linked by the Blood, whether we want it or not. But you…” He lowered his voice. “You Ichooseto love.”
Jesse’s breath left his body. “You…you what?”
Emory kissed him. “I love you, Jesse,” he whispered.
“That’s crazy,” Jesse said, shaking his head. “You’ve only known me a few days.”
Emory brushed his hair from his face. “I knew you were special the second I saw you at the Christmas lights.” Emory smiled softly. “Yes, I saw you, with your nephew on your shoulders. I heard the things you said…and saw the way you looked at me.”
“I’m not saying it back,” Jesse returned after a breathless silence. “This is all too…I don’t know.”
Emory brushed his knuckles over Jesse’s cheek. “You don’t have to. Not until you’re ready.”
Jesse cleared his throat. His face was hot. “So if I admit that Dimity is safe with you…” He looked intently into Emory’s face. “What about everything else? School, birthday parties, university graduations? A wedding? Sometimes loving a kid is just not enough.”
Emory tucked Jesse’s hair behind his ears. “I plan to enroll Dimity in the best school in the district. Joanna and my security staff will get her to and from the facility safely. The first thing I do upon waking every night is see her and hear about her day. As for birthday parties, graduations”—his eyes glittered—“weddings…? I will join for whatever part of those celebrations happen after sunset. All of Dimity’s birthday parties so far have been after dark. She has a January birthday, thankfully, when the days are short. She doesn’t seem to mind.”
“What about the other kids? Their parents? Do they mind their children going to a birthday party after dark at a vampire’s house?”
A line appeared between Emory’s eyebrows. “I know you’re tired and in pain, so I’m going to allow you some latitude in this, Jesse, but the answer to your question is no. In Austria, Dimity’s friends’ parents were all very understanding. They are a little more progressive in that part of Europe. Haemophiles have lived in the open there for some time.” He sighed deeply. “I would do my very best to give Dimity a happy life. But, ultimately, none of it is up to me.” He took Jesse’s hand. “The court will know all about what has happened tonight. They will know about my ‘Kill List’. They will know everything. And they will decide if I can be Dimity’s parent. And I will accept their judgment.”
“You will?”
Emory nodded. “I believe Dimity belongs with me, but if the world decides she can’t be, I’m not going to fight. Fighting would make everything worse for her. I won’t do that to her.”
Jesse had run out of words, run out of questions, run out of energy. He sank onto the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands, willing the aching to ease, inside and out. The bed shifted as Emory sat next to him.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, putting his fingers under Jesse’s chin and lifting his face to examine the dressing on his forehead. “I really didn’t want you to get caught in the middle like this.”
“I’m the silly bugger that climbed the ladder.”
“Yes. Filip told me,” Emory said, running his thumb over the dressing. “You really are very impulsive.”
“We needed the video proof of those guys being arseholes. If the courts are going to decide if you can be Dimity’s dad, it’s only fair they have all the facts.”
“Thank you,” he said gently. He ran his hands down Jesse’s neck, lighting a low fire in his flesh, before resting it on his chest. “But there’s something else. Something that’s making your heart beat too fast. Is it something to do with why you drew the curtains?”
“Trixy,” Jesse said, his voice catching in his throat. “She’s got pictures of us from last night. Videos. She’s probably going to release them.”
Emory looked thoughtful. “She told you this?”
Jesse nodded. “She said she’d keep it under wraps if I told her all about Dimity. I told her to get lost.”
Emory smiled. “Thank you.”
“But it’s gonna come out.” Jesse clenched his fists. “Our fucking sex video. All over the internet.”
Emory took his hand. “We’ll weather it, Jesse. Together.”
“It’s not just that…” Jesse rubbed the fading marks on his wrist. “Anton…my brother. He’s figured it all out.”
