Addict (Hunter #2)(69)

“Understood what?”

“That he didn’t have to manhandle every moment of my day. Lee believed in me. He followed my lead until such time as he knew I was going to be horribly murdered. That actually happened more often than you would think. Trent and I get on all right. Mostly, we get along because I had kids by the time he became my guard. I settled down. I still don’t tell him everything. I still sneak away from time to time. It makes him crazy.”

I liked the idea of Trent freaking out because his charge gave him the slip.

“The point is, I told your father everything. I left nothing out. In exchange, he made damn sure I fought for my place.” She said the last with emphasis and then sat back, waiting for my reply.

“I don’t know what the hell my place is.” I wasn’t quite sure what she wanted.

She shook her head ruefully. “It’s hard to remember sometimes, but I’ve sat where you’re sitting, and I was even a bit older than you. I know you think we don’t have much in common, but you’re wrong. You got a raw deal in the childhood department. I think you can get past that. I had a crappy mother, too.”

“Did she try to kill you?” I could win this particular war. The man who raised me had actually attempted to murder me. That story usually won me first prize in the awful parent contest.

The queen frowned. “No, but she ran off with an accountant. My point is, we’re both women in a man’s world. These aren’t fuzzy, huggy men. These are domineering, take-charge, protect-the-women kind of guys. You have to fight or you’re just something soft for their beds.”

“I doubt Marcus thinks I’m soft.” He couldn’t possibly view me in that fashion. He knew how dangerous I could be. No one would ever think of me as sweet and feminine and in need of protection.

“Then why is he trying to haul you off the continent?”

I was honest with the queen where I wouldn’t be with Liv. I didn’t want Liv to think less of me or feel sorry for me, but I knew why he was doing it. “He doesn’t think I’m smart enough to handle someone like Winter.”

“Felix is going to have to work on your self-esteem issues.” The queen shook her head. “Answer me this, is Marcus sleeping with you?”

“Yes.” I was pretty sure she knew the answer to that question.

“I know Marcus. He wouldn’t be involved in a serious way with you if he didn’t respect your intelligence. He’s a hard man. He doesn’t care about much anymore. He cares about you, Kelsey. He’ll run your whole life if you let him and perversely, that will make him care less about you.”

“Marcus wants us to go back to Italy. He’s not asking for my opinion.” It rankled.

She pointed to the picture of my dad. “He would have pushed you, Kelsey. He would have pushed you to make your own way and demand your rights.”

“Why are you doing this?” I didn’t trust people to look out for me. She had to have an agenda. “Did the king tell you to get me to stay or to go?”

Zoey laughed. “Oh, Danny would be perfectly upset with me for having this discussion. He would love for you to turn out to be a good soldier, exactly like your uncle and Trent. I’m talking to you because it’s what your father would want. He would want you to stand up and tell them what you’ll do and what you won’t.”

The queen stood, leaving the photo with me. “Keep that. I have one of his hats, too. I want you to have it. It isn’t much of a legacy, but it’s yours. The real legacy he left you is in your power. Your father was a champion of what was right, not what was expedient or easy for himself. He would have laughed at the thought, but he was an idealist in a way Danny and Dev aren’t. Daniel needs you to be more than a weapon. He needs you to be you.”

With that, the queen walked away. I heard her greet her husband and saw Quinn picking up his daughter. He tossed her in the air and caught her again. She laughed and enjoyed it because never in her baby brain did she think he would let her fall. I never had that. My mother had loved me, but I never had that big strong man to count on. I stared back down at the picture of my biological father. The image in front of me grew watery. He wasn’t a particularly handsome man, yet everything about him called to me. I wished so much in that moment that I could know him, any part of him.

“Don’t cry.” Lee put his hand over mine. “It’s going to be okay, Kelsey.”

He was nine, and he was trying to comfort me. He patted my back as he had seen others do before. I gave him a slight smile. “I’m all right. I’m just sad that I didn’t get to meet my dad.”

He smiled at me. “I have three. You could have one of mine.”

“Three?” I knew about Daniel and Dev.

“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “Bris counts, too.”

“Ah.” I hadn’t thought about the fertility god who had residence in Dev Quinn’s body.

“He totally counts. He orders me around and gives me all kinds of advice when he takes over Papa’s body. He’s more comfortable with Rhys, though. I’m only a human.”

I hugged him tightly. This child should never once feel that he was less than anyone. “Oh, Lee, you go so far beyond mere human I can’t express it. Now, tell me what the word is.”

His brown eyes lit up. Lee was a kid who loved subterfuge. “So, Uncle Marcus and Uncle Zack think you should go back to Italy. Uncle Zack was totally like ‘no’ until he heard Marcus say that Jack Frost was coming for you, and then he got on board with Uncle Marcus. Dad thinks you can totally take out Jack Frost. I think so, too. He doesn’t sound that tough to me. He’s like snow, and that’s not so bad.”