Addict (Hunter #2)(72)

“I’m trying to make a point.” Donovan leaned forward. “Every day for the last ten years, he’s greeted her with a ‘good morning, cara.’ Until one day, a little over three months ago. He saw her and said, ‘good morning, Zoey.’ I didn’t think much of it until I realized he never called her anything but Zoey or Your Highness after the night he met you. Marcus is a charming playboy until he decides to settle down, and then he’s loyal to the bone.”

“He walked out on me.” I felt a hollow space open inside me. He was leaving me. I wondered if he would even say good-bye.

“I doubt he walked far.” The king’s blue eyes regarded me with something like sympathy. “I have some selfish reasons why it would be better if you and Marcus weren’t together.”

“You want him to marry your daughter one day.” It was the only thing that made sense.

“She’s a companion. You have no idea how much that tiny bundle of light scares the crap out of me,” the king admitted. “The boys are easier. Evan…well, she makes me almost wish we’d only had boys. I love that baby girl. From the moment the midwife put her in my arms, I knew I would die for my daughter. I want her safe. Every vampire in the world is going to want her. I trust Marcus. It’s the one thing Dev and I have fought over since we formed our triad. Still, I can see you need him, and he needs you. I have to believe things will work out as they were meant to.”

“I wouldn’t have taken you for a philosopher.” The king was awfully hard to dislike when he was simply being a guy. It made me remember that we’d been friends once. We’d played together online before I’d turned into some weirdo, half-wolf, demon-slaying thing. It hadn’t been much, but for a while that group of guys was all I had. Nathan had given that to me. I remembered something I should have told the king yesterday. “They’re worried about the conference that’s coming up in the next couple of years. They think you’re going to cancel the contracts.”

Donovan’s face became completely enigmatic. He said nothing, just waited for me to continue.

“They want to fracture the vampires.” I took a deep breath and told him the news no parent could possibly want to hear. “They’re willing to use your children, Donovan. They talked specifically about using Evan to cause a rift between you and Marcus.”

Donovan already knew. I read it on his face. The thought caused his fangs to lengthen though. When he spoke, they were large in his mouth. “Yes, the lieutenant mentioned it. I’ve already upped Evan’s security. Trent is hiring some extra guards for the boys and Z, too. Bris has strict orders to take over the body if Dev does something stupid. I’m on it, Kelsey. If anything happens…”

My response was instantaneous. “The kids are my highest priority. I’ll do what it takes.”

Donovan nodded slowly, and I watched him calm down. “I appreciate that, Kelsey. Know that Dev and I will sacrifice anything for our wife and children. Now, we should get to the dining room table. Think about what I said. Don’t give up on Marcus. You just fought for yourself, and you won. Now fight for him. He needs it. And try to keep your pants on this time.”

“I make no promises.” I would be seeing Sloane. My pants tended to dissolve around him.

The king followed me out the door, and we joined my new family for dinner.





Chapter Fifteen



Dinner was delicious, but my heart wasn’t in it. All around me this new family I found myself in laughed and joked. The king sat at one end of the table. There was no plate piled high in front of him, but he sat there, Evangeline on his lap. He was content to cut her food into tiny squares. The little girl leaned back against her father and chewed happily. Lee and Rhys argued about which video games were best. Quinn had a long discussion with my uncle on the new high-definition television he’d bought. The women talked about new clothes and their kids. Liv joined in, telling stories about her job and what teaching high school supernaturals was like.

I was quiet.

I wondered if I would ever feel like I belonged somewhere. I’d felt like I belonged with Gray, but that was a lie. I’d felt like I belonged with Marcus, but I’d screwed that up as well. I found my eyes moving over to the side table where I’d stashed the picture of my dad inside my purse. He was a lone wolf. How much of that instinct to be alone was written into my DNA? Would I always push away the people who cared about me?

Lisa placed a piece of chocolate cake in front of me. The icing looked rich and dark. If Marcus had been beside me, his eyes would have filled with anticipation. He loved chocolate. His sweet tooth would have caused me to get overweight if I didn’t have that trusty werewolf metabolism. His hand would already be on the fork. He would hold it to my mouth and tease my lips with it until I took a bite. We would enjoy the flavor, the taste so much sweeter because I knew he shared it with me.

How long would it take before the bond between us was broken? Would mere distance mean he couldn’t feel my moods or taste what I tasted? Would I feel the same way about Hugo that I felt about Marcus? I doubted it. I hoped Hugo’s mistress didn’t hate me.

“Kelsey?” I was pulled out of my morbid thoughts by Liv calling to me. “Are you all right? Where did Marcus go?”

“He needed to pack.” My answer was short and I couldn’t look her in the eye. It was the same talk we always had. I f*cked up and someone who could have been good for me was gone. “He’s going back to Italy in the morning.”