Denial (Careless Whispers #1)(77)

“All right then,” Marabella agrees, “but if you need anything just call me.” She winks in my direction and dashes away.

“Good grief. She thinks we’re going to be naked for the next few days.”

“We are,” he says, “which is why we need to deal with a few issues now. David. Do you know what he looks like?”

I’m a bit stunned by how quickly he’s back in attack mode, wondering what he’s learned that I don’t yet know. “I remember very clearly. Why?”

“Matteo did a search for all Davids that traveled to Europe from San Francisco, and there were too many to be an effective search. By cross-referencing with the California DMV he was able to narrow the pool based on age, race, and travel particulars.”

“I’d also make an educated guess that a generic name wasn’t an accident, and that David wasn’t even his real name.” He picks up the syrup and pours it over his pancakes, then sets it beside my plate. “By the time we finish eating, the files should be in my email. There are only ten, so it won’t take long.”

He lifts his fork and cuts his pancakes, and there is a hint of tension between us that wasn’t there before and can be from only one source. David. No matter who that man was, or was not, in the recent past I was engaged to him, and it bothers Kayden.

“Kayden,” I say, drawing his gaze to mine, and when he looks at me those piercing blue eyes are just a little too cold for comfort. “I’m not going to suddenly be in love with David.”

“You were going to marry him.”

“I can’t explain what my mind hasn’t told me yet, but I know I didn’t love him.”

He studies me for several seconds, his gaze probing, intense, as if he is trying to look into my soul and see my past and my future. “I believe you,” he finally says.

And since Kayden doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean, I believe him. “I’m glad,” I whisper, and the tension uncurls in my shoulders as a breath I did not realize I was holding escapes my lips.

I reach for the syrup and his hand comes down on mine. “You’re mine to lose—not his to take.”

Mine to lose. The proclamation implies he has to work to keep me, not that he owns me, and it hits a nerve in a good way. “I was never his to take, Kayden.”

“Either way,” he says, “I still have to make sure that you don’t forget me.” He motions to my plate. “Eat. You’re going to need your energy.” And just like that, he is back to being playful and fun.

“What happened to resting and healing?” I ask, picking up my fork.

“I’ll be gentle. For now. Speaking of getting naked again, you need to call Nathan about that doctor’s appointment we discussed.”

“I’ll call him today.” A thought hits me. “You know, I wonder if Giada might need an appointment, too. She’s eighteen and dating.”

Kayden freezes with a bite near his mouth. “Are we seriously talking about Giada and birth control?”

“Better now than when she’s pregnant. She was so drunk the other night, she couldn’t remember how to get into the castle. And frankly, Adriel doesn’t seem like the motherly type.”

“Good point,” he says, looking utterly horrified at the idea. “Get her an appointment.”

I laugh at his reaction and take a bite of my food, a sweet, buttery taste filling my mouth. “That’s not Bisquick. That’s terrific.”

“Everything Marabella makes is,” he assures me, devouring a bite himself while I dig in for more.

“I’m stuffed,” I finally say, shoving aside my half-empty plate and watching Kayden fight through to the second half of his tall stack. “She’s been with you since you moved here?”

He sips his coffee. “That’s right. She outdates me by a few years. Her husband was here when I arrived as well.”

“What happened to him?”

“Heart attack about seven years ago. They’d been together for fifteen years. She had a rough patch, but taking care of the castle seems to make her happy.”

“She can’t possibly care for this giant place alone. Just dusting must be a full-time job.”

“I have a team of people come in at various times.” He chuckles and sets down his cup. “She loves bossing them all around.”

“Two control freaks in one house.”

“Used to be three when Kevin was alive. The two of them had a lot to do with defining my character.”

“Dare I say that Marabella’s your second mother?”

“Dare away. That’s exactly what she is. I was hoping she might be the same to Giada, but there’s a difference between being ten like I was when I arrived and sixteen when Giada moved in, and it’s huge.”

“Ten,” I say, and the idea of just how young he’d been when he’d hidden in that closet is simply devastating. “It’s amazing you’re as well rounded as you are.”

“Well rounded. I’ve been called a lot of things, including beautiful, but never that.”

I smile at the memory he’s apparently never going to let me forget, and go all in. “You are beautiful,” I say, giving him no time to turn that into a blush-worthy moment by quickly asking, “Did you go to public school?”