Page 61 of The Dragon's Mate Proposal

“Cade?” she pushed.

“I don’t know.”

The words came out in a jumble.

“Pardon?” she said, tilting her head to the side.

“I don’t know!” I shouted, on my feet and pacing to the far side of the roof.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

She got up to follow me, but I shrugged her arm off when she tugged on my shoulder, trying to be gentle about it. I just didn’t want to be touched. Not now. I was too antsy. Too worked up.

“I mean I don’t know,” I said, pain tugging at my words, turning them ragged. “I don’t know what happened to them.”

“They just disappeared?” she asked. “Your entire family?”

“I. Don’t. Know.” I rubbed my face, shaking my head, wandering around the roof, fists clenching and unclenching. “I wasn’t here. I was too busy with your people. Trying to make a fortune.”

“So, you don’t know if they’re just out there somewhere or not?”

I realized then she wasn’t getting it.

“No,” I whispered.

“Then where are they?”

“Dead.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, okay!” I was shouting, but not at her. “I was gone. And somehow, they all died. Nobody told me how it happened because nobody could tell me. I didn’t set foot here, or even in the isles, for damn near twenty years. All I know is that one day, I received the deed to the property as the sole living member of my family. The rest were dead.”

“Oh, Cade,” Samantha moaned, tears making tracks down her face as she threw her arms around me. “I’m so sorry.”

I resisted the urge to slip out of her hug. She meant well. And her arms felt nice, wrapped around my midsection with her head resting on my chest. There was a strange sort of comfort in it, even if she was half my size, trying to hold me. I felt at ease with Sam nearby. A tiny island of peace in the storm that was my mind.

“Nobody contacted you?” she asked. “No letters or anything?”

“Nothing,” I said tightly, working extra hard to keep my voice level. “Why would they?”

“Because you’re family!” she exclaimed. “They loved you.”

I laughed bitterly. “They hated me. For leaving, the way I did. For the things I said. For never coming back. Who knows, if I’d been here, perhaps they would all still be alive.”

And there it was. The crux of my pain finally out in the open. A haunting guilt I hadn’t shared with anyone. Until Sam. With her, it just slipped out.

“Cade, Cade, Cade,” she whispered, reaching up to stroke my cheek. “It’s not your fault. You know that. Deep down. You’re smarter than that. Nobody killed them because of you.”

“I know,” I whispered, taking a shaky breath. “But if I were here, maybe I could have saved them.”

“Or you could have died alongside them,” she said bluntly.

“Some days that would be preferable,” I muttered. “It would hurt a lot less.”

“I’m sure it would. Though if you really believed that, you would have found a way to die by now. No, you’re too stubborn for that, Cade.”

“Thanks. I think?” I looked down at her.

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