Page 50 of Fallen Heirs

“I forgot to glamour it again.” He came to my father and draped his arm over his shoulder. “And the truth is, I didn’t want to.”

My father reached down and took his hand, kissing his ring. “Neither will you have to any longer, my love.”

“Here,” Marlowe said, seeing my father’s ring in his hand. He took it and slid it onto his finger and they clinked rings. “Much better.”

I’d seen it before on my father’s almost-death bed, but it was still difficult to reconcile such sweetness between them, especially coming from my father’s end. To see him letting go like this, being so open and free, was something else altogether.

“Sorry for all the subterfuge,” Marlowe told me.

“Sorry for kicking your ass during class.”

“I’d rather have the apology for you pretending to go dark when you attacked Isabella. You have no idea what stress that caused me when I thought I’d have to report that to your father.”

“I had no choice.”

“I know. You needed to mislead that twisted bastard, Callum, in order to take back control.”

“Nicely deduced.”

“If only I’ddeducedwhat was going on between the two of you sooner.”

“Well, I have a gift for creating smokescreens when I need to.”

“Rest assured, son, he was punished while he was here, before Elliot then had him moved to Valmont.” His eyes darkened. “No one manipulates and abuses my son and escapes severe punishment.”

I sucked in a breath and admitted, “I may have lost control of that situation.”

“It’s impossible to predict crazy, Orpheus,” Marlowe offered. “None of us saw that coming from him.”

“But I should have. He was right up close to me, yet I didn’t see him turning.”

My father frowned. “You’re concerned about your judgment?” he asked, seeing beyond the surface level with me as usual.

“Maybe I should be.”

He stared at me, his brow furrowing in thought.

And then he pulled away from Marlowe. “I need some time with my son.”

Marlowe nodded, getting it well. “Of course.” He smiled at me, then kissed my father on the cheek.

Before he could pull away, my father grasped his nape, then basically thrust his tongue down his throat, kissing the hell out of him, and not holding anything back.

When they pulled apart, Marlowe was panting, his cheeks tinged pink.

My father smirked at him. “Hold that thought for later,Commander.”

“Without a doubt, my king.”

I shook my head to myself as Marlowe took off, leaving us alone.

“In the nursery? Really?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Why not?”

I rolled my eyes. “Some things never change.”

“And yet some things do and they certainly have.”

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