Page 16 of Daniil
“Give me one damn reason,” I say to Courtney, ignoring Landon.
“I’ll give you a date and see if you can figure it out,” she says, her face suddenly tight with emotions that are difficult to read.“March twenty-fifth.”
“March twenty-fifth?I have no idea what that means.”
“I think you do, Dan.”Marcus speaks for the first time, and I turn to him in annoyance.
“What?!”
“March twenty-fifth is the day the twins were born.”
“The day the twins—” I cut off abruptly as it hit me.
Fuck.
March twenty-fifth is the date of the last attack.The day the palace was overrun by a group of rebels that have been after my family since we re-took power.TheBojovnik Brat.A group of Georgian wannabe gangsters who’ve been thorns in our side for a couple of years now.
They bribed a handful of guards, murdered a few more, and got in during a time Erik, Sandor, and I were all away from the palace.The goal, we believe, was to take Prince Levi, maybe the queen as well, and use them as bargaining tools to gain power.
Courtney and Lennox made sure that didn’t happen.
Lennox, eight months pregnant with twins.
Courtney, a military woman on leave visiting a friend.
Things would have gone sideways if not for Courtney’s quick thinking, stepping in without hesitation.Ultimately, she was the one who saved Casey and Levi when Lennox couldn’t.And we are all eternally grateful.
I just don’t understand the correlation between those events and her hiding my son from me.
“Courtney…” I stop talking because my head is still spinning.I have a million questions—most of them centered around the theme of whythe fuckshe would do this to me—but I’m somewhat mesmerized by the tow-headed baby in her arms.
He looks healthy.Happy.Well-taken-care-of.
Of course he does.
And he looks just like me at that age.
“Let’ssit,” Grim says more firmly this time, giving me a look that brooks no argument.
Could I fight him and win?Probably.Maybe.But to what end?Why make this harder than it already is.Courtney is obviously distressed.Marcus is torn and confused.Grim is going to protect his family—Courtney is his half-sister, and I know they’re close.
I sink into an armchair and wait.
I’m not leaving without answers, but there’s plenty of time to figure out what to do next.Short-term, it gets me nowhere to continue butting heads with Courtney.And as frustrated and hurt as I am, the fact that my presence upset her so much she threw up—that doesn’t sit well with me.
“Courtney.”Grim looks at his sister and whatever unspoken message passes between them, she finally sinks onto the couch.Next to Marcus.
“Hey, bud.”Marcus immediately turns, touching the baby’s feet and making him giggle.“You’re a big boy.”
Micah smiles, drools, and then turns shyly to his mother, burying his face in her shoulder.
Fuck.
That’s my son.
I’ve never so much as touched him.Held him.
And it’s a totally different feeling than those I had when Jesper brought Charlie and Briony home.They were cute.Innocent.
