Page 124 of Peasants and Kings
“For my domineering nature?”
I let out a laugh. “I guess it comes with the package. The whole beautiful, protective, generous package.”
“I’ve never heard myself described that way, but I’ll take it.”
“You’re also broody and terrifying.”
He grasped my hip and gently pulled me toward him. “I thought you weren’t afraid of me. Despite what you know about me.”
“I’m not. I feel…protected around you. I can’t explain it.”
He stroked my spine, and like a whip, his next words made their mark. “I’ve invited your family here.”
My heart kicked up in fear, and I shot up off of his chest to stare at him. “What? Why?”
He pondered my question for a moment. “It’s two-fold. Your mother’s debt must be settled. You can’t go through life on the run. How do you know you haven’t made a mistake, just like Sister Agatha? You’re not a professional, Sterling. You could have already done something you’re not aware of that puts you…no,us, in jeopardy. Your family is powerful, and if there’s any chance in the world they might piece together who you are…I can’t risk it. We have to settle it now. But your family are also the kind of people who might know who tried to kill me—and why. The assassin spoke Sicilian just before he died. These men have ears to the ground in their own country. If they know anything about what happened, I need them to tell me.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Fear slashed my insides as my mind churned over Hadrian’s announcement. I attempted to slow my racing heart.
My mind kicked into survival mode and traveled every avenue of thought. I would come face to face with my family, the very people who were never supposed to know about my existence. The people my mother had warned me about.
This next part is the most important of all—you cannot go to my family.
But Hadrian would be waving me in their face.
I instinctively clutched him tighter. Even though I trusted him, I was afraid, and we lay there in silence until I fell into a restless sleep.
A few hours later I awoke, my heart thundering in my chest. The alarm clock on the bedside table read 3:15. I didn’t need to reach out to Hadrian’s side of the bed to know he was gone. A patch of moonlight speckled the floor and my sluggish brain managed to piece together that the drapes on the balcony doors were pulled back.
I could see Hadrian’s stark form through the glass, and I blanched when I realized he was bare-chested. The weather in Shetland had been steadily getting colder, and I couldn’t imagine being out in the elements without being properly dressed. It had been raining only a few hours ago and the air was no doubt still cold.
I flipped on the bedside lamp and sleepily stuck my feet in the pair of slippers at the edge of the bed. After I got up, I grabbed the tartan wool blanket from the back of the leather couch, turned on the gas fireplace to dispel the chill in the air, and then went out onto the balcony.
Hadrian sat in a patio chair, not noticing my intrusion. Without a word, I placed the blanket around his shoulders. He grasped the edges and pulled it closer to him. I was just about to leave him to his thoughts, when he reached out and dragged me onto his lap. As I settled in his embrace, he nestled us under the blanket and I shivered from the coolness of his skin, even though we were cocooned in tartan.
“Stay with me,” he said. “I don’t want to be alone right now.” There was a long pause as his skin began to warm beneath the blanket and then he said, “I dream about her. About finding her in the alley…”
I placed my forehead against the side of his head and closed my eyes. I couldn’t imagine the type of nightmares that plagued him. But I understood wanting to change the past.
Lightning flashed over the ocean. The storm wasn’t over after all.
“Come back to bed, Hadrian,” I said quietly.
“I’ll be there in a bit.”
Ingrid served us breakfast on the balcony, but before she left, Hadrian told her to prepare for the visitors coming in a few days. She inclined her head and told him she’d see to it before leaving us alone.
I picked at the eggs in front of me, but Hadrian ate with verve and quickly cleared his plate. He dabbed his mouth with the linen napkin and then set it aside. He grabbed his steaming hot coffee and lifted the mug in his hand before looking at me.
“Is there something wrong with your food?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Then why aren’t you eating?” he demanded.
I picked up my fork and cut off a bite of egg before placing it in my mouth. I chewed for a few moments and then swallowed, and as much as I wanted to force another piece into my mouth, my stomach rolled at the thought.
