Bryan smiled, wondering if Xander would feel the same sense of pride in being an uncle as he did. “Yes. Uncle Xander is king, and you have an Uncle Christopher, too, but he’s away right now.”
“It’s nice to have family. I didn’t have any family except Mommy, but now I have a grandfather, uncles, an aunt, and even a cousin.” Her big eyes latched onto Bryan adoringly as she murmured, “But I think I like having a daddy the best. I love Mommy the most because she’s always been my mommy, but I love everybody else, too.”
His heart squeezed inside his chest, and he opened his arms to his daughter. She flung herself against him and hugged him enthusiastically, pressing her warm, tiny body against him so trustingly that it brought out every protective instinct Bryan had inside him.
My daughter. My child. My blood. How easily she can love, and accept love.
Bryan’s gaze shifted to Shea, and he saw tears flowing steadily down her beautiful face. She swiped them away quickly, but Bryan frowned as he hugged his daughter back, wondering what was making her sad.
Shea’s never really had any family except her parents. Maybe she’s upset because my family is so big. And she hasn’t even met the extended family.
Bryan kissed the top of Hayden’s dark head. “I’ll always love you, Hayden. You’re my daughter. I regret that I didn’t know about you earlier. I would have been proud to be your father even before you were born.”
Hayden leaned back with a yawn. “You’re here now. It doesn’t matter,” she told him earnestly as she bussed him on the cheek. “I’m happy now.”
Bryan tried not to flinch as Hayden kneed him in the groin as she threw herself into her mother’s arms.
I have to learn how to protect myself from that!
“Night, Mommy. I love you the most-est.” Hayden told her mother in a sleepy voice.
Shea ran her hand gently over her daughter’s head and hugged her close. “I love you too, baby,” she said softly.
Hayden flopped back onto her pillow. “Will I get to see my pony tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“No!”
Bryan and Shea spoke simultaneously.
“Sweetheart, you can’t have a pony — ”
“Your pony has already been selected.” Bryan cut Shea off. “We’ll visit the stables tomorrow if you’re good.” Hell, he’d probably let her see her pony even if she was bad, but Shea was currently sending him a glare so sharp that he could feel the edge of the daggers she was shooting at him.
“I’m sleeping now. I’ll be good.” Hayden squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
Bryan chuckled as he ruffled her dark head and rose to his feet. “Sweet dreams, little one.”
“Good night, baby. We’ll talk in the morning.” Shea leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead.
Bryan switched on the nightlight and turned off the overhead, leaving the door partially open after Shea exited the room.
He flinched as he strode down the hall and Shea’s bedroom door slammed shut with a finality that told him he was in trouble. He realized that he’d made a mistake in not being united with Shea when they talked to their daughter. He’d contradicted her in front of Hayden. It had been the wrong thing to do; disrespectful even, now that he thought about it. But Hayden could and did already have a pony. He didn’t want her to be disappointed. She’d had so little as a child, and he had some making up to do to his daughter for missing those years of her life.
She always had her mother’s love.
Too late, Bryan realized that Hayden had always had what she needed and wanted. He should have talked to Shea before he overrode her orders. She’d had sole responsibility for their daughter for years, and he knew she didn’t appreciate him coming in and contradicting her. Honestly, he could see her point…now.
Somehow, he could have convinced her, made her realize that it was custom here for children to ride — for royal children it was mandatory. He didn’t want to hear her say once again that she couldn’t and wouldn’t marry him. She would and she could. It wasn’t just to his daughter that he wanted to make up for being absent. Bryan wanted to make everything up to Shea because she’d deserved so much more than the life she’d been handed. Perhaps he had reasons for not being there; he hadn’t been able to find her. But he had her now, and he wasn’t letting go.
They would be a family, and not just because of the Arcano. Shea was his choice, the only woman for him. Hell, he’d probably known that since the first moment he met her. Shea had always been special, and his reluctance to marry had everything to do with the woman he’d never forgotten, a woman who had haunted him for years. Now he just needed her to believe that.
He tried the handle on her bedroom, not surprised to find it locked.
Somehow I have to reach her, make her understand. I have to make her love me.
So far, he’d fucked up — royally.
He hesitated for a moment, uncertain whether he should allow time for her anger to lessen before approaching her, or if he should insist on speaking with her right now.
Then, he heard the muffled, heart-wrenching sobs coming from the other side of the door.
Immediately after he heard her crying, Bryan decided there was no more debating. Shea’s unhappiness clawed at his chest. There was only one option.
Chapter Seven
Once Shea started to cry, she couldn’t stop. Her face in the pillow, lying prostrate on the bed, she released all of the emotions she’d been battling for days since her whole world had been turned upside down.
Fear.
Indecision.
Disbelief.
She cried for her daughter and all she’d been denied.
And she sobbed because of her disappointment at her inability to provide everything that Hayden had needed. She’d tried. She’d tried so damn hard to be everything to her daughter, but all she had really been was an absent parent.
Just like my own parents.
The only difference was that she loved Hayden, and her daughter’s declaration about how happy she was having family had nearly struck Shea to the depths of her soul.
“You will not cry,” Bryan’s voice boomed above Shea’s head.
She just cried harder.
“I wish you would not cry,” he tried again in a low, husky voice as he sat down beside her and gathered her unresisting body into his arms.
She wept against his shoulder, marveling at how he’d gone from sounding like he’d issued a royal decree to a heartfelt plea in an instant. Bryan rocked her like he would Hayden, his hand stroking gently over her hair to soothe her as she continued to bawl like a baby against the fine cotton of his shirt.
“I never knew marriage to me would bring all of this on,” he crooned. “I might be an ass, but I didn’t know I was that depressing,” he continued lightly.
“You know I can’t marry you.” She hiccupped as she spoke, her sobs subsiding, and her ribs hurting from crying so hard. Never in her life had she let loose like this…not even when she’d found herself pregnant and alone in the world. “We can’t marry just because of a death threat, although I have to admit that I don’t know what else to do.” She couldn’t and wouldn’t have Hayden denied her family, and Shea would do anything to keep her daughter safe.
“You can. Very easily. I’m not the heir apparent, and our wedding can be quiet. And I’ve already told you that I’m not marrying you just because of the Arcano. I want us to be together as a family. I want you, Shea. I have since the first time I saw you. Marry me. We can visit America often.”
“I don’t really have anything or anybody there to visit,” she admitted softly. “When I heard Hayden talking about family, it broke my heart. I’ve tried so hard to be everything she needed — ”
“You are everything she needed,” Bryan said in a low, angry voice. “Don’t ever think otherwise. You gave her your love, Shea. And she loves you. Both of us know what it’s like to have at least one parent who despised us.”
“I worked so much, Brya
n. I missed so much of her life, even though I was actually there,” she told him sadly.
“My brave, Shea,” he said in a husky, emotional voice. “You gave everything you had. Who took care of your needs? Who was there for you when you needed help? No parent is perfect. It’s time to let me help you, sweetheart. Marry me. You did a fine job with our daughter. She’s loving and kind, thoughtful and generous. She knows the value of working hard, and she’s incredibly responsible for one so young. Now, let me help you raise her, take some of the load off you. I want to take care of you now, Shea. You’ve done enough by taking care of our daughter so well for so many years.”
It was tempting, so very tempting. “It would be a marriage of convenience.”
Bryan’s deep low laughter was muffled against her hair. “You’re far from being convenient, and the deal comes with a ready-made daughter. I’m perfectly able to handle that. I want to.”
Really, what choice did she have? She wasn’t willing to leave Hayden here alone, and there was the still the threat to their lives. Deep inside, she wanted Bryan, desperately longed to have them be a family. But part of her wanted to balk, the secret area of her heart that feared that she’d end up head over heels in love with this man. “I don’t think we really have a choice,” she told him glumly.
“What happened to the woman who said she always had a choice? Choose me; choose us because you want to, Shea. I can give you and our daughter anything you want.” He hesitated before adding, “The Arcano will eventually be defeated. I’ll be joining Xander in his fight to destroy them. If I haven’t made you happy by the time they’ve been eliminated, you can leave Rubare Collina and me.” His voice was grave.
“Is that allowed?” she asked curiously. “Royalty can divorce?”
