Their Virgin Princess (Masters of Ménage #4)(92)

"Cousin, please. You're family now, Dane. Address me as Tal or cousin as is your right and my privilege. Let Cooper and Landon know I expect the same from them."

Well, it was great that they were getting along. She felt more on the outside than she'd ever felt in her life. 

"Alea, we'll see you in our room. I believe you'll find one of Talib's personal guards waiting outside to escort you. Obey him. And I wouldn't attempt to lock us out if I were you. I will kick the door in. This wasn't the way I wanted to start our marriage." Dane walked away without looking back.

Alea watched him go and then went to join her guard, her heart heavier than ever. She placed a hand on her belly. She could pretend all she liked, but she knew the truth. She could tell herself that she had been trying to protect them, but she'd really been protecting herself. It had been easy on the island because she didn't have to deal with reality. She could simply be. No future. No past.

But the future was knocking at her door, and she couldn't lock it out.

"I understand the impulse to push them away, Alea," Tal said from his desk. "I really do. I thought it would be best to push Piper away. I thought I was too damaged for her, too dark. She was far smarter than I was. I wasn't too dark for her. That broken part of me was no match for her love. Her love was far stronger than any torture I'd ever endured."

"You weren't getting savaged by the press when you married Piper. Would you put her through this, Tal?"

Her cousin's eyes grew misty, and he took a long breath. "Yes. I wouldn't have said it at the time, but now I know the truth. If you love those men, if you want to share a life with them, then you owe them the chance to stand by you. Would you walk out if one of them was in trouble this way?"

God no. She wouldn't. Couldn't. But she hadn't given them a chance. "No. I love them."

"Then honor them by sharing all of your life. This is marriage, Alea. It's good and bad and everything in between, and it only works if you're in it together. Learn from my mistakes. Don't waste a minute of your time. Go upstairs and see the doctor and wait for your men. Talk to them. Be honest."

She nodded, but couldn't seem to make her feet move.

"Alea?" Tal was softer now. "Alea, do you need help?"

They had been asking for over a year. Do you need help? She'd seen it as pity then, viewed her silence as strength. But all she'd done was shut out the people who loved her and closed herself off. "Yes, Talib. I believe I do. I would very much like to see the counselor again. If you could make the appointments, I would appreciate it."

"Absolutely. I can have her here this evening." He got to his feet. "Lea, I love you. I know where you are. I don't want this life for you."

This life she'd been living could hardly be called a life at all because it allowed for no love, no future, just an endless stream of meaningless todays with no tomorrows. The past was an anchor that never allowed her to move on.

This was the life of a victim. But Piper's words of wisdom came back to her again. Suddenly she realized that her cousins' wife was right. She could choose. She could move from victim to survivor. Her choice. Her rules. She could defeat the bastards who had stolen her innocence by refusing to allow them to steal her future.

"I don't want it either." How long had it been since she'd asked herself what she wanted? She wanted her men. She wanted this baby, and suddenly she began counting days and was almost sure that she was pregnant. What they had found on that island couldn't possibly have been left there. No. The love they had made had purpose and meaning, and she was full.

Alea rushed to her cousin and threw her arms around him like she had when she'd been a child.

"Welcome home, Alea." Tal held on to her, his arms tightening and his voice shaking. "I know I call you cousin, but you're my sister. Welcome home."



       
         
       
        

Alea cried because she'd been gone for so, so long.





Chapter Thirteen




Dane forced his feet to move, but he couldn't really feel them. He couldn't feel anything but this horrible aching knot in his gut. The scene with Alea played through his brain like a horror movie. Yeah, he'd gotten what he wanted, but he didn't like the price he'd been forced to pay.

He'd hated the look in her eyes when he'd shown her how far he would go. He was going to have to start his marriage by forcing his bride to a wedding. God, he'd never imagined it would play out this way.

He stalked across the marbled floors of the palace, well aware that everyone was giving him a wide berth. It was a damn good thing because he really wanted to take someone's head off.