Page 94 of Iron Crown

“Those bonds are what defeated you today.” Kira tilted her head, just a little, her lips pressed together, her eyes pleading with meto not say anything. To not contradict her. To follow where she led. “Marriage is often the solution to a problem.”

My nostrils flared.

But she kept going, even as my eyesbeggedher to stop before she did something that we could not recover from.

A path that we could not take back. An inheritance that our son would resent us for in the future.

“Your daughter, and our son, are the same age. They are our heirs.”

Stop, Kira. Stop. Stop now!

“Betroth them.” I wanted to lunge forward and grab her face in my hands, and scream,‘Have you gone mad, woman?’“Let our children bind our families, and join our fates.”

Cosima was stone-faced, calculating. She looked at her daughter, who flinched at whatever she saw in her mother’s eyes.

Her nanny knelt down and, in a tender voice, soothed her in French.

The girl was multilingual. That wasn’t a bad trait to have in a daughter-in-law.

Cosima looked at me, and the malice in her eyes should have melted my skin off. It was a wonder that it didn’t. The look in her eyes told me one thing—that I would rue this day. That she’d make me regret this mercy.

That she would, even if she had to bide her time, she would get her justice—or what passed for justice in the mind of a Durante.

She stared at Kira, and that same vengeful smile returned to her lips, and I knew that a scheme had solidified in her mind. I didn’t need to wait to know that I would already regret this day.

“Very well,” she said, slowly. And I knew just as Kira did that she had no intention of entering the negotiation table with anything that could be seen as good faith. “You have a deal.”

Chapter thirty-two

A Long Goodbye

Kira

Our family was returned to us in style, on a warm day. The ice had melted away, and green grass poked through the brown decay of last fall’s foliage. Spring was on its way, and we waited on the terrace of the gothic mansion—still creepy, but slightly less so, over time—looking at the empty lawn, as two helicopters came in.

The wind kicked up, putting a chill in the air as the rhythmic sound of rotors drowned out everything else.

The motors whined as the blades slowed down. I couldn’t believe it, but I was able to see the smiling face of Dairo Green in the pilot seat of the lead helicopter as he landed several feet awayfrom us, giving us a salute as the skids touched down. His smile was elated.

When those sliding doors opened, my heart leapt to my throat, and I bounced on my toes, my hands clasped over my heart to keep it from beating out of my chest.

Eoghan put a hand on the small of my back, and I felt the tenderness of his comfort, as we searched the faces looking for the one that mattered most.

Rose came out first, carrying her two little ones in her arms. Her face was pulled taut and worn down. She looked at the ground right in front of her, instead of the waiting faces that were clamoring for the arrival of the ones we had missed so much.

It was as if she only had the energy to take the next step, and not a moment more.

I wanted to say something. As a mother myself, I could see the signs of postpartum depression, even if I hadn’t had it myself. I wanted to reach out to her and offer to take her children, so she could get a nap. So she could get a moment to catch her breath.

But if she was anything like me, prying her kids out of her protective arms would be a death sentence, and no matter how well Blink had trained me, I wasn’t going to take on a former Underground MMA Champion.

Aoibheann came out of the second helicopter, her large belly preceding her as she stepped down from the bird.

“Suka!” Jericho swore under his breath before he charged forward, his hair tossed by the slowing rotors, until he was at her side, steadying her as she cautiously stepped down.

“Overprotective men,” Yuliya chuckled, her arms crossed, her biceps bulging from her shirt as she shook her head at her brother. “What a bore.”

Jericho was about to lead Aoibheann away, but she turned, her arms out at the door.

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