Chapter 25
Gavin put the phone on speaker, setting it on the coffee table between them. The line rang twice before a clipped male voice answered.
“Robert Rollins.”
“It’s Gavin Kinkaid,” Gavin said evenly. “I’ve got Marigold with me.”
There was a pause, subtle but noticeable. Then Robert’s voice came again, low and controlled. “Go on.”
Marigold’s throat tightened, but Gavin gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She drew in a breath. “It’s about Blossom.”
Another silence. This one heavier. When Robert spoke again, his tone had sharpened. “What has she done?”
“She attacked Marigold,” Gavin said flatly, “in the garage under Kinkaid Industries downtown headquarters. She breached every layer of security to get to Marigold.”
A rustle sounded on the line, and then Rowan’s voice cut in, cool but tense. “Is she alive?”
“Yes,” Marigold reassured them. “She came at me with everything she had, but I stopped her. I used my gift.”
Another long pause, as if they were both holding their breath. Finally, Rowan asked, “And?”
Marigold closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her courage. “She’s changed. Just like her parents. The darkness is gone. She was crying and begging forgiveness. Security has her in custody now.”
On the other end, Robert swore softly under his breath. It was the first crack Marigold had heard in his armor. Rowan’s voice followed, quieter but edged with wonder.
“So it wasn’t chance with Leticia and Sebastian. It’s you. You carry the Light.”
Marigold’s pulse hammered, but she forced herself to answer. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. All I want is to stop the cycle. If this gift means I can break the hold of evil, then maybe there’s hope for our whole family.”
For a long moment, there was nothing but silence.
Then Robert spoke again, his tone stripped of pretense.
“Blossom was both strong, stubborn, and a little vicious. Her parents raised her to believe in their evil ways, and she never questioned them. If you cleansed her heart…” He trailed off, then cleared his throat.
“Perhaps the dynasty isn’t doomed after all. ”
Rowan’s voice was softer, more thoughtful.
“You’ve given us a lot to consider, Marigold.
We’ll talk again soon. There are things we need to discuss about what comes next, and what role you might play in it, if you’re willing to help us salvage what we can of our family.
In the meantime, are you sure Blossom will be okay where she is? ”
“We’re not going to the office today, but I’ll see her tomorrow,” Gavin told the twins.
“She’s being treated well and has a comfortable room in one of the downtown apartment buildings we own.
She’s not in a cell or anything like that, though she won’t be allowed to leave.
So far, my people report that she hasn’t asked to go anywhere.
She’s been crying a lot, they say, but she’s in no physical danger.
She’s being looked after by a team of maternal lionesses who are making sure she eats and has what she needs.
You understand that I’ll need to talk to her about how she got past our security.
I need to plug those holes for the safety of my Clan. ”
“Understood. Her parents are still in a daze. The change made to them is really quite remarkable, and their magical power levels are incredibly low considering the place they held in the hierarchy before this. It’s like they don’t want to wield magic anymore,” Robert reported.
“We’re leaving the choice up to them,” Rowan added. “So far, they seem full of regret and want nothing to do with the family’s old mission. I’m not sure they even realized Blossom left. I’ll have to broach that subject with them and see where their heads are at.”
“How could they not worry about their child?” Gavin asked, incredulous, but Marigold understood. Children weren’t really people in the Rollins family until they proved to have power, and to be ruthless when using it.
“Marigold, maybe you could explain how it was to him,” Rowan suggested. “Frankly, I find the whole topic somewhat traumatic, and too complicated to explain over the phone.”
“That’s okay. I’ll tell him about how the family views offspring,” Marigold promised.
“Viewed,” Rowan said, emphasizing the word. “Things are going to be different going forward. No Rollins child is ever again going to be raised the way we were if we have anything to say about it.”
Marigold had to clear her throat before she could speak again, so touched was she by the declaration. “That’s good to hear,” she said softly, letting Gavin take the lead in saying goodbye to the twins and ending the call.
The line went quiet, and the call ended. Marigold stared at the phone, her heart still pounding at what Rowan had said. Gavin squeezed her hand again.
“Well,” he said, voice wry, “that sounded like the first real step forward for the family. Taking proper care of the children should be of the highest priority. Maybe they’re finally going to get things going in the right direction.”
She exhaled shakily, a small, incredulous smile tugging at her lips. “You know? Maybe they are.” For the first time in years, the word “family” didn’t feel like a curse. It felt like a possibility.
Later that night, the house was still. Marigold lay curled against Gavin, her head pillowed on his chest, listening to the steady thrum of his heartbeat. His hand stroked lazily through her hair, the rhythm soothing, and for a long time, neither of them spoke.
Her mind just wouldn’t settle. Rowan’s words on the phone echoed in her head. Things were going to be different from here on out for the Rollins family. The very idea of Rollins children being treated with anything approaching care was so foreign to her that it left her both hopeful and shaken.
“Gavin?” she whispered into the quiet.
“Mm?” His chest rumbled beneath her cheek, half-asleep but attentive.
“I said I’d explain about how children were raised in the dynasty.
” She hesitated, then pushed past the knot in her throat.
“Children weren’t really seen as people.
Not in the way you’d think. We were property.
Chess pieces on a board. We didn’t matter to anyone until we proved we had power.
It wasn’t enough just to have it, or my life would’ve been very different.
We had to be able to use it the way the family demanded.
All of us working toward the great plan of the Patriarch. ”
Gavin’s hand stilled in her hair. His heartbeat thudded harder, sharper under her ear. “Goldie…” His voice was low, dangerous. “That’s barbaric.”
“It’s how it was,” she cut in gently. “I don’t say it for pity. Just so you’ll understand how big a change Robert and Rowan are planning to make.”
“Go on,” he murmured after a moment when she’d been thinking how to explain things so he’d really understand.
She closed her eyes, drawing strength from his warmth.
“Robert and Rowan are really different. I didn’t see it fully at the time, but looking back, they must’ve been hiding how strong they really were.
If they’d shown their full power, the Patriarch would’ve chained them to his side, used them up the way he tried to use me.
So instead, they played a dangerous and cunning game.
They had to have given him just enough evidence of their competence, obedience, and results to be taken seriously.
Just enough to earn autonomy. But never so much that he suspected what they were truly capable of. ”
Gavin shifted slightly, so he could see her face in the dim light. “That’s a hell of a balancing act. You’re saying they lived their whole lives like that? Always pretending to be less than they were?”
Marigold nodded, her throat tight. “It’s the only way they could survive in that atmosphere. Maybe the only way they could protect anyone else too. They spared me once, Gavin. I think they’ve been quietly resisting all along. Just in ways no one could see.”
He swore softly, pulling her closer, pressing his lips to her hair. “That explains why Robert’s so guarded and why Rowan chooses her words like she’s navigating a minefield.”
“Exactly.” Marigold’s voice softened. “They’ve lived their whole lives hiding who they really are.”
Gavin was silent for a long moment, his arms tightening around her.
When he spoke again, his voice was fierce with conviction.
“They’ve got time now to figure all that out, but they’ll know one thing for sure—you’re not the pawn of your family anymore.
You’re stronger than they ever dreamed, and you’ve got me now.
You’ve got all of us. The entire Clan is on your side. ”
Tears pricked her eyes, but this time, they weren’t from pain. She lifted her head just enough to kiss him, slow and grateful, her heart full to bursting.
“I can still hardly believe it, but I want you to know how much that means to me. Having you in my life has changed my world for the better. Being part of your Clan is something I’m going to have to get used to, but everyone has been so welcoming and kind.
I know I’m going to like being a Kinkaid.
” She smiled shyly up at him, and he lowered his head to kiss her.
“I already enjoy having you as my mate, Goldie, and it’s only going to get better from here.” Gavin rested his forehead against hers. “I wish I could have protected you from your childhood. I know it’s impossible, but I wish I could have done something to make your life better.”
She let out a small laugh that dissolved into something wetter at the edges. “That’s sweet, but you’re doing that right now. We can’t change the past, but hopefully, our future is going to be great.”
“If it’s within my power, it will be,” he said in a low, growly voice, then kissed her again. When he drew back, he looked into her eyes. “Was it as bad for you as I think it was, growing up as a Rollins?”