Chapter 35
thirty-five
Rolling over, I squint as the sunlight streams in through the leaded glass window. It’s a lazy Saturday morning before Thanksgiving. And I don’t want to get up.
A hand tugs the thick electric blanket higher on my shoulder, and I smile in the comfort of the warmth.
“Did you keep the fire going all night?” I ask, my voice hoarse.
“Yeah…you seemed cold.” Valen snuggles closer to my back, wrapping his arms tighter around me. His lips press a kiss to my neck.
Banging filters through the stone steps, echoing off the walls around our room.
He snorts a chuckle. “They got started early. Like I said, we can stay in one of the guest manors if it gets to be too much.”
I gasp and flip over to face him. “And leave our house? No way. I love it here. Construction and all.”
A sunny smile brightens his face as his eyes soften. Dimples deepen on either side of his cheeks.
“What?” I ask.
“Fuck…I love seeing you in the morning. Here. In my bed.”
“I’m appointed to you. It’s half mine. Or it will be.”
He flips onto his back. “And here you were, worried that I was going to steal your family’s money.”
“I wasn’t worried…” I lie.
“Sure, you weren’t. Well, you’re now my queen, and I want to spoil you today of all days.”
I lean on my elbow. “Have something big planned?”
The corner of his lips curls into a smirk. “Oh…just a minor assassination.”
“You do know how to make me excited,” I tell him, gathering up my strength to dart toward the bathroom off the manor’s main bedroom.
Seeing his messy hair, boy-like grin, lust-filled eyes, and his cut shoulders as the blanket drops off his naked body… I feel it. It hits me now like a truth that I can never get away from.
I love him.
I’m in love with Valen Elliot Von Dovish…
And as I hurry into the bathroom to turn on the shower, I know he’s right. I’m not alone anymore. He’s helped me battle my enemies. Even those inside of myself.
Even with the power and water turned on, the manor is fucking freezing. We’ve been squatting here ever since Wicked Wednesday a week and a half ago, except on Sunday nights for my Omega meetings. It’s a bit of a drive from campus, but I don’t mind. I feel safe and comforted by the weeping walls.
The construction team started their preliminary work, and I’ve had fun between studies exploring every ancient hall, explaining my visions for the vast spaces to the contractors. Most of it lies in ruin, but the salvageable pieces will be stunning once finished.
Valen told me to make it mine, a “castle fit for a true Monarch,” but I ask his opinion since it’s going to be ours…
Only if we can take care of the president before he sends the enforcers for Valen or me. Not to mention, our appointment won’t stick if either of us is dead. But he informed me it won’t matter. He’s marrying me, no matter what.
Our assignments are past due…and that means we need to act fast.
Von Dovish guards have doubled their patrol of the perimeter of the grounds to keep us safe. But it’s making life difficult when we need to go to campus. Not that the university would murder us in front of everyone during broad daylight.
Well…we hope not.
Dad knows our plan. It’s one he and Valen plotted while arranging my appointment, finalizing all the details with Aiden’s help. Valen says it was to earn “my hand.” My father was probably just as eager to sabotage the system as any of us.
Now, through his children, he’ll finally get the chance.
I grew up behaving. Following rules, chasing gold stars, thinking obedience made me good. But maybe my father always wanted me to rebel. Maybe he knew I would. That’s why he gave me my knife.
Valen saw it—he saw me. Even with just a glimpse. He never bought the polished surface I worked so hard to present. No. He understood who lived underneath. Someone who doesn’t want to survive society…
Someone who wants to burn it down.
By the time I’m dressed and grab my cup of coffee Valen made me, that’s sitting on an electric hot plate, I wander to the kitchen. It’s where most of the work is being focused first.
But Valen isn’t making breakfast. The workers are busy with plumbing today, while some are restoring windows and the roof. Fortunately, the foundation and drains were in good shape, but everything else…isn’t.
One of the men eyes me. “Mr. Von Dovish is in the far library. That little room off the back, he said.”
“Thank you.” I head that way, wandering through the rooms and grateful for my sweater and warm slippers.
The ancient library is empty, except for the dusty wooden shelves. At the back is a set of double doors that leads into a study, one of the spots I hadn’t explored in detail. When I enter, however, everything’s changed.
“Hello, my love,” Valen says behind a desk filled with monitors.
The wall behind him is covered in TV screens. Along the sides are tall shelves with something like servers.
“What’s all this?”
He shrugs. “My new war room. Or…I guess it needs better flooring, but this rug looks alright. I still need to use the warehouse to meet campus bros for business, but otherwise, I can do personal things here.” Standing abruptly, he holds out his hand for me to take. “I want to show you something.”
I down the rest of my coffee, then place the mug on his wide L-shaped desk and follow him.
Through a small door at the side, one I thought may have led to a conservatory, we slip into a room with two-story ceilings. At the top of the room is a loft filled with floor-to-ceiling bookcases and a rolling ladder.
Below, in front of an arched window looking out onto the gently sloping hills, is a large wooden table. On that lays a stack of journals and a bottle of ink.
A fluffy white rug and an overstuffed pink chintz chair sit in the corner next to a small fireplace lit with roaring flames.
Dangling from the windows are glass Monarch butterflies that catch the light as it waves inside.
It’s gorgeous. Cozy…
When I peer at Valen, he’s got his hands in his pockets, sheepishly awaiting my response. “What is this?” I ask.
“I thought maybe you’d want a special place to write in your diary.”
My heart beats fast as tears heat my eyes. Maybe I hadn’t seen it. Maybe I didn’t even know, but he did. “I need this,” I whisper. “I’ve needed this.”
Then, I turn my body into his waiting embrace as he places a warm kiss on my head. “I know, baby. It’s all yours. You’re home.”