Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
WENDY
“Ms. Darling?”
I look up from the pages of my book to find Hagan filling up the doorway of the library.
Roc hired Hagan as the house manager a month ago, but I think they are pretending she’s a manager when really she’s a bodyguard, mostly for me.
Hagan is taller than James, nearly as tall as Roc, but she surpasses both men in size.
Her shoulders are broad, her thighs thick and muscular.
Her dark hair is cut short, just below her ears, and is usually slicked back out of her face.
She wears no makeup most days and her clothing is simple and expertly tailored to fit her body.
Whenever I cross paths with her in the house, I get the distinct impression she would be much happier on horseback with a sword in her hand, gutting anyone who dares get in her way.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised—Roc loves women who are regularly underestimated or dismissed, and while I can spot Hagan’s efficiency easily, I would bet my fortune on the fact that men constantly overlook her.
“Yes?” I say.
“Captain Hook has returned to the manor.”
I leap out of the divan, the one made of crushed velvet the color of blushing roses.
James picked it out for me when he and Roc were furnishing the manor.
James has an eye for elegant things. In some ways, I think he and Roc appreciate decadence far more than I do.
But I will also gladly indulge in what they gift me.
Maddred Manor is quickly filling up with beautiful things.
Day by day, it’s starting to feel more like a home. Our home.
“Is he in the house yet?” I ask, making my way to the door.
“He was walking up the front lawn when I spotted him.”
I hurry past Hagan. “Did he look happy?”
“He looked…”
She follows behind me.
I stop at the bend in the next hallway to glance back at her.
“Yes,” she decides. “He looked happy.”
The smile that spreads over my face is involuntary. Likely too big, a bit maniacal. I clap like a child at the circus. “He said yes. He must have said yes!”
“It would seem so,” Hagan answers as I hurry away.
Because Asha has been busy at the Darkland Archives, and James has been busy at the Portage Hall, and Roc has just been plain busy, Hagan is the only one I’ve been able to chat with. She knows all about the proposal. She isn’t showing it, but I think she’s just as invested in this outcome as I am.
I hear the door shut at the front of the house and pick up my pace so I don’t lose James in the maze of corridors.
When Roc proposed to me, my first thought was absolutely not.
Not only did I not want an imbalance in our three-way relationship, I was in no hurry to submit to another husband.
But Roc convinced me that this time, it would be different.
Crown or not, I would not be required to submit to him. My freedom was mine to use as I pleased.
And furthermore, he intended to propose to James as well.
A three-way union was unconventional, but everything about Roc is unconventional. Why not his marriage?
Gathering my skirts so I don’t trip, I hurry into the foyer and find James handing his coat to one of the servants.
“Did he ask you?” I blurt the words out before I can think better of it. Because what if he didn’t? What if he didn’t have the chance and now I’ve just blown the surprise?
James goes still. His arms hang at his sides, his thumb fidgeting, rubbing circles over the curve of his index finger. His hook flashes in the sunlight.
“He…”
“Yes?”
“I…”
“James!”
“Yes,” he answers and exhales in a rush. “He asked me.”
“And?”
“I said yes.”
I leap at him. He catches me around the waist and lifts me off my feet, twirling me in the foyer. I cling to him, arms wrapped around his neck. We’re giggling like fools but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
James and I have a lot of time to make up for. Our pasts are filled with denial, rejection, failure, trauma and pain.
I want our future to be full of joy and celebration. And yes, giggling.
When he sets me down, I catch a flicker in his eyes.
“You’re glowing,” I observe.
He blushes, but doesn’t deny it. “The Crocodile has that effect on us, does he not?”
I nod. “I still can’t believe he’s ours.”
James sighs and rubs at the line of his brow. “Everyone in Darkland wants a piece of him…”
“And yet, it’s you and I he returns to night after night.”
James’s gaze goes distant.
“What is it?” I ask.
He looks back at me. “What if I don’t deserve it?”
I take his hand in mine and squeeze. “Oh, James. But what if you do?”