Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
LILY
“It was only a joke,” I tell him, but was it really?
I was feeling pretty petty when I made that call.
“It was Teddy who told her that you stalk me.” I’m biting my lip, fighting the laugh that’s trying to escape.
“And that we’d... done the deed.” My cheeks burn, and I’m toning it down.
“And to come get my, ah, sloppy seconds.” I lift my brows. “You.”
Tristan goes still. The spatula lingers over the now forgotten pan. He stares at me for one long second, then two, his face completely blank. Oh shit. If he stands up for her, I’ll beat him with that spatula.
Then he throws his head back and laughs.
Full, open, unguarded. The sound fills the kitchen, warm and startling. I’ve never heard him like this. Not once. His shoulders shake, and I watch him completely lose it over the ridiculousness that is Teddy and me, drunk and stupid in the vault last night.
I love this. I love him like this. He seems younger and carefree.
He crosses the space between us in two strides, cups my face in his hands, and kisses me.
It’s brief and warm, tasting like the coffee he had moments ago.
Perfect really. Then he returns to the stove, flipping eggs like nothing happened, though I can see the smile still playing at his mouth. That’s how it should be, naturally.
“Sloppy seconds,” he mutters, shaking his head. “Your friend has a death wish. Sasha can be a real bitch, I’ve heard.” Now it’s my turn to smile. Good luck with that.
“Teddy’s fearless. Unless there is a spider.” The eggs sizzle. “So you know Sasha is a bitch?” I ask.
“I’ve overheard it, but she’s all smiles when I’m around her.” He shrugs.
“Because she’s in love with you!” I hiss too loudly. “I can’t stand her.”
Tristan cocks his head to the side to glance my way. “Has she been mean to you?”
“Yes! Always making remarks about what I’m eating. Hinting that you two are a thing.” I fold my arms over my chest, getting pissed about it all over again, even if they were never anything. In her mind, she thinks they are, and that’s too much for me.
“All right, I’ll handle it.” He goes back to cooking. I’m about to start up again, but I see the slight tic in his jaw. Oh, he’s pissed. I smirk. Sasha has it coming. She’s a mean girl.
Plus, I can’t get too mad about how he handled her in the past, now that I’m understanding the situation more. A lot of things when it comes to romance and such fly right over his head. It’s kind of cute, but it still might make me stabby.
I swing my legs, watching him work. My head’s clearer now. Last night’s emergency supply champagne finally burned off. All that did was make yesterday come back to me. I understand now. Fully, completely, with sober clarity.
“Gardening,” I say.
Tristan’s shoulders tense. Just barely, but I catch it. “What?”
I swing my legs casually. “Yesterday. When you were with Killian.” I watch his face carefully. “You weren’t actually planning to prune roses. I think you were pruning something that’s far more bloody.”
We both know what I’m talking about. I was drunk, not blind.
He takes the pan off the stove before leaning against the counter across from me. “So you know what we were up to.”
“I saw the blood on your shirt.” Does he forget I helped wash it off him? I highly doubt that, but maybe my blow job was that mind-blowing. “Tristan. I’m not stupid.” I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “I just didn’t bring it up because... well, two men were chasing Teddy and me down.”
His jaw tightens. He doesn’t deny it.
“Who were they?” I ask. “And don’t say ‘nothing to worry about.’ I was in that alley. I saw them watching us.”
He exhales, slow and controlled. “I don’t know yet.”
“But you’re finding out.”
“Yes.”
“I have another question, because while being nosy in your stalker command center, I was thinking,” I say, settling back against the cabinets.
“I was sure it was either about you or Killian. Why would anyone be after Teddy or me? But now I’m not so sure.
Tell me it’s not about me.” He opens his mouth to respond. “Do not lie to me.”
“Lily—”
“Does it have to do with you stealing my DNA test?” Yeah, I saw that in there too.
“Let me figure it out first.”
“You know, on a day-to-day basis I won’t be hurt if you keep things from me to protect me or whatever. We all know I put on a tough shell.”
“But you’re a sweetheart,” Tristan fills in. “That sometimes gives me heartburn.”
I snort a laugh. “I’m being serious. Don’t make me laugh.” Plus, I know he handles a lot of things. Not only his own business deals in tech, but for the government too. Things I could never begin to understand.
“Guess I’ve been hanging out with you and Teddy too much.”
“We’re comic relief, not you, Tristan. Not your place.”
“Got it.” The kitchen falls quiet.
“If I knew I was in danger or Teddy was, we never would have taken off yesterday. Keeping me in the dark doesn’t always protect me.”
“It’s a lot,” he tells me. “It could change a lot of things.” I nod, glancing away from him.
“Did you take the DNA test because of whomever my mother is or because of my dad?”
“Both.”
“Is she dead?” I debated trying to find her, but it was because I was feeling alone. It wasn’t a real longing. It was me being in a bad headspace missing Tristan and the only home I knew since my father passed.
“I believe so.”
“How’d she die?”
“I believe in a fire.”
I cringe; it sounds painful. “So then the test is about my dad.” I glance down at my lap, wringing my fingers together. I could have easily moved on from the conversation, but I have to face whatever it is.
“Lily—”
“It’s okay,” I tell him, but he’s already there, stepping between my legs. “I’m not about to cry over it; I’m just thinking about him, and it makes me miss him,” I say. “He’s my dad.”
“He is your dad. I think he saw you and knew you were meant to be his.”
“Where did he see me?” I place my hands on Tristan’s chest.
“That’s a longer story I’m trying to piece together.”
“Could we piece it together as a team?”
“If you want,” he says gently. “I should have known you’d handle that news better than I thought.”
“I know, I’m starting to see a lot of things more clearly.
” Sure, Tristan loves control, but his actions are never meant to hurt me.
That’s the thing: Intent is everything. It doesn’t make it okay, but it makes it understandable because I know if I could do anything to stop Tristan from hurting, I would. Like punch his dad in the face.
“Let me finish making us breakfast, and I’ll tell you what I know. If you want to hear it. It’s heavy.”
Tristan plates our breakfast. I watch him move around the kitchen. This is all so domestic. It’s surreal. I hadn’t realized how much I craved being this way with him.
“Let’s eat at the table.” He motions to the small table off to the side in the kitchen. It only seats two people.
“This place is cozy,” I say, sitting down. Tristan lifts a brow, setting my plate in front of me. That’s not a bad thing. There has been so much space between us. “This is nice.” I give him a soft smile. “For now.”
“For now?” He chuckles, sitting down across from me.
“We’ll get to that later. Like you, I must keep a few things from you, for your own good.”
“The house is big, but you know I’m wealthy, right? I can build you whatever you like.”
“Hold on now.” I put my hand up. “How do you—”
“How do I know that you and Teddy probably made up a grand scheme of us all living under one roof and just sectioning off wings?” Well, shit.
“Don’t be trying to change the subject on me now. You have things to tell me.” I wave my fork at him.
“Yeah, it’s me changing the subject.” He takes a sip of his coffee, hiding his own smirk.
“On with it. Hit me with it so I can get this ugly cry over already, and then you’ll agree to Teddy’s and my idea, and I’ll be happy again.
” Just gonna slide that in there. If I have to cry, I’m going to get something out of it.
“Start with the DNA test you must have stolen from the post office,” I say to get his ass moving. “Which is a federal crime, by the way.”
“Hope the Feds don’t come snatch me up.” Yeah, he looks real worried. I bet he’s got dirty secrets on the government. One night we’ll have to ply him with emergency champagne and get the tea.
“Your blood type.” I swallow; okay, we’re doing this. “It’s O positive,” he says. “Victor’s was AB negative.”
I stare at him. “Okay?” I urge him to keep going because I have no clue what that means.
“AB negative parents can’t have O positive children; it’s impossible.”
The kitchen goes quiet. Only the sound of the refrigerator humming in the background. “Right, I totally knew that.” I had no clue.
“Hey.” He reaches over the table, grabbing my hand, giving it a squeeze, knowing I’m using humor as a partial mask. It’s my way of protecting myself.
“I’m good. Keep going,” I reassure him. “I know the DNA crap really changes nothing, to me at least. Victor is my dad in every sense of the word.”
He nods in agreement. “When I saw your dad’s blood type, it hit me. I knew you were O positive.”
“Because you’re a good stalker.” This man really does know me inside and out.
“Right.” He shakes his head. “When I saw your father’s autopsy photos—” Tristan pauses, then runs a hand down his face. “I should take a step back; I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with his death.”
“It wasn’t a heart attack!” I slam my hand down on the table, making everything on it jump. I also jumped, having scared myself with how loud it was. “Sorry, I’m not excited about it; I just always had that in my head. That his cause of death didn’t fit. Didn’t make sense.”
“And you’re right, princess.”
“And don’t you forget it.” I take a bite of my well-buttered toast. “Continue.”
“He was ambushed. Everyone has been quiet about it all. No leads, and maybe they don’t have any, but someone has to have it in the back of their minds. He brought you back to the States after a mission. That means paperwork had to have been handled for him.”
“You’re saying my father kidnapped me.”
“I didn’t—”
“Birds of a feather,” I say, making his lips twitch.
“Seems you’re very kidnappable.”
“Why, thank you.” I take a sip of my orange juice, taking this all in stride. “I take it my parents sucked or something, so he saved me?”
“I went searching around the time you were born. The area Victor was in at that time because I couldn’t chase down why he and a team were there.
But Grandeurs is pretty small for a country, so I went digging through the news article searching for anything that could be a cover-up, which most often is a fire. ”
“So I’m from Grandeurs?” I ask, but none of this makes sense still. I don’t know a ton about Grandeurs.
“I believe so. In fact, I believe you’re an heir to the crown.”
I stare at him, his words for once stunning me into silence. “The crown?” It only lasted a moment.
“Yes, Grandeurs is a monarchy. I think the late king was your father.” I take that in. “You okay?”
I give a small nod. “Are you saying I’m like a real, real princess?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose it’s fitting,” I joke. “Hey, you’ve been calling me ‘princess’ lately.”
“Want me to go back to brat?”
“Kinda like them both.” I sit back in my chair. “What’s the rest? Is this why someone tried to snatch me up? Those men tell you anything while you were gardening together?”
Tristan starts talking. He tells me about the fire he believes I’m connected to.
Where I was stashed away as a bastard child.
Do people still use that term? That he believes after the king’s death, the wife, the queen, must have found out about me and feels I’m a threat to not only her but also her son, who is heir to the crown.
I could try to come in and steal it all away.
Well, I can’t really steal what’s rightfully mine.
“This is insane, and it doesn’t fully make sense.”
“There are missing pieces,” Tristan says in agreement.
“Was this king on good terms with other countries and stuff, or was he a power-hungry nut?”
“At the present, there were no issues that I’m aware of.”
I chew on my bottom lip. “What if the queen knew about me but thought I died in the fire? Then found out after his death I’m still alive?”
“It’s possible, but I still don’t know how Victor comes into play. How he got you. But I do know those men were sent by the queen yesterday.”
“Okay,” I say.
“Okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” I repeat. “Maybe I should be freaking out, and I still might, but, and I know this is going to sound crazy, it feels a little settling. Like I’ve been missing something, but I didn’t know what. Now I’ve found it.”
“It’s not over, Lily; I’m sure she’s finding out the two men haven’t reported back to her.”
“And she’ll send more.”
“Likely,” he agrees.
“Then we have two options.” His brows rise. “What? I’m in this now.”
“All right, what are these two options?”
“Well, maybe three.” I wiggle my fingers.
“One, we wait them out; two, we surprise attack.” I can tell from his expression he’s not a fan of that one.
Home turf is likely better. “Or we build that dome.” Tristan opens his mouth to respond.
“The dome was a joke.” I cut him off, pointing my fork at him.
Tristan reaches across the table, covering my hand with his. “The dome stays a joke for now.” I roll my eyes playfully. “But you’re not leaving my sight until we figure this all out.”
“So, status quo.” I turn my palm up, threading our fingers together. “Good. Now pass the bacon; your princess is starving.”
If that queen has anything to do with my dad’s death, off with her fucking head.