“I knew you’d eventually uncover the truth. Part of me wanted you to.” He looks almost shy. Vulnerable. The Logan I knew.
I throw my arms around him, practically tackling him. He chuckles and helps me climb into his lap.
“I know you.” I gaze into his beautiful eyes. “I will always know you.”
“No one knows you like I know you,” he says, and a bell tolls, deep within my soul.
“You told me that before. Years ago.”
“It’s still true.”
I repeat now what I told him then. “My father and mother still loved me. They wanted what’s best for me.”
“Your mother, certainly. But your father…” Logan shook his head. “He was blind to everything he had.”
“He loved my mother.”
“Love can blind as much as ambition.”
“Hmm.” We’ll see about that. In the soft morning light, him with his blue eyes and me in my glasses, I’m seeing more clearly than I ever have. My gaze strays beyond the bed and I gasp.
My room is filled with roses. Vases and vases full of them, on every surface. Petals sprinkled on the carpet, around the chairs, on the bed.
“Roses,” I breath.
“Happy birthday, Daphne. I’m a bit late this year, but…”
“It was you,” I whisper, staring at the room. “You were the one who left the roses. On the day of the funeral, and every anniversary since.”
“I knew you were grieving your mother. But I also wanted to celebrate you.”
“You mean, the rose wasn’t for my mother?” The world tilts. “It was for me?”
He nods. “Your father and I had fallen out by then, but I couldn’t stay away completely. The day they buried your mother—”
“Was my birthday. You remembered my birthday,” I murmur to myself. “You were the only one.” My father was mindless in his grief and Adam had Archer Industries to run.”
“I’ll never forget the promises we made each other.” He turns sober. “I waited for you, this year, at her grave. We promised we’d meet there one day.”
“I forgot. Logan, I thought you were gone forever. They told me…”
He sits up straighter, his expression hardening. “Yes?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I mumble, staring at my hands. “I don’t want to talk about them.” My father and Adam both lied to me about Logan. What else have they lied about?
His big hand closes over mine. “I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere.”
I meet his eyes, that clear ice blue. “I would’ve come to the grave if I’d known you were there. Logan, I would’ve run to you.”
He swallows. “Even though I look like this?”
“Yes. I don’t care how you look. It’s you.” I cover his scarred cheek with my palm. “It’s always been you.”
After a moment, he clears his throat. “I know today isn’t actually your birthday. You were so sick, I wanted to make sure you were feeling well enough for—”
“For what?” I interrupt, eager for a Logan-sized surprise.
“Patience, kitten,” he gives me a mock stern glance.
I giggle, but inwardly shiver. Logan the Dom. So sexy.
“I have another gift for you. If you’re feeling up to it.”
Squee! “Why wouldn’t I be up to it?”
A sexy frown. “I was rough with you last night.”
Just like that, my bottom remembers how sore it is. I shift a little, but can’t stop my grin. “Worth it.”
He looks about two seconds away from making me bend over for inspection, so I add, “I’m fine. Really.” I cover his hand in mine. I’m wet at the thought of inspection, but I want my present more.
“Very well,” he sighs, and produces a blindfold from his pocket.
I cling to him as he carries me down several flights of stairs. The castle no longer feels drafty. “It must cost a mint to heat this place,” I say out loud.
He chuckles. “Worth it. I never want you to feel cold. Now,” he sets me down. “Stay right here. No peeking.”
He leaves me shimmying with excitement, dancing in place. The light hits my face and I turn towards it. I shimmy more vigorously.
“You’re too cute,” he murmurs, coming behind me and undoing the blindfold. “Ready?”
He whips the cloth away, revealing a narrow room with floor to ceiling shelves. Full of books, of course.
“A library!” I twirl slowly. So many books. “You can’t give me an entire library.”
Logan chuckles softly. “Can’t I?”
I grin at him over my shoulder, and keep exploring. At the end of the room, a fire crackles, surrounded by heavy leather armchairs. Perfect for a winter’s night in.
“Logan, this is too much.”
“Then I’ll wait to show you the rest of your gifts.”
“Like what?” I’m being shameless but I can’t help it.
Fortunately, he thinks it’s cute. “I was going to let you have the lab, too.”
I press my hands to my mouth. “Logan…” I shake my head. “It’s too much.”
“You’re worth it. This is what I always wanted to give you, Daphne. This is why we had to wait.”
“How did you get this castle, anyway? You said you inherited it from your predecessor. But did you actually find your family?”
He turns, hands in pockets “No. Not my family. My mother was poor, as you know.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I thought you might have…found your father.”
“No. After I nursed myself back to health, I looked for a new partner. A successful businessman reached out to me, actually, desperate for someone to help. He had an autoimmune disease similar to Battleman’s. I tried some experimental treatments and extended his life by several years.”
“So he gave you a castle.”
Logan shrugs. “His wife had died a decade earlier and they had no heirs. He brought me on as a partner in his business, I helped expand it—”
With the help of my father’s patents, I almost say, but bite my tongue. We’ve come so far in the past few days. I don’t want to break the spell just yet.
“—One thing led to another and…” he shrugs again. “Castle.”
“Just like that.”
My dry tone makes him grin. “Just like that. Do you doubt me, kitten?”
“No.” I retreat until my back hits the shelf. He looms over me, one arm over my head, so he can cage me against the bookshelf.
“I just…we didn’t have to wait. I know you wanted to…prove yourself or whatever,” I flap my hand, my voice faltering as his eyes glint. “but you were it for me. It was always you.” I twine my hand in his thick black hair and tug his face closer.
“Daphne,” he groans against my lips, and then we’re kissing. He lifts me, propping my hips against the shelves. Holy hell, Imma about to get hot and heavy in a library…
My stomach growls, though, ruining the moment.
With a curse, Logan sets me down. “I need to feed you.”