Dear God, he wanted to try. He’d give everything that he had, everything that he was to have a second chance with Aiden.
He looked at each one of the men gathered around him, and he could only feel happiness at the fact that Aiden was so well loved and protected in his new life. While he didn’t want them to come between him and Aiden, he couldn’t begrudge their attempts to keep Aiden safe.
“I mean it when I say that I just want to talk to him. I want to learn about him again. Give him the chance to decide whether he wishes to include me in his life. If he never wants to see me again, so be it. But I want the choice to be his. Not the European Ministry’s or some other vampire trying to keep us apart.”
“Oh dear,” Bel mumbled.
“Rafe?” Philippe said, nudging his lover.
“This was so much easier when we were planning to simply kill him,” Rafe grumbled.
“Who says we’re not?” Winter corrected.
“Hey!” Fox shoved at Winter’s shoulder. “You gave me a chance when everyone was convinced I was going to destroy your entire family.”
“You’re cuter than he is.” Winter’s smile turned sly. “And you let me tie you up.”
“Focus, please,” Wyatt sighed.
“Oh God, please,” Rafe moaned.
“The point is,” Fox drew out, pausing long enough to glare at Rafe, “that Aiden is an adult and he should be given the chance to at least talk to him. Let him decide if Ronan is trustworthy or if we should string him up in the noonday sun.”
Rafe smiled. “Nicely done, little witch. I was expecting a statement like that out of the wolf.”
Wyatt shrugged. “He beat me to it, but he’s right.”
“Does this mean you’ll help me?” Ronan asked, causing several of his guests to chuckle.
“It means we’re not going to kill you…yet,” Winter said.
Ronan nodded. He could accept that.
As a group, the men surrounding him straightened and headed for the door. Winter grinned wickedly at him as he continued, “We’ll be watching.”
Ronan snorted. “I never doubted that for a second.”
To his surprise, Bel tossed a white business card onto the bed. Ronan picked it up to find a handwritten phone number.
“What’s this?”
Bel smiled a little. “Aiden’s personal cell number. Texting is a good way to begin talking.”
Ronan nodded, any words of thanks stuck in his throat. He’d gotten an official number for Aiden from the Ministry, but he had a feeling that all contact with Aiden was being filtered through Marcus. Now he had a private link to Aiden. It was a starting place that didn’t include lurking outside of his home, waiting for him to leave. Or worse, trying to get through the barrier that was his family.
When he was alone in his room, Ronan sat back against the headboard again, staring at the card in his hand. Part of him wanted to snatch up his phone and send a text now, but what? And was it a good idea? Was it too late for them?
Aiden had established a new life, a new family. He had more things to worry about than someone from his distant past.
And was Ronan bringing more danger into his life beyond just threats from the European Ministry?
But Aiden was an adult. He had a right to choose who he associated with. Ronan’s only concerns should be keeping Aiden safe from the rest of the envoy and convincing his old friend that he was the same trustworthy man he’d once known.
He needed to convince Aiden that he was still in love with him. Centuries had not dulled it or tarnished it. The love Ronan had for Aiden shone just as bright as it had that night in the woods. His dream of holding Aiden, of building a life with him, lived in his heart, and he wanted to try. Even if it meant taking on a few changes…like four very interesting sons.
And as frightening as it might seem, Ronan needed to know if Aiden could possibly still love him after all this time.
Chapter Five
Aiden hated computers. Well, maybe hated was a strong word. There was much about his life that had been made easier, and even possible again, since he didn’t have to go out in the sunlight to get things done. Simple, everyday tasks could be completed at all hours on a computer.
But for some reason, work seemed to propagate more on a computer, as if all those ones and zeroes were fucking within the machine to give birth to more work.
Email was the worst of them. Answering one email seemed to spawn four more emails so that there was a never-ending spiral of emails of people complaining, threatening, or demanding things.
When he’d agreed to be king of the American vampires, he’d thought it was going to be about fighting off threats, killing vampires who wanted to take his crown, and protecting his family from conspiracies. He hadn’t foreseen mountains of emails about intra-clan bickering that was better served by a mediator and not their king.
Sitting up straight in his chair, Aiden twisted to the left and then right, muscles stretching and burning in relief to finally be moving while his spine popped. With a sigh, he rubbed his hands over his eyes, trying to convince himself to work for a couple of hours more before seeking out Marcus and Ethan for a bit of a distraction.
Not that his son and his mate necessarily wanted him bothering them. Ethan and Marcus had been together for barely more than a year. They were in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, and Ethan was still learning to be a vampire. This was an important period for them to spend time together, to strengthen their bond.
And he…needed to find something else to do with his life other than watching over his sons. This king thing wasn’t going to last long. Once he got most of the clan leaders talking to each other, they’d be able to work out a new system of governing. A year or two at most.
Then he’d be able to…what?
For so long, his entire existence had been about protecting Julianna and her sons. Julianna was now gone, and her sons were all happily settled with mates. They didn’t need him watching over them.
What was he going to do with the rest of forever?
“The Forsythe Clan giving you problems again?”
Aiden’s head popped up at the sound of Marcus’s voice from the open doorway. His oldest son was standing there with a concerned look on his handsome face. He’d been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even heard his approach.
“No, I haven’t heard from them recently,” Aiden murmured. He dropped back in his chair and took a moment to actually look at Marcus. The changes he’d experienced in the past year of finding his mate, making Ethan a vampire, and then training him had left an impact, though he doubted anyone outside the family would even notice. Aiden wasn’t even sure Marcus’s own brothers would see it most nights.
Thanks to Ethan, Marcus smiled more often, laughed easier, and was a little more willing to let his brothers handle a problem rather than forcing his way into something. He didn’t need to control everything. Life seemed newer, fresher, for his son, and Aiden was so happy for him.
It didn’t hurt that Ethan clearly adored him. The young vampire might be utterly outrageous, and some truly unbelievable things might come out of his mouth, but he’d been good for Marcus.
His only concern now was getting Ethan to stop blaming himself for Julianna’s death. Despite his large smile and easy laugh, Aiden could see that sometimes the little vamp wasn’t entirely comfortable around Aiden, as if he expected Aiden to lash out over the loss of Julianna.