“So, they think if you do some work for them, they have you safely under their thumb,” Aiden concluded.
“The arrangement gave me something to do while keeping the Ministry largely out of my hair. I don’t want a seat. Never have. But we both know that no vampire is going to believe you if you say you don’t want power.”
Aiden smirked. “Well, one might believe you.” It was something he’d said often enough to other vampires and received the same skeptical look time and again.
Ronan leaned over and quickly kissed him before stretching out again with a happy sigh. “True. You believe me.”
“What kind of contract work did you do?”
Ronan’s smile disappeared and his body stiffened, but Aiden was proud of him for telling the truth. “Executions.” Sighing, Ronan rolled over to meet Aiden’s gaze. “I wish I could tell you something else, but I can’t. I was bored, and death is what I’m good at. It’s what we were both trained in as humans, and it’s the same training I got as a vampire. I’m a skilled hunter and I’m not ashamed of it. I did get to pick and choose my jobs. I tried to make sure that my targets were evil people. That they’d acted cruelly to others. But I’m not naïve enough to think that all my information was good. I tried.”
Aiden moved the hand on Ronan’s chest so that it covered his rapidly beating heart. “I have no right to judge you. We’ve all done things that we regret or aren’t particularly proud of. I know you’re a good man, and you kept yourself safe so you could come back to me.”
“I just don’t want you to be disappointed in me. If I’d known you were alive, so much would have been different.”
“Don’t. I don’t regret my life, because it’s brought me a lot of happiness along with heartache. And in the end, it brought me right here to you.”
Ronan grinned, relaxing on the pillows again. He drew in a deep breath as if he could suddenly breathe easier. “See. This is why you’re king. So much wiser than me.”
Aiden snorted. “Doubtful. What I don’t understand is how the Ministry’s contracted executioner was permitted to join its peaceful envoy to meet the new king of the Americas? Were you contracted to kill me before you even boarded the plane?”
Ronan flinched and snuggled even closer, his arms wrapping tightly around Aiden. “Don’t even say those words,” Ronan admonished. “No one is going to touch you. I-I can’t allow it. Won’t allow it.”
Pain shot through Aiden as he felt Ronan drag in several short, shuddering breaths. The fear of losing Aiden was clearly a living, breathing thing inside of Ronan, and Aiden could understand it. He’d already lost so much. He didn’t want to contemplate losing Ronan now. “Nothing is going to happen to me. You’ll keep me safe. I know it,” Aiden whispered.
Ronan nodded against his shoulder, his arms loosening at last. “I will.” Taking a deep breath, Ronan released Aiden enough to look him in the eye. “I’m sure they thought they were sending someone over to possibly end the king, should the meeting fail to go as they hoped, but I didn’t give a shit about their plans. I told them that I could keep their emissary safe and scout the area. Get a feel for the sentiment among your people. Essentially, be a spy.”
“I know you haven’t painted your life as having many ties, but are you comfortable leaving that all behind?”
Dropping back on his pillows, Ronan laughed loudly, the joyous sound filling the room. “Are you kidding?” he finally asked incredulously. “Am I ready to leave behind nothing to come here and spend the rest of my existence wooing you? Protecting you? Driving your sons absolutely crazy? Yes. Yes to all of that.”
Aiden snickered. “I think you’re underestimating how much my sons are going to drive you crazy.”
Ronan’s smile became a little crooked and surprisingly fond. “No, I don’t think I am. They’ve given me a pretty good taste so far, and I have to admit, I’m loving it. They aren’t intimidated by me, and their obvious love of you makes me want to adore them all the more. I’m hoping when they see how happy I make you, they’ll learn to like me a little bit.”
“They will.” Aiden snuggled in close, his heart feeling so full in his chest he thought it was going to burst. For the first time in too long, he felt happy. Truly, completely happy. There was no doubt in his mind this was what Julianna would have wanted for him. He was sorry they’d had this so briefly, but he believed that she was at peace now and wanted him to find that happiness again.
“You understand that being with me means being in a clan again. A family. A family that likes to meddle in all of your affairs,” Aiden murmured into Ronan’s shoulder.
“You mean a family who sneaks into your hotel room in the middle of the day to threaten you if you intend to hurt their beloved father? Yes, that’s exactly the kind of family I want.”
Aiden snorted, and Ronan shifted so he could look directly into Aiden’s eyes. “I’m serious. I adore it because it’s the same damn thing I would have done if I was in their shoes.”
Rolling his eyes, Aiden groaned. “Lovely. Those boys don’t need your help or for you to enable them.”
“Nope. I have no intention of being a good influence. That’s your job.”
Chuckling, Aiden wrapped his arms around Ronan and held him close. He’d never expected to find Ronan again, let alone discover that this man he’d longed for would fit so perfectly into his life.
A loud knocking on the bedroom door had them both jumping, arms tightening around each other as if someone were threatening to rip them apart.
“Thirty-minute warning,” Marcus said on the other side of the door, “though you should know that Rafe and Philippe are already here.”
Tipping his head away from Ronan, Aiden called out. “Thank you, Marcus.”
“Should I be worried that Rafe and Philippe are here?”
“No. He just added that because Rafe’s patience for us to appear probably won’t last thirty minutes, and he’ll likely come looking for us.”
“We can always give him an eyeful,” Ronan threatened with a waggle of his brows.
“No, but I think we can have some fun in the shower before we go downstairs.”
With a shout of joy, Ronan released him and jumped from the bed, already heading toward the bathroom, Aiden’s laughter following on his heels.
Chapter Thirteen
Ronan knew removing the sappy, dopey grin from his lips was physically impossible, so he didn’t even try as he followed Aiden from the bedroom into the library, where they’d had their sparring match not so long ago. It had been just two nights, but now it felt like a lifetime had passed. He’d come into the house full of fear, hope, and determination. He hadn’t known if Aiden still cared for him after so much time, if there was any chance of them being together, but there would have been no living with himself if he didn’t at least try.
What made it better was that he was standing there with his fingers entwined with Aiden’s. His man was wordlessly announcing to his slice of the world that they were together, that Ronan meant something to him. And everyone in the room noticed it immediately.