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Wolfe
I’m shell-shocked.I walk through the castle and find myself in the back gardens, staring at the frost-covered branches without feeling the chill in the air.
I’m going to be a father, but Rowan doesn’t want me to be involved.
Fate is laughing at me. It’s the only explanation.
Abby died in my arms, and I didn’t even know she was carrying my child. She probably didn’t know either. Her heart just stopped, and I couldn’t do a thing to save her.
Rowan’s carrying my child, too, but she’s taking it away from here to choose a better, more normal life. Twice I’ve loved. Twice I’ve let myself open up to a woman. Twice they’ve carried my child.
And twice, I’ve lost.
I would fight for Rowan. I’d beg her to stay, but deep down, I think she’s making the right decision. What kind of life can I give her?
Luxury, sure. All the finest clothing and food and wine she can imagine. A private tutor for our child and a big, expensive wedding.
Not her own business. Not her independence. She’d have to give up the things she cares about most just to be with me.
I wander through the castle gardens, powerless and alone. Broken-hearted. Resigned.
It was foolish of me to think I could have it all with Rowan. It was naive of me to believe I could have love and happiness. I already know what life is like. It beats you down and kicks you when you hit the ground. It batters you, day after day, until all you can do is blindly put one foot in front of the other.
Rowan was just a reminder of everything I’ve lost. She was a flash of happiness in my sad, gray life.
Of course she’s leaving. Why would she stay?
I walk until my fingertips turn blue, and finally head back inside. Winter will be here soon, and I’ll have to stay inside and think about everything I’ve lost. Everything I failed to protect.
Isn’t that what happened with Rowan, too? I was too much of a coward to ask her to be with me officially. I was too afraid, and the rumors got to her first. The media stood outside her door, and she felt unsafe, because I wasn’t there beside her. I couldn’t even give her the decency of a real relationship.
Now, she’s making the only choice she can, for herself and our child. She’s leaving.
I find my brothers in the billiards room. Silas looks relatively fresh, considering he was out until all hours last night. Jonah glances up at me from the felt-covered table. He takes a shot, then straightens.
“What happened to you? You look like death.”
“Feel like it, too.” I slump down onto a chair, dropping my head in my hands. “She’s leaving.”
I expect Silas to come out with some snarky comment. A callous jab at my sad little feelings. Instead, I feel a palm on my shoulder and I see my youngest brother looking down at me with nothing but sympathy. “Sorry, brother,” Silas says, his voice quiet. “Is it because of the article? All that will blow over. The newspapers just needed a headline—it’ll be forgotten by next week.”
“She’s leaving because the article is true.” I look from Silas to Jonah. “She’s pregnant with my kid.”
Jonah leans his pool cue on the wall, roughing his hand through his hair. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Silas takes a seat beside me, blowing a breath out. “What are you going to do?”
“Let her go,” I reply. “What else can I do?”
“Um, not do that.” Silas frowns. “You care about her, right?”
“What can I offer her, though?”
Jonah scoffs, then spreads his arm around. “All this? A royal title? Riches beyond her wildest dreams?”
I shake my head. “A gilded cage. She’s spent her entire adult life building up her architecture business. She’s been independent since she was young. She doesn’t want to be coddled and taken care of.”
