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She felt tired So weary She’d been trying to protect them, but it had blown up in her face

Dane wouldn’t look at her He kept his attention on Tal "I will see you in the , sheikh"

"Cousin, please You’re faht and e Let Cooper and Landon know I expect the saetting along She felt more on the outside than she’d ever felt in her life

"Alea, we’ll see you in our roouards waiting outside to escort you Obey him And I wouldn’t attempt to lock us out if I were you I will kick the door in This wasn’t the way I wanted to start ourback

Alea watched hiuard, her heart heavier than ever She placed a hand on her belly She could pretend all she liked, but she knew the truth She could tell herself that she had been trying to protect the herself It had been easy on the island because she didn’t have to deal with reality She could simply be No future No past

But the future was knocking at her door, and she couldn’t lock it out

"I understand the impulse to push theht it would be best to push Piper away I thought I was too daed for her, too dark She was far smarter than I was I wasn’t too dark for her That broken part of er than any torture I’d ever endured"

"You weren’t getting savaged by the press when you h this, Tal?"

Her cousin’s eyes grewbreath "Yes I wouldn’t have said it at the time, but now I know the truth If you love those men, if you want to share a life with them, then you owe them the chance to stand by you Would you walk out if one of them was in trouble this way?"

God no She wouldn’t Couldn’t But she hadn’t given them a chance "No I love the all of your life This isin between, and it only works if you’re in it together Learn from my mistakes Don’t waste a minute of your time Go upstairs and see the doctor and wait for your men Talk to them Be honest"

She nodded, but couldn’t seem to make her feet move

"Alea?" Tal was softer now "Alea, do you need help?"

They had been asking for over a year Do you need help? She’d seen it as pity then, viewed her silence as strength But all she’d done was shut out the people who loved her and closed herself off "Yes, Talib I believe I do I would very ain If you could make the appointments, I would appreciate it"

"Absolutely I can have her here this evening" He got to his feet "Lea, I love you I knohere you are I don’t want this life for you"

This life she’d been living could hardly be called a life at all because it allowed for no love, no future, just an endless strealess todays with no tomorrows The past was an anchor that never allowed her to move on

This was the life of a victiain Suddenly she realized that her cousins’ as right She could choose She could move from victim to survivor Her choice Her rules She could defeat the bastards who had stolen her innocence by refusing to allow them to steal her future

"I don’t want it either" How long had it been since she’d asked herself what she wanted? She wanted herdays and was alnant What they had found on that island couldn’t possibly have been left there No The love they had , and she was full

Alea rushed to her cousin and threw her arms around him like she had when she’d been a child

"Welco and his voice shaking "I know I call you cousin, but you’re my sister Welcoone for so, so long

Chapter Thirteen

Dane forced his feet to move, but he couldn’t really feel the knot in his gut The scene with Alea played through his brain like a horror otten what he wanted, but he didn’t like the price he’d been forced to pay

He’d hated the look in her eyes when he’d shown her how far he would go He was going to have to start hisGod, he’d never iined it would play out this way

He stalked across the iving hi because he really wanted to take soo that Alea was very likely pregnant, but he’d wanted to give it time, to be sure, before they had to deal with the fact that they were on an island with noby the fresh water pool Lan had discovered, watching her smile and swi a child

When they’d been rescued, he’d planned to keep his ht to tell her ift of a fa deep inside hih he’d found a piece to his puzzle that had been wrenched out of place and had finally been ht His child His, Lan, and Coop’s with Alea And she’d looked perfectly horrified at the idea of being pregnant Like it was her worst night with his eyes? He stopped, the roo to cry He didn’t cry

"Dane? Is Lea co up fro breath and banished the unwanted eiven her ht they would be better apart had one to her rooht she would want to come" Lan joined them in the vestibule that led from the residences to the section of the palace that held staff offices and conference roo air filled the vestibule, and he could sardens where he’d wanted to take Alea and propose when the tiht They’d talked about it, the three of theed in view of the gardens The gardens were blessed once a year and had been for the last two hundred years They were said to be a lucky place for love and peace