Diamond Fire (Hidden Legacy #3.5)- Ilona Andrews Page 0,4
grandfather died before she was born, but if Arrosa had a child who tested as Prime, the Ramírez family could petition to become a House.
Arrosa pulled her shawl tight around her shoulders. “All those plans . . . And then Will Rogan showed up. My genetic profile matched his requirements and he traveled to Spain to meet me. I remember the first time I saw him. I was standing in the library, trying to sort the books, so I had several books floating over my head, and he was walking by and stopped in the doorway. We just stood and looked at each other. I had never seen anyone like him.”
She smiled at the memories. I had a moment like that too. The first time I saw Connor, he was walking toward me through the park and I just sat there and watched him and wished that one day I could find someone like him.
“What happened?” I asked.
“My father told him no. Not many people told Will Rogan no. He was a third generation Prime. His magic was off the charts. He had military contracts, civilian contracts, foreign contracts, and half of the world owed him a favor. It is fair to say that in some respects Connor is a lot like his father.”
In my experience, Connor acted as if the word no meant nothing unless he was the one saying it.
“Will made sure to run into me when I was in town. We talked. Then I met him again. And again. It was so easy talking to him. We were different, but it was effortless. So, he came to see my father again, and my father, who by that point realized that offending House Rogan wouldn’t end well, told Will that he would have to compensate the family for the loss of a Prime. He named an outrageous amount of money. Will wrote the check on the spot. Nearly bankrupted himself.” Arrosa’s eyes narrowed and I saw a glimpse of power, sharp and frightening. Alarm shot through me.
“My father called me into his study and told me that Will bought me, and I had to go with him. And you know what my Will told him?”
“No.”
“He said, ‘Aren’t you going to ask her if she wants to come with me? It’s her decision.’ And my father told him I would do what was best for the family. He didn’t get it. He never did.”
I was 100 percent with Rogan. I didn’t like his grandfather either. “Did you ever regret it?”
“Never. Will was everything to me. We came home. His family wasn’t thrilled that he signed away nearly three-quarters of his assets. His father once called me their Louisiana Purchase. It didn’t matter. We worked together to rebuild what he had lost. We were a great team. He loved me, Nevada. I got to experience the kind of love very few people do. I miss him every day. Sometimes I wake, and I reach over, expecting him to be in bed with me. But he is never there. I do still talk to him. He is buried in the gardens, next to his parents.”
This could be me. If I married Rogan, in a few years I could be sitting in her spot, mourning my husband. Primes swam in dangerous waters. It was almost enough to make you reconsider, but I wanted Connor too much. A week or fifty years, I would take whatever time we could have together.
“Do you love Connor?” Arrosa asked.
“Yes.” It wasn’t even a question.
“And what about children? You are probably not genetically compatible. Does that bother you?”
“I want to have his children. I will love them whether they have magic or not.”
Arrosa’s eyes narrowed again. “Connor, you, and your children will be in danger much more frequently than most people. You are Primes. We live by different rules and my son has made powerful enemies. Some women would take an easier path.”
Okay, I didn’t like what she was implying. I raised my head. “I may not be a telekinetic, but I promise you, anybody who thinks they can harm Connor or our children will have to go through me and they will change their mind fast. If they have a mind left by the time I’m done.”
She scrutinized my face. “What if I decide that I don’t like this marriage?”
My heart made a flip in my chest. I was afraid of that. “Then I’m very sorry. I have the deepest respect for you and I will