more than just his duty to his new position. It was where Ronan was standing—with those who were most likely to oppose him wearing the crown. The man he’d known had been the love of his life, but after the passage of so many years, he couldn’t be sure who stood in front of him now. Had he been sent by the Ministry to kill him? And if so, would Ronan actually commit the deed?
“I’m fine. I swear,” Aiden replied, forcing his voice to steady.
“Are you sure?” Marcus whispered.
Aiden lifted his eyes to meet Marcus’s worried blue ones. So like his mother’s. He smiled, and this one was real. Reaching up, he cupped the side of his son’s face. Marcus and his brothers would always be able to steady him. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
With a slight nod, Marcus released him and straightened. His face was emotionally blank, but the concern remained in his eyes.
He would face more questions from Marcus and likely all of his sons as soon as Marcus informed them something strange had happened when Aiden met the European envoy, but that would wait. Not that he even had a clue as to what he would tell them. Aiden had told them almost nothing about his life before meeting Julianna, and he’d never spoken of Ronan. Not to anyone ever in his long existence as a vampire.
Those first couple of centuries after he’d lost Ronan had been incredibly dark for Aiden, periods of time that he didn’t let himself think about. The regret and self-loathing would only swamp him, leave him incapable of even moving.
But now Ronan was alive and wandering somewhere in his home. Ronan was so close.
Did he want to reach out? What had happened to him? How had they not found each other until now? Ronan had hinted at talking, but was such a thing a mistake? Aiden had a good life with his sons. A life infinitely more complicated now that a crown rested on his brow, but still, a good life.
Would Ronan have any desire to be drawn into his world?
And how would his sons feel?
Question after question poured through, but there were no answers. There would be none until he actually spoke to Ronan in private.
He would. As much as he feared it, there was no losing this opportunity.
When he’d thought this night would bring fresh starts and new beginnings, it had never crossed his mind that it might include someone so critical to his past.
Chapter Three
Three hours.
Three long, horrible hours before Aiden could finally sneak away from the party.
Yes, it was technically his party, and he shouldn’t have been able to sneak away in the first place, but he didn’t think he could get through the night without having at least a brief, private conversation with Ronan. One more stolen moment.
Most of the guests had left already, but there were a few mingling about with his family, drinking and generally networking with anyone they believed might be close to Aiden.
Rafe had stopped by to say that the European Ministry envoy had left. Aiden’s heart had barely sunk into his stomach when his eyes fell on Ronan standing in a corner of the room, his dark gaze locked on Aiden as he gave the appearance of listening to the woman on his arm. His head was cocked toward her and he nodded occasionally, but his eyes never strayed from Aiden.
Rafe was wrong. Mara and Michael had left. Ronan was waiting for him.
It had taken four tries to extricate himself from his hovering, worried sons and their lovers, but he finally slipped out a rear door of the house and onto the lawn. A deep sigh of relief rushed from his lips, and he was slightly dizzy with excitement.
And fear.
What if Ronan had changed?
That was a ridiculous thought. Of course he’d changed. The man he’d known had been killed and stolen away from his people, his destiny. He’d lived as a vampire for centuries, enduring all sorts of horrible events, and now he was working for the European Ministry. He couldn’t possibly be the same man who’d owned his heart so many years ago.
But did that mean Ronan intended to kill him as soon as they were alone? If anyone had a fair shot at it, he believed it would be Ronan. The European Ministry couldn’t possibly be happy about his ascension to an American throne. Who better to send than someone Aiden had trusted completely?
Aiden’s heart clenched at the thought, feeling as