“Oh, there's no joking about it.” I squeezed Pet's knee under the table. “Granny's famous for her fertility tea.”
“I have a perfect record. Ninety-nine babies and counting in the last twenty years.”
She nearly choked on her fertility tea. “Is she joking?”
“Granny is never serious,” I assured, “unless it's about her matchmaking. She's deadly serious about her tea. And that perfect record.”
Granny nodded, arms crossed. “Drink up, drink up, child. The only thing that makes my life better every passing year is the more grand-babies the Gods bless me with. I've been waiting for Larz to find the right one. Always so busy with his affairs and saving this family, no time for a love of his own. Until now.”
Fifteen minutes and two teacups later, Pet had excused herself to the ladies room and Granny had me cornered.
“It's her.” She stated. “She's the one.”
“I know she is. I knew it as soon as she walked into Kylemore. Something about her gave me this feeling that I've known her my entire life—or multiple lifetimes—but she's been through a lot in her own country. I'm afraid to scare her away.”
“Someone scared her to you. You're the only chance she has, I can see it in her eyes, Larz. You can't let her go.”
“But my life is so complicated, and the timing couldn't be worse—”
“Larz, the timing is never right for you. I'd tell you to stop and ask yourself why, but it looks like she already has. When you have something so good, take my words for it, it can slip through your fingers before you even know how good you had it. Lovers in the modern world today, so fleeting, so unwilling to give love a chance to fully bloom before they have one foot out the door. No more running, Larz, the universe is ready for you to stand still for once—with her.”
“She's been through so much.”
“And so have you.” Granny patted my cheek. “So has this entire family. But so has she, grandson, and that's why she is meant for you.”
Nine
Larz
Granny's words throbbed through my mind as Pet and I walked the thirty minutes back to Kylemore. Pet picked her away along the path that followed the shoreline of the fjord and by the time my cottage came into view, she'd taken her shoes off and walked barefoot in the sandy stream that meandered along the back of my property.
I knew she was meant to be mine.
I knew I'd stop at nothing to keep her safe.
What I didn't know was whether it'd been me that put her in harm's way just being with her.
When we reached the boulder that sat at the edge of the stream, my palms circled her waist and I lifted her up on the sun-warmed rock.
“Thank you for bringing me to meet your Granny, she's even more amazing than you said.”
I nodded, anxiety running on overdrive as I thought of the email I'd just received on the walk home.
“Is everything okay? You look worried.”
I frowned, figuring all I could tell her was the truth. “An email came in while we were at Granny's. I read it on my phone while you walked out ahead of me.”
“Oh?” Her fingers tightened on my forearms.
“My guy at Ruthless came through. He booked a flight to handle this in person. You'll get a chance to meet him, he should be here Friday. We'll do a quick pow-wow and then he'll do what he needs to to make sure the problem is handled.”
“W-what does that mean exactly?”
“It means I'll kill to make sure you're safe, Pet. Because it's kill or be killed now. The game my father's enemies play doesn't allow for hesitation. The fireworks were a warning, the real target was you—to get to me.”
“But—why? I don't have anything, I was still in Bulgaria when all of this with your family happened.”
“That doesn't matter to them. All that matters is that you matter to me, these men seek out weakness to exploit it. You are my only weakness.”
“What about Granny?”
“Granny's house is outfitted with the same security my mother gets at the royal residence, plus, any man that targets Granny is in for a rude surprise. She's the one that took me to the gun range and taught me how to handle myself with thugs like these when I was still a schoolboy.”
Pet's eyes widened in disbelief. “Your granny shoots a gun?”
“Well, not as well as I do, but she holds her own.”
Pet laughed. “You are full of surprises. Anything else I should know?”
I cupped Pet in my palms, running my fingertips down the waistband of her pants to touch her skin. She shivered, a soft moan fell off her lips and drove straight to my dick. I throbbed like a jackhammer behind my zipper, eager to have her again and forget how twisted up things were in the real world.