“Come in, come in,” the man invited warmly. “Have a seat. I need to get these into the oven, and I’ll whip you something right up.”
Darla thought his look was a bit knowing, a suspicion that was confirmed when she slowly perched on the stool she had used the day before. He set a plate down in front of her with a slice of cold ham and a fresh roll and asked mildly, “You were expecting someone else, I think?”
Darla stared at her food, her stomach an unwelcoming knot.
“You’ve got something of a pickle then?” the big man said, and he settled across from her in the place the Breck had been.
Darla couldn’t speak, and she tried to will back the tears that pricked behind her eyes.
“It will all feel better on a full stomach,” the chef assured her kindly.
She didn’t want to appear ungrateful, so Darla took a bite of the warm roll and swallowed obediently.
“See, isn’t that better already?”
Darla didn’t trust herself to speak yet, so she nodded and took another bite. “Thank you,” she said, once she had swallowed that and her stomach didn’t seem to want to rebel.
“Everyone calls me Chef,?
? the man said gently.
“Thank you, Chef,” Darla said. She could look at him now, and his face was filled with kindness and sympathy.
“Your thanks is the enjoyment of my food,” he said with a warm, knowing smile. “Now, is Breck your mate?”
Darla had been taking a tentative nibble of the cold ham, and nearly choked.
“Did he tell you?” she asked, once she had swallowed.
“I put some pieces together,” Chef said smugly. “And there’s a look you’ve got. A look like you’re in a room with no door. I know that look.” His voice was gentle again.
Darla remembered that Breck had said Chef had a mate. “Was it easy for you? With your mate, I mean?”
Chef gave a warm, low chuckle. “It was not,” he said. “We both sacrificed a great deal to be together, and I worried for a long time that she would never forgive me for the things she gave up. But mates make it work.”
Darla looked at him skeptically. “I’m marrying someone else. I don’t know how a magical animal instinct is going to overcome that.”
Her snow leopard gave a wordless grumble of frustration.
“I suppose you have considered not marrying someone else?” Chef suggested.
“I did think of that,” Darla said dryly. “Many, many times. But… dragon honor is a complicated thing. It’s not a matter of just calling it off. For starters, if I don’t marry Liam, other people are free to challenge for my hand, and there are far worse choices out there.”
“A certain man in your mother’s pocket who starts with E,” Chef guessed.
Darla couldn’t quite keep herself from shuddering. “The very one,” she said. “Liam is a dragon shifter, and Eugene doesn’t dare challenge him. But Eugene is a cave bear shifter, and he’s a mean, experienced fighter. Breck wouldn’t stand a chance against him. If he got hurt…” She had to close her eyes.
“And what does Liam say about this?” Chef probed. “Does he know?”
“He knows,” Darla said. “He is the only person I’ve told. He says I don’t have to marry him, but he understands the complications. He also stands to lose more than I do if I don’t marry him.”
“Money?” Chef guessed.
Darla sighed. “He’s already spent my dowry to save the shifter rest home he runs. He doesn’t have it left to pay back if the marriage falls through. He says he could make things work, but I honestly don’t see how. All those shifters — my friends! — would be turned out on the streets to die alone and he’d be bankrupt, and it would be my fault.”
“You couldn’t simply give him the money?” Chef suggested.
“None of it is mine,” Darla shrugged. “I have always had everything I wanted, but if I disobey my mother, that all goes away. I am an heiress; I get nothing if she decides to disinherit me. I have some jewelry that I got as gifts, but my car isn’t in my name, I don’t pay my own rent, my credit cards would be cut off… I think I could be alright with being poor, but I don’t know if I could live knowing I chose my own happiness over the safety of other innocent people.”