Killian heaved a deep, heartfelt sigh. “Of course you did.”
“Which is why I need to talk to my father. The only way I'm going to be able to fix this is if I can tell Connie that I'm a shifter. Once she understands about mates, she'll—”
“Chase, we went through this before, three years ago,” Killian interrupted. “You can tell her once you're married. That's the way it's been for hundreds of years.”
“But I can't persuade her to marry me unless I tell her.” Chase clenched his fist. “Father's the pegasus alpha. I have to persuade him to relax the rules, just this once.”
“You may be the apple of your father's eye—God knows why—but he's not going to put all of our kind at risk. Not even for you. The rules of secrecy are there for a reason, Chase. We can't risk ordinary people finding out about us. Unless you're willing to issue a formal challenge, you can't change our laws.”
His stallion bared its teeth, ears flattening. Fight the alpha. Take the herd. Win our mate!
Chase mentally recoiled from the thought. He loved his father, and wouldn't dream of challenging him. For pegasus shifters, dominance fights were always to the death. Murdering his own father would not be a good start to a long-term relationship with Connie.
Plus, of course, Chase would immediately inherit the entire family business. He'd spent almost his entire life running away at top speed from that responsibility.
“Look,” Killian said more gently, interpreting Chase's glum silence. “I know how much this means to you. Tell you what, I've got a few business things to sort out up here, but I'll come down as soon as I can and talk to her myself, okay? I think she likes me.”
Chase perked up a little. Connie had gotten along well with Killian, on the few occasions they'd met. His older cousin was just the sort of person Connie admired—steady, reliable, serious. As the CFO of Tiernach Enterprises, he'd gained a lot of respect in both the business and shifter communities, which added to his natural air of authority. Connie would listen to him.
“Thanks, Killian,” he said gratefully, sinking back down. “I owe you one. Again.”
Another deep sigh. “That's me. Rescuing you from responsibility, every time.” Killian paused a moment. “If you do win her, does that mean you'll come back? Last time you were dating her, you were full of plans to settle down. Will you finally take your place in the family business, like your father’s always wanted?”
Chase shuddered, shying away from the idea like a horse from a saddle. But still... “Maybe. I like being a firefighter, I really do. But it's a dangerous job. I wouldn't want Connie to be fretting every time I went to work.”
“Come to the Dark Side.” Killian deepened his voice. “We have spreadsheets.”
“Only you could make finance sound even more boring than it actually is.” Chase kicked his feet, gazing up at the stars. “I suppose I’ll have to. That’s how it goes, isn’t it? Find your mate, get married, become responsible…”
“Some of us skip straight to the last one,” Killian murmured.
“I’m grateful to you for that,” Chase said, meaning it. “You say I'm the golden boy, but you're the one who's my dad’s right-hand man. I should be more like you.”
“I don't recommend it,” Killian said, sounding rather wistful. “I haven't found my mate, after all.”
“When you do, I bet you won't have half the trouble I've had.” Beneath him, he could feel Connie's exact location. It was physically painful to resist the way she pulled at him, a throbbing ache deep in his bones. “You've always been able to control your stallion. Not like me. I can't even sit still right now.”
“I'll be down to help as soon as I can. Just don't make things worse, okay? Listen. Why don't you go out, find a club? Drink and dance and distract yourself from all this.”
“No clubs,” Chase said sharply. “No drinking. Not after last time.”
“I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. That was tactless.” Killian paused. “But Chase, you should go find something to keep yourself busy. Otherwise you'll be singing under her window or setting fire to the place or some other harebrained scheme, five minutes after I hang up. I know you.”
Killian did know him. Chase drummed his fingertips on the roof, thinking. He couldn't leave Connie unprotected, but he really would go out of his mind with restlessness if he had nothing to do except stare wistfully at the roof between them. Maybe, if he asked one of the other members of his fire crew to stand guard for him for a short time…
A slow smile spread across his face. “There is something I need to do. But I'm going to need some money.”
“What have I done,” Killian muttered under his breath. “Chase, you asked for an extra two million just six months ago. What happened to that?”
“I spent it,” Chase said. “Obviously. Can I have some more?”
Killian sighed yet again. “How much do you need?”
“Tell you what.” Chase's grin widened. “I'll just send you the check.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Connie stretched as she woke, sleepily reaching out across the bed. Her questing fingers found nothing but air. The mattress next to her was empty.