Chapter Twenty-Seven
When I arrived at my estate, it was eerily quiet. No one was outside. No one greeted me at the door. I raced up the stairs to my bedroom, shouting Claudia’s name. I have never been a religious man, but I found myself praying to any god who would listen that I would find her there. What I found was my father seated by the window.
Excerpt from Roman Draksel’s blog
It had come as no surprise when Aiden woke up alone. All her belongings were gone. Tempest believed they couldn’t be together. As he’d been drifting off to sleep with her in his arms, he’d known she wouldn’t be there in the morning.
Now he was torn. Part of him wanted to track her down and kidnap her again. Of course, he was pretty sure that would be harder to accomplish this time. He might need to use a tranquilizer gun. He wasn’t sure where one went to buy a tranquilizer gun. The other part of him felt he should let her go. She didn’t want him enough to make it work, so why should he continue to beg her to stay? She’d walked away in the middle of the night without saying goodbye.
Before Tempest, he’d foolishly thought all he needed was to find a woman he could have children with. He’d believed the rest would come naturally. After spending time with Tempest, he realized how wrong he’d been. He could have a relationship like his parents had, but only if Tempest was willing to try. Justin had it right—a partner was better than a mate.
Justin had tried to convince him to stay at the house. In order to leave, he’d had to promise Justin they’d hang out soon. It was oddly comforting and almost made him want to stay to complain about women, but he knew what he had to do now.
He couldn’t leave his uncle in the dark any longer, which was why he was standing at the door to his uncle’s Carmel home. He had to tell Roman what he’d learned. At first, he’d thought it best to keep Tempest and her family a secret until they were ready to come forward, but he remembered his loneliness after losing his parents. His uncle had lost his only son. Aiden couldn’t keep Roman’s granddaughters’ existence a secret from him. Tempest had never asked him to keep it a secret. She’d just told him she wasn’t ready for an introduction.
His uncle answered his own door. “What have you found?” Roman seemed strangely distracted again. He was holding a hairbrush which he quickly set on a table inside the door.
“It wasn’t Claudia,” Aiden told him.
His uncle merely nodded and looked down.
“Her name is Tempest,” Aiden heard his own voice crack.
His uncle’s head jerked up, and Aiden saw something he hadn’t expected to see in Roman’s eyes—sympathy.
“Come inside and tell me about your Tempest,” he offered as he ushered Aiden into the house.
Aiden followed his uncle into the family room. It seemed strange that his uncle had a room called a family room when he rarely had family in his home. Aiden looked around for the painting, but it was gone. He sat and put his head in his hands as he tried to think of a way to explain things. Finally, he looked up and spoke. “She’s your Tempest, too.”
Roman looked confused.
“Claudia had a daughter,” Aiden explained. “Her name was Romana, named after her father.”
The idea of a female child didn’t seem to shock Roman as much as it had Aiden. “Claudia’s alive?” he asked hesitantly.
Aiden shook his head. “They’re not like us. They are truly amazing, but not like us.”
Roman’s eyes held something close to sorrow, but he was very good at hiding his emotions. “I have a granddaughter.” His eyes narrowed. “What have you been doing to my granddaughter, Aiden?”
Aiden gave a weak laugh at Roman’s sudden transformation into an overprotective grandfather, but he quickly sobered. “I love her, Uncle. She loves me, too, but she left me. Now I don’t know how to live without her.”
Roman nodded. “I suppose it’s a good thing you already learned your lesson about kidnapping.”
Aiden looked sheepish.
Roman raised a single eyebrow. “You tried to kidnap my granddaughter?”
“I succeeded, and I may do it again,” Aiden grumbled.
Roman laughed. It was a strange sound, like he didn’t do it often.
Roman’s expression turned thoughtful. “Your father was my favorite brother. Viktor was always there for me, and I failed him when he needed me most. I said unforgivable things to your father.”
“He forgave you,” Aiden assured him.
Roman looked shocked. “Your father told you about our argument?”
“No, he just told me you’d been a complete ass, but he was a fool for holding a grudge,” Aiden replied with a distant smile. “According to him, by the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. Every time he tried to fix things, he just managed to say the wrong thing.”
“He was honest, and I didn’t like hearing it,” Roman explained. “Your father told me to stop feeling sorry for myself and live again. He called me an idiot for marrying Lenore and accused me of using her to replace Claudia. There were many other things he told me, and he was right. Sadly, I wasn’t ready to hear the truth.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Aiden asked.
Roman looked at him. “I failed you because of my fight with your father. Mostly, I failed you because of my own foolish pride.”
Aiden started to argue, but Roman put up a hand to stop him. “Do you ever wonder why I never spoke to you about your attempted kidnapping of Hannah?”
“I always assumed I’d hear about it eventually,” Aiden admitted a little uncomfortably. “I was glad to put it off.”
Roman smiled. “I blamed myself more than you. As head of this family, I’m responsible for the wellbeing of every member. I allowed you to remain isolated from us. When you were born, I should have swallowed my pride and made amends with your father. You should have never felt alone after your parents died. You should have never felt such desperation.”
Aiden wasn’t sure how to react to his uncle’s words.
Roman stood and clapped him on the shoulder. “I have several matters to attend to today. Get your belongings and settle into the downstairs guestroom. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out a way to get your Tempest back. Understand that if you hurt her, I will kill you.” The last was said with a pleasant smile.
Safe Hex With a Vampire Page 27