“I think so. I just…you…” He made a shaky sound, almost but not quite a laugh. “I don’t know how to start.”
“How did your dad start?”
There was a long silence. And then Caspian smiled—a smile I’d never seen before, private and sad and hopeful. “He would say, ‘Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin.’”
I nuzzled into him. “For the record, I am very comfortable.”
“Then—” His voice caught and steadied. “I shall begin.This is my favourite book in all the world, though I have never read it.”
I’d always loved Caspian’s voice—its perfectly polished vowels and sharp consonants, the richness of its deepest registers. And now it poured over me as abundantly as Biblical wine, telling me tales of fathers and sons, and lovers and princesses, and pirates and giants, and love and revenge, and friendship and honour, and all the very best things that a story could be about. I got to hear the quickening of his breath when he was excited, and the way he would occasionally stumble or skip a line when he was anxious, and the gentleness that would unspool through the words when he was moved. It made it impossible for me to feel anything but cared for. Anything but safe. And every time Caspian said, “As you wish,” it was like he was saying it to me. Of course, by tomorrow morning the enchantment would pass and it would be just a line in a book.
But tonight. Tonight it was mine.
And we were each other’s again.
Chapter 34
Arden…Arden…”
“Mrrgggf.” I dragged the pillow over my face. “Five more minutes, Mum.”
Caspian cleared this throat. “Arden, we’ve found Jonas.”
I sat up so abruptly I nearly clashed heads with Caspian, who was leaning over me. “When? How? What time is it? Where am I? What’s happening?”
“It’s early afternoon and you’re in my apartment,” he said, gently pushing the hair out of my eyes. “Your father has checked into a Travelodge near Leeds—we traced him by his credit card and the GPS on your phone.”
I flailed wildly. “Early afternoon? Oh God. How? I need to go.”
“You needed to sleep. We know where Jonas is now and where he will be. We have time.”
“Okay, but…but…”
“We have time,” Caspian repeated, in a voice that permitted no dissention. “You will shower, dress, and eat, and Finesilver will pick you up in an hour.”
I heaved a put-upon sigh. “Yes, Mr. Ha—Caspian.”
“Andas we discussed yesterday, you will not interfere in anything that happens.”
“That’s sounding murdery again.”
“Don’t tempt me.” His lips thinned on what was clearly an escaping smile. “But no, it is simply that you are emotionally involved in this matter, and I find emotion incompatible with business.”
It was one of thosewould have agreed to anythingtype of situations again, but I wasn’t actually looking to splooge my feelings everywhere. I just wanted to be sure that fucker wasn’t coming anywhere near my family ever again. “I’ll be good. I promise.”
“Just”—Caspian twined his fingers briefly with mine—“try not to let him hurt you more than he has already.”
I brought his hand to my lips and kissed it. “I promise.”
And an or so hour later, with my stomach still not sure how it felt about having food in it, and my nerves ragged but holding, I was in Finesilver’s car, heading north. When I’d climbed in, he’d given me one of his too-nice smiles—which I knew meant he definitely didn’t want me there.
“I’m really sorry,” I said, cringing. “I don’t want to make your job more difficult, but I really need to be there for this.”
His eyes flicked briefly to me and then back to the road. “There’s no need to apologise. My job and its complexities are my problem, and Mr. Hart compensates me more than proportionally.”
“Yeah, but your weekend and shit.”
Another smile. “If I cared about my weekends, I wouldn’t have gone into law.”
