Falling Into Place (26 page)

“I still think it’s weird he’s never once
asked about his parents.” Robert shook his head. “How can he not be
curious?”

Liz snorted. “Same way I don’t care about
mine.” Her hands tightened on the wheel as she started for home.
“Look, sometimes it’s better not knowing where you come from. I
mean, what if my parents sold me? What if they threw me away?
Seriously, maybe they didn’t want me. So why worry about faceless
people I will never find in a million years?”

“Someone always wants you, Liz.” Tremaine
squeezed her shoulders tight.

“Two of us. No matter what,” Robert
promised.

“I’m still getting used to that,” Liz
replied.

Two hours later and Liz was still hiding out
in her room. Tremaine was tempted to go up and talk Liz into
joining them downstairs, but he was supposed to be helping with
dinner.

Robert could cook, thanks to spending hours
in the kitchen with Old Lady Murdock, learning countless
techniques.

James had always called Robert queer, and
Tremaine had watched Liz come to his defense countless times. She
had always perched at the table, watching, but never asking to
join.

“What is it, Trem?” Robert asked as he
opened the oven for the cornbread.

Looking back at Robert, he shrugged.
“Nothing.”

“Wondering if she’s avoiding us?” There was
a sparkle in his blue eyes.

“I know she is. I even know why. She’s
stressing over things she can’t control. She’s going over every
possible thing that could go wrong.” Tremaine shook his head.
“Think back, Robert. How long did it take her to trust you weren’t
going to leave her behind all those years ago?”

Robert sighed. “Too long. So much wasted
time. I wish I could go back and fix it all.”

“You can’t, and even if you could, between
James, Emily, and your mother, she wouldn’t be any different. Keep
in mind that she had a rough upbringing even before she got to your
family. Your father improved her situation a hundred fold, but I
sometimes wish I kept her as my own. Not that I would have had any
idea how to deal with her. I honestly thought bringing her to
Wilhelm was the best choice.” He dragged his fingers through his
hair and sighed.

“Mom dealt with Liz, even if she never fully
accepted her. Liz was never what she expected of a young lady.
Emily was jealous from the second she stepped into our lives.
James…,” Robert shuddered. “I should have been there for her. I
could have taken her with me.”

Tremaine knocked Robert’s shoulder. “Don’t.
A hundred things could have gone differently. You can’t change
that. She doesn’t blame you. She blames herself. Neither of you are
to blame.”

Robert looked up the stairs before swinging
his gaze to Tremaine. “You know, maybe you should go up there. I’ve
got dinner covered.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I am. I think maybe you need to lay
all your cards on the table for her. She knows my heart belongs to
her, but you haven’t had a chance to convince her.”

A smirk lifted Tremaine’s mouth “If I go up
there, I’m not going to be able to keep my hands off of her.”

“I don’t expect you to.”

* * * *

Liz wished she could sit, and not doubt for
ten minutes. Yeah, that was easier said than done. She trusted
Tremaine and Robert both. She did, even if she still dealt with
insecurities she had harbored since before she found herself in
their lives.

“
Don’t listen to them,” Old lady Murdock
whispered as she brushed Liz’s long hair. They sat under the willow
tree near the river. “Wilhelm won’t ever let Emily have her way.
Kathryn will never convince her husband to throw you out.”

Liz stared at the rushing water, trying to
believe Mrs. Murdock was right. “Emily is convinced I’m trying to
steal her father’s love. Kathryn can’t stand me. I just try to stay
away from them all.”

“
Don’t shut Robert out. That boy is your
friend.” The way she said friend sounded as if she meant something
else. She felt heat in her face and a tingle somewhere she never
wanted to think of after Sinclair.

A single tear fell down her face, and she
wiped it away.

“
No, child. Don’t be ashamed of your
feelings. You have every right to break down. You just have to put
yourself together afterwards.”

“
How do you put yourself together when
nothing you do is right?” She sighed, but held still, enjoying the
brush smoothing through her tangled hair.

“
You do it all the time, Elizandra. You
don’t give yourself enough credit.” she told her sternly.

She didn’t feel stronger. She felt weak,
broken, shattered most of the time. There was only one person she
fully trusted, but Robert made it hard not to trust him with his
gentle dusky blue eyes, his kind demeanor, and the way he always
stood up for her. He was always there for her, always willing to
talk.

“
Don’t forget Tremaine. The man who gave
you a new chance. One where you make your own destiny, even if it
isn’t always easy.”

Another tear slid free and she wiped it
away. Tremaine brought her here and left her. He came from time to
time, brought her gifts, things she actually appreciated, as
opposed to the fancy dresses, and pretty hair combs Kathryn tried
to convince her to wear, to make her a proper girl.

“
He’s not here,” Liz whispered.

“
Oh, child, he is never far. He makes
sure that you are cared for. He always will.”

“
And you?” Liz whispered.

“
I’m often pulled in other directions,
but I will always watch after you. I’ll be there when you need me
most. Now go on, before they wonder where you’ve wandered off
too.”

Strong arms wrapped around her waist,
pulling her into a hard body. Tremaine nuzzled behind her ear. “I
love you, Liz.”

She tipped her head to the side, granting
him access as his hands flattened on her belly. “I love you too,
Trem. Hell, I feel guilty that I never said it sooner.”

He lightly caught her earlobe between his
teeth. “Do you regret where we wound up?”

She moaned as his hand slipped under her
shirt to squeeze her breast. “No, but don’t you wonder what we
would have been like together?”

“Not anymore.” His lips pressed damp kisses
down her throat before he spun her around and pressed her against
the wall. “I have what I want, and this way we all get what we
need. So what if it wasn’t where any of us envisioned? I feel like
this is where we belong. Don’t you?”

“I do. I couldn’t choose between you two to
save my own life. I feel whole for the first time I can remember. I
think you were always my missing piece.” Her eyes squeezed shut and
a single tear fell. “I never stopped to think about it all those
years with Robert, but something was always missing.”

“Hey, don’t do that. Don’t second guess what
came before. We’re here now.” He pulled her toward the bed and laid
her down. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. “There
were a lot of years that neither you nor I could have gone there
without tainting this. For years, you were still a child in my
eyes. You were always mine, but in a very different capacity, until
after Robert. Even then, I knew he belonged in your life, I just
wasn’t sure I did.”

Her fingers threaded through his hair as she
brought his mouth to hers. The kiss was a desperate plea. When she
finally looked up at him, she whispered, “You always belonged in my
life. I never realize how much.”

He rested his elbows on the bed and framed
her face with his hands as she stared into her eyes. “I’m not going
anywhere, Liz. You have me. All of me. No matter what, doll.”

Her hands caressed down his chest to take
the hem him of his shirt. She pulled it over his head and he sat up
to let her. She placed a kiss over his heart, and whispered, “Then
make love to me, Trem. I need to feel you skin to skin, just you
and me, even if it’s only once.”

He pulled her shirt off and she raised up to
take off her bra. His fingers trailed down her skin to unbutton her
pants. He moved down her body, his eyes never leaving hers as he
pulled her jeans with him.

Tremaine climbed off the bed to take his own
pants off before crawling up her body. Liz wrapped her hand around
the back of his neck and drew him down to her, winding her legs
around his thighs to pull him against her.

Her eyes closed as he shifted, gliding home
slowly. “Open your eyes, Liz.” The request sent a shiver down her
spine.

She complied, her gaze locking on his as he
found her end. “I need you, Trem.”

“You have me, you always have.” He took her
mouth in a slow kiss, his tongue matching his pace as he made love
to her in languid thrusts that ignited sparks of pleasure through
her whole body.

Tremaine wiped the doubt away as he made
love to her. He filled in the cracks and made her whole in a way
she hadn’t known she could be.

She knew Robert was a part of them, but she
needed this one time to believe Tremaine truly wanted the same.

He built her up slowly, until her back
arched and the pleasure filled up and flowed over, sweeping through
her. His release followed, and she held him tight.

Tremaine rolled to his side, pulling her
with him. Liz snuggled in as close as she could.

“Thank you,” She whispered against his
neck.

“For loving you?” He tipped her head back
and peered into her eyes. “No thanks needed for that, just don’t
ever forget it, doll.”

“I won’t.”

The doorbell rang, and she groaned. “I
suppose we need to go down there.”

Liz rolled from the bed. She rushed into her
clothes before she hurried down the stairs. Forcing a smile, she
threw the door open

“Hi, come on in Chris, Del. Sorry I was off
last night.” She glanced away. “I hate having you see me that
way.”

Christian hugged her. “You were fine, Liz,
and now you’re smiling so it doesn’t matter.”

Delilah gave her a hug and grinned. “Yeah,
you’re glowing today.”

“Dinner’s ready,” Robert called from the
entryway to the kitchen. The dining room was adjacent with big open
windows that let in the light. Or the nice gray sky at that
point.

There was a reason Liz liked Washington. She
wasn’t much for bright sunny weather, and Seattle had a lot of grey
gloomy skies. She could even draw from a storm, which mages weren’t
supposed to be able to do. Then again, there were a lot of things
she could do that she shouldn’t be able to.

“Good to see you, Christian,” Robert said as
he pulled his nephew in for a big hug.

That was going to take some getting used to.
She didn’t know how she had missed the family resemblance, or the
timing.

“You too, Uncle Bobby.” Christian leaned
back and grinned at Robert. “Does this mean you’ll be staying
around?”

Robert’s gaze swung to Liz. “As much as
possible. I have to work out a few details, but I won’t be leaving
for any longer than I have to.”

Liz’s breath caught, but she reminded
herself that he was still a Silver Council Enforcer which meant
that he could be sent out at any time to anywhere. She missed their
assignments together in a way, but she was glad to be done with the
politics of the Council.

Tremaine draped his arm over her shoulder
and pulled her close to murmur in her ear. “Relax. He is taking
some time off for now. He may not even go back. He’s finally
realized the Council has some serious issues.”

Jarvis, sure, she knew he was a problem.
That bastard was as corrupt as they came. There were others as
well, but she wasn’t even sure who was still a part of the
Council.

Liz took her seat and held back the memories
that wanted to rush to the forefront. She knew they had to tell
Christian about his fucked up family. A part of her wished he could
be hers and Robert’s, but things would have played out much
differently and she didn’t want to travel down that road. Tremaine
was right, she was happy where they ended up.

“How was your birthday?” Robert asked
Christian, drawing Liz’s attention.

Christian grinned. “It was great. Thanks for
coming. I never really expect you anywhere too public.”

“I had my reasons, but that’s all changed
now.” Robert sat down beside her, and Tremaine took the seat on her
other side.

Liz felt a little confined, but she breathed
deep and forced her body to relax. She smiled sadly. “That was my
fault. Your uncle was doing exactly as I asked.”

Tremaine gave both Liz and Robert a dirty
look before turning to Christian. “Robert wants to explain about
your parents. Unfortunately, it seems there are a few things you
should know.”

Christian’s golden eyes lit up as he looked
at her. “Are you and Robert my parents?”

She bit her lip and shook her head. “No,
honey. I would never have let you go, no matter what. I didn’t know
about your parents until last night, but that’s Robert’s place to
tell you, not mine.”

His smile fell clean off his face as he let
out a breath. “If it’s not you two, then why does it matter? They
obviously didn’t want me. So why do I care twenty-one years
later.”

“Sorry, kiddo.” Robert gave him a solemn
look. “You’re ours in the only way that counts. You still need to
know the story because your father would use you against Liz and me
if he finds out who you are.”

“What?” Christian asked, confusion clouded
his expression. “Why? If he never cared before, why would it
matter?”

Liz took a deep breath and closed her eyes
for a second. “I don’t believe he knows yet. He’s a horrible man,
and I wish to God you never had to meet him, but if you do, you
need to know. He’s done things so unforgiveable I can hardly
believe you’re related.”