Jacinda's Challenge (Imperial 3) (26 page)

"You are an amazing woman, Jacinda," he murmured against her lips.

"Hmmm," she curled up into his arms, kissing him back. She was about to say more when her stomach spoke instead.

Jotham's eyes filled with mirth. "Hungry?"

Jacinda blushed slightly, "A little." Pressing a hand against his stomach she sat up, then heard his stomach rumble. "I'd say you are too. Come on, let’s go see what's in the kitchen."

Chapter Fifteen

Jotham watched as Jacinda moved efficiently around her kitchen. Making coffee, getting plates and cups from the cupboards, selecting ingredients out of the cool unit. When was the last time he'd actually sat in a kitchen and watched someone prepare a meal?

Had he ever?

Searching his memory, he realized it had been back when he was a boy. He had been at the Zafar cabin and Will's mom had made them all first meal.

Since then his meals had always been brought to him.

He found he liked watching it be prepared, especially when it was by Jacinda who he knew was naked under that thin, silky robe she wore.

"What's put that look on your face?" Jacinda asked as she set a plate of fruit and pastries in front of him before turning to retrieve the pot of coffee. Sitting down, she poured them both a cup then slid the sweetener toward him.

"What look?" he asked innocently, taking a sip of the coffee he'd sweetened.

Jacinda just raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled.

"Alright. I was just thinking how I liked watching you make me a meal, especially when I know what's under this robe or should I say isn't." He reached out to run a hand over the golden skin of a leg that had been exposed when she crossed them as she sat.

Her lips twitched and she raised her own cup to take a sip. "You, Jotham Tibullus, are incorrigible. Eat," she ordered.

Jotham did, but he kept his hand on her knee the entire time and the meal passed in a comfortable silence.

"How are you feeling?" His hand tightened on her knee, turning her swivel seat so she faced him. He saw her grimace a few times while eating.

"I'm fine."

"Jacinda." He gripped her chin, searching her eyes and saw the pain she was trying to hide from him. "Did Portman give you anything for pain?"

"Yes, he gave me some pills."

"Where are they?"

"On the nightstand, next to my bed."

"Stay here, I'll get them for you."

"Alright," she put a hand on his chest, her fingers caressing the skin left bare by his unbuttoned shirt. "Thank you."

Leaning down he gave her a gentle kiss. "Anytime. Now stay put."

The pills were easy to find and Jotham was quickly returning to her when he heard her moving around in the kitchen. He should have known she wouldn't listen to him. As he got closer, he realized she was actually talking to someone.

"I'm fine, Danton. Really. There’s no need for you to come over."

Entering the kitchen, he found her facing him, talking on the comm.

"Mom, you were in a serious accident last night." Danton's voice filled the room.

"I know that, Danton, I was there."

"What were you doing out at that time of night?" he demanded.

"Excuse me?" The coolness of her tone along with Jacinda’s raising that expressive eyebrow of hers at the screen should have warned Danton that he was treading on thin ice.

It did Jotham.

"There is no reason for a woman your age to be out that late." Danton continued, seemingly unaware he had just insulted his mother.

"A woman
my age
?"

Jotham literally cringed at Danton's words. Did the boy have a death wish? No man said something like that to a woman, mother or not.

"Mom, you know what I mean."

"No, Danton Lee Michelakakis, I do not. Why don't you just explain to me why a woman
my age
shouldn't be out at that time of night?"

"It wasn't night, Mother. It was
past
midnight
!"

"And your point?" Movement in the doorway had Jacinda looking up to see Jotham silently standing there.

"Where could you have possibly been at that time?"

Jacinda took a deep breath and forced herself to calm as she turned her attention back to her son.

"Danton, I am a grown woman and I don't need to explain to
you
where I go and who I see. No matter what time it is."

"Are you saying you were...
with
someone?!!
" The last two words were whispered in disbelieving horror.

"I am not saying that. What I am saying is that if I were, it would be none of
my son's
business. Now I thank you for coming and getting me last night, Danton, and I thank you for your concern today, but I'm fine and I'm ending this conversation before one of us says something truly hurtful. I'll talk to you later this week. I love you, Danton." And with that she disconnected.

Jotham walked over to the sink and filled a glass of water before he moved to stand in front of her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Reaching up she squeezed his hand holding her pill bottle. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"I'm not. You could have just told him you were coming from the Palace." He set the glass of water down and after reading the instruction on the bottle shook out a pill and handed it to her. "Take that."

"Thanks." She tossed the pill into her mouth then drank it down. "I couldn't have."

"Why not?"

"Because there is no reason for me to be there that late."

"I'm not a reason?"

Though he tried to hide it, she heard the hurt in his voice.

"Jotham..." Rising she stepped into his slack arms, framed his face with her hands and looked him straight in the eyes. "Of course you are, but you can't possibly want it to become common knowledge that I'm visiting you late at night."

"I can't?"

Jacinda frowned up at him.

Turning his head, he kissed the inside of her palm, "Can we go sit in the other room?" he asked.

Nodding, Jacinda turned and led him into the living room.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Jotham rubbed his hands on his thighs as he sat next to her on the couch, surprised to discover how nervous he was. Giving himself a moment to calm he let his gaze travel around the room he barely noticed earlier and his eyes widened.

Sitting on the low table in front of them were framed visuals, in all different shapes and sizes of the Michelakakis family. One was of just the kids, young and obviously on a vacation somewhere, sitting in the sand, smiling up at whoever was taking their image.

Another was of Danton, sitting on Stephan's shoulders, laughing as he pulled his father's ears.

There was Stephan and Jacinda, the Academy building directly behind them, standing next to their daughter who was in her graduation uniform.

As he continued to look around, he found more and more visuals documenting Jacinda's life with not only her children but with Stephan. Some were formal and he could tell they had been taken at an Assembly event. When he looked above the mantle, there for all to see was a portrait of Stephan looking down at them.

"Jotham?"

Jacinda's voice brought his eyes back to her. "Stephan was a very lucky man."

Jacinda's eyes followed to where Jotham's had been and frowned. "I don't understand."

"You still have his portrait hanging there. You still have visuals of him out."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I couldn't. After Lata. It hurt too much to see her face and know she was gone."

Jacinda was silent for several moments trying to organize her thoughts. "Every person grieves differently, Jotham. I would be lying if I said there weren't times when I look at that portrait and cry. Or that when I look at this visual," she picked one up that had all three of her children piled on Stephan's back as he crawled on all fours around the room, giving them a ride, "that I don’t rage he isn't still with me." Carefully she put the visual back. "But I could never pack them away. Stephan might be gone, but he will always be part of my life."

"That is why he's a very lucky man. You remember him."

"You remember Lata, Jotham. In your own way. You have her portrait hanging in your private office."

"Which you don't approve of," he reminded her.

Jacinda felt shame fill her as she remembered her words to Jotham. "I'm sorry, Jotham." She leaned over to squeeze his hand. "I should never have said that. It isn't my place."

"Then whose place is it? If not someone who was her friend?" Jotham surged to his feet and found himself pacing. "I loved Lata. I still love her."

"I know that." Jacinda's concerned gaze followed him.

"But...." He looked at her, saw her concern, and finally admitted something he never had before. "She was growing unhappy with our life together."

"What? She told you that?" Jacinda couldn't hide her shock.

"Not in so many words, but I knew Lata. The constant pressure was getting to her and I wasn't helping."

"I'm sure you were doing what you could, Jotham. You were under a lot of pressure too."

"Yes, but not like Lata. At least I had some experience and training at what would be expected. Lata didn't. When she conceived..."

"When she conceived?"

"She was angry, so hurt."

"I don't understand."

"We talked about it, about waiting at least four cycles before we had children. She wanted to be more comfortable with her duties before she conceived. I agreed, then I got caught up with my duties and forgot to take the Ollali juice." Jotham tipped his head back looking up at the ceiling. "If only I hadn't forgotten."

"Then you wouldn't have Barek, Jotham." Rising she went to his side and waited until he looked at her. "Lata loved Barek. She wouldn't have changed anything if it meant losing him."

"You can't know that."

"I can. Lata and I used to talk, a lot. I told you that. She and Barek used to come here, in those early cycles. We would sit and talk the way new mothers do and watch our sons grow. She made a comment once, I thought I understood what she was talking about, but now I see I didn't, not then, but I do now."

"What did she say?"

"That while it hadn't been how she had wanted it, she wouldn't have changed anything that happened. Not if it meant she didn't have Barek. It seemed a little strange to me, but I thought she was referring to being restricted to bed for so long."

"She said that?"

"Yes."

"Why did you say 'early cycles'? She stopped coming here?"

"Not long after Barek's first birthday." Jacinda went over to a multi-tier table on the far side of the room and picked up a visual tucked in the back on the bottom shelf before walking back to hand it to him. "We used the self-timer to take this. It was the last time she visited."

Jotham looked at the visual and felt his eyes fill. Staring out at him was his Lata, sitting on the floor next to Jacinda, each of them were holding their sons and they were all smiling, even the boys.

"Why did she stop coming?" he asked quietly.

"There were grumblings about favoritism from some of the other wives."

"So? She was the Queen. What they thought didn't matter. She could do as she pleased."

"We're talking about Lata here, Jotham." Reaching out she touched her friend's image. "She was a truly nice and loving person. She was still learning to navigate the self-centered and hurtful world that politics can sometimes be."

"It is why she wanted to go driving so often. She needed to get away from it."

"I wish I would have known it had gotten so bad, but after I had Ethan and Stephanie, she seemed to pull even further away from me."

"That was probably my fault," he said sadly, handing her back the visual.

"I don't understand," frowning she looked up at him.

"After Barek was born I made sure to never forget the Ollali juice again. I didn't want to force another pregnancy on her, but as time went on, I began to push for her to have another child. I didn't want Barek to grow up alone and lonely like I did."

"And?"

"And she refused to even consider it."

"I... I'm sorry, Jotham." Turning she went to put the visual back.

"We argued about it the night before she died. Maybe if we hadn't..."

"You can't think like that, Jotham. Not only is it wrong but Lata wouldn't want you to. She had an accident. A senseless accident. If she hadn't, you
would
have had more children together and a long, happy life."

"But that accident did happen." Walking over to her he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, letting her warmth sooth him. "Lata’s and our chance at that long and happy life disappeared. I'm not going to lose that chance again."

"Jotham..." She rested her hands and forehead on his chest.

"I want you in my life, Jacinda." With a gentle finger under her chin, he tipped her face up. "In my bed. I planned on moving slower than this, planned on letting both of us get used to the idea first, but you had an
accident
last night and I'm not going to chance losing another woman."

"I'm fine. Really."

"That doesn't matter! What matters is that you could have been killed and no one would have known to notify
me
! That is unacceptable. I should have been the one you called. I should have been the one to come get you. I want everyone to know that."

"You want to make an official announcement?" Her fingers dug into his skin, her mind churning at what that would mean not only to her but to her children.

"No, not official, because it’s no one's business but ours, but I don't want to hide it either. I want us to spend time together. Openly."

Jacinda found herself relaxing at his words. She wasn't sure how this was going to work, wasn't sure it would, but she knew she wanted the chance too. "How open?" She found herself teasing as she slid her hands up and over his shoulders taking his shirt with them.

"As open as you want." Leaning down, he captured her lips as his hands loosened the ties holding her robe together.