Chapter 13
Do not risk another spanking by entering this room, mate, Rhys’s voice growled inside her head.
You do not need to witness any of this. Aeran sounded just as angry.
And if they could now both speak mentally to her through their mating bond…
I’m not scared of either of you, she told them defiantly.
You will be, Rhys assured with unmistakable grimness.
And so will your arse, Aeran warned.
I’ll look forward to it, she challenged. For now, I’m coming in, she added before stepping into the room.
Rhys and Aeran looked furious at her deliberate disobedience.
Nikolai appeared only mildly surprised she’d followed them.
Nathaniel’s expression was unreadable, as usual.
Vasile Fescaru gasped, his face paling as he stared at Cristina as if seeing a ghost.
Cristina looked back at him calmly. “I believe you wished to see me, Mr. Fescaru?” Angry with her or not, Aeran and Rhys automatically took up a stance of protection as they moved to stand either side of her.
The Romanian’s throat moved at he swallowed before speaking. “I don’t— You are— I saw the likeness instantly on the security recordings from Cezar’s apartment, but the color of your hair and eyes—” He gave a dazed shake of his head. “You are so much like Ana.”
“My mother?” Cezar had talked to Cristina of her mother, of course, once Cristina was old enough to demand answers. But he had no photographs to share with her, so Cristina had no idea whether she resembled her mother or not.
This man seemed to think she did.
“You knew my mother.” This time it was a statement, not a question.
The man’s expression softened as he continued to stare at her. “Yes, I knew her.”
“As the mother of your cousin’s child?”
Vasile’s expression hardened, his eyes glittering with anger. “As the love of my life and mother of my child.”
Cristina gave a shake of her head. “I don’t understand…”
The Romanian’s expression grew bleak. “Ana was three months pregnant, our wedding only days away, when I was arrested and thrown in prison for a crime I did not commit. Yes, I had committed many other crimes,” he acknowledged as one of the other men in the room—Nikolai?—gave a scathing snort. “But not that one. Unfortunately, the evidence against me was overwhelming, and I was sentenced to ten years in prison.”
For the third time in a matter of days, Cristina felt the fabric of her life shift beneath her feet.
First, by the realization her father, the only constant in her life, was never coming back.
Second, by Aeran and Rhys claiming she was their fated mate.
Thirdly, by this man, Vasile Fescaru, and the things he was saying… The implication of what he was saying…
“Cezar had always wanted Ana for himself, but I had to put aside my jealousy once I was sent to prison, knowing he was the one person who could keep Ana and my child safe until I was released,” Vasile continued as the silence in the room grew heavy with expectation. “I did not want Ana to visit me there, felt it was bad for both her and the baby. But Cezar visited me once a month to tell me how Ana was. On the sixth month, he told me—“ His throat moved as he swallowed. “He told me my Ana had died in childbirth, the child along with her. My life stopped that day.” He closed his lids, tears falling down his lined cheeks when he opened them again. “Then two days ago, I watched the security recordings from Cezar’s apartment, and I saw Cristina. Your age, your facial likeness to Ana, the name Cristina—it was my mother’s name—and I knew exactly who you were, that Ana had named our daughter after her.”
Cristina glanced in Nikolai Volkov’s direction—the man who seemed to have all the information at his fingertips—and received a confirming nod regarding Vasile’s mother’s name.
“Cezar lied to me. Not about Ana, but about you.” Vasile gazed at Cristina as if she was Ana’s ghost come back to life.
Or something else…
Cristina was grateful to Rhys and Aeran as they both put a supporting arm about her waist, because her knees were threatening to buckle beneath her.
Cezar had kept her hidden away in a house in a remote part of Romania during her childhood, with only Elena and Dumitru for company, and with occasional visits from Cezar himself. She had been homeschooled, never stepping outside that safe bubble. Until she took things into her own hands three years ago and came to England to attend university. Cezar had been furious with her for disobeying him, but Cristina had been adamant she wasn’t going back to that lonely and secluded life.
Cristina had believed Cezar had done all those things to protect her from his enemies, but what if he had kept her hidden away and guarded for another reason entirely?
To hide her existence from her real father.
Had Cezar really been so much of a monster he had fabricated evidence so that Vasile was sent to prison? So that he could steal this man’s woman and child from him? Had Cezar stolen her?
She refocused on Vasile Fescaru. The way he was looking at her… It was… “Ana’s child didn’t die,” she told him huskily. “I didn’t die.”
A sob caught at the back of the man’s throat, the tears continuing to fall down the grooves in his cheeks. “My child didn’t die.”
Cristina drew in a long and shaky breath. “Release him,” she instructed as she continued to stare as Vasile. “I said release him!” she repeated firmly when no one moved.
Nikolai was the one to step forward, a knife having appeared in one of his lethal hands, which he used to cut the rope about Vasile’s wrists before stepping back.
The other man stood shakily, not taking his eyes off Cristina for even a second. “I did not come here to hurt Cristina,” he stated evenly. “I came to claim her as the daughter I had long believed dead, along with my beloved Ana.”
Shit, Aeran spoke to Rhys through their bond.
This is so fucked up, Rhys agreed.
But undeniably the truth, Cristina joined in their mental conversation.
Are you well, mate? Rhys prompted.
Cristina? Aeran sounded as worried.
Cristina wasn’t sure what she was feeling right now. Shocked and stunned, certainly, but with an underlying relief she wasn’t the biological daughter of the monster she now knew Cezar Fescaru to be.
Oh, she had no doubts that Cezar had loved her as the daughter of Ana, the woman he had wanted for himself. But he had lied to her, had lied to Vasile for all these years too, so that he could be Cristina’s father. He had not only robbed Vasile of ten years of his life spent in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, but he had also allowed the other man to suffer the torments of hell, believing Ana and his daughter were both dead.
What Cezar had done to Vasile was beyond monstrous.
It was unforgiveable.
I’m well, she reassured Rhys and Aeran calmly. But I believe I would like some time alone to talk with…with my father.
No. Rhys’s answer was instant and final.
He could be lying, Cristina. Aeran’s tone was more reasonable. It could be a trick so that he can be alone with you.
It isn’t, she came back with certainty.
But—
It isn’t, Cristina insisted, knowing that no one could fabricate the agony in Vasile’s face when he told them he had believed Ana and his child were both dead. Or the wondrous joy now in his eyes as he continued to look at her.
She stepped forward. “I’m going to take Vasile upstairs now.” Her tone brooked no argument from any of them. “If you could all allow us some privacy?” She didn’t wait for their answer before putting her hand in the crook of Vasile’s arm and taking him with her as she left the room.
No one followed them.
Which wasn’t to say Cristina wasn’t completely aware of Rhys’s and Aeran’s presence outside the closed door of the sitting room as she and Vasile talked. Both of her mates ready, at a moment’s notice, to burst through that door in her defense.
It wasn’t necessary, Vasile’s assurance he only wanted to see her, to speak with her, proving to be the case. The two of them talked for over an hour. Of Ana. Of the love she and Vasile had for one another. Their joy when they discovered Ana was having their child. Of Vasile’s heartbreak when he believed they had both died. In return, Cristina had told Vasile about her own life, as a child and as an adult. Each word confirmed that Cezar had been hiding her existence from Vasile, no one else.
This is torture of the worst kind. Rhys scowled.
We have to trust our mate to know what she’s doing, Aeran soothed.
She is a warrior, Rhys announced with pride.
Our warrior, Aeran confirmed.
Which is not to say she does not deserve to have her bottom soundly spanked for disobeying us, Rhys growled.
Aeran gave a chuff of laughter. I would far rather we claimed her as ours.
Goddess, yes, Rhys groaned.
She—
The two men straightened as the sitting room door opened and Cristina stepped out of the room. It was obvious from the redness of her eyes and the dampness of her cheeks that she had been crying.
Both men stepped forward protectively as Vasile Fescaru moved to stand behind her.
She gave the two of them a slightly watery smile. “Is it possible for a bedroom to be made up for Vasile so he can stay for a few days?” She glanced at the other man. “We still have a lot of catching up to do.” She gave them both a pointed glance.
A glance which told Rhys and Aeran that Cristina had yet to tell her father she was the fated mate of two dragon shifters.
“I believe that can be arranged.” Nathaniel appeared in the cavernous entrance hall. “If you would like to come with me, Mr. Fescaru?”