Page 72 of When Night Falls
Rivian dips his head before turning back to look at me. I yank his jacket tighter, giving my hands something to do because ifhe continues to look at me the way he does, I won't be able to control my need to touch him.
"I'm sorry if I brought up any bad memories," I say to him, feeling as though talking about his mother is something that brings out sadness. That's twice that something in regard to his mother has allowed me to see more in Rivian than just a murderous vampire.
It’s refreshing and I can tell that whatever happened to her, changed something in him.
"You didn't." He shakes his head. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
"Am I…” An awkwardness falls over me as I try to form the words for my next question. “Should I get pregnant on our wedding night?" The question feels like a chemical element burning on my tongue. I'm not sure I ever imagined having kids and I honestly don’t want to talk about it, but I have to know what is expected of me.
"No. I don't require an heir. When I die, Trav will take over as king, he's already got a fiancé and I'll leave the burden of creating an heir on him."
"There's a lot to unpack with what you just said." I loosen up my position a bit, feeling an opportunity arise to find out more about my soon-to-be husband.
"How so?"
"You saidwhen I dieinstead ofifI die. And you claim having kids to be a burden. Do you not want a family?"
"It's not my priority. I can't imagine bringing kids into this world." His answer is short but honestly, it's something I can agree with. How does a girl dream of becoming a mother, and a good one at that, if she never had one herself? But more so, his answer holds further truth of the evils this world carries. Ironic, coming from the likes of him.
"Anything else, little one?"
"Yeah, I need to know what I should do with my bookstore and-"
'It's been taken care of."
"What do you mean?"
"Lucynda, when I killed your father. I set into motion a certain chain of events."
"Like what?"
Rivian leads us to start walking toward the doors of the castle.
"I compelled him to sign over everything he owned to you including the house and his savings account, for one." Something in Rivian’s tone rattles me to my core as his words speak truth to the chain of events he’s revealing.
"Wait, you did that?"
"Do you really think he would have left you anything if it were up to him?"
He's got a point.
"What else are you responsible for?" I continue to follow beside him.
“When I realized you were the tether to my soul, I compelled the old lady who owned Blythewood Bookstore and lived in the apartment above it to move out. I needed you to have a place to live while I tried to convince you to do this."
His confession sends me into a light dizzy spell, feeling an out-of-body experience hit my bones, allowing me to truly put into perspective just how much control he's had over most of my adult life—the past month at least, and even bits of before that as well.
"You forced an old lady out of her home? Rivian, that's not fair."
"Lifeisn't fair."
We get to the doors of the castle and one of Rivian's guards opens it up for us. I'd been so lost in conversation with Rivianthat I failed to notice all the guards and security he has roaming around.
Once we're inside, I remove his jacket from my shoulders and hold it back out for him to take. I lower my voice when I speak next.
"Well, for someone who pushed me away the moment I stepped foot into this castle, you sure did go out of your way to make sure I was taken care of. But newsflash, Rivian, I never needed someone to take care of me." I meant it as sarcastic as possible, but it didn't come out that way for Rivian.
He does that thing again where he pushes me up against a wall, this time his fingers gripping the strands of my hair and loosening my braid all in one swift movement.