The Empyrean: Fan Fiction: Open Minded, Open Heart

[darkjediqueen]

Title: Open Minded, Open Heart
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Shitty Parent
Fandom: The Empyrean
Relationships: Violet Sorrengail/Xaden Riorson
Tags: Contemporary AU, Mafia AU, Getting Together, Low Angst, Fluff
Summary: Violet had always been open-minded, and she had been told it would burn her one day. Xaden Riorson was just the person to be that flame.
Word Count: 22,563
Beta: Grammarly

Violet walked back from where the door was. The sign was blinking that the store was open. It was Wednesday, and that meant that all of the new books were out on the shelves. It was her favorite day of the week because her regulars came in and made sure to get the new books they wanted. She did sometimes do midnight release parties, but those were few and far between because she needed a good reason to do it, and it seemed that the people who came would rather just get their books when the store opened normally.

The door opened, and Violet stopped breathing for the beauty of the man who stepped inside the place. She looked at the tattoo that went down his neck and inhaled for a different reason. She had heard a lot about the seedy underside of Tyrrendor, but most especially Aretia, where the whole mafia group seemed to be located.

Violet started to get out the books she had set aside for those coming for them, and she tried to look like she was busy as the guy looked around the store. Before long, she had forgotten about them as she wrote down the names from the list and added them to the versions of each book she had ordered. There was a list a mile long of the books she needed to make sure to order for people over the next few months; the summer was packed with books from every genre.

"I'd like these, please," the man said, setting down a few books from the fantasy section.

"Of course." Violet set aside her pen and the stack of sticky notes and focused on the man. This is what she got for doing what her mother told her not to do with the part of the insurance money from her father's death that she got. Their dream had always been to open a shop together just back in Basgiath, not in Aretia. Violet had been at odds with her mother since the funeral. It had been public when Liltih Sorrengail yelled at her youngest daughter that she was throwing away her life for something that didn't matter.

Books didn't matter to her, so she thought they shouldn't matter to anyone else. It was something that Violet had known since she was younger. She had been okay with it in the end, but she also knew that she needed to do what she wanted, not what her mother wanted if she wanted to be happy in life.

Even years later, Violet still wasn't sure how her mother had fallen in love with her father and vice versa. There was nothing between them that lasted. She had thought more than once that Brennan had been an accident, and it had ended up with Lilith pregnant and needing to save face. He was a honeymoon baby, so that the timing could have worked out well in their favor.

The world was waiting to see what happened to Violet and her bookshop, even if no one really harassed her in Aretia. General Sorrengail didn't have as much power here as she did in Basgiath, and the city was very much under her control and the power she had there. Despite being an age of technology and imagination, the lands were still mostly controlled by generals appointed by the king. It was a strange way of doing it, but it had worked out well for the lands over the many hundreds of years.

Once Violet was done scanning the book and seeing that some needed to be reordered as they were the last, she smiled at the man and told him the total. He handed over cash instead of the very popular debit cards that were used for pretty much everything in Basgiath. However, in Aretia, there was still a large group who used cash for simple things and debit cards for larger purchases. There were also credit cards, but Violet only had one for business supplies, so she wasn't sure how much they were used here.

"Have a wonderful day," Violet said when she handed over the man's change, his receipt, and a bookmark.

"I didn't purchase this," the man said.

"I know. Wednesdays are new book days, and I have the printer down the street print me a hundred different bookmarks each week. That's kind of like a little hint about each of the books that came out that day. I give them out to the first hundred customers, and if I don't get one hundred, I keep on giving them out until they are gone."

"Oh, thanks." The man smiled, and Violet wasn't sure, but she thought it was something he didn't do that often.

Violet waited for the door to shut after the man left before she sat down. She rubbed at her thigh and sighed. She was sore from the class she had gone to the night before with Rhiannon. Rhi had been coming since Violet opened up, and she had pushed Violet into going to a training class with her. Rhi was at a higher level, but Violet did have to say that it was good for her joints. She could already feel how much more she could move around without an ache once the ache of the class wore off.

When no one else came in, Violet headed back to what she would start to do, which was to make up a new display of books with the main color on the cover being red. She tried to make fun displays that showed off a range of books each week, and she had been a little lazy about it.

Being open for only six months meant she was still trying to draw in people. This area of Aretia hadn't had a single bookstore, and the only one that could be considered as part of a department store, and they didn't do anything fun for the books. So, Violet had started to market a little further out and closer to the store. She didn't figure that too many would be upset with taking that business from them. It would just need to be a little stealthy. She didn't think the owner of the department store was going to put out a hit on her for stealing his book people, but she had heard enough about Aretia that she was careful about it.

Most of the people she had gotten she had lured from the library, people who bought some books but mostly got them from the library. Violet was at the library weekly as well for books that she didn't need to own on history and the like. She had pulled out the entire section about Aretia's history, and she wanted to see what it was like compared to what she had read in school in Basgaith.

Which had been a lot different, it seemed. She had been very upset about that and worried about what it really meant if what she had read was different in two places.

Pushing those thoughts away, Violet worked on the display, making a note of every single book that was on there. She would flag it in the system so if she sold one, she knew that she needed to replace it. There were several copies of some of the more popular books.

Then Violet moved on, making the new book display a lot of fun. It wasn't for the ones that were newly published; no, these were some books that were older than she thought people might like, and she ordered a few copies just to have them on hand. The store was mostly new stuff, but she liked to have some of the old favorites in there.

"I was hoping you could help me find a book," a guy said as he stepped up beside her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Idn'dt hear you come in." Violet turned around and she smiled at him. He looked to be about her age. He had an easy smile on his face, but behind him, a guy stood who was bigger across than the guy before had been.

"I try not to make noise when coming inside, so the bell was kept silent," the guy in the back said.

Violet swallowed and looked at the first guy to talk to her.

"I'm looking for the book about venin...not the newest book, but the one that kind of turned the genre on its head."

"Ah, yes, I know what you are looking for." Violet walked toward where the section of fantasy books all about venin and their wyverns were. It was a genre that had been reinvented over the years, but the newest had been a big hit when she had been in college. Of course, she had read all of them. Venin were some of the biggest fantasy creatures that her father loved to read about. He had been working on a book about the genre of venin stories before he died. Violet still had it along with all of his research. It had been left to her, along with money. No one cared about him and everything from the books he had published, which she was still getting money from. She sunk that into the business as she got those quarterly checks.

"Are you sure? This isn't the cover I remember it having," the guy said.

"This is the special edition cover." Violet picked up a second book and showed it to him. It was the original cover the book had been realized with, but the tenth anniversary had meant new covers for the whole series.

"Oh, wow, yes, this is the cover. Do you have all four books in this version of the cover?"

Violet picked up each of the others and saw that she was nearly out of them; she was happy as she wasn't sure they would sell that well at all, but it was a limited-release run. There were the die-hards who wanted it for the extra content inside about the books and the extra chapter in a bonus point of view. Still, then after that, she wasn't sure who was going to actually pick up a copy if they had never read them or already owned a copy.

"Thanks. This will last me. I meant to read them years ago, but then I just fell out of reading. My name's Liam. The lug behind me is Garrick."

"Violet. I'm always happy to help someone find their love of reading again."

Liam smiled at her before looking at the books. "Are these all on venin?"

"Yes, I have collected most of them there, at least the popular ones."

Liam moved to the shelf himself and started to look at a few of them, picking them up and reading the blurb before putting them down. He handed the four books back to Garrick and then started to really dig into the books. Violet left them to do what they were doing and headed back to what she was doing. She glanced at Garrick as she passed him, seeing the tattoo on his body that was in the same style as the man from before but different. She wondered why, all of a sudden, the hidden mafia of Tyrrendor was finding that they needed to shop for books in her store.

Customers were customers, and so far, she couldn't really balk at who bought the books. She just needed to settle in and do what she needed to do. There was a lot of work to be done to get ready for the masses when they showed up.

Just as she finished the display, the first of her weekly regulars came in the door with an excited look. She dashed forward, missing that Liam and Garrick were coming to the register.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's fine. I want to look at the bookmarks that are here," Liam said as he tapped the display case for the bookmarks.

The transaction was quick, and when it was done, Liam wasn't done looking at the bookmarks. In fact, he was standing there looking at each of them like they held the secrets of the universe for a lot longer than she had ever thought anyone would look at them.

Violet helped four of her regulars with books out that week in the time that Liam looked at the bookmarks and then she realized what he was doing. He was picking out bookmarks for each book.

"Every book has to have its own bookmark; they are now friends," Liam said with a smile.

"What about this one?" Violet held up the week's bookmark.

"Hmm, I'll have to take it and figure out a book for it another time."

"Or you can put it in this one," Garrick said as he handed over a book from the new releases. It was one that Violet had a feeling was going to be deep into other venin lore, but it hadn't gotten to that part in the book yet. She had her own copy of it under the counter for when she needed to sit down.

"Oh, yes, that works."

Violet realized that Liam was a big reader as his stack would last him for a while. That only lasted if he bought no more.

It was one of the largest purchases she had ever had, and she wasn't sure what kind of customer he would be.

"Do you have book-themed reusable bags?"

"I do. I have a few of them." Violet had five of them. All had the name of her store on them, and she had detailed the design of the bags to show off the five biggest genres at the moment.

"Oh, I love them all. One of each, please. I'll use them for my hauls."

Violet was at least happy that it seemed she would be getting a regular customer, if a little weird, customer out of him. As each book and bookmark was scanned, she put them into a bag. There were enough books for three of the five bags, so she scanned the last two bags and stacked them on top of the books in the last bag since it was the emptiest.

"Next week is romance," Garrick said.

Violet nodded like she understood what that meant. Liam gave her a big smile and then turned to head out with Garrick. Garrick had a bag in each hand, and Liam had pulled his bag strap up over his shoulder. He held the door for Garrick as they went outside. Violet wondered if they were a couple.

It was the strangest day Violet had ever had since opening her shop, and she wasn't sure what to think about it.

---

The pink-haired girl had come in just after opening and had slipped away to where she could watch Violet. Violet wasn't that big on threats, but she knew something was up with the girl watching her. It was a little while later that Garrick came in. He stepped inside and just stared at the girl before she slinked off.

Garrick nodded at her with a smile on his lips before it faded.

The girl was known by Garrick, which was strange.

It was just half an hour into the open shop, and already she wasn't sure what the day would bring. There were only two big new releases that day; there were a lot of romances, but most were middle-list authors. There were only two big-name authors on the list today. She had already set up the display, and there were the ones set aside for her regulars.

Violet was just about out of tea when the bell chimed, and she looked up to see the guy from last week come in with Liam on his heels. Liam had all five bags in his hand, and he smiled at her and walked over to the bookmarks, grabbing all of the ones that were obviously romance-based before heading into the stacks to hunt for books.

The want of tea was strong, but she also wanted to see how things went with Liam and the hottie from the week before.

Violet hadn't even thought that much about them, knowing each other even given that Garrick had the mark and the hottie had the mark. The guy had paid in cash, so she had no idea what his name was, and while Liam had paid with a card, it had been in his name. Liam Mairi. The name had been familiar, but Violet hadn't wanted to look it up. She had learned that researching people wasn't always the best unless she knew she was under threat.

"The place next door," the man said as he appeared seemingly out of nowhere beside her.

Violet jumped, and she nearly spilled her tea, but she thankfully didn't. She looked at the man, who was smirking.

"Yes?"

"It's been empty for a while. I'm thinking of buying it and setting up a coffee and tea shop."

"Oh?" Violet had no idea why he would even bring that up to her. It wasn't like she owned it. She had asked about it when she moved into his front, but this was the biggest one on the block, and she needed something bigger than the others had been. She had thought about buying it for storage, but. The second floor of this place had been the best for that. She had more than enough room up there for extra things as he bought them, especially holiday decorations.

"How would you like that?"

"We could both benefit from each other's foot traffic."

"Agreed. You do specials; I've seen the flyers when I'm running around the block sometimes. The midnight releases? I would be willing to help with that."

"Help with that?" Violet was trying to find them in there. The point where this was something that would help the mafia. She couldn't find one, and that made her very upset that she hadn't been able to.

"Serve drinks, especially during the cooler days. We could work together on that. We lost the other coffee shop to a fire about six months ago, and there has been a void since then. This is the best spot, given what else is around there."

Violet was still trying to find the trap. It wasn't like he was asking permission.

"It is a good spot with the game store across the three and then me here. I am not sure I would allow drinks in there that aren't in sealed bottles." Violet could just see the tea or coffee all over the books.

"You have that open spot there."

Violet looked over where she had the delivery people drop her books since the back area of the building was still being renovated at the moment to make it easier for the new businesses to get in. For now, she had to use the front of the store to get in and out until that was done, which was about another month out from the last estimate she had gotten.

"I have the delivery guys drop things there. It makes it easier for me. I can't lift the boxes of books from my supplier. So I like that spot for that."

"Well, it's going to be a while until the shop is up and running. By then, the parking lot in the back should be done, right?"

Violet glared at him a little, but he just smiled at her. That smile was beautiful, and it turned his face even more beautiful. She hadn't been like this about anyone ever, and she didn't like it. She hadn't been attracted to too many people before. She had thought that she and her childhood friend Dain were going to be married one day, but in the end, she was the one to drop that when Dain sided with her mother in things about going into the business of opening a bookshop. She hadn't heard from him in eight months. Even when she had sent him an invite to her grand opening, he hadn't shown up.

Dain was a rule follower, and to him, her mother's word was law. Violet hated him a little bit for it. He had dropped her after nearly twenty years of friendship for following the dream she had for years. It wasn't like the bookshop was a big surprise. The location was the only surprise, and it was because she wanted out of the realm of her mother's influence. Of course, this was still inside of Navarre, but that meant little when it came to it. Her mother would do what she wanted to do if she felt like it was something she needed to do. So far, there was nothing.

"It should."

"When we are renovating my store, we could put in a doorway there. Allow people to go to and from with ease. We could, of course, make sure that people don't come in with books they haven't purchased, but we could do a little delivery to that area, have a few tables, and people could enjoy their book and a drink, or even a sweet."

The idea was good. Violet had wanted something like that, but it had been a pipe dream for later when she had the money. The machines for making coffee drinks were expensive as hell, and she needed to make sure that she had a good cushion for the store in case of issues.

"You sound like you have thought about this for a while."

"I have been since I saw the store open, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in the end. We've spent the last while thinking about things, and then I have been getting the money together. I also wanted to sound you out. I could move to the shop at the end. It's about the same size. It would be just as good. But there would be a little less foot traffic since the lot for the area is in the other direction. I hoped to figure something out soon to make sure that things would be best for both."

"And you would pay for the door and stuff? What would I need to owe you for that?" Vilet let her gaze dart over to the mark on the man's neck. She still had no idea what his name was.

"Ah, so you are not as naive as most have thought you were, Sorrengail," the man said.

"That sounded like a threat."

"No, not a threat. I just wanted you to know that I knew who you were. Of course, you have no idea who I am, which means you didn't do a lot of research. Just enough to know who not to piss off. Which is smart."

"None of the things in Basgiath are first-hand sources, and that's something my father taught me well. First-hand sources are best, so that means that I need to learn about here from here before I make a decision on anything. So what is your name?"

"Not sure I want to give it. I bet you can figure it out if you try hard enough." The man smiled.

"Well, right now, all I think of you is pretty boy. Not sure you want that as the name in my head."

"Hmm, I wouldn't be sure about that."

Violet almost said something, but Liam came up with an armful of books, and he smiled at the man before going back toward the stacks. Violet started to scan the books into the till. She could easily make it a tab.

The man held up one of the bags, and he smiled before starting to put books into the bag when Violet was done scanning them. She tried to figure out who he was by how he moved. There was a grace there that spoke to someone who was trained in fighting, like Rhi. Rhi had gone to college here and just stayed, working at the gym where she pulled Violet into training.

Violet just happened to glance to the side when she was scanning a book. A dog was sitting outside.

"Is that your dog?"

"Yes."

"She can come in. I sometimes bring my two pets in when I can't stand leaving them all day."

The man walked over and opened the door. The dog hesitated but then came inside.

"This is Sgaeyl."

"Not worried about giving me her name?"

"Nope."

Violet walked around the counter and held out a hand as she crouched. Sgaeyl came up to her. "She's the same breed as Tairn, just different colors."

"What are the names of the rest?"

"I just have Andarna. She was a rescue that Tairn adopted."

"Tairn?"

"He fed her for two days at home before I realized he was sharing his food. He likes to eat outside. I've never figured that out, but he was a surrender after the owner died and the daughter was allergic to dogs. It made it hard to find a home, as he didn't like a lot of people, but when I went there with Rhi for her to find a dog, he didn't leave my side the entire time. I had to bring him home."

"Sgaeyl was given to me by my grandfather just before he died. She was four months old at the time."

Violet stood up, being careful as she moved. She darted a glance at the man when she was up fully. His gaze was firm on her, and he didn't miss the way she moved. She was better, but it was always going to take time to get her moving the way she was supposed to. The pain sucked, but when she was reading, sometimes she could forget it as she got lost in words.

"I got this one for you," Liam said as he came up with more books.

It was another of the books Violet's father had written. The name wasn't hard to miss.

The man just set it down on the top of the stack for her to scan. Violet did it. She handed them over as she scanned, and the man put them up as Liam wandered back to get more books.

"I'm going to run out of books if he keeps on buying like this."

"Nah, after a while, he'll just get the stuff that is new that he knows that others like. We are fast readers but not this fast, but there is a large group of us, and finding enough to make sure that no one fights over anything is hard enough."

Violet froze as she scanned the last book. She knew who he was, but so far, he hadn't done anything to make her think that he was going to kill her.

"Riorson," Violet said.

"Xaden, at your service, Violet."

Violet swallowed as she handed over the last book. She looked at him.

"I'm never going to hurt you."

"Why?"

"Because your mother isn't you, and I will never visit upon the kids what their parents did; that's how feuds are started, and that's not me. Besides, unless you started a public fight with your mother over your life and then spent a lot of money hoping I would walk into your bookstore, I don't think you care much for anything your mother had done."

Violet could agree with that. She had heard a few whispers of things that made it seem like the mafia that was talked about in Tyrrendor and, most especially, Aretia wasn't actually what it was. It wasn't out there to hurt but to help from the king's oppression. Violet never looked into that much because she didn't want to die. She had heard those rumors.

Those had come out after she had moved there. The king had sent someone to kill Xaden's father because the man was about making sure his people were taken care of instead of doing what the king wanted when it hurt the people. The assassination had failed, and there were people who thought that it had been Violet's mother who had done it.

Fen Riorson was still in Aretia since he was the one who had the lineage to do it. The general that was in control was said to be a puppet for Fen and not the king, as the king thought. A lot was going on in Aretia, but she loved it there.

"Last set," Liam said as he came up with another stack of books. He had more than enough to fill all five bags this time.

Violet got to where she was scanning them and handing them off while Liam looked at the bookmarks. There was a lot he had already picked out, so Violet felt she would need to start ordering in more variety or do more of her own. She thought about how she could do that since she already had someone who printed the week's books.

"And this one," Xaden said as he handed over a new book from the new releases.

"Oh, I missed that one. Yeah, it's going to be well-liked. Okay, so all of these as well."

Violet nodded, and she took over the bookmarks. Since it seemed there were a bunch of people reading the books. The bookmark in each one sounded like it was a good way to go. She rang them out, and Xaden paid in cash again. Which was something that was shocking, even if she knew exactly who he was.

Xaden carried three of the bags out the door while Liam took two, and they chatted about the books and where they were going to get lunch.

Violet was still staring at the door where Xaden, Liam, and Sgaeyl had left when the door opened, and Rhi came in after her shift.

Thankfully, Rhi said nothing about the dreamy look on Violet's face.

---

Violet was stocking the kid's section when she heard the door open. She tried to work through the stack in her hands to go and greet the people, but she was juggling too much and decided it was better to do that than to drop books on Andarna, who was lying at her feet staring at Tairn from between table legs. The subtle jingle of a bell told her that someone had brought in their dog, which was something she was trying to get people to do more and more. She loved meeting them.

She risked a peek at what was going on and saw that it was Sgaeyl. Who was now sharing Tairn's bed with him. It was big enough for three dogs, but it had been the one that Tairn and Andarna had picked out on their own. It was interesting to see another dog in there.

"Sgaeyl," Liam hissed.

"She's fine. Andarna's over here," Violet said.

Liam came around a set of shelves, and he looked at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry about it. It's okay. Andarna's not upset. Tairn's not upset. ASgaeyl looks comfortable. All alone today?"

"Yes. I tried to convince Xaden, Garrick, Bodhi, or Imogen to come with me, but they blew me off. So what is good today?"

Violet laughed. "It's not like it's a restaurant. It's books. We have the same good stuff as last week."

The week before, it had been mysteries. It had to be the thrillers that Liam was after this time.

"Nah, you have gotten new stuff in. So what is good?"

"Oh, it was just a few books: a new romance, a new fantasy book about venin, and a thriller that is in a series."

"Yeah?" Liam walked over to the newly released table and picked up the book in the series. "Oh, Garrick loves this series. I'm going to be happy to bring this back."

Violet turned around and bent to see him taking the book to the counter and putting it on top of his bags.

"You finish what you are doing, and then we will talk about books."

Violet swallowed, and she wondered if this was part of it all. Getting her to open up to Liam and spill everything.

Xaden had been back, but he had been on the phone the entire time the week before talking with his father, Violet thought. She hadn't gotten close enough. Sgaeyl had been missing the week before as well.

This visit from Liam and his friends wasn't the reason that she was bringing the dogs in more. No one seemed to be that upset about it. Sawyer cleaned up every single night, so there was no extra hair anywhere, and it was a good thing that Violet wasn't sure she wanted that.

There was a park down the street, and Viole took them down to it a few times a day to get them to go potty and then brought them back to have fun.

Violet worked on getting the books displayed, and she nearly dropped to her feet. She wore boots for a reason.

"So, do you like other fantasy books?"

"I love pretty much everything that comes out. I will try to figure out if a new thing is something I would like, but mostly, I just stick to fantasy books and science fiction. I like being taken somewhere else. I want to be happy, and those just do it for me."

Liam nodded, and he started to pick out a few books from the thriller section; he flipped them around to read the back of the books and then would stick them back or lay the top.

"Want me to take them up there?"

"No, I've got it. I don't want to be the reason you are hurt."

"What?"

"We've all noticed the wraps around your joints, especially your legs, and how you sometimes are super careful about things. We also saw the sling you were in when you started to work in the shop."

Violet had a few seconds of fear before she remembered what Xaden had said.

"I'll handle this part; you can scan and pack since Xaden's not here to do that."

"Where is he, by the way?"

"I didn't say he wasn't here. Just that he wasn't here to do that."

Violet had no idea what that meant, but she hadn't seen Xaden.

"Sgaeyl doesn't go anywhere without him. Ever. They are other all the time," Liam said as Violet headed up to the register.

Xaden was leaning against the counter there with the first book that Liam had brought over in his hands and another book lying beside him.

"And what are you here to go if it's not to pack bags?"

"Oh, to discuss what kind of cut of profit you would want for allowing a doorway between our shops. I would also like to have a display of books that aren't selling as well as you think they should, kind of lost in the shuffle. I would, of course, keep track and give you that profit from it. That's more just to have something on hand for people who show up and finish their book but don't want to go in here."

Violet signed into the computer and started to scan the first book. She glanced at the other, and Xaden held it over to scan, but he didn't put it into the bag with them.

"But I can multitask."

"Why?"

"Why can I multitask?" Xaden asked with a smirk on his lips.

Violet just stared at him.

"Well, for one, it's going to piss off your mother to no end when it gets back to her. I thought that was part of why you moved here to open this shop, beyond the fact that Basgaith is overrun with them. I know you are publishing your father's books even though he's gone."

"He wrote a lot. He had an entire series that hadn't even been shipped off to his publishers at all, the rest of the other series. I've been editing them but keeping things as he wanted them."

"I know your mother tried to get that stopped."

"She lost that fight because everything about that had been left to me. So I was the one who had control of that."

"She wanted to control him even in death."

Violet refuted that, and then she remembered how much her mother hated that her father wrote the books to begin with. She hadn't thought his writing was worth anything because they weren't books about military strategy or running a city. Hell, she didn't think that she thought that anything was worth anything unless it was to control people. It was most of the reason why Violet had done what she did.

The truth of her mother smacked her in the face, and she hated Xaden for it.

Mira and Brennan had done everything she wanted, and Violet rebelled from the moment she entered college. Her mother had wanted her in something to do with the military, even if she couldn't actually do it. She had too many physical issues to where they would never be able to survive, even the basics that all of them went through.

Yet, she could still serve the military in other ways. Of course, there were a lot of things going on that made Violet rebel, and it all started with her father's books. The ones that he had written and never shipped off anywhere. It was the kind of thing that might have gotten him killed if he had been anyone else writing them. The publisher had been more than happy to start to work on them and get them set up to go out. They weren't afraid of anyone.

"Why did my father go through a publisher here in Tyrrendor and not one Basgiath?"

"Because he knew he would never get them published anywhere else."

"What do you do?"

"In my day-to-day life? Help my father help the people of Tyrrendor since our king won't do it."

"What about everything else?"

"I have a few shops that I oversee. The coffee shop will be the first that I fund with my own money and make sure that I have full control. My dad's happy about me taking control of something and wanting to put my new spin on it. He thinks this row of empty shops could be filled in a year because of your shop."

"Really?" Violet asked.

"You have pulled in a lot more foot traffic. We have people who keep an eye on those kinds of things. So we can also see about pulling in a few other things. There is a larger space that he thinks will make a good event hall, but we will be using our own money for that stand. The rent won't be out of the range of the people who would want to use it."

Violet nodded. She realized that Liam had dropped some books when Xaden handed over the first one to her. She focused on that while she thought about what Xaden was saying. She knew that she was being used to hurt her mother in more than one way. There might be a new general in control of Tyrrendor, but it was obvious that things were not nearly as under control here as others thought. Fen Riorson hadn't been put to death, even if there were those who thought he should be. They were all afraid Tyrrendor would fully rebel and take a few other places with it. There were a lot of places that would have followed suit, and then they would be like Poromiel, who was still on the edges, waiting for the supposed unified country of Navarre to fracture at the seams.

"So this all is because of me?"

"Well, no. But also, yes. We needed something here that would draw in people, but we had spent too long debating, and then you came and wanted to buy the place. It was in the family since we tend to buy empty places when they have been on the market too long to help the people when they have closed up something. Then, there were a few places that we had bought before they closed and kept them as they were. Usually, when the family died, and there was no one who wanted the business, but it was doing well."

Violet thought about the people she knew who ruled over the other provinces in Navarre, and none of them would have done anything close to that for their people. They were just left to flounder on their own. It was not the kind of place that would help anyone. Even her mother wouldn't go out of her way to do anything nice for anyone. They wanted strength in all things, and the rest were left to die.

It made Violet sick. She picked up her tea to settle her stomach a little and frowned when Xaden looked interested in it.

"That's from down the street, right? I've smelled that before.'

"From the herbal shop, yes. It's one of the teas that she sells."

"Hmm, it's been years since we've paid attention to that shop. Maybe the teas I get for the coffee and tea shop will come from her. That smells wonderful."

"It's a tea to help keep you going. Caffeine, but not too much, and a few other natural ways of energy-boosting. I get all of my tea from her. She's wanted to branch into a few other things that having a tea and coffee shop nearby would help with. Organic coffees."

"Hmm, we shall have to talk then, I think."

Liam came up with another stack of books, but on top were the new releases, even down to the kids' level.

"We have a few new kids who are coming around, and we realized that there were not a lot of new books in the library."

"Library...like the one down the street?"

"No, no. In the community center three blocks away."

Violet had seen the community center, but she had seen a lot of the ones with tattoos outside of there and had stayed away, even after Xaden, Liam, and Garrick came into the shop. She had been interested in the place. Rhiannon had stayed away from it for a while as well, but she had gone to a few things there. Violet just wasn't sure if it was something she had wanted to risk. Maybe now she would.

"Do you get a break?"

"I take the dogs out for a walk when my middle shift person gets in, Ridoc. Then, when Sawyer gets here later in the day, I do it again. I eat up here because I just read while eating, and my food gets cold anyway. Wednesday is my favorite day, so I want to be up there where the action is. Why?"

"Tomorrow, lunch at the community center with us? You can meet the rest of our friends."

Violet wasn't sure why he was being invited over to it. She wouldn't say no, though, as she didn't want to upset Xaden.

"Or you know you can stop being creepy," Liam said.

"I'm not being creepy."

"You are," Liam said.

Xaden made a noise, and Liam just laughed. He handed over more bookmarks.

"These will fit with next week's bunch, but they are the last you have here. Save them for us."

"Or I can just buy them now," Xaden said.

"Or you can shut your mouth."

Violet couldn't help the laughter that escaped. She looked at Xaden and saw him looking at Liam with a fond smile on his face. The door opened, and a guy came in, drawing Vilet's gaze from Xaden and Liam to the new guy. There was enough of the same between him and Xaden that she knew they were related in some fashion.

"That your brother?" Violet asked.

Xaden shook his head. "This guy is my brother; that one back there is my cousin and a pain in my ass. Yes, Bodhi?"

"Done flirting? We gotta go."

Xaden sighed, and he turned to face him fully. Flirting? Was Xaden flirting? Or was Bodhi just being an asshole about things. She still wasn't sure what was going on with these guys.

"Sgaeyl," Xaden said.

Violet expected to hear the click of claws, but there was nothing.

"Sgaeyl," Xaden said again, but still no sound. Xaden sighed, and he looked at Violet. "Want to dog sit?"

"Sure. I need a leash."

"Nah, she won't go anywhere that you don't tell her to. She's well-trained. She'll walk with you when you take them out. Thanks. I'll pick her up later."

It wasn't until they were all gone that Violet remembered that Liam said that Sgaeyl went everywhere with Xaden. A lot needed to be handled, so she put that out of her head, even when she looked at the three dogs curled up together.

---

Violet stopped as she took in Sgaeyl sitting outside of her shop. It was two hours before she would be opening up. Normally, she did everything for release day the night before, but Rhi talked her into dinner after work, so Violet had made sure to come in early to do it. There was no way that Xaden would have known that. Or was it should have known that?

Getting her key out of her pocket, she let go of the leashes for Tairn and Andarna. They never moved far away from her when they were around each other. So Violet wasn't worried. She unlocked the door, and Sgaeyl didn't move until Violet waved for her to go inside. She went right for the bed, and the other two followed. Violet wasn't sure how this was her life.

She shut and locked the door again once the dogs were inside. She paused, though, when she saw money sitting on the counter with an address on it. She walked up to it and found that it was stamped with nothing more than the symbol she knew was for the Riorson family. It was displayed on the front of Riorson House, and that was the way that she knew it was from Xaden. She had no idea why the money was inside, but the dog had not been.

Violet,

This is for food for Sgaeyl. She eats a special blend from the pet store, which will be delivered later. The money is for the courier who drops it off to pay for it as well. I stopped by, but you were not there, and Sgaeyl refused to leave, so I figured this was better than leaving her inside, where she might be trapped. I'll pick her up later. If your dogs like the food, it's not much more than the typical food. Let them try some of Sgaeyl's.

It wasn't signed any more than the symbol. Violet looked at where Sgaeyl was looking at Violet with a look on her face like she was afraid of being thrown out.

"Be good," was all Violet said.

Sgaeyl closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep as soon as Violet spoke. Tairn was curled around her, and Violet had a feeling that her dog had a crush. Andarna just followed both of them around, depending on who was doing what. It still felt weird not to have a leash for Sgaeyl, but Violet hadn't the heart to get a leash. She wasn't sure how the dog was going to react.

There was work to be done, so Violet focused on that and getting everything ready for opening. One of the biggest series was dropping a spin-off book today, and while there were a lot of pre-orders for it, there was no one asking about a midnight release party. She did have a few themed things she had picked up and would be selling off.

When Violet was half an hour out from opening, she rounded up the dogs and opened the door to usher them outside. Andarna was on a leash, while Tairn had refused to let her put one on him. She was worried sick, but there was nothing to do to be done as she wasn't going to force him into it. He stayed right with Sgaeyl as they crossed the street into the park. It seemed like he was more than willing to stay right with her, and she did what Violet asked no matter what. Just like his dog, Xaden was strange as well. She had no idea how he got into the shop, but she wasn't worried about him doing something he shouldn't. There was a lot to worry about, but Xaden wasn't one of them.

"What are you doing with her?" a woman asked as she stepped up to Violet.

Violet looked at the woman and then put herself in front of the dogs. The woman looked at her like she was going to hit her.

"What does it matter to you?" Violet asked. She checked to make sure the dogs were all behind her, and that cost her as the woman grabbed Violet by her shirt and jerked her forward. There was a growl, and then Violet was thrown. She felt the impact and knew before the pain hit that something was going to be broken. Violet hissed. She was used to pain.

The woman screamed.

"Sgaeyl, no," the woman said as she batted at the dog.

Violet cracked an eye open and saw Andarna was over her while Tairn and Sgaeyl were in front of her, growling and holding their ground.

"No," the woman said, and she batted again.

The sound of a siren had the woman looking up, but she didn't move until it got closer.

No one came running, even though Violet could see people. No one seemed willing to get close to her now that the dogs were growling.

"He's going to kill you," the woman said as she passed by Violet.

"I think that you need to think about why Sgaeyl is protecting me from you," Violet said.

"I would get the hell out of here, Imogen, and stay away for a little while until Xaden calls you."

She knew the voice, but Violet was in too much pain to even think about trying to figure out who it was.

"Why the fuck would I do that?" Imogen asked.

"Because Xaden himself left Sgaeyl in her capable hands today. She didn't take her, and instead of being a little more adult about you, you attacked and injured someone that Xaden cares for."

Violet knew she was in pain, and pushing it down like she usually did was hard. It had been a while since a bone of hers had broken. She had dislocated her shoulder, and that had been painful.

"I already called for a squad, and I'll take the dogs back to Xaden's."

"The shop," Violet said. She turned to see who was talking and found it was Garrick, who was in the black uniform of a cop.

"I am unsure what to do about that, but once I see you off, I'll call Xaden. He'll know what to do."

Violet shifted a little, and she felt it; she felt the bone grind against bone in her arm, and the pain made her pass out.

---

The smell was what woke her up. She knew that smell all too well after years of seemingly spending her life in the ED. Only this time, it wouldn't be Nolon at her bedside or his wife, Winifred. She tried to remember what had happened, and then she did and tried to sit up. A hand held her down on the bed, and she forced her eyes open to see it was Liam there.

"What happened?" Violet asked.

"You passed out from the pain. Garrick stayed with you until I got there and rode here with you. Xaden took the dogs and headed to the shop to open up. The regulars are all excited about the eye candy who gave them their books. How are you feeling?"

"The pain is gone. I feel drugged, though."

"Yes, well, that's because they had to do surgery on your arm. The break was cutting off blood flow. Your brother is on his way, by the way, and he thinks your sister will follow soon. They have my number and will be calling or texting with updates. Your brother told them to do anything that was medically necessary, and he was pissed that he didn't know that he was your medical person."

"Who was that?"

"That was Imogen. She's an asshole to a lot of people and thought that for some reason that Sgaeyl had been kidnapped and or is it dognapped? Whatever. The dog does what she wants, and even Xaden can't make her do something she doesn't want."

"How did Garrick get there so fast?"

"Sloane was on the other side of the park and saw Imogen going for you. I had told her that you were watching Sgaeyl today, and Sloane knows what Sgaeyl looks like, so as soon as she saw it, she called Garrick, who was on patrol around there."

A soft chime came from behind Liam. He turned and grabbed his phone before laughing as he opened it.

It was a picture which was Sgaeyl pulling the bed along to somewhere. When Liam showed it, the next picture was Sgaeyl lying in the bed behind the counter. Tairn was in the bed with her, and Andarna's tail was in the shot, but she wasn't in the bed.

"It seems that Sgaeyl wants the bed closer to there. Xaden said he would get another for back where the bed used to be."

"He doesn't have to. I had just put it there, but the dogs don't care."

"Oh, it seems that Andarna does." Liam showed the phone to Violet.

The image showed Andarna lying on the floor where the bed used to be.

"She likes the sun she gets in the morning when she's there. It's not even morning, anyone. She's being dramatic."

"Also, Xaden says that the dogs love the food, so he had more sent over to the store for you to use for the dogs."

Violet huffed, but she said nothing. She hoped that there were no issues from the swap. It had been the food she had been told was good, but she figured that Xaden used something that was super good for the dogs, so that part wasn't an issue.

"So, where is the doctor? Shouldn't they be in here to talk to me about all of this?" Violet asked.

"He will be. He is doing rounds with the others. He checked in on you first, and when you were still in and out, he said he would check back when he was done, as he thought it would be about fifteen minutes before you would be awake. That was ten minutes before you woke up."

"Rounds are done in the morning, right?"

"No, not always. He does them before he leaves, and the next doctor on shift can see what's going on. I didn't question it as they seemed to be good on their own thing."

"Who do they think you are to me?" Violet asked.

"Just a friend, but since your brother is in contact with me, they are fine with me staying, so they don't have to worry too much. Passing out from pain freaked Garrick out since we thought you were stronger than that. Then when the doctor talked on the phone to your brother where I could hear, I found out that it was a shit ton of pain."

"Garrick told Imogen not to come around for a while."

"Xaden will calm down, but he won't hurt her. He's pissed off, and he might say some shit to her that she needs to hear, but he'll do it in the cruelest way possible. Imogen is lucky that I don't think that Sgaeyl realized how hurt you were. If there had been blood, there would have been a big issue. Sgaeyl had bitten people who had tried to kill Xaden before. She protected you, and you were there to be protected since she was with you. I would have been the same if it had been any of the rest of us. Don't worry about that at all."

The door opened, and Violet was subjected to the check by the surgeon on call. The man looked like he was happy with how Violet was.

"A few more hours to make sure that things are all settled, a few scans, and then you can go home. I've already made sure your brother is aware of that before I came here. He should be landing soon, and then I'm sure he'll be here to make sure you are fine," the doctor said when he was done.

"I need to take care of the insurance part of things. Can someone be sent in to get that?"

"Oh, no. Someone else is already taking care of that since this was an injury inflicted on you and not something that was an accident. We will not be charging you."

Violet turned to look at Liam, who was looking anywhere but at her.

"Vi," a man said as he came into the room.

Violet swallowed as she took in Dain. She hadn't seen him a year after he had been dispatched to the furthest reaches of Navarre for some kind of secret mission that she wasn't allowed to know about. He hadn't even written to her in his time away.

"Is he allowed in here?" the doctor asked.

"This is Dain. He's an old friend of mine," Violet said. She had nearly said best friend, but Dain didn't have that spot in her life anymore.

"Brennan called, and Mira wants me to help you get packed up to go home with her."

"No," Violet said.

"You need help."

Violet looked at Liam and shook her head. He nodded and sighed before sitting down again. He snagged a book from the stand and started to read. Violet saw it was one of her father's books.

"No, I don't need help. I've learned to move around the world with an injury like this since I was a kid. My bones breaking was a normal thing, remember? You were the season my leg was broken when I was eight. It was a normal thing, and I never blamed you."

"This place is too rough for you. You tried it, and you failed."

"I did not fail at anything. My business is thriving." Violet knew that Xaden stocking the library at the community center was a big part of it, but also, the people had started to come to her more and more after he had started being seen there. She knew it was a stamp of approval despite her name and how they wanted to make sure that she stayed where she was.

"You are going home," Dain said.

"I am home. I am fucking home, and no one gets to tell me what to do with my life. I told my mother to shove it, Dain. Do you think that you are going to be any different if you keep on pushing this?"

"I'm your best friend."

"You were until you started to shut me out when I stopped doing what my mother wanted. You follow her and her rules but balk at doing anything that would put you at odds with her if it meant supporting me. I want you out of here and stay the fuck away from the bookstore. I don't need you in there for any reason. Go back home, Dain. I want nothing to do with you if you can't support me." Violet tried not to freak out at the fact that she had said all of that. She meant it and would keep posting it, but she hadn't been strong enough to say something like that before.

"You are under duress and medication. We can talk later." Dain left the room, and a nurse came in, pulling off a few things from Violet.

"No need to set off anything since you are being discharged soon. You have your friend that will tell us if anything happens."

"I set that off?"

"Yes, you did. It's okay. We have had it happen before. It was just the heart rate, which does spike in anger. You are fine. It was well within the threshold, but we thought you would be best served getting it all out instead of holding it in."

Violet slumped back on the bed and looked at the doorway where Dain had left after the nurse had gone out the door. She wanted him to come back and tell her he was sorry that he would be her friend over the man who tried to make Violet do what he thought she needed to do and leveraged her mother for it. Violet hadn't thought much about him since moving here. He had been pissed off and icing her out before she moved here.

"He's a winner," Liam said.

"He saw me in pain a lot growing up. I've known him for over twenty years. I just...I want him to be my friend who supports me over doing what my mother wants, and that's not been the case since I was twenty. He's going to tell her all about this, and then things are going to be hard."

"Xaden will support whatever you need. I can help run the shop with you. In fact, I've been kind of ordered to. You will need help with books and stocking things, and I can do that while allowing you to do what you can. I can also take Andarna for walks with you; Tairn has taken well to the training Sgaeyl has been doing."

"I think he was trained like that before. I need to work on Andarna as well. It would help in the long run since I will just get worse as I get older on my joints doing what they want."

"Xaden did well with training Sgaeyl. He can work with her over the next while if you want. We can make sure to get her trained up."

"Doesn't he have other things to do?"

"Not really. I mean, once the shop is up and running, he mostly likes being out where the people can see him and come to him for help with things."

"Like?"

Liam got up and shut the door to the room. "Making sure that people can afford the taxes and other things that are imposed on them. Making sure that there is nothing fucked up legally with them. There have been times when the government has tried to railroad them on things. We have lawyers who help with that.

"That's why the tattoos and why outside of Tyrrendor, you guys are called a mafia."

"Yes, we don't hurt people unless they come after us. There are a lot of people who do want to kill us, Fen especially, but Xaden's had a few come after him. I think there was a summer when assassins were around every time we turned around. We lost a few of us, but most of us are still standing. We proved that we are not going to be taken down easily."

Violet thought about that. She held out her hand, and she looked at her hand. She had drawn on it last week, something that made her think of what was on Liam's arm and all the way from Xaden's neck. There were a lot of people who had them she had seen and wondered what was needed to get one to show that she supported the people. That was something for later.

"Support for the cause, and there is not a big ritual before being given a tattoo," Liam said like he read her mind.

"Oh. So that's something I could someday get?"

"Yes, it is. It's always drawn by the people around you. Something to match you. In the end, it's nice to know that the people who like you make it. I've never gotten a straight answer out of Xaden about why it's done that way."

"That's a good way of putting it, I think. Still, given my last name, I think it's a long time coming."

"You would be shocked. Xaden's been drawing. Your sight be one that only he's allowed to draw."

Violet blushed. She knew her cheeks were hot as hell, and she looked away from Liam, not sure what she should be feeling about that. According to Garrick, Xaden had been flirting with her, but that still didn't mean it was anything more than that. But Xaden drawing the tattoo on his own was something that she wanted.

"I'll call to bring a car to us to get you home. Xaden might leave the store with someone else and come on his own to get us."

"He called you brother."

"My parents were well in the middle of the assassination attempt on his father. They took me in, and we were raised as brothers. Garrick's his best friend, Bodhi, his cousin, who is just as close as a brother would be. The four of us have a few others on the edges. Sloane is my sister, but she didn't want to live with Fen, Xaden, and me, so she went to a friend of Fen's who had a few daughters himself."

"You call him Fen, not Dad or something else like it."

"I was old enough to know what was coming on and made the choice. I love my father, and while I know it's not replacing him, I couldn't."

"What about Xaden's mother?"

"Left when he was ten, divorced Fen, and was never heard from again."

Violet wondered if that was something that Xaden was worried about, telling Violet about his past or if he just assumed that she knew everything about them now. She hadn't looked him up at all since arriving, even after finding out who he was. She hadn't felt like she needed to fear him; that was something she needed to fix. There were going to be others who used that lack of knowledge to hurt her.

"I'm ready to go whenever they let me go."

"I'll call Xaden, and he can figure out what he wants to do.

---

Violet came down the stairs and looked to where Xaden was asleep on the couch, having taken the night shift of making sure that the dogs were taken care of since she was still unsteady on her feet with the pain medication that allowed her to function. Someone was here with her all the time, and while her siblings didn't like it, things had been calm enough the last two days.

She was nearly out of the pain stuff as she hadn't needed them right when they wore off as much anymore, and she hoped to be taking the softer stuff at some point soon. Still, it was strange to have someone else in her place. It was small and only had a single bedroom; the other bedroom was the room for Tairn and Andarna, who were sharing with Sgaeyl when Xaden stayed over, which was more than anyone else.

Brennan and Mira would be there soon for breakfast. They had to go back and were still trying to get her to go with them. They didn't see this as anything more than a push to get her to come back to Basgiath and be under their mother's thumb.

There was a knock on her door before Violet could get a cup of tea. She turned to her head to get it when she heard the soft sound of thuds from Xaden's feet on the floor. She stopped and let him get the door. It was going to piss off her siblings and make her smile at the same time. There was a huff from the direction of the door and then the sound of clicking claws. Sgaeyl came into the kitchen and settled at VIolet's side as Andarana followed with Tairn, nowhere to be seen. There were times she thought that all of them were too smart for their own good.

"Good morning," Mira said.

"Good morning."

"I'm sorry," Brennan said.

"For what?" Violet asked, but their mother walked into the kitchen with Xaden on her heels before Brennan could answer.

"What is he doing here?" Lilith demanded.

"He's my friend, and he's been staying over to help me at night."

"One of you siblings could have done that. He needs to leave."

"He will leave when I want him to leave, not when you want him to leave."

"We are packing up your things and moving you back home."

"No."

"Yes."

Violet just looked at her mother and stared. No matter what, she wouldn't let her mother push her around. She was where she wanted to be, and while Liam was a little annoying in doing his job when it came to protecting her from anything that might hurt her arm more, she was glad to have someone around her all the time. The only time that Xaden and his people weren't around was when Rhiannon was. Xaden seemed to trust that if someone came after Violet, Rhi would stop them.

"You are just as stubborn as ever. You proved your point that bookstores will do well. Let's close it up and move you back home where you can do it in a safer place."

"This wasn't the point. I wanted away from you and your control. I want to live my life the way that I want."

"You are too vulnerable. Look, you have to have guards."

"I'm not a guard. I'm just making sure that while she's drugged up, she doesn't fall and hurt herself more. Sgaeyl gets up whenever she does and comes and gets me. So far, there has been nothing, but the first few days were a little intestine with how strong of drugs they had her on."

"See, you need help."

"She could do it just fine, but since it was an accident that involved someone close to me, I'm making reparations in making sure that VIolet's life is disturbed as little as possible. With respect to what she wants as well, something you might want to think about, General."

"Do not speak to me that way."

"You aren't in control here. This is not your land. Go ahead and let's take up the new General's time with a matter that is an overbearing parent who refuses to understand that her daughter is more than above the age where she can live alone and do what she wants with her own money. You have no control and know it, so you are trying to bully her into coming back."

Xadne walked over to where Violet was, and he laid an arm around her shoulder and smiled at Lilith. Then there was a look on her mother's face that showed how pissed off she was. Violet usually gave in then because it wasn't like she had anyone in her corner before. Dain and her siblings always gave in to Lilith Sorrengail, who was used to being followed.

"I am doing what is best for my daughter."

"You wouldn't know what is best for me at all. You only care about what looks best for you. Get the hell out of my house. You too, Mira." Violet looked at Brennan to determine whether her brother knew about this ambush, but it seemed he did not. She nodded, and he relaxed.

"You are going to regret this when it all ends for you. He's not going to care once he's stopped fucking you."

Violet didn't react even though she wanted to. She just stared at her mother with a look of loathing all over her face. She waited for the slamming of the door.

"Just for the record, she and I haven't even kissed," Xaaden said.

"No, I could figure that out by the fact you are sleeping on the couch, and your dog wakes you up if she does anything. I know what is going on here, and I'm glad that, for once, someone cares about what she wants. That wasn't me for a long time. I thought Mom knew what was best for everyone, but that wasn't the case. She has no idea what the world is like to people beyond how they treat her. She doesn't care about anything but her own way of looking the best. She's still dealing with the fallout of the very public falling out that she and Violet had, which was her own fault. Violet wanted it to be quiet, but Mom knew what was best and did what she wanted. It backfired on her."

"She's not going to lose her job, is she?"

"No. She's not in trouble like that. King Tauri would rather just leave her where she is because having her in place is better. If she weren't there, she would be with him, and that's just a step up for her, but Melgren hasn't retired yet. When that happens, she'll move there and have even more control, but in the end, they are going to lose Tyrrendor, and we all know it."

"What do you know about it?" Xaden asked.

"I know enough to know that moving her in secret is best for me; therefore, that's what I did a few minutes ago. Your father didn't tell you as he wanted me where I could do the most good, which is in the more seedy areas of Aretia and where he has the least amount of control. No one knows who the fuck I am cause I put a scar on my face when I'm going around. I flew out of here and then flew back in later to where if anyone were watching me, it would be all gone by then."

"You are here?"

"I have been. I started to look into the area's history when you moved here, Violet. I wanted to make sure you would be safe, but then I found a few things in Mom's books that pissed me the fuck off, and I started to dig even more. Tyrrendor is going to rebel, and we know it. The puppet general is making sure that it's all very well hidden."

"She'll kill you," Violet said.

"She'll kill anyone who violates the rules she thinks are impossible to break without being a traitor, but in the end, Tyrrendor is protecting itself, not all of Navarre, and sometimes that needs to happen."

Violet wasn't sure this wasn't a fever dream, so she would leave Xaden and Brennan to talk about it. Breakfast hadn't come with her siblings, so she needed to eat something before taking a painkiller.

The sound of the door opening again had Violet rush in there to tell her sister to fuck off when Bodhi, Garrick, and Liam came around the corner into the kitchen with a few bags in each hand.

"That's a lot of food."

"I've got the food," Liam said.

"We just have the groceries so that we can cook here. We raided everything from the fridge. There is pasta left, I think." Garrick laughed as he set down his bags on the counter in front of him before he started to pull things out.

Violet wasn't sure what was going to happen now that she had made her mother pissed at her again, but she didn't care. She wanted to live her life the way she wanted to live it, without fear of her mother. She would have to worry about her a little bit but not have to fear her. Not here.

---

Violet turned on the lights as she came in the back. The parking lot was finally finished, and she was excited about that. The shop could be moved around a little bit to allow her to get her deliveries in the back. The coffee shop next door was being worked on, so the hammers and other noises were annoying during the day, but so far, no customers had been too horrible about it.

Sgaeyl was inside, on the bed that was by the counter. Violet shook her head as the dog looked up at her and then laid her head down again. There was nothing to do about it. She came with Xaden, and he was next door. The wall was thankfully still up, but soon that would be going down on a day where Violet felt it would be okay to close, probably a Tuesday since it seemed to be the slowest day she had.

There was going to be a massive glass wall that went up; it was something that Xaden had asked about, and she didn't mind. It would be nice, and she could easily stick up things to block the view of the counter if she wanted. Or have kids draw all over it with markers that would come off. It would be the new kids section, which would happen when the doors closed for a day.

Xaden had yet to ask her out on a date, and the last she had asked him, he had shown up with a whole bunch of people. Violet was willing to wait around until he was ready to do that, but she still got a lot of alone time with him. It would be good when they finally went out on that date.

"Coffee?" Liam called from the back door.

"Tea," Violet yelled back.

Sgaeyl barked at him and laid her head down again. Violet moved her arm a little, but it was still in a cast, having been cleared to be put on after the wounds from the surgery were headed up enough they didn't have to worry about infection from a wound that went uncleaned. Of course, she would still be in it for another month at the least. She would be getting another scan in a few days to see how it was all healing. There had been no bill, just like Liam had said.

"Can we talk?" a woman asked.

Violet spun around, and the growl from Sgaeyl kept the woman back enough that VIlet didn't feel threatened. It was Imogen. Which was a surprise. Bodhi had admitted that she had to apologize to Violet for what she had done before Xaden would allow her back into the inner circle of the friends that Xaden had around him all the time. Violet didn't care much about it, but she knew it wasn't the way it was done in Tyrrendor. Honor was the biggest thing a person had, and losing it was huge.

"Sure."

"I'm sorry. I...I knew exactly who you were when I saw you, but he doesn't leave Sgaeyl alone with anyone besides Garrick, Liam, and Bodhi. Not even Sloane is alone with her. It pissed me off that he left her with you, and she was just staying. I don't want him. I don't want Xaden that way, but he's so obsessed with you. First, it was making sure you weren't there for your mother, and then when things turned out the way they did, and the news really hit here about how you and your mother fought, he just seemed to be drawn to you. He has never been this way with anyone, not even Cat."

Violet nearly asked who Cat was, but she stopped herself and waited for Imogen to say something.

"I have no reason to think anything but the best about you, but in the end, I wanted to make you hurt because you were invading a place I still don't think you belong."

"You are forgiven, but maybe it is best if we stay away from each other."

Imogen nodded her head, and she turned to leave, stopping at the door as she got there. "He has never been this way about anyone. I mean that."

Violet wasn't going to latch onto that with someone that she didn't know that well. She was alone for the next half an hour. She knew that Liam would be getting stuff for the other before coming over to help her set up her shop for the day. It was going to be a good day. She could just feel that.

The door was mostly shut with a good breeze coming through with the upper windows open. She loved feeling the breeze, so she asked Xaden to open the upper windows when he and Liam had been up there changing the hanging decorations. Rhi and Violet had stayed below to enjoy watching them work on it. They had stripped off their shirts to do it even though it wasn't needed. They had been more than enough to make Violet want to get popcorn and watch it like a show. Of course, in the end, it had ended but still. She was sure that Xaden had done it on purpose because he had just smirked at her when he came down with Liam on his heels.

"Here you go. Tea for now and tea for later." Liam slipped the one cup of tea into the fridge where it would stay cold. He handed over a cup of hot tea, and Violet cupped it between her hands for a few seconds before she took a sip. She wasn't cold, but her hands ached a little with the storm coming their way; her arm was killing her, but she could use it for certain things.

"Thanks," Violet said. She didn't even try and give over any money. It would just be used to buy something in the shop like she had done the last time she had slipped money into Liam's pockets. He had found it and turned around and spent more money than it was in the shop. So Violet had gotten used to Xaden just buying everything when she was around him or his people.

"What kind of books do we have coming out today?" Liam asked as he walked over to the boxes that had been dropped off the night before. It

"There are actually ten books out today. Five of them are romances from five different publishers." Violet walked over to the boxes and found the one she wanted to see the most. She pulled the tape off the top of the box and smiled at the book on the top. She had bought a lot more copies of it than she probably should, but she was going to send one to her mother.

"What has you smiling?" Liam slipped up beside her and grabbed a book. He pulled it out of the box and gasped. "You never told us."

"It's something I didn't tell anyone. I never wanted to make a big deal out of it, but then I realized it would be a big deal this morning, no matter what. There was never going to be a chance this was going to slip away. My face isn't on it, but I know that everyone is going to know it's me."

"You didn't use your last name, but you know that we would do. It's venin-based. Which is a big thing for your father."

"Yes, and I love his stories, but there are things that I would love to see with someone who is like me in them. Hope for those who also have to move around the world in a different way. There are a lot of things in the book that my father only ever touched on."

"Well, I'm buying this for me. And a copy of the library." Liam pulled another out, laid them by the register, and then came back over to start pulling books out. "A bunch of these with the rest of the venin books, s smaller group with eh fantasy, and then that table you cleared yesterday is for it, it's it?"

"Yes, for now. Next week, another of my father's posthumous books will be coming out. It's going to have an edited by my name on it, and that's when people are going to connect it, so I thought I could just have them all out on the table and then next week have half of them moved to make room for that one as well."

"Sure thing." Liam picked up the box and carried it over to the table she had cleared.

Reading had been such a part of her life with her father. Writing had just come naturally to her when she wanted to spend time with her father. Her stories hadn't been as deep as his stories had been at the start, but over the years, she had worked on them. It was what she worked on each morning when she was getting ready for work. The series was mostly done, as she had wanted to shop a series that she didn't have to worry about. Of course, the same company that put out her father's books had jumped on her when she showed them to them. Now, she had more than enough time to finish the edits on all of the books she was working on while also writing the next series she wanted to do.

Liam worked in silence as Violet worked on getting the bookmarks into each pre-ordered book and stuck them under the counter for when people came for them. She wanted to make sure that they were ready.

"I heard you are having a midnight release next month," Xaden said as he came into the back of the shop. Sgaeyl got up out of her bed and rushed over to him.

Violet glanced back at him, and she had trouble breathing. He was covered in dirt and sweat, but he looked so good. His shirt was hanging from his back pocket like it usually did when he was working like that.

"I am. It is the last book in a series, and many have wanted to come to it. I'm going to open at eleven, and people will be able to play a few games. Each person will get a ticket that will be used to give them the copies. I have extra things I'll make and set up for the first people there. Why?"

"And is there like a sign-up sheet or something? How does one go about being the first in line?"

"Camping out," Violet said.

"Hmm," Xaden hummed as he stood up from petting Sgaeyl. Tairn was next in line, but he just cleaned into Xaden. Andrana was still upset at him for moving the bed. The dog could hold a grudge, it seemed.

"What did you need?" Liam asked.

"Just came to get a few minutes of break and let you know we are going to go to the place down the street and eat lunch. Let me know what you two want, and we will bring it back to you."

Violet wasn't sure what place down the street was being talked about. There were seven places down the street, but Liam had to know what it meant as he nodded his head and turned back to work on the books.

"How is Brennan?" VIole tasked.

"He likes the apartment, and I got him the hell out of there before someone recognized him for who he was. The whole thing with you had made the news a little bit. Dad's a little upset that Imogen did that. He didn't like it at all, but he also understands that she's hurting about a few things and reacting without thinking. She said she apologized."

"She did, but she still doesn't like me, and I told her to stay away from me."

"And we can do that with ease. Don't worry about it. Is everything going well in here?"

"Of course, Liam's a wonderful help. Rhi will be here this evening to help me close up."

"Good. What about dinner?" Xaden asked.

"I haven't thought as far ahead yet. Rhi wants to try some new place, but she keeps putting it off. I was thinking of maybe trying to talk her into making a reservation when she gets off work so that we know we can get in there."

"And tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is my day off. Rhi will work at the shop with the new guy I hired."

"Good. I'm glad you are finally fully taking days off." Xaden turned his head, and then there was a loud call from the other shop. "I should get back. Let me know if you need anything."

Violet nodded, and she watched him leave. She took in the scars on his back and debated asking about them, but she had never done so before, and she wasn't sure if she would ever get the nerve to ask about it. She knew it was something as each of the scars was exactly the same. It was strange to see it, but she hadn't found anything about it online. Then, there were a lot of spaces online where it was hard to find what one was looking for unless there was a name attached to it.

The day went fast, as it always did when there were a lot of releases. Liam was there to help people get the things they needed while Violet stayed at the register to make sure that she didn't hit her arm off anything, which was the biggest issue she had at the moment. She wasn't sure what kind of timeline was going to be for her getting the damned cast off, but she wanted it off as soon as possible.

Evening rolled around, and Violet was alone for a few as Rhi was walking Tairnand Andarna. Sgaeyl went home with Xaden. It was strange not to have people at her house anymore, but she wasn't worried about falling down the stairs anymore.

The door opened, and Violet paused in the notes she was making on the books she needed to order more of to stare at the man who was standing there. Fen Riorson.

"I-" Violet paused, and she swallowed. Her mouth was dry, and she wasn't sure what she wanted to say to him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good, Sir," Violet said.

"Fen works, Violet. I don't need to be called Sir by you. How are things going in the shop?"

"Good. People love to read, or at least a good chunk of people in this area of town."

"That's good. Xaden keeps me apprised of the workings of the shops in this area, but I do like to come out at least once a year and see all of them. When I was around this morning, your shop wasn't open to hit the early ones. You have strange hours for someone who sells books."

"I had longer hours at the start, but too many hours where no one was around, so I shortened them. I figure that in a year or so, I might be able to open up for a longer period again." Violet wasn't sure if she should get up off the stool. She stayed where she was when Fen went over to the books and started to look at a few of them.

"Tyrrendor's general had been asked to ask you to stop writing the books. I guess this one hit a few nerves."

Violet knew what his nerves were as she had gone for something that was even more radical than what her father put out. Even his last series wasn't anywhere near what she was doing.

"And?"

"And I wanted to make sure that you understand that going this route will make you enemies."

"They have always been my enemies. I hate the control that is exerted on the provinces and the way that their history is being pushed down. The country isn't a melting pot of people; it's a strip mine."

"That's a good term. I would, of course, support you in everything, even if Xaden wasn't infatuated with you." Fen straightened up, and he turned to look at her again. "I hope you knew that already."

"Garrick has a loose mouth, but I knew it. I've tried to get him out on a date, but things are a little rough there. The injury by Imogen freaked him out a lot."

"It's not that you aren't strong; it's how breakable you are. It's something he's working through. I know that you know the truth of how life is here, and I wanted you to know that I support you. Your mother might not trust that you are a good person, but I know that you are. I have read your book; my general passed along the advance copy he was given to show how you are not a good Navarrian. I think that it makes you a good one who wants to see the mistakes of the past erased."

"I do. I want to see our people happy and thriving. You have shown that it can happen, but must start at the top. You were nearly killed over it."

I've been nearly killed over it a few times. Xaden, as well. He has his own way of being and his issues when it comes to that, but I raised a strong young man who seems only to fear love. I hope you don't hold that against him."

"Love is worth waiting for," Violet said.

"Have a good evening, Miss Sorrengail."

"You too, Fen," Violet said.

Fen left the shop and he carefully pulled the door shut behind him. Violet followed and locked the door only to find Xaden at the back of the shop with a curious look on his face.

"You just missed your father," Violet said.

"Oh, I know. I saw his car outside and waited until he left. I did hear him talking to you about my affection."

"Yes. I figure that you'll figure it all out when it's time."

"Well, I tried to ask you out today, but you said you had plans with Rhi already."

"If you had said it was a date, I would have gladly gone with you. You didn't, and now we have reservations." Violet smiled when Xaden smiled at her.

"It's fine. I don't mind at all. Tomorrow, though, you and me. Dinner."

"Okay." Violet saw the door opening, and Tairn came running in with Andarna on his heels; they were both wound up as they were after a walk lately. She shook her head before starting to shut down the register. It was a good feeling to know that Xaden was finally ready.

---

Violet wasn't sure what woke her up, and she looked around her room. The place was silent, and there was nothing out of place. Tairn's head was up, and he was looking at her bedroom door, so Violet reached under her pillow for the headboard and pulled the dagger out of the sheath where she kept it. She slipped out of the bed before heading for the door. She opened it and shut it behind her to keep the dogs in her room. She always left it cracked to allow them out, but she wouldn't do that with whatever noise woke her up.

There was a soft light from the kitchen. She knew she didn't leave it on and frowned. She shifted the grip on the dagger before she started to lean over to look at the room.

Xaden was sitting on the island with what looked like thread in one hand and scissors in the other. He cut it, and it was then that she saw the blood. She stepped into the other room, and Xaden looked up at her. His face was covered in blood as well.

"Hi," Xaden said.

"Hi....like you aren't sitting in my kitchen after breaking in with blood all over you."

"What else am I supposed to say?"

"I am not sure. I thought it was better than just staring at you."

"Well, it kind of is. What can I do?"

"I need to get cleaned up, but I need to get this sewed shut as well, or the blood is going to keep on going everywhere, and there is a lot of it."

"Where is Sgaeyl?" Violet asked.

"She's upstairs in your room. I am shocked you didn't see her. As soon as I let us in, she took off that way."

"I think that might be what woke me up." Violet went to the sink and washed her hands before grabbing a clean rag and wetting it a little bit before walking over to where Xaden was. She moved his hands out of the way and looked at the stab wound on his side. It was horrible looking, and she didn't think that stitches were going to get it.

"Tomorrow I can go to our doctor. He'll take care of the rest, but he's not actually here tonight. He is out of town, and he is coming back tomorrow. He's on the flight home right now."

Violet cleaned up the blood as much as she could so she could see what the wound looked like. She didn't like it, but she could do as much as Xaden needed to make sure that he was better off.

"I popped some antibiotics already, as well as painkillers. I kept those in the car, but my other supplies were a little lacking."

"What about the person who did this?"

"Dead in the river. They aren't going to be found for a while. I didn't weigh him down, but the river is high, and the water could take them a long way from here. Other than the bruises, there is no chance to connect it to someone doing it. I snapped his neck."

"What happened?"

"He tried to kill me. I killed him. He didn't expect me to fight back, and that means that whoever paid him was not paying enough to get the good ones."

Violet picked up the thread and she got the needle ready. She could see that it had been taken out of a wrapper that said it was sterile. She didn't want to think about Xaden having medical-grade things in his car.

"Lean back so I can see." Violet worked on getting his sewn up and not throwing up. The not throwing up part was going to take a while to get over. She wanted to puke before she even got the first suture done. She wanted to make sure that she didn't throw up on him, so she fought it down like she did the pain when she was hurt.

"It's a good thing you got the cast off your arm, right?" Xaden asked.

Violet wanted to punch him for that, but she figured it wouldn't go over well with how much pain he had to be in despite the whole painkiller thing."

"Just don't do something stupid," Xaden said.

"I'm not going to go after whoever did this. I'll leave that to your father."

"Oh, I know that you will be the person who paid. Had the assassin given me a message before he killed me, only he died first, didn't he?"

"What?" Violet asked as she closed off the third suture. She was getting better as she did it. She had read a few books on it, even though the healers were the ones that did this kind of thing most of the time; she was more than happy she could do enough to make sure that Xaden didn't die.

"Something about secrets that I didn't care to remember at all and then something about touching things that were not for me. Love, your mother."

"My mom? She paid...she wanted to see if someone could catch you off guard or something?"

"I was looking at the picture I took of you sleeping on the couch in the upper area of the bookstore last week after your appointment, and you were tired. You looked so sweet." Xaden leaned in for a kiss, but VIolet pushed him back with her hand.

He huffed but stayed back.

"You are not getting sex right now, Xaden Riorson. It's stupid to even think about that. You would break your stitches and be in worse condition than you are now."

"Hmm, I bet I could be good."

"The endorphins are going to your head. You are going to regret anything that we do in bed together."

"Nah, but I would like to sleep in bed, a nice bed, and not your couch."

"That's fine. We can do that, but you need to get cleaned up first, so after I get this going, you are going to go up to the shower, and you are going to get under it. I'm going to clean you up."

"First time getting naked, and it's just for that?"

Violet glared at him and rolled her eyes when Xaden smirked at her. She worked on finishing up what she needed to do. Her sleep clothes would get soaked through, and he would need something else to sleep in as well. She thought that she might have something of Brennan's there. Maybe. She wasn't sure.

Xaden hissed when Violet was finishing up what she was doing. She hated how much it was hurting him, but it wasn't going to be pretty when the stitches were removed and better ones put in, but at least maybe he wouldn't bleed out overnight.

"I want to get you clean, and then I can put something sturdy on that. I hope it lasts the night."

"I'll end up on my back and not move. It hurts to breathe."

"Are you sure you aren't bleeding internally?"

"I'm sure. It got nothing. I promise."

Violet nodded. She looked at her blood-covered hands, and for a few seconds, she thought if she could do this. She could side with Xaden and his father and not her own family, but then she remembered hearing some of the things her mother had done to support the king. She could do this to protect those who need it.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, just thinking over everything that I need to do. I'll text Liam to have him open the shop. At least tomorrow is going to be a slow day."

Xaden nodded his head, and he swallowed. "I wasn't expecting this after I dropped you off after our date."

"I didn't either, but we are going to deal with the hand we are dealt, not the one we wish we had."

"That sounds like something your mother said."

"My father about my disability. I wasn't a happy kid about most of it. I learned to deal with what I had, and he helped me with that. It's the only way to deal without having to hate your life."

"You are stronger than most people I have met in my life." Xaden pulled her into him, holding on tightly for a few seconds before he ducked his head for a kiss. He kept it short and sweet.

It was enthralling, just like the kiss when he dropped her on her doorstep. She wanted to have more than that, but there was no way she would do that now.

Violet broke the kiss, and she pulled Xaden along with her as they went to the bathroom. The stairs were horrible on Xaden, but he went up with barely a hiss of pain. The winces were more than enough to show that he wasn't happy about most of it.

The water was turned on, and Violet worked at getting stuff ready to get him in there. She found the few bits of softer clothes she had to make sure that she didn't hurt him when she cleaned him up. There was blood all over, and it would need to be gotten off him.

"Shorts, too?"

Violet turned to look at him, and she gave him a look that promised pain.

Xaden laughed, but he shucked his underwear off. He was soft, but his cock was something that she would dream about now. The size and what it looked like, what it would feel like when she finally got her mouth on it. What it was going to feel like when he fucked her the first time. Violet stripped down to her underwear but kept the bra on because as much as she knew he would like to see her, she was going to make him wait until after he was clean.

Violet had never had a relationship before. She had fucked around with a few guys in college that her mother very much didn't want her to be with as a bit of rebellion, but this was whole and gone from what she had done. Her mother was going to be super pissed off, but she didn't care, even if it meant that she made a spectacle of the fact that her mother tried to have her boyfriend killed.

Boyfriend.

As of just hours ago, Xaden had asked her to be his girlfriend because he didn't do anything where there was a chance of ambiguity. There were many reasons to worry about many things, but she wasn't worried about this in the end.

Violet got her nightgown off and let him take his fill of what she was dressed in. She had been so excited after the date to just get into bed she had forgotten to take her sexy underthings off, which was working well for now.

Xaden made a show of looking her up and down, taking in her curves and the bit of muscle she had gained from working out with Rhi.

"Let's get this on the road. It's going to suck. The pill is finally fully kicking in, so I hope that it keeps on going as long as I need it to."

Violet nodded her head, and she looked at the water before she thought about something else she needed. Her brace was meant to get wet, so she didn't have to worry about that. She had a second that Xaden had insisted on her getting, and she would have him change it out when they were done with all of this.

Xaden hissed when he got under the water, and Violet watched as the water started to run pink where it went over his body. There was so much blood that she was worried about it. She was careful as she started to clean him up a little bit, but he stopped her.

"I can't get my hair."

Violet nodded, and she coaxed him into sitting down. She worked up the lather on the hair and made sure that the blood was gone from it. She could see a cut there, and she didn't think it was too bad off, but she would hit it with some kind of antibacterial salve as soon as she got him out of the shower. She had only black towels, which was good as it meant she didn't need to worry about stains from the blood when she dried him off.

The shower wasn't nearly as sexy as Violet thought the first with them would be, but Xaden was still partially hard when she was done drying off, with her on her knees in front of him as she dried his legs, she wasn't shocked, not with the painkiller making his eyes look blown wide. It was the kind of thing that made her want to have something else going on, but she wasn't sure that it was going to be happening.

"Tomorrow, we can go to mine," Xaden said.

"Are you sure?" Violet had never been invited over to Xaden's, and she never asked about it.

"Yes, it's where the doctor will go. You can drive us there. The car will need to be cleaned, and Garrick can take care of that then.

"Do they know where you are?"

"Yes. I checked in and ensured they were all fine before telling them where I was going. They gave the right code that they were them."

Violet knew it would take a while to get used to that kind of life. Where she worried about if the person texting her was actually texting her or if it was someone else who wanted to kill her or kidnap her to kill Xaden.

There was more blood when Violet got him to sit down on the counter, which put the wound at the right level. He had a towel draped over his legs to catch what blood there was. Violet grabbed the rag from the shower and wrung it out to get it as dry as possible. She cleaned the fresh blood from around the wound before picking up the spray that she was going to use to make sure that it was clean before putting on the salve.

"This is going to hurt," Violet said.

Xaden laid his hand on her shoulder and squeezed only a little when she sprayed it on there. It was painful; she knew what it was like, having used it on the wounds she got from Andarna and her puppy nails. When she was done with that, she picked up the salve she had that would keep him from getting an infection, at least as much as she could. Xaden would still need to make sure to take more pills and get it better cleaned out by the doctor the next day, but she would be around for that to make sure that he did it.

"Thank you," Xaden said.

"Of course. I don't mind at all. I would rather not have just walked down into what I saw, but I know you were trying to clean it up before I came into the room. I get it. How are you getting in?"

"I learned to pick locks as a kid. I keep myself up to date on that to make sure that no one can get me like that. I can unlock pretty much any lock you give me."

"I guess that is a good idea; even before your father was deposed, he was a target, wasn't he?"

"You were as well," Xaden said.

"Yes, I was, but I was never aware of it until later. We were well protected behind castle walls and guards who were watching us, but everything else was as well. I was thirteen when I figured out I was a target. No one had come after me, but someone had gone after Mira. It was kept from me because I was too fragile to know the truth. I was pissed off and didn't talk to anyone in the family for a month."

Xaden laughed, then grimaced with a look on his face like he regretted that. "I need not laugh, but I can see thirteen-year-old you are not talking to anyone in the family."

"I talked to everyone else. I mean that I would hold conversations with the help of my own siblings. I tried to hold out longer, but I had to cave when it came to Dad because we were working on a project and needed someone to talk to about it. Then everyone else just followed along behind it when I found I couldn't hold back. Mom was longer, I think it was like two months." Violet laid the gauze over the wound, picked up the tape, and started to rip off strips to hold the bandage in place.

Xaden held it in place as she did what she needed to do and smiled when it was all done. He pulled her close and breathed in her scent. After a few seconds, he was reaching out and undoing her bra.

"Xaden," Violet said.

"You are shivering from having something wet and cold on you. So, let's get that off. You've seen me, and as much as I love looking at you in that, I think you need to get warm."

Violet had been getting colder, but she had been more focused on ensuring that Xaden was cared for. Xaden's hands were sure as he got the bra off her. He didn't reach for her underwear, which would have meant he would have needed to lean over, so Violet stepped back, letting him have the bra as she wiggled out of the very wet underwear. She grabbed the towel and started to dry off the still wet areas. Her hair was a mess, and it was going to be a bitch to get out in the morning, but she wasn't even worried about getting it out of the braid. She had the stuff to work it over in the morning and would do that while Xaden slept. He needed sleep.

Xaden grabbed the towel and used it to pull her to him. He sighed before kissing her, soft and gentle on the lips, before pulling back again. "Sleep, let's get some sleep."

"Yes. Be careful getting into bed, please. I would like not to have blood all over."

Xaden waited for Violet to step back to grab her nightgown. She had found a pair of Brennan's shorts that would work to make sure that he was at least covered a little bit.

"Shit, I left my dagger downstairs. I'll get it later."

"Yes, I was shocked to see you and forgot to ask about that. Where was that?"

"In a sheath at the head of the bed between the side of the mattress and the headboard. It's the best spot for it, as I can easily get it. I have another on the other side of the bed, so we are not weaponless. Guns have too much of a kickback most of the time, so while I can fire them, they mess me up too much to make them accurate. So, I trained on knives and daggers. I can land a throw from a distance and make sure that I hit what I want of it."

Xaden nodded and pulled the covers back where Violet hadn't been on that side of the bed. He sat down and reached out for his shorts, but Violet kept them in her hands and got to her knees to get them up his legs before he worked them the rest of the way up. She didn't want him doing anything that would hurt him.

"Sleep," Xaden said as he laid down after rising up enough to get the shorts up. He shifted to where his head was on a pillow, and he was on his back. He patted the bed beside him, where Vilet could lay down and cuddle into him without hitting his side. It wasn't the side she normally slept on, but that was okay. She wouldn't get much sleep anyway, at least she didn't think.

She got into bed, got under the covers, and enjoyed the feel of someone in bed with her. She hadn't really slept in bed with anyone before. Most of her lovers were in their beds, and she left as soon as sex was done or it was passing out from drinking and fucking. This was wholly different; she wasn't sure she wanted to sleep without Xaden in bed anymore.

Violet knew she had fallen hard and fast but didn't care.

---

The clattering of things sent the three dogs running for the door, which was open this time. Vilet cracked her eyes open and found that it was light outside. She reached for Xaden, but he wasn't there. She looked to see if he was in the bathroom, but its light was off. She hoped it wasn't him making that noise down in the kitchen. If he was, she was going to kill him. She got out of bed and started for the door, stopping halfway there. She needed to be in something less revealing if anyone else except Xaden was down there. She darted to the bathroom to drop the nightgown with the bra and underwear that were still on the floor, getting it a little wet, but she didn't care.

Getting dressed was minutes' work as she didn't care about make-up and the like. Her hair was messy, but she could handle it before they left. She pulled the ribbons, keeping it the way she liked it, and let it flow down to where she could work it out a little with her fingers as the morning went.

The smell of food was what drew her down the stairs instead of staring at herself in the mirror.

It was just Garrick in the kitchen by the time she got in there. Xaden was in the living room on the couch with Bodhi, swapping out the bandage on his stomach. The dogs were nowhere to be seen or heard.

"Liam, take them out?" Violet asked.

"Yes. Sgaeyl might have killed anyone who came in the door as she came down the stairs growling but stopped when she saw us. Sorry for waking you up. Xaden was using the bathroom already, I think. He hobbled out. He's gotten a pill and some toast in him; he brought that from home to give him something to eat. The doctor will be arriving about two hours to Xaden's place, but I figure we can hang her and feed you two and then head that way."

"Okay." Violet wasn't sure what to do. Xaden could pick locks, but this was something different. "how did you get in?"

"Lock picking," Bodhi said.

"Of course, it's a family trait, right?"

Xaden laughed and then groaned, which made Bodhi laugh.

"We learned together. We wouldn't have to break in if we had a key."

"You are not getting a key to my girlfriend's place before me," Xaden growled.

"Oh, you finally asked that part of things, huh?" Garrick asked.

Violet let them all bicker about things as she worked on getting water going for tea. She found the coffee she had started to stock in the house to make sure that the others had stuff to drink when they were there. She was happy that there were not a lot of them who needed the coffee part of things. Liam was happy to drink strong tea when he invaded the house.

The door opened into the kitchen, and Tairn was the first in, with Sgaeyl on his heels before Andarna came in like she didn't want to. Andarna would be happy outside all the time, except in the rain. When it rained, she didn't even like going outside, even on the porch, to get some air.

Liam laughed as he followed Andarna into the house, and he looked up at Violet with a smile on his face. "Need me to do anything special today?"

"Yes, I usually take stock of what bookmarks I have and see about asking for more off the printer or ordering more with the books when I do that on Friday."

"Okay, I can do that. I'll make a list and email it to you so you have it."

The guys all moved around the house with ease and smiles on their faces. Bodhi was still taking care of Xaden, checking a few other things before releasing him to get up.

"Your clothes are in the bathroom down here," Liam said.

"There is a bathroom down here?" Xaden asked. He looked around.

"Yeah, it's the one that looks like a closet down the hallway to the back of the house and that weird storage room."

Xaden carefully stood up, went down the hall, and opened the door. Then he looked at Liam. "How did you know about this?"

"Because I snooped the first time I was here?"

Violet laughed. She wondered why Xaden was in the kitchen when the bathroom was there. It was only a half bath, but it was enough that he would have been able to sit on the toilet and start to do what he had been doing, and the water would have been a hell of a lot closer. She had just thought he hadn't liked using it when he had stayed over when she had been injured. Everyone else had.

Of course, that didn't stop him from coming up into her bathroom, even if there was a guest bathroom on the second floor as well. It had been something that she had liked despite it being something that most wouldn't like.

"Want help with your hair?" Garrick asked as he looked at her when she sat down at the island.

Everything from the night before was cleaned up except the dagger, which was sitting in the middle of the table.

"What kind of help are you offering?"

"oh, I'm not. I'm offering Bodhi's help. He's the hair magician. Going to bed with wet hair is never good."

Violet turned to look at Bodhi as he came into the room. He shrugged, and she nodded at him.

"Is that the dagger?" Garrick asked when Xadene came up to stand behind Violet.

"No, that's the dagger I carried down to defend myself from the idiot who broke into my place last night."

Xaden laid his hands on Violet's shoulders and then turned her on the stool she was sitting on. He kissed her before groaning. "Sorry. Breathing still kind of hurts."

"It's fine. Go and sit down before you do something stupid." Violet spun around to face Garrick again as Xaden sat down beside her. He groaned in pain again, so Violet laid her hand on his thigh. He was still just in boxers. She wondered if he would wait to get dressed until right before they left.

Bodhi came back into the other room with her brush and a few other products she used to make sure that she didn't tear up her hair when she needed to brush it out after a night when she hadn't taken care of it before bed. He was gentle as he started at the tips of her hair and brushed out the rats' nests that the tangles had become in bed. It was a nice feeling to have someone doing this. It was the best part of going and getting her hair cut.

Xaden looked at them for a few minutes before he turned to look at Garrick. "Well?"

"Things are calm. The body hasn't been found as of yet, and we didn't go looking for it either. The water should have washed away anything that would have pinned it on you. It's fine. It's not like we don't have idiots who wash up at least a couple times a year where they have fucked around in the dark near the river."

Violet had known that in the beginning. It was one of the biggest causes of death in the city outside of car accidents. Now, she wondered if it was just a way to cover the bodies of the assassins sent after them. She didn't care about that and would easily settle in with the idea she had no idea if someone asked her about it. It wasn't like someone was going to come up and say that they knew that the person was with the person who killed them because the assassin was trying to kill them. It would just be put down to someone being an idiot, slipping on the rocks, and then snapping their neck or drowning.

"Are you okay?" Xaden asked.

"Yes. It's not the first time I've seen this before. Mira has come back black and blue from previous missions. I'm fine." Violet closed her eyes to enjoy the feel of the brush in her hair and Bodhi's fingers on her head.

---

Violet sat up when Xaden entered the room. She had been left alone in the living room with a stack of books before Xaden had a meeting with a few people about the assassin.

"The doctor is here. Did you want to come with me?" Xaden held out his hand.

Violet closed her book after checking to make sure the bookmark was there. She laid the book down on the coffee table and followed Xaden to the room where there was a lot of medical equipment around. No one else was in there but the doctor.

"This is Elroy," Xaden said.

"Hello."

"Elroy, this is Violet. You might end up working on her if she gets hurt, which can happen due to her disability, not just being attacked."

"Of course, I'll make sure to do some research on the disability so that I can make sure to treat her the way she needs to be treated. How are you feeling, Xaden?"

"Sore as hell. I've had antibiotics since I wasn't exactly the cleanest before the fight happened. I've had a few painkillers as well. Violet cleaned the wound as much as she could last night, and we've smeared all kinds of things to stop infection as well."

"Good. Let's get you up here and lay down. Violet, could you raise up his shirt once he's down? I'll get my hands clean and some gloves on. You can remove any bandages as well."

Violet was careful as she did as Elroy asked her. The wound didn't look as bad as she thought it would. It wasn't any redder than it was the night before, and the blood wasn't nearly as much as she feared it would be.

"This looks good. You guys did a good job. The stitches are not the best, but for how they happened, they are excellent."

Violet felt a little pride in that. She stayed by Xden's side as Elroy worked on getting the stitches out, and he used something that was clean and numbed at the same time to make sure that Xaden didn't need to be worried about infection inside until the pills really started to work. The stitches that he put in were a little different than the ones Violet had attempted, but in the end, they did the same thing. After the gloves were swapped for clean ones, the new bandage was put on carefully, and Elroy washed his hands again. There was a lot of cleaning hands for Elroy, which Violet was happy about.

"You don't need to worry about internal bleeding, as I am sure you are aware. The knife missed everything but your skin. Just be careful with it all. I'll check you over again next week and see how things are healing up. The stitches would fall out on your own, but you know sometimes they are a little stubborn."

"I'm well aware."

Elroy worked with a needle and something from a syringe, and he injected that right near the bandage.

"Just local to keep you pain-free enough to get into different clothes and maybe get a little more sleep. The more sleep you can get, the better."

"I planned on going up to the bedroom and sleeping, talking Violet into taking a nap with me as well."

Violet huffed, but a nap did sound really good. She nodded when Elroy looked at her.

"No sex until I clear you. Ripping out those stitches would not be good."

Xaden nodded, but his lips' little tilt made Violet think he wouldn't follow that. He was probably not going to last long at all on that.

Elroy wrote out a few scripts, and those he gave to Bodhi when the man came into the room like he had been summoned in some way. He took them and then headed out again. Then Xaden got up, careful to move slowly to make sure he didn't rip his stitches. Violet followed him out of the room and then up to the house's second floor. There were a lot of rooms all around, and Violet could tell which ones were in use. It seemed they all lived together, which she had thought at one point but dismissed, but it seemed she had been right.

"This house is beautiful."

"It was the first house that my father bought, then the business outgrew it, but he kept it on hand; when I turned twenty, he gave me the house, and the others followed me into it as they turned twenty. I was happy to have a place where we could all live together."

"Does Imogen live here?"

"No, she never liked it. She lives with her parents right now. Her mother needs a little help with her younger siblings. I didn't push her to live here when she didn't want to. This is my room." Xaden opened a double set of doors and showed off the massive room inside. It was bigger than the living room in her house. Hell, it was bigger than her mother's living room in the house they had moved into when they moved to Basgiath when they were stationed there. She wondered what it would be like to wake up there every morning.

"There are some clothes in there you can wear; they are mine, so please help yourself. I'm going to get out of these jeans." Xaden started unbuttoning his jeans and wiggled out of them.

Violet headed over to where Xaden pointed, and she opened the drawer to see it was pants that would be too big on her as well as shirts, but she found what she thought would be too big and then started to get changed. She had worn a comfortable bra this time to make sure if she slept in it, it would be fine. Which was a good idea, given that Xaden wanted a nap.

Despite getting more sleep, Violet hadn't gotten a lot of sleep overall. Liam was working at the shop and would be there as long as there was no other staff. They were all used to him, so getting them to do their job when they showed up would be easy.

Violet made it into the bed first, and she put herself where Xaden had awaited her the night before. After a minute, he got into the bed and laid on his back like he said he would be sleeping for the next while. Violet rolled over to cuddle into him, and she was asleep seconds after laying down on him.

---

The dream was so good. Violet wasn't sure she wanted to wake up from it. The alarm hadn't gone off, so she was able to exist in a dreamland where Xaden had his hand buried in her cunt, finger fucking her and making her wet before he would slide inside of her. The dream had been the same for weeks as she had been sleeping in bed with Xaden, having all but moved into the house, even bringing the dogs with her. She wasn't going to stop until she was sated.

"Wake up," a rough voice whispered.

Violet shook her head and thought about being stretched open on more than her fingers.

"Wake up, Violet," Xaden said.

Violet forced her eyes open, realizing that the fingers weren't a dream and weren't Xaden's. She pulled her hand up, and Xaden caught her wrist with his hand and drew her fingers up to his mouth to lick them clean. It was the most erotic thing she had ever seen.

"I could hear you trying to get yourself off in your dreams and thought it might be good to have you awake and let me do it." Xaden laid his hand on her stomach as soon as he let go of her wrist, and then his hand started to creep south, dipping under the hem of her underwear before going no further.

"Yes," Violet said.

Xaden hadn't been cleared for sex yet, but it was so damned close, and he had moved without pain in a few days, outside of when Andarna jumped on him. He shifted to where he was between her legs, the blanket thrown off them. He leaned down and kept his gaze locked on hers as he licked at her covered sex. Violet nearly trapped his head there, but he grabbed her thighs to keep them back as he licked her. She wanted to beg him to get her underwear off, but he felt so damned good.

"Do you like this pair that much?" Xaden asked before taking one lick and then sucking on her clit.

Violet couldn't form words, so she threw her head side to side. The rip of the crotch of the underwear wasn't a shock, and Violet let Xaden do what he wanted. They were both on the widely available birth control, and Violet had been for a long time; she hadn't asked how long he had been. There were a lot of people who were put on it and only came off it when they were married. Sex was sex.

Xaden ate her out like no one ever had before. She had lovers who had done the act, but this was something wholly different, and she came with his name on her lips. She reached down and tangled her fingers into his hair to pull him up. She needed him inside of her right now. If she didn't get that, she would put him on his back and ride him.

"No need for threats, Violence," Xaden said as he rubbed the head of his cock between her folds and then started to push inside of her.

Violet jerked him forward a little more, crushing their mouths together. He was gentle as he pushed inside of her, his girth filling her up in just the right ways.

"Fuck," Xaden said when he was fully inside of her. he shuddered and just stayed still as he panted. Violet rocked just a little on him, squeezing as she did. He growled, and his mouth latched onto her neck, and he started to move.

There was nothing but the feel of the drag of his cock inside of her as he sucked a bruise on her neck. Everyone was going to know what happened, and she didn't care. No one cared as it was. Xaden had been hers for a while, and she was his. This was just the next step in showing the world that they were each other's.

"I'm not going to last," Xaden said.

"I'm close again as well," Violet whispered in Xaden's ear as she turned her head to catch his mouth again. She wanted them to kiss as they came.

It wasn't anything pretty or good, but it was full of emotion and desperation, which was something that Violet wanted. It was what had been lacking before. This was everything. This was perfect and everything she had been looking for. It was what she had seen missing in all relationships she had seen in Basgiath, even her own parents.

Violet came first, and the clenching of her muscles pulled Xaden over with her. His mouth landed on her shoulder, and he bit down, marking her in more ways than one with their acts.

She had always been open-minded, allowing her to be open-hearted at the right time.

The End