Born of Ice

“ ‘Can’t’ isn’t in my vocabulary. I will take him down. Hard. And this will end the feud once and for all.”


A tremor of respect mixed with desire ran down her spine. She loved whenever he was fierce, especially when it was protecting the ones he loved and it made her wish that she’d been born to a different time and station.

But those were stupid dreams. He was the son of a rich shipper and she was a worthless slave.

Disheartened, she dropped her gaze to the picture frame on Devyn’s desk. A smile played at the edges of her lips as she saw a beautiful woman with dark auburn hair. “Your mother?”

He nodded as the screen flashed to a couple. “That’s my dad with her.”

“You look just like him.”

“That’s what they tell me, but I don’t see it. Except for our eyes.”

The next picture was of him and Zarina when Zarina was a little girl, then a bunch of pictures flashed with him and two blond males.

“Zarina’s brothers, Adron and Jayce,” he explained.

“Your family is huge.”

“Tell me about it. I had no privacy growing up. Adron was always staying over at the house because he wanted space.” He laughed. “The boy lived in a palace ten times the size of our house, which don’t get me wrong, was pretty big, but still . . .”

Then she saw Taryn and his twin, along with several photos of Omari growing up.

She touched one photo of him holding Manashe when Manashe was a puppy. “Omari is gorgeous, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t be prouder or love him more if he’d been born to me.”

Alix smiled at the pride in his voice as she leaned down to kiss him.

He arched a brow at her actions. “You’re getting frisky again?”

“I get frisky every time you’re near me. I really can’t thank you enough for what you’re trying to do.”

His eyes darkened as she opened his shirt. “You don’t have to do this to thank me.”

“I’m not.” She was doing this because she wanted to feel safe again and the only place where she’d ever found that was in his arms.

Devyn stood up and started for the bed.

Her gaze dropped back to the photos and when another picture flashed, her smile and desire died instantly. She reached out and froze the scroll.

No . . .

It couldn’t be.

Yet there was no mistaking that face. It was a younger version of the man, but it was him. Definitely.

She looked at Devyn in total shock and horror. “Why do you have a photo of Lieutenant Whelms?”

He scowled. “That’s my half brother, Paden.”

“Yes. Paden Whelms. He’s the man who wants me to hand you over to him on Charisis.”





CHAPTER 9


Devyn sat in stunned silence. His brother wanted him dead . . . No, not dead.

Convicted.

Why?

He just couldn’t believe it. He’d never done anything to his brother. Hell, he hadn’t even met Paden. Only heard stories about him from his father.

“Are you all right?”

He was completely stunned as he met Alix’s concerned frown. “Not really . . . Are you sure about this?”

She nodded. “Believe me, he left an impression. That man”—she pointed at the picture of Paden—“wants your head on a platter. I saw his ID and everything. If Paden Whelms is your brother’s name, then he’s the one I’m supposed to deliver you to.”

Last he’d heard, his brother’s name was Paden Belask, but it was too similar to not believe her. After all, people changed their names, and while he’d never known the name Whelms, it didn’t mean it wasn’t the same person. “It doesn’t make any sense. I’ve never met him.”

“You don’t know your own brother?”

He shook his head. “My father had him with his first wife. After their divorce, Paden had no use for him, and I was born after he was grown. Honestly, I wouldn’t know him if he was standing in front of me.”

“Then why do you have a photo of him?”

“In case I ever ran across him by accident. I just wanted to know what my half-brother looked like.”

Alix was baffled by all of this. “But that doesn’t explain why he would be after you.”

“The only thing I can figure is that he wants to use me to hurt my father.”

She cocked her head. “Has your father done anything to him?”

“No. In fact, it’s just the opposite. He’s taken care of Paden his whole life. That little bastard has his own trust fund from my father. Paden, on the other hand, hates his guts and won’t have anything to do with him.”

“Why?”

“In my opinion, it’s because he’s a selfish idiot. But honestly, I don’t know. It’s not really something my father talks about with me. I only have the one picture, and that just to remind me that I do have a brother out there. I kept thinking one day we’d meet, but not because he was coming after me to arrest me.”

“Are you going to tell your father?”