It’d been one thing to see his son in pictures. In the flesh …
Bastien had no grip on this moment. Dropping his helmet to the ground, he went to the boy and Ember, and wrapped his arms around the two of them and held them tight. All he wanted to do was keep them there for the rest of eternity.
Ember couldn’t breathe due to Bastien’s crushing embrace. Still, she sank her hand into his unbound hair and held him while he kept Florian wedged between their bodies.
“I. Can’t. Breathe!” Florian growled as he struggled for freedom like a fish that had been dumped on land.
Bastien refused to let them go.
“Mama! Help! I’m being molested! Stranger danger! This is making me uncomfortable!”
She laughed at her son’s misery. He was so tall now that the top of his head reached her chin, but he barely reached mid-chest on Bastien. “He’s your father, Ri. Give him a moment to hold you.”
Florian stopped moving instantly as his jaw went slack. He leaned his head back to stare up at Bastien. “Papa?”
Bastien cupped Florian’s head in his hands. The anguish and love on those chiseled features brought tears to her eyes and reminded her of his face when he’d learned his family was dead. That restrained agony that wrung her heart. This was the man she’d fallen in love with. Irritating. Hostile. Reckless. Capable.
But most of all, he was loving to the depths of his soul. Bastien never did anything halfway.
He loved as he lived. With a breakneck speed that was impossible to keep up with.
His lips trembling, he smiled proudly. “Hi, Florian.”
Florian looked from Bastien to her and back again. “Mom never told me you were gigantic.”
Bastien laughed. “Not as big as my Andarion friends or my cousins, but I was taller than my brother.”
Iskander scoffed. “Not as tall as I am. Nor as muscled. And I’m the youngest.”
Ember slapped him playfully on his hard, muscled abdomen. “Now, now, no jealousy!”
“I was just saying…”
She rolled her eyes at that Cabarro competitive spirit.
Bastien ignored them as he tried to think of something to say to his son. Love, pride, disbelief, and fear tangled inside him, leaving him speechless.
What did someone say to a half-grown kid they didn’t know they had?
“It’s an honor to meet you.” Even Bastien cringed at the stupidity of that statement. Why don’t you ask his age and remind him of all the years you’ve missed while you’re at it?
Great intro … moron.
Florian laughed. Then he reached up to touch the cleft in Bastien’s chin. “Everyone says I take after you. I do, don’t I?”
“God, I hope not.” Bastien grinned. “’Cause if you do, your mother has a whole other reason for wanting me dead.”
Her features softened. “You have no idea. Curse you at least three to four dozen times a day.”
“Oh my God! Bastien!” That shriek was even more ear-piercing.
Turning, he saw Tasi, Cin, and Brand as they came running.
And grabbed him into hugs so fierce, they almost knocked him over. It was like being dragged under by a riptide.
But he loved it too much to complain.
“We thought you were dead!” Tasi balled her hand in his hair and held him close as she rained kisses over his face.
“I saw The League report where you’d been killed!” Brand pulled Tasi away so that she could hug him.
He laughed at the unexpected exuberance. It was more than he’d ever hoped to experience from them. Honestly, he’d expected them to hate him as much as everyone else did. “My cousin Jullien did that for me so that they’d stop hunting me.”
Cin leaned against his back, making him the middle of their sandwich. Which reminded him of what he’d suggested to Alura that had sent her spiraling into a special level of pissed off she probably had yet to come down from.
Florian made a rude noise. “Not so fun when you’re the one getting squished, is it?”
Bastien laughed. “I disagree. This is awesome! Sign me up and leave me here.”
Pursing his lips, he glanced over to Ember. “You failed to tell me my father was mental.”
Iskander laughed at that. “I could have told you, kid.”
“And speaking of…” Tasi glanced to Ember. “By the two of you being here, I’m assuming this isn’t a social call.”
“No.” Bastien stepped back so that he could touch his son. “I’m going after Barnabas. We’re here to meet Florian and then I’m going to finish this.”
Iskander’s eyes widened at those words. For the first time, he looked at Bastien with something other than contempt. “Brother! Good friend, buddy, oh pal of mine! You are my new best friend. Where you go. I go.”
Bastien took another step away from him at those peculiar words. “What kind of distemper do you have?”
“The same one you do. Barnabas Cabarro. He killed my mother too, and he damn near killed me. You’re going after him … I plan to help.”
“You know that this is most likely a one-way trip.”