31 parts Complete Mature"I am offering you a good life, a better life, Tiana. It'd be a shame not to take the offer...for you and our daughter."
Tiana...I closed my eyes. Niklaus still said it like a caress. "I can't be in a marriage of convenience." With you.
"We'll be a real family," he said quickly. "We need to be, for Reina's sake."
What about my sake, I wanted to ask, but instead I stood there. I took a deep breath, and turned to look into his eyes again. They were soft and pleading, sincere. I drowned in them, I always did. It was why I ran years ago without telling him anything. I couldn't imagine being a baby's mama-a woman he laid with and didn't want a child with-an inconvenience. I had never really gotten over him. If there was one thing I knew besides how much I loved my daughter, it was that, and I was scared to death.
"We used to be...really good together, you know."
I felt my body flush at his change in tone. "Don't."
He blinked at me, and then his eyes became completely suggestive. "You remember. I do, too. Please give this a chance," he said softly. "I'll do what it takes, Tatiana. I think we owe it to everyone involved to give this a shot."
"What about Demigods?"
"Demigods is a show. My life was a show, but it isn't now. It won't be."
His whispered plea, his masculine scent, and his blue eyes penetrated my sensibilities. I was trying to think of what to say. I had rehearsed this in my mind for years, and now that he was here, I was going horribly blank. I tried to reason: Reina and I would be provided for, we would want for nothing, right? I just had to find a way to keep my heart away from him. The thought seemed impossible.
He took my hand and kissed it, locking eyes to mine. "Do we have a deal then?"
I looked at him, realizing that all devils weren't dark-haired and dark-eyed. "Deal."
