"Lana—" "She'll be alright." I cut in because I heard the doubt in his voice.. Or I just needed another assurance that she was just fine. "I know she will. She must be. I didn't come back from the dead to lose—" With eyes closed, he backed up from his desk and turned towards the large window behind it. "It doesn't matter. This is not what I wanted to discuss with you." He looked at me again and I knew what it was all about. "You do realize that the connection you have with my daughter is unacceptable." "Why is that?" It was me that leaned my hands on the desk this time, looking back at him to find the answer possibly in his eyes.. Because I didn't need to hear what he had to say about that. I knew his opinion on vampires, especially us that ruled Venedocia. "You know that more than I do. Your father—" "My father is long gone. Venedocia is ruled by my brother, and no matter how much you wish to deny it, he will never proclaim war." Perhaps I should had let him finish because it was hard to miss the deadly glare he sent me, but something about that subject didn't lay still inside me. My father was not supposed to be mentioned. What I had with Lana had nothing to do with that. He allowed another few seconds of silence to analyze me. "I cannot say I'm certain, but after what you did for my family, I do trust he wouldn't." I processed his words.. His intentions.. The direction this conversation was taking. I still had that unsettling stone in my chest because Lana was laying unconscious in the other room. How was I to discuss my brother's war pretensions, when— Hell, I could feel the anger slowly boiling inside me. Khan was not a reasonable man, not when it came to his enemies. What was I to say would make him understand that I was willing to give my life for Lana? I kept my silence and this time, I tried analyzing what he had in mind with that.. "I love your daughter." I finally said, pushing back from the desk and assuring him once more. "She is my everything, you must understand that. I've loved her since the moment I first spoke to her and I'd be damned if I ever claimed otherwise." And my words were such a surprise that he was left perhaps speechless for a while because he had to clear his throat and look on the side to find words again. Good. I was glad he took me seriously. "You saved her.. More than once.." He repeated the same. "I'd do it as many times as I have to. I'd die if it means saving her." "I see." He nodded his head and walked a bit closer to his desk. "I came from the dead not so long ago, it's true, but I had seen enough. You did a good job protecting her.. And I understand how you feel, I do, but you must understand too that she— She's my daughter and you are—" "A le Bouriser," "Exactly." I pressed my fingers over my eyes to ease the pressure in my head. I was exchanging words here, having some conversation when all I could think of was her.. He really failed to chose the right time to be discussing that. Hell, I was supposed to be by her side. "That means little to me." I assured him, keeping my patience as still as a rock.. Or at least as much as I could because I could feel it slipping from me. He read me once again, knowing what I said was true. "Your brother already— I had no word in his marriage with Amelia." "I haven't seen two people more perfect for one another. They have a daughter together you must've heard.." There were no other words to describe those two, and Annie that was thankfully somewhere safe at that point. At least I didn't have to worry about that. "I have.. I've heard." It seemed like death really effected his focus because he couldn't concentrate on a single subject for two minutes straight.. "She's, what— two?" "Indeed. Little Annabelle is two." I confirmed, so instantly feeling some ease in my head, even a smile on my lips from the thought of the little princess. "But the point is that no matter how much you wish to deny it, Amelia is with my brother willingly, and Lana—" I ran a hand down my face to find some ease from that pressure I still felt sitting on me. "Lana had kept what she and I have a secret only because she feared your reaction. Which I see why she did so, now,"