Shite. I was getting the impression that there was little I could say to appease him. Maybe I should just jump on him again and kiss him. That would shut him up. I sighed. It would also only delay the inevitable.

‘How many times,’ I asked, ‘did I try to get you to see the truth about your father? I even tried again, right before the entire charade. I had no choice.’

‘There is always a choice, Integrity. Always.’

I drew myself up. ‘Yes, there is. I’m a Clan Chieftain, Byron. I have to make decisions and choices not just for myself but for the people under my care. If I hadn’t pretended to die, those demons would have kept after me until I really was a cold corpse. They would have hurt the people I loved, too.’

‘That doesn’t justify lying to me. Do you have any idea what that did to me? What the last few months have been like?’

‘I’m sorry. But you don’t seem to have been all that upset.’

He glowered. ‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’

I crossed my arms over my chest. ‘Your wedding to Tipsania,’ I said pointedly. ‘You don’t know where she is and yet you’re still going ahead with it. You’ve kidnapped the love of her life and you’re going to use him as bait to draw her out. And for what, Byron?’ I demanded. ‘So the Moncrieffes can have a bit more money to spend on blackmail and murder and…’

He stepped towards me with such a look in his eyes that I lost track of my words. ‘I am not my father.’

I barely heard him. ‘Yeah? But you’ve defended him enough bloody times! I told you again and again and you wouldn’t believe me! How was I supposed to trust you?’

‘Don’t you get it?’ his voice was strangled. ‘Don’t you understand how I feel about you? Your supposed death almost destroyed me, Integrity.’

‘Why are you still marrying Tipsania?’

‘I’m not.’ The magic inside me told me he was telling the truth. Confused, I shook my head while Byron clenched his jaw. ‘Why couldn’t you see how much your death would hurt me?’

‘It was a necessary evil.’ I glared at him. ‘Why is your friend rotting away in a damn dungeon?’

‘He’s perfectly comfortable and he’s there because I asked him to be there. I have a plan and he’s part of it. What the hell have you been doing all this time? Laughing at me?’

‘No. I’ve been getting stronger and sorting out my damned ancestral Lands. You know, the ones your fucking father effectively destroyed. And what’s your plan? What’s so important that it’s worth locking up someone for?’

‘Bringing down my fucking father.’

My mouth dropped open and I stared at him, stunned into silence. It wouldn’t have lasted long, however, if it weren’t for the sudden thump from outside. Byron and I looked at each other with wide eyes. He lunged forward, grabbed me and hauled me behind a large chintz-covered chair, effectively barricading me within the cage of his arms. He murmured, ‘Stay quiet.’