“Those two down and outs who are housed in one of the cottages?”

How did Abel already know about them? Cain hadn’t mentioned them to his brother when he’d informed him of his decision to ban Baltimore from the premises. “You’ve seen them?”

Abel shrugged. “Not personally, no. But one of the guards mentioned them.”

Cain should have known. Nothing escaped his brother. This was his turf more than it was Cain’s at the moment. But that was something he was planning to change. “Anyway, did you also hear what has been done to them?”

“How should I know?”

“They were defanged by their clan. Do you understand what that means?”

Abel showed little surprise. “I’ve heard of the practice. I’m sure there were grave reasons and they deserved it for whatever crimes they committed. Surely, you’re not going to continue to give shelter to some criminal elements. Make them leave, before they draw us into a renewed feud with our neighbors.”

“How can you be so callous?”

Abel shook his head. “I’m not any more callous than you. You know what’s at stake. Why get into the middle of things that may jeopardize our plans? Taking sides has never been a good thing. And interfering in a neighboring clan’s business will only cause more problems than we need right now.”

“So you’re still interested in making peace with Mississippi despite their brutal practices?”

“I won’t be swayed by something so insignificant. I see the bigger picture, but it appears, my dear brother, that you’ve gotten soft during your absence. You’d better make sure nobody notices. Nobody likes a weak king.” Abel turned on his heel and stalked to the door.

Before he reached it, Cain responded, “Nobody likes an evil king either.”

A snort was Abel’s answer before he shut the door behind him, leaving Cain to stew over their antagonistic exchange.

He turned to the window and stared out into the garden surrounding the palace. The lawn was illuminated by flood lights. Faye was outside, tending to some plants. He let his gaze wander over her body. In her tight jeans and equally tight tank top, her voluptuous curves were even more enticing. Clearly, other men had thought so, too. Just remembering the little she’d told him the night before made his blood boil. He hadn’t dared ask any more questions, knowing his lack of knowledge of the events would have made her suspicious. Instead he’d made love to her again, making sure she knew that he would protect her now.

He knew he should return to the stack of papers—notes from his interrogations of the guards—to see if he could find any inconsistencies in their statements, but the need to take Faye into his arms was greater.

He opened the French doors that led to the wrap-around porch and stepped outside. When he jumped over the railing and landed on the soft grass below, Faye turned to look over her shoulder and smiled.

With long strides, he walked to her.

“Taking a break from your work?” Faye asked.

He pulled her into his arms. “I wish I didn’t have to work at all and could spend the entire night in bed with you.”

“Mmm.” Her lips brushed against his. “But what would your subjects say if they found out how lazy their king was?”

“I wouldn’t call it lazy,” Cain deflected. “After all, I wasn’t planning on sleeping. I would be engaging in plenty of strenuous activity.”

When she laughed, he captured her lips and kissed her, first gently, but when her arms came around his neck and pulled him closer, he tilted his head to the side and slipped his tongue between her parted lips and tasted her.

Faye pulled her head back. “Cain, not here, everybody will be able to see us.”

“I don’t care,” he murmured and tried to draw her back.

“But you do,” she insisted. “You’ve never wanted anybody to see us being intimate with each other.”

“I’ve changed my mind.” He wanted everybody to see that Faye belonged to him.

She gave him a curious look. “Whatever happened to you while you were gone, it seems to have changed your outlook on many things.”

What else had she noticed? “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, no, not at all. It’s just that you used to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, but now . . .”

“Now what?” With his finger under her chin he tilted her head up.

“You seem so much more relaxed, as if all your worries were gone. Which is so odd because being locked up for so long generally causes the opposite.”