Holiday Second Chance Romance (Clarice and Trevor) novel Chapter 74

74 Chosen Family

Simone POV

I can feel the last of the poison leaving Noreen’s body. Whoever did this to her intended to kill not just hurt. Her heart beat is steady, but her body will need to recover. I place my hand against her swollen belly and smile when I feel the baby’s strong heartbeat. Tears spring to my eyes. Even if I never get to know the baby that is meant to be my niece or nephew, knowing their safe is all that matters. My power starts to recede and the glow that engulfed us starts to fade. I pull back and look at the beautiful woman who is my brother’s beloved.

She looks peaceful, no longer being tormented by the poison that was flowing through her symptoms just moments ago. My brother, whispering my name, has my body stiffening before I finally turn to face him. Trevor and my new family stand near the door. Without a word, Trevor moves to stand next to me and pulls me to his side. Just the feeling of him so close has my body relaxing. “Mona, will she be alright? Our bond feels strong again, but she still won’t respond to me when I call out to her,” he says.

“She’ll be fine, Jared, but you have a big problem. One of the members of your kingdom tried to harm your queen. I suggest you try to figure out who would dare to harm the woman meant to rule at your side and deal with them quickly! “She was poisoned. How could this have happened? Everyone loves her,” he says. “Obviously, not everyone. The question is who would be so brazen as to try to harm her. I suggest you make sure until you figure it out, she is guarded. Thankfully, the poison didn’t do any lasting damage, but that doesn’t mean it won’t next time.”

“Thank you, Mona. I know you don’t owe me anything,” he starts to say, but I cut him off. “I didn’t do this for you. I did this for Noreen and your child. They deserve to live a long and happy life. They are innocent.” Pain flashes in his eyes and he ly nods. After a few seconds of silence, I turn toward Trevor. “We should get back t the baby are safe now.”

e celebration. Noreen and

“Mona, can we please talk? I know you’re still angry, and you have the right to be, but please let me explain. Let me try to make you understand that I never intended to let you marry that pr*ck. Please Mona” he pleads. My chest aches because every part of me wants to believe him. Wants to throw myself into his arms and forget how much he hurt me. “Noreen needs you right now. Besides, I interrupted my sisters‘ pledging celebration to come here. We need to get back.”

“Mona, please don’t run from me again. I’ll give you time, but please don’t shut me out before we can really talk,” he says. I’m just about to tell him fine when the door to the room flies open. My heart feels like it’s going to be out of my chest when my father steps into the room.

His eyes immediately meet mine. A torrent of emotions rolls through them, but the biggest one is regret. That can’t be right. My father was happy to get rid of me. He hated me. He regretted nothing about trading me for power.

He takes a step toward me, but I don’t wait for him to speak. I grab Trevor’s hands and the next second we are standing in my apartment. I don’t even know why I brought us here. I should have taken us back to Anya and Chris’s home. I guess I knew I would need a minute.

“Simone, are you alright,” Trevor asks, never releasing his hold on me. “No, I’m not. I can’t believe Jared said that sh*t. He stood there and said nothing when my father told me I was marrying that a**hole, and now he wants to pretend he wasn’t going to let it happen. Then seeing my father just brought back all the pain of knowing he hated me. All I ever wanted was for him to love me.”

I didn’t even realize the tears were falling until he reaches up and brushes them away with his thumb. “For what it’s worth, Simone, they both looked like they regretted every decision they ever made about you. No matter what you decide, I’ll be here, but for your own closure, I think you should at least talk to your brother,” he says. “Maybe, but first we should get back to celebrating Nick, Chrissy, Clarice, and Jack.”

“Are you up for that, Simone? If not, we can just stay here. I would love to just cuddle you and remind you how much, no matter what happens, you are loved. Not just by me but by our family,” Trevor says. I smile and press a kiss on his lips. “No, I really want to get back and celebrate with our family. I don’t want my past to ruin today. Now that I know Noreen and the baby will be alright, I want to be surrounded by people who I have chosen to love me.” He presses another kiss to my lips before I teleport us back to the North Pole.

“Where is she now, Jared? I need to thank her. I want to meet her. I always wanted a sister, and now I’ll have one,” she says. “She went back to the human world, my love. She isn’t ready yet.” “She isn’t ready to talk to me yet,” my father says. He hadn’t moved from the spot he was standing in when Mona disappeared. Noreen reaches her hand out to him and a genuine smile crosses his face. He moves so he can take her hand. “I’m glad to see you are alright sweetheart. I would have lost my mind if something happened to you or my grandchild,” he says.

“Dad, we need to figure out who did this. It had to be someone who had access to her food or our room. I want every member of the kitchen in my office as soon as she is well enough to return to our wing. I will be assigning her guards. Definitely Phillip and another top warrior.” I notice Noreen roll her eyes when I mention Phillip. He isn’t warn keep her safe. He and I grew up together.

fuzzy, but I know he will

He became my head warrior when I was crowned. He was there when I found Noreen. His sister had hoped she would end up my beloved, but honestly I’m glad she wasn’t. She was a bit self–centered and she wasn’t my type. I love my queen’s curves and her heart. She has been an amazing queen to all our subjects. She is the only woman I see. A feeling of unease flows through me. It’d been years, and Janice seemed to accept it quickly when I found Noreen. She wouldn’t do this now, would she?

Hell, she has even become friends with Noreen. None of this makes any sense. “Son that’s actually why I left so quickly. I had the warriors round up all the servants for questioning. The healer felt that what was happening was not a natural fae illness even though he couldn’t sense the poison. I wanted to make sure that no one would escape interrogation,” he says. “Why would any of them want to hurt me? I’ve always been kind to everyone. I know what it is to be a servant,” she says.

I can see the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. “Don’t you dare let the actions of one despicable fae make you doubt the amazing queen you are. The kingdom and the king love you.” She smiles, and I wipe the tears from her cheek. Janice better hope she had nothing to do with this, because nothing will save her from me.