Page 1 of Triplets for the Dark Elf

1

MIOTHRO

I’ve never been nervous in my father’s presence before. But I’ve never had a secret like this before.

Well, that’s not true. I guess I’m just harboring two of them now. And I fear which one, if not both, he’s about to get out of me.

“I wasn’t expecting your visit,” I say to my father.

Except I was. My father is nothing if not diligent, and after I branched out of my shop knowledge to buy a farm a year ago for reasons I’ve still managed to keep under wraps, no matter how many times he’s brought up his concerns about my younger brother’s sudden traveling, he’s been keeping a closer eye on me.

He must think that I am being careless, and Imris’s recent return to his farm has not calmed his nerves. But it has distracted him from noticing the increase in my labor costs, courtesy of the strawberry blonde manning the shop downstairs.

I can’t say Imris’s homecoming has done anything to ease my concerns, either. The land I purchased is too close to him for comfort, and I wonder how long it will take him to find what I have hidden out there.

“Is there a problem with my appearance?” he asks with a lifted brow.

I have to fight from clenching my jaw. “Of course not.”

Truly, I do not have a problem with him coming to see me. I just want his attention away from here, or me for that matter. I’m not sure how much longer this is going to last. Between the anger I’ve withered from Imris and my father’s scrutiny, something is about to give, and I’m not sure which secret I would rather them learn.

One, Imris does not know that the human he was chasing gave birth to twins, both his, nor that she is, in fact, living in this city on a farm I now own and not in Orthani as I told him. I guess that’s really three lies I’ve been telling my brother.

And two, I did not hire a shop girl to replace Charmaine after Imris impregnated her. I saved Annalise from a terrible elf at a nightclub and couldn’t let her go after. And I can’t stomach letting anyone else know how closely I’ve been holding her for reasons I can’t face.

Gods know that I’ve learned how poorly humans and dark elves mix. I can’t let Annalise pay the price for my affections. I can’t let her meet the same fate as Inilie…

My father breaks through my thoughts. “I’ve been looking into the shop’s expenses.”

Well, fuck. I’ve struggled to stay on top of my work with all my…extracurriculars. Is there a discrepancy I should have noticed?

“The market has been treating you well.” He nods in approval as he sips the amber liquid I poured for him.

I should have gotten myself a glass because his praise does nothing to calm my nerves. But I don’t move to do so now. I fear it will give me away, as will clenching the fingers that want to twitch or shifting in my seat the way I’m aching to.

I know these signs. They’ll easily give me away, and my father will press me harder until he finds out what it is that I am hiding. I can’t have that. So, I master my body and keep my posture relaxed.

“It has been. A good move, if I say so myself.”

“Yes,” he muses, finishing the glass and going to the bar himself this time. I take this time to move, wondering when it got so hot in here. “I can’t say the same for that farm you purchased.”

Gods, is someone turning up the temperature?

“Why is that?” I wonder if he can hear how strangled my voice sounded just then.

Instead of coming back to the chair across from me, he takes a few steps to the left, his eyes roaming my shelves. This might be a bad time to realize that it is too easily accessible a place to hide the evidence of my secrets.

“Your exports are covering your labor cost, but I don’t see much revenue from it.” He glances toward me. “Do you think it’s perhaps time to sell?”

The air leaves my lungs, and I fight to control myself. “That’s hasty, don’t you think?” He raises his eyebrows, expecting more of an explanation.

Many people believe that my father and I are close, and while that may be true, that does not mean he is easy on me. He expects me to back up every opinion with facts and evidence, and I had to more than prove myself to become a shop owner.

“To break even within the first year is a feat,” I state. “Yes, I have the capital here in the city, but I also was filling an untapped market. Breaking into a more competitive niche means that it may take longer to see revenue, but I am not losing money. I do not see a reason to cut my losses.”

He nods, pursing his lips as he goes back to perusing my shelves. I’m grateful that was enough to satiate him. Normally it would take more than that, something I am not capable of doing right now.

I’m too acutely aware of where his gaze rests.