XXXIV.

Malika had not been able to sleep that night. In her mind she knew she ought to talk to Erik about her suspicions of Edmond. She did not want to wake him up from his sleep. He looked like he needed it after having to put up a facade. It was emotionally exhausting to have to say things in which they did not want to. She smiled at him as he slept soundly.

Sighing, she realized that she would not be able to get any sleep so she decided to get up and check on her children then her siblings. Quietly, she slid from the bed to stand on the floor. She grasped her robe and wrapped it around her body. She walked towards the door and carefully opened it, only momentarily glancing back to look at Erik as he slept soundly. She smiled then left the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

Walking across the hall she rapped on the door quietly to be greeted by a quiet voice. "It's me Anne. I've come to check on the children."

The door opened and Malika strode in to check on the triplets. She smiled as she saw that all of them lay asleep. "What are you doing up so late?" Anne questioned her.

"I cannot sleep. I wanted to make sure that the babies were well."

"They have been perfect angels." Anne commented.

"They will need to be fed in a few hours. Please keep an eye on them. I am sure they will cause you no problems." Malika commented then walked towards the door. "I will be back in a while to check on them. I need to speak to my siblings." Anne nodded then watched as Malika left.

xxxx

Malika found her siblings bedrooms. Erik had given them joined bedrooms back when they had first come to his manor so that they could be together. She opened the door to Linka's bedroom and quietly came into the bedroom. She lit the lamp next to her sister's bed to brighten the room. Linka shielded her eyes as she sat up in bed. "What's the matter?"

"I need to talk to you and Lukcas. Scoot over." She ordered her sister then strode over to the connecting bathroom and went into her brother's room and lit his lamp. He did not wake as easily as Linka did so she shook him awake.

"Wha...What is it?"

"It's time we had a talk. Come to Linka's room so we can speak." Malika replied as she watched her brother rub the sleep from his eyes.

She heard Lukcas groan as he follow her into Linka's bedroom. Malika sat beside her sister as Lukcas sat at the end of the bed. "Why couldn't this wait till later?"

"I need to talk to you about some things." She answered.

"What about?" Linka questioned her sister.

"There are things going on that you must know." She took a deep breath then continued. "The Viscomte is trying to take revenge on Erik for some reason. He wants to break Erik and I up. Erik and I are putting on a facade because we know there is someone working here that is talking to him as well. That is why Erik and I have been getting into arguments. It's all been done on purpose."

"Who do you think it is?" Linka questioned her sister.

"I think I know who it is, but I haven't told Erik yet. I need you two to watch your nieces and nephew closely when I can't watch them. I know that this is difficult but you must ignore when Erik and I fight."

"Ever since we came here everything has been going downhill Malika. He has brought too much danger to our family." Lukcas interrupted.

"Erik is a part of our family now. Don't blame him or the past." Malika protested as she glared at her brother. "I love him Lukcas. One day you will realize that. I want to make him happy and to see him happy."

"You could get hurt or killed because of him!" Lukcas cried out.

"Shh..." She said as she slapped her hand over his mouth. "That is a risk that I have to take to keep you two and my children safe."

"But sister, there could be dangers that you might have to face." Linka interrupted.

"I am willing to take risks for your safety." She responded then sighed softly. "I do not need your approval, but you need to know that Erik has not returned to his old ways. He loves me and our children."

"He will be the death of you Malika." Lukcas commented as he stifled a yawn.

Malika shot her brother a cold stare. "I have had enough of your pessimistic attitude toward Erik. Erik has made mistakes in the past like we all do. You cannot judge him because of this."

"But I can when it comes to you. He took the most precious thing that you had away from you and it can never be recovered. Never!"

"I am glad it was Erik! I am glad that it was him because I could have been bought by a worse man and I would have never seen you again. Remember who reunited us. It was Erik!" Malika retorted angrily.

Lukcas remained silent for a few minutes before saying, "He raped you."

"Lukcas," she sighed, "we have more pressing matters to attend to." She paused, "I have no doubt that things will be more dangerous. I need you to keep an eye out for each other and the babies. I need you to do that."

Linka nodded then said, "We will."

"I love you both and I know we can get through this." Malika stated hopefully. "You may both go back to sleep, I just needed you to know."

"Where are you going?" Lukcas questioned her.

"Back to bed." Malika replied then stood up from her sister's bed and strode over to the door and whispered 'goodnight' then left the room.

xxxx

Malika closed the door to her bedroom quietly then turned around to see her husband staring at her. She jumped slightly as he stared intently at her. "Where have you been?" He questioned her.

"I visited my siblings and our children." Malika responded as she took off her robe and draped it on a chair. "Erik, I need to talk to you."

"Yes love. What is it?" Erik questioned, his eyes echoing his words.

"Erik, I think Edmond is the one who is spying on us for the Vicomte. I don't know if you noticed, but I think he is the one." Malika replied as she sat on the bed.

Erik draped an arm over her lap as he said, "I know cherie."

"What are we to do? What can we do?" Malika asked him while stroking his dark hair.

"We will do whatever we have to do cherie. I am going to do anything to protect you." He said then sat up and pressed a kiss to her lips. Malika wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer to her body. He nipped softly at her lips as his hand reached up to cup her cheek. "I love you cherie. You and I will overcome this situation. Until then we are going to keep the facade."

She grasped his arm as she said, "Please Erik, I cannot stand it anymore. I love you; I cannot stand doing this anymore."

"I know you do not like it but we only have a little while to go." Erik responded as he gently kissed her cheek. "I love you so much."

"It hurts my heart to have to say such things to you." Malika told him as he stroked the cheek he had kissed.

"Sweetheart, I hate it too, but we have to do this." Erik told her then pulled her into his embrace.

Malika laid her head on his chest as he lay on his back and stroked her shoulder softly. "I love you Erik."

"I love you too cherie, now sleep for me." He replied as he nuzzled her neck.

xxxx

Erik hated having to work for the bastard Viscomte during the day. However, he had to finish the foundation of the manor. Once he finished he was going to kill the Viscomte. He hated leaving Malika home alone with her siblings and their children. He didn't know what he would do if she got hurt due to the Viscomte's hell-bent ideology of revenge on him.

He only knew one thing as he entered the carriage to take him to his job. If anyone else touched his wife or if anything happened to her, he would kill and the Viscomte would be the first person on his list.

Author's Note: Okay first I have an announcement. I will not be updating for at least two weeks because I have a lot going on with school because these are the last few weeks of the quarter and I have to be studying. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Thanks for the reviews!