Page 84 of Mark
Her pupils dilate as she swallows. “Are you as confident in that as you were with your answer earlier? Because I’ve got to tell you, I’m not feeling the confidence.”
My gaze meets hers, unwavering, just like my reply. “One hundred percent certain,” I rasp, throwing her words back at her.
She lifts her chin. “I like my men smart. Sorry, you don’t cut it.”
“Freya, Mum wants you to come and join us. They didn’t pay for you to come so you could hang out with strangers,” Esther announces, interrupting our stare off. “You’re being rude and selfish.”
I slide my hand out of her shorts and notice Danny’s gaze on my hand, his jaw clenched. Fuck him. He had her and stupidly let her go.
Freya lets out a breath. “I never asked anyone to pay for me. I never planned to come. And if I knew a string would be attached to it, I wouldn’t have let them talk me into coming.”
“Do you not care that you’re upsetting your sister?” Danny questions. “You’ve barely spared any time for her, and when she tries to approach you, you do nothing but cause arguments. You never used to be this much of a bitch.”
“Watch it,” I warn.
“One moment,” Freya tells her, grabbing her phone.
“What are you doing?” Esther grits out, not liking that Freya dismissed them.
“Adding what you said to the list of things I don’t give a fuck about,” Freya answers sweetly.
Charlotte snorts, and Esther switches her glare her way, causing her to snuggle closer to Drew. “God, you need to grow up, Freya,” she snaps.
“Come on, Esther. There’s nothing more we can do for her,” Danny soothes.
“Do for her?” I question, and Freya’s hand on my thigh tenses at the bite in my tone. “What exactly do you think needs doing?”
“Yes, please, do enlighten me,” Freya pleads, her sarcasm loud.
He pauses, his gaze slipping down to Freya, and although there’s longing there, there is also something else. Something that gets my back up. It’s pity.
“We’ve tried to help you transition to accept us being together, but you are determined to keep a wedge between us. It doesn’t have to be that way. We are family now, whether you like it or not, so you need to get used to it. I’m sick of tip-toeing around you, and I’m tired of you taking it out on my wife. Soon enough, there is going to be a baby. I’ve been telling Esther you’ll snap out of this mood before they come, but now I can see that isn’t going to happen. You have spent the entire time here acting like a child who isn’t getting her way. Would it really hurt you to spend time with your family? Like Esther said, your parents paid for you to come so you could be a part of this, but you’ve gone out of your way to make sure you aren’t.”
Freya surprises me when she bursts out laughing. “Sorry,” she chokes out, glancing away. But the minute she looks back at them, more laughter echoes around the room and tears begin to roll down her cheeks.
“You think this is funny?” Esther grits out.
Freya meets my gaze. She isn’t faking her laughter. She truly is finding it hilarious. “Transition,” she splutters out, clutching her stomach.
“Babe,” I call out, trying to fight my own laughter.
“This isn’t fucking funny,” Esther snaps.
Freya straightens, losing her smile. “No, it’s fucking hilarious.”
Danny narrows his eyes. “Do you really think we buy this act?”
“I don’t give a fuck what you think. I think it’s hilarious that you still believe you hold some sort of relevance in my life. I hate to break it to you, but you stopped being relevant to me a very long time ago. And since we’re no longer tip-toeing around each other, I will add that I don’t have to do anything for you. For any of you. I think I’ve done a fucking lot considering the circumstances, but that is all you will get from me.”
I watch as Esther’s jaw hardens, and then it comes to me. “You can’t stand that it’s not getting to her,” I accuse. I had mentioned it before to Freya, but it feels different now. Darker. Like she likes having something Freya wants. Only, Freya doesn’t want him.
Esther clutches her husband’s hand. “This is between family. If we wanted your input, we would have asked for it.”
“I’m right though, aren’t I? You can’t stand the fact she doesn’t care, so you want to force yourselves on her so you can rub salt into a wound. I hate to break it to you, but there’s no wound. You are wasting your time.”
“And how would you know?” she snottily replies.
“Because I’ve had her. She fucked me like she couldn’t get enough of me. She begged for more even when I thought I’d hurt her. No one that responsive is pining after another. They aren’t fucking someone out of their system. I’ve been with girls who are like that. So trust me when I tell you, Freya isn’t one of them.”