Page 190 of The Grand Duel
I slap his arm and give him a look. “Charlie.”
“You don’t need to worry. I meant what I said.” He looks across at me, his eyes reassuring. “You’re perfect, Lis. Just like this.” We pull up to a sprawling fucking mansion, and my mouth drops. “You’ll see.”
The house is huge. Made of granite with steps leading up to a terrace that wraps around the entire front of the home. I’ve lived amongst the richest of the rich, but this is different. This is quiet, old, untouched. It’s invaluable.
“Mason Lowell ownsthis?” I ask as we make our way up the steps.
“With his sister. They both live here with their children.”
“No bother with the size.”
“No,” Charlie says with a chuckle.
He pushes in through the doors without knocking and before I can prepare myself, we’re catapulted into noise.
My eyes try to focus on one thing, but they can’t, bouncing from multiple doors, the wooden staircase that forks off at the top in two different directions?—
“Uncle Charlie.”
We turn, finding a little boy running towards us, his arms already outstretched. I step back as Charlie bends and lifts him. “Hey, Ellis,” he says, smiling at the little boy.
“We wait for you.”
“You did?”
The little boy, Ellis, nods, fingering the collar of Charlie’s sweatshirt with his little hand. He side-eyes me, and I smile. He looks away, hiding his head behind Charlie’s.
“Ellis, this is Lissie. Do you want to say hello?”
He shakes his head.
“She’s really nice.”
He shakes his head.
“She likes triple chocolate ice cream. Isn’t that your favourite, too?”
His head lifts, peeking over at me.
“Hi, Ellis.”
He ducks behind Charlie again, and we chuckle.
“Better late than never, Aldridge.”
Mason Lowell appears from a room at the end of the hall, his hands full with a child on one hip and a jug of something in the other.
Mason Lowell is as lovely to look at as I remember.
As is Charlie Aldridge.
“Ah, you’re here.”
As is Elliot Montgomery.
The blond-haired man steps back a step into the room he’s leaving.
“Girls, she’s here.”