Page 272 of The Grand Duel
I’ve been travelling for the past three days, and I’m exhausted. I’ve not slept for more than five minutes—quiet moments where my eyes have grown too heavy to stay open.
But Jovie is home. Lissie has her sister, and she isn’t alone.
She can meet and spend time with Willow.
She can heal.
And I can figure everything else out.
I can go back to her with a reality.
I knew Lissie would be home and likely struggling, but locking eyes with her, seeing her raw and hurt, it tore me apart.
One look, and I questioned it all.
One look, and I thought maybe I was wrong, that this is the wrong thing for us both.
The makeshift bed dips as Scarlet climbs into the nook, her eyes heavy. “I didn’t hear her crying,” she whispers, lying down beside me.
“She wasn’t,” I tell her.
She sighs. “Are you going to tell us what happened? Mason and El are worried.”
The door creaks and we both look towards the sound, finding Nina poking her head into the room. She spots us in the nook and pads across the room. “What time is it? I didn’t hear Ave, sorry.”
Scarlet shakes her head, but I’m not sure Nina even catches it. She climbs in the nook, kisses my shoulder, and then both women are settling in beside me.
There was a time Nina would sleep in here with Ave every night. A time when Scarlet wasn’t able to be a mother on her own. It was Nina who not only filled in for her on those nights but dragged Scarlet out of bed to do it with her. Because of that, she never missed a second.
“A problem shared is a problem halved,” Scarlet eventually whispers.
I swallow, looking up at the fairy lights on the low ceiling.
“I think everyone is just a little confused. We thought Lissie was being supportive?”
“She was,” I tell them. “She is.”
“You had a fight?” Nina asks.
I sigh. “I hid a scan photo of Emily’s from her.”
Both women lie in silence.
“It might not even be my child. Why would I show it off? Why would I show her something I know would hurt her?”
I close my eyes when neither of them speaks.
“Lissie practically raised her sister. She’s lived her whole life putting her first and then she met me.” What if I was wrong? What if I made a mistake by leaving? “I just wanted her to put herself first. To tell me what a fucking idiot I am for ever going to that club and putting her in this situation.”
“But what if she doesn’t think that?” Nina asks.
She has to think that.
“Is it so hard to believe that someone could care enough to be strong for you, Charles?”
“She shouldn’t have to be strong for me. Not now and not ever.”
“That’s not realistic,” Scarlet tells me, defeat in her tone. “Of all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you like this—this…afraid.”