“What?”
“Papers,” Logan said, holding up a big sealed envelope. “Dad wants us home, and he’s applying for sole custody of Everly to ensure that happens.”
“Are you fucking mad?”
Reed’s voice, his words, were everything I wanted to say and more, because right now, all I could do was stare.
“I told you this little jaunt was coming to an end. We came to the city to find a mate and we’ve found her and a cub. Morrisons belong in Campbelltown. That’s the way it’s always been and it's the way it always will be.”
It was right then that I regained an understanding, that I’d somehow forgotten, of what Evie was going through. That feeling of powerlessness when people stronger, bigger than you, inserted themselves into your life and made decisions without so much as a by-your-leave. I just stood there, seeing Reed’s shoulders and Logan’s smirk, but not really seeing them. Everything went red, my head spacey and empty as my heartbeat reverberated through it, echoing. I jerked forward and once I had a bit of momentum going, I couldn’t seem to stop. Primitive instincts I’d never tapped into before roared up, swallowing me whole.
Logan grinned, that was the final straw, as I stormed over, so my hand snapped up, my nails outstretched as I slapped his smug fucking face, leaving red welts in my wake.
“Get. Out,” I growled, my whole body trembling, trying to ready itself for the fight that was coming, but failing. Logan took a step forward, eyes flashing but Reed roared, getting between us and then shoving the man back with everything he had. I watched the fucking bastard tumble back, landing flat on the grass with a kind of grim satisfaction. Reed walked over, snatching up the fallen envelope before stopping at his brother’s feet.
“You heard Lily. Get the fuck out.”
Reed didn’t wait to see if his order was followed. He just put an arm around my shoulders and steered me inside.
“What happened?” Jasper asked, his eyes raking over me and then Reed. “What the hell did you do?”
Reed threw the envelope at his brother and then sat me down at the dining table. I just stared at the polished wooden surface as Jasper opened it.
“Oh fuck… He wouldn’t… Fuck…”
Oh fuck, indeed.
Chapter 44
“I’m sorry, Lily.”
I was supposed to be sleeping. I’d spoken to Soph on the phone and had sent the paperwork over to her. She’d already been working late and now she was staying back later for me. Tomorrow would be a massive day, I knew that, yet as I sat on the end of my bed, I found it difficult to move, to do anything. Then Ben came in. He closed to the door behind him, then came and kneeled at my feet.
“If I knew what Dad…” He shook his head, then gritted his teeth. “Nah, I can’t take that cop-out. I do know what the old prick is capable of. I guess I thought, maybe hoped, he wouldn’t…” He looked up at me. “We can go. I might have to drag Jasper out by his bloody hair, but I can do it. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll get everyone and we’ll drive back to…”
His final destination was never articulated because I put a hand on his cheek. He just sat there, then his eyes fluttered closed. His face shifted then, nuzzling into my palm before his hand reached up and held mine in place.
“Lily, I didn’t want this to happen. I hoped he’d let us go. We’d finally found the one fucking thing we’ve been looking for all these years and…”
It’s a hard thing to hear, someone’s heart breaking. I knew that’s what it was because I’d gone through the same thing too. When my parents wouldn’t support me having Evie. Every time they made that decision to maintain the rift, it killed something inside me. Because even though the two of us, Ben and I, were adults, parents, we were also in some ways still children. I’d dreamed of my parents having a breakthrough moment where they realised their mistake and they saw Evie for the blessing she was, valued alongside my brother’s kids. So as I heard the pain in Ben’s voice, as I heard the barely contained hurt and betrayal, I slipped down off the bed. I joined him on the floor and I wrapped my arms around him. And he took that as some kind of sign.
He held onto me like he’d never let me go and that sent a strange kind of thrill through me. I had no idea about anything beyond tonight, but, as we held each other, I felt like we could dream. That we would be together, a united front to protect our child against any of the nut fuckers who thought they would come for me.
That we were a family.
“I won’t let anything happen to the two of you, I promise you that.” His big, deep voice reverberated all the way through me. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe and I don’t care about the cost—”
“We will,” I said in a small voice.
“What?” He looked up at me then, and there was something almost little-boyish about his blue eyes. He stared at me, giving me a front row seat to the war between fear and hope that was raging inside him.
“Wewill,” I said, “right?”
“God, Lily…” He moved me then, so I was straddling his lap, his arms not letting me get away for a second. “Do you…? Are you…?”
“That’s what you want, right?” I asked, my own voice shaking now. “You want to be with me, be my… mate. Be Evie’s dad. Got to parent teacher nights. Do morning drop offs and talk to her about her day when you pick her up in the afternoon. Make sure she doesn’t just eat her body weight in chocolate and chips.”
“Fuck,” he said with a chuckle, “that sounds like heaven.”