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“Do you guys want to take the stuff back?” I asked. “I can wait and call one of you when she’s ready. Or one of you can bring the car back.”
Rowan nodded. “I want to make something for her. It won’t take long, but it’s better if it’s a surprise.”
“I’ll bring the car back,” Joel said.
“I want to stay,” Hawk said with a wince. “If Warren is here…”
I nodded. We knew Ellie and Warren wanted to talk to Isolde, but it might be good for Hawk to talk to him without her. “Yeah, let’s find out.”
The others left to go back to the house, and I spotted Geoffrey heading down the hall. “Geoffrey?”
He turned and smiled. “How can I help you, Mr. Barlowe?”
“Is Warren here?”
“I believe so. Miss Ellie is at her final dress fitting, but as far as I know he’ll be in their suite.”
“Thank you.” We knew where that was. It was where we’d watched movies with them, and we spent a few hours utilizing Warren’s massive television and gaming setup before the bachelor parties had gone to hell.
Hawk was with me, and he showed no signs of being nervous, but I felt it. He’d acted on raw instinct. There wasn’t an apology needed for that. But as much as we hated Beau, we also didn’t want to fuck up Isolde’s relationship with her brother-in-law. We needed to have a relationship with him too now.
I knocked on the door.
“Coming,” I heard from deeper inside.
Warren opened the door and took us in, surprise rolling over his face. “Hey.”
“Can we come in?” Hawk asked.
“Yeah.” He let us pass. “Good to see you guys are finally coming up for air.”
I laughed as I sat down. “We’re not complaining.”
“No, I don’t imagine so.”
Hawk didn’t sit down, watching Warren carefully before he spoke. “First, we live in that house up on the cliff. You and Ellie are welcome any time. I know you want to talk to Isolde about what happened. You can come up the path or drive. Either way is fine.”
“Oh. Wow.”
I hid my smile. There would be a lot of surprises for the family about us and Isolde. But she needed to be the one to share most of them.
“Would tonight be okay? I’d like to speak with her before the rehearsal dinner.”
“That’s fine,” I told him.
Warren nodded and looked at Hawk. “From the looks of Beau’s face, you got him good. But he won’t say shit about it, so I’ve let him get away with that until I could talk to you and Isolde. From what I’ve overheard, even Angela isn’t happy with him. I know what you said, because everyone else told me, but…” He spread his hands. “I’d like to hear it from your side.”
“When Isolde was going into heat, I told her I was going to find you, Ellie, and her parents to tell them what was happening.” Hawk sighed, and I knew him well enough to know even the memory was difficult. For me too. “She had animmediatepanic attack and begged me not to leave. But not me,Hawk. Me,Alpha. And the way she said it there was no mistaking what she meant. She’d been left before by an Alpha in heat, and I saw red. You pretty much know what happened from there.”
“Shit,” Warren said, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Yeah, I don’t blame you for that. I’ll be honest, it’s hard for me to reconcile the Beau I know with what Ellie has said about him. But we haven’t been as close the past few years. I was working out of the country, and we grew apart. Then, a couple of years ago, when we came back and reconnected, I met Isolde, and through her, Ellie. But I’ve known him since we were kids. That’s why I want to talk to Isolde.
“Beau’s done a lot for me, but I don’t want to be blinded by misplaced loyalty.” Then he laughed nervously. “The looks you’re giving me right now don’t make me feel better.”
“It’s Isolde’s story to tell,” I said.
He stood. “We’ll be over tonight to hear it.”
“Sounds good.”
