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Ellison shakes her head. “That’s horrible.”
“You’d think it would be, but it’s not. When you’re over the shock of it, you’re able to see his sacrifice for the beautiful thing it is––his choice to suffer in your place.”
Ellison looks at Sin. “You got him. I’d probably get some old fart in a kilt.”
“First of all, your consent would be necessary for Sin to make any kind of match on your behalf. Secondly, there are some seriously hot Scotties in The Fellowship.”
I look at Sin and shrug. “Sorry, but it’s true.”
Ellison sighs. “Jamie is so beautiful. I go completely stupid whenever I try to talk to him.”
“And he’s a great guy. I’ve come to love him dearly.” I wouldn’t mind seeing my sister with him at all.
“You don’t view being in this world as a sacrifice, but to me it is. It would be a huge concession on my part. I’d be leaving my whole life behind. I need time to think about this.”
I’m asking Ellison to change her entire existence. I don’t take that lightly and neither should she. “Of course. Take all the time you need. No pressure. Sin and I are both here if you have any questions.”
“We’ve been in here a long time. We should probably check on Leith.” Sin’s right. Time has gotten away from me. “And Lorna too.”
I poke my head into the office but no Lorna. We go to the guest room where Leith is but the door is shut. I’m not sure what’s happening on the other side but my gut tells me to walk away.
We go into the living room and find Jamie. “Is Lorna all right?”
“She’s fine. She’s in with Leith now.”
Oh. That sounds promising. My husband’s plan must have worked.
Ellison goes to the coat rack and puts on her wool peacoat. “I’m going to take a walk. I have a lot to think about.”
Oh dear. I don’t want to tell her it isn’t safe, but I have to. “I’m sorry, Elli. You can’t go out alone.”
“I’ll walk with you, if you don’t mind my company,” Jamie says.
“I’d like that.” Ellison looks at me for approval. “Is that all right?”
I trust Jamie to protect my sister. “Absolutely.”
“Call if there are any changes with Leith. We won’t go far.”
I’m dying to know what Leith said when Sin told him about Lorna. “The guest room door is shut. I take that as a sign things went well with Leith.”
“Oh, Bonny. It didn’t go well at all. The whole thing went sideways.”
I recount the events of the night for Bleu.
“Oh no.” She must be completely heartbroken.
“I’ve never wanted to hurt him so badly in all my life.”
“I want to hurt him now.” Had I known this an hour ago, I’m not sure I would have allowed him in my home to be treated. I might have told Sin to leave him on the sidewalk.
Sin and I go silent when we hear Leith’s voice carry down the hall. “Please don’t go!”
No reply.
Lorna comes into the living room. “I’m sorry to trouble you but I need a ride. Would you mind asking Sterling to take me home?”
“Of course. It’s no problem at all, but you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
She’s covered in Leith’s blood. “Let me get you a change of clothes,” I say.
She puts her hand up. “No. I really just want to get out of here now that I know he’s going to be fine.”
I feel like I should say something about Leith’s reaction. “Sin told me what happened. I’m sorry.”
This isn’t my friend I’m used to seeing. This person is shrinking into herself, her posture telling the story of how she feels. “I’ve never been so hurt or humiliated in my life.”
I want Sin to say something to make her feel better so I nudge him with my foot.
“I know he acted a fool but he loves you. He told me so after you left.”
“Not possible. A man would never say things like that about the woman he loves.”
I don’t have an argument for that and I’m certain Sin doesn’t, either.
Leith appears in the entrance to the living room. He’s shirtless with a large white dressing over his upper left shoulder. There’s a small amount of blood seeping through. “Thank God I caught you before you left.”
“I’m on my way out the door right now.”
He moves closer to her, holding the wall for support. “Don’t go. We’re not finished talking.”
“I’m done.”
“I didn’t mean any of it. Not a word.”
“When Sin proposed a match between us, all you had to say was that you weren’t interested. Instead you were cruel. You humiliated me and it broke my heart into a million pieces. If nothing else, I thought we were at least friends. But a friend would never be so heartless.”
“How can I fix this?” Leith’s voice is desperate.
“You can’t be fixed by the same person who broke you.”
Lorna takes a ring of keys from her purse and holds them out to Leith. “You should give my position to Greer. She’s the most capable.”
Leith refuses the keys. “No. I’m not taking those from you because you’re not quitting the pub.”
“I am. Doesn’t matter if you take these or not. I won’t be back.”
“Where will you go?”
“I hear Leon is hiring at the club and the pay is good.”
Leith’s jaw becomes rigid. “Absolutely not. There’s no way I’m letting you dance naked.”
“Guess what, Leith? Whores are pretty limited in what their job description includes.”
Lorna drops the keys on the cocktail table and walks out the front door without looking back.
Leith fists the front of his hair while both hands rest on his forehead. “I’m so stupid.”
I hope he feels like a piece of shit for what he did to Lorna.
He stumbles and Sin rushes toward him. “You look like shite. You need to go back to bed before you collapse.”
“I have to go after her.”
He looks like he could crumple at any moment. “No. The only thing you have to do is lie down before you cause yourself to hemorrhage.”
Leith sways as he closes his eyes and holds the front of his head. “That may not be the worst idea you’ve ever had.”
Sin and I help Leith back to bed. “Bleu. Tell me how to mend this.”
I assume he’s asking me because I’m a woman, but I’m not experienced in relationship drama. All I can do is tell him how I’d feel. “It’s a fresh hurt. You can tell her over and over that you’re sorry but words are meaningless to her right now. All she’s going to hear is the echo of you calling her a whore.”
“You’re saying she’s never going to forgive me?”
I can’t speak for Lorna. “Maybe. Maybe not. I’d bet money that even if she does, she’ll never forget. I know I wouldn’t.”
“I’ve ruined my relationship with her forever.” At least he sounds remorseful.
“You confuse me, Leith. I’m not sure what kind of relationship you think you have with her. From where I stand, all I ever see is you ignoring her.”
“We work together all the time. It isn’t possible for me to ignore her.”
“Yet you do. You may occupy the same room but you look straight through her as though she isn’t there.”
“Is that how she feels?”
“Every day, all day long. She feels invisible to you.”
“I had no idea.”
“You’ve been thoughtless where Lorna is concerned.”
“I’ve never done anything to hurt her. She’s the one who hurt me.”
Cry me a fucking river.
There’s no way I’m going to let him off easy. “You parade women in and out of your office in her face. She isn’t stupid. She knows you’re screwing them yet she chooses to not let a man touch her in more than two years. She did that for you––to change the way you saw her. But her self-
denial didn’t change anything. You’ve been too busy fucking around to notice. It’s time to stop punishing her because you can’t get over what happened with the three of you.”
Leith jerks around to look at Sin. “You told her?”
“We don’t keep secrets from one another.”
“It’s in the past, Leith. You can’t keep punishing Sin and Lorna for what happened.”
“I’m not good at letting things go.”
“Then learn to be good at it. Or risk spending the rest of your life being miserable without Lorna. Your choice.”
“You’re my best mate,” he says to Sin. “You knew I loved her.”
