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He hadn’t left. I could feel his eyes on me, and despite refusing to look his way, I knew exactly where he was in the room. He was sitting in a chair in a corner, Mia’s brother Jagger beside him. That was where he’d been since Aunt Emmie had told him to put me down. Something he hadn’t done right away. It took her using her fire-breather voice before he carried me to the chair I was in presently and then took his current seat on the opposite side of the room from me.
That had been over an hour ago. Mom had been escorted back to see Daddy just a few minutes before, promising us all that she would tell him we loved him. I understood why only one person was allowed back to see him for now, but I wanted to go with her. Needed to see with my own eyes that the doctor hadn’t been lying. That he was really okay. Breathing.
Someone crouched down in front of me, and it took me a moment before my eyes finally focused on Lyric. Grasping one of my chilled hands in his much bigger one, he pressed a cup of something hot into it then guided my other hand up so I was holding it with both. “It’s hot chocolate. It’s all I could find in the cafeteria that I figured you would drink. There isn’t a coffee shop in the building, and Aunt Emmie has declared martial law, so we’re kind of trapped and can’t go across the street to Starbucks.”
“Thanks,” I told him weakly and lifted the cup to my lips. It tasted slightly bitter yet overly sweet, but the heat dethawed my insides a little, making me shiver. “Why is it so sweet?”
“I added a few extra packets of sweetener,” he said sheepishly. “Figured you neede
d a sugar rush.”
“Um, yeah. Thanks.” I took another sip, grimacing at how sweet it was, then shrugged and tossed back the rest of the contents. It was hot as hell and burned my mouth, but I welcomed the pain.
Lyric’s mouth fell open when I handed him the empty cup. “Are you okay?”
“That’s debatable,” I told him honestly. “But I’ll live.”
Leaning forward, he lowered his voice. “Give me the word, and Luca and I will fuck him over, Nevi.”
Knowing he and his twin would burn the whole place down if I asked, I shook my head. “No. It’s not worth it. But thanks anyway.”
“Mia and Barrick are downstairs,” I heard Jordan saying to Arella.
Stiffening, I stood. “I need the bathroom,” I told Lyric. “Where is it?”
“I’ll show you,” he offered. He put his arm over my shoulders, guiding me out of the room and down the hall to the bathrooms.
I forced myself to take my time, needing to be away from Braxton’s pleading eyes—and yes, hiding from Mia for a little while. I couldn’t believe she would betray me like she did, yet for some reason, I didn’t doubt what Darcy said about Mia helping Braxton and Lyla pick out the wedding invitations with his mom.
I stayed in the bathroom so long, Lyric opened the door enough so he could ask if I was okay. Grimacing, I washed my hands and walked out, knowing he wouldn’t let me hide in there any longer.
But when I stepped out of the bathroom, Braxton was standing there with Lyric, Barrick and Mia right beside him.
I glared at my cousin when she started to step forward to hug me. “Don’t even talk to me, Mia. I’m not in the mood to hear your excuses.”
She gasped as if I’d hurt her, but I couldn’t have cared less. She’d broken my heart just as easily as Braxton had. I thought we were close, family. And if nothing else, I knew family was always supposed to have your back. I didn’t want to see her or even hear her voice.
“Nevaeh,” she pleaded. “I didn’t tell you because of your dad. You’ve been so upset that I was afraid—”
“Yeah. Great excuse. Use Daddy’s illness to hide the fact that you were helping my boyfriend plan his fucking wedding.” My laugh was cold, without an ounce of humor. “Thanks for that. Good to know where your loyalties lie.” Walking around them, I headed for the waiting room.
“Nev, I’m so sorry,” she called after me, tears thickening her voice.
I jerked around to face her. “Take your apology and go fuck yourself, Mia. You and me? We are no longer family. From here on out, stay the hell away from me.”
“Nev—” she sobbed, holding out her hands toward me.
I stepped back. “You cry so prettily, Mia. But your tears don’t affect me. I’m done with you.” I looked at Braxton. His jaw was clenched hard, his face tense and pale. In that moment, I loved and hated him. But I hated myself more. I’d let him break my heart. I’d given him that power over me. And when he gave me that bullshit explanation about the picture of him, Darcy, and his parents, I’d believed him without question. Really, I had no one else to blame but myself. “Both of you.”
Lyric stepped between us, his hands raised like a referee calling for a time-out. “Okay, let’s all just calm down for a second here. You two are hard to keep up with at times. So, Mia helped Braxton here pick out his wedding invitations? But Braxton is Nevaeh’s boyfriend?”
“Don’t act cute, Lyric,” Mia snapped at him. “Yes, to both. We had to find out if Darcy was actually pregnant or not…”
I felt all the blood drain from my face at the same time Mia trailed off and then pressed her lips together. Barrick muttered something to her I didn’t hear, but I was more focused on his cousin.
“You’re going to be a father?” I choked out, turning eyes that burned to Braxton.
“No!” He lifted his hands pleadingly as he took a step toward me, but I quickly backed up, putting more distance between us. “Kitten, I swear to you, I’m not the father.”
