“Place?” I spit out. “Whatplace?”
“The dark, mental pit you were in.” Hudson’s voice is strong, firm. He has always been the rock of our family, ready to pick us up from our lowest. I’m the soldier who you call in the moment, stepping up to the frontlines for my siblings. Hudson is who you want to sit in the desolate aftermath with. “You may think the divorce didn’t affect you, at least not outwardly, but it did. And we—” he wags a finger between the three of them, “—were all forced to sit on the sidelines, watching you waste away every goddamn day.”
Blinking quickly, my anger starts to crumble with each emotional hit he takes. “I wasn’t wasting away.”
“You were,” Vivi says in a soothing tone. “We were a lot younger, and so preoccupied by our own shit, but it’s different now. I know you don’t want us to be, but we’re here for you, Lypie.”
“It’s not that I don’t want your support,” I insist but it’s weak. “It’s just not worth worrying about.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Hudson has talked more today than in the average week. “Stefan can get fucked, but you are worth every second.”
Vivi grabs my other hand, then reaches for Asher. My twin brothers have never been shy about their affection toward each other, so they follow suit and close the circle.
With her bright hazel eyes, Vivi focuses her attention on me. “You’ve felt more like yourself recently. Since… Well, since Liam.” She smiles sheepishly and raises her hands in surrender. “I don’t mean he’s fixed you or anything ridiculous like that. At your core, you’ve always been the same—protective, loyal, independent. But for a while, you lost your sparkle.”
While I can’t deny that Liam has brought a softness back to me, one I was positive Stefan stole in the divorce, I still raise my brows and smirk. “My sparkle?”
She rolls her eyes but Asher cuts in. “You know what we mean. You were doing fine on your own but you weren’t your happiest—just lonely. Even if youwerewilling to let us in more, it wasn’t the kind of void we, or your friends, could solve.”
Swallowing down a ball of emotions, I bite my tongue. He’s right, all of them are, but I feel like a cornered, feral animal.
Taking a deep breath, Vivi says, “I appreciate you being so present and involved in my wedding. I know that wasn’t easy for you.”
My head whips toward her and I grimace in offense. “I’mhappyfor you and Grady.”
“I didn’t say you aren’t,” she quickly insists. Vivi looks at our brothers for back up.
“This shit is weird for me too, sometimes,” Asher takes over. “Juniper and I weren’t even engaged, we just talked about it.” He’s downplaying the significance of their relationship, but I’m not on edge enough to fling accusations at him; I stay quiet.
Hudson shrugs. “You hated your wedding, and you hated your marriage even more than that. No one would be mad if this has been a weird time for you.”
“The fact that you showed up in so many ways is enough,” Vivi assures me.
I fold my lips between my teeth and stare out to the back patio. None of my siblings rush me, not even Asher who hates the silence.
Taking a deep breath, I sit up straight and admit, “Stefan has been contacting me for three years.”
Asher jumps out of his seat at the same time Hudson barks out, “What thefuck?”
I slowly close my eyes. This is the exact reaction I expected.
Vivi stands quickly, trying to wrangle Asher back into his armchair. “Hold on—sit the fuck down,” she growls and shoves him down. “Let’s just listen to Lyp before we do anything stupid.”
Hudson rolls a hand through the air, gesturing for me to continue.
“He just sent me letters and random birthday gifts. It wasn’t anything worse than that. At least not until last summer.” My vague explanation isn’t going to be enough, so I tell them almost everything leading up to his appearance at my mom’s house. All that’s left out are some of the finer details, like the specifics of what Stefan has said, or the small cut on my foot from the front door.
“Mia’s friend in LA is a private investigator and spent the last two months looking into Stefan. Other than going tothe hotel and hiring a PI of his own, he hasn’t done anything wrong. And all of that is ‘legal’ in the eyes of the court.”
Hudson growls, “Hefollowedyou to a hotel, twice.”
I roll my eyes. “Morally,yes, it’s wrong and gross.” I shudder thinking about it. “But it’s more complicated than that; he can play that off as a coincidence.”
“And his PI?” Vivi’s concern is quiet but palpable.
“Legal. He never accessed anything that wasn’t public information or freely given to him.” I shrug. “Mia, Liam, and I are figuring it out. That’s the best I have for you right now.
It’s a lot for them to process, and we’re all silent for a moment. Then Vivi throws her arms around my shoulders, pulling me in for a tight hug.
