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CHAPTER24
Aurelia
The whole time they’re gone, I nearly bite my nails to the quick. All I can think about is Ryan and my brothers and if they are all right. I know my parents. They’re slippery as hell. My brothers will need their wits about them to defeat them.
“Aurelia?” Elena’s voice draws my attention from the window where I’m standing looking out over the London skyline. “Come and sit with us.”
I walk over to the sofa and sit next to Sariah. “How are you?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” I say to Sariah. “You’re pregnant, your husband is out there too.”
“The men will be okay,” Elena assures me. “They know what they’re doing. They wouldn’t make a stand against your parents unless they were sure.”
“I know,” I agree, “but Charlotte will do everything to survive this. And if she does, we’re all in trouble.”
Elena grabs my hand. “They won’t mess up.”
I blow out a breath. “The waiting is killing me.”
“Me too,” Sariah says.
Silence envelops the space for a moment, before Elena says, “So how long have you and Malone been doing the nasty?”
“Elena!” Sariah’s eyes flare. “You can’t just ask that kind of thing.”
“Says who?” she turns to me. “Spill.”
“Pretty much from the moment he was sent to protect me,” I say. “I’ve liked him from when we were rescued from… Wood,” I say the last part quietly, not wanting to upset Sariah.
She flinches slightly but doesn’t let any other emotion slide onto her face. “He was with you then,” she says.
“Yeah. He was the one who put me in the car, who took care of me after I came around.”
“I love a good love story,” Elena sighs contentedly.
“I’m not sure my brothers would agree,” I laugh. “I thought Kane was going to kill Ryan.”
“Kane loves you and just wants the best for you,” Elena says. “If that wasn’t Ryan, then yeah, he would have ended his life.”
She says it so casually. It makes me realise how crazy our lives are.
The lift pings suddenly and the doors open. All three of us come to our feet as my brothers step in, followed by Ryan.
No one looks hurt. There’s no blood or broken limbs. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
They’re alive.
Which means our parents are not.
That thought should shake me to my core, but it doesn’t. I don’t know what I feel. Numb. Nothing. Empty. Relieved.
“Lia.” Ryan comes to me and wraps me in his arms. I sink against him, melting into him as he embraces me so tightly, he’s squashing my ribs. “Fuck, it’s good to see you, baby.”
I soak him in, clinging to his shirt, needing to be close in this moment. “I was so worried,” I admit.
“I’m fine. We’re all fine.”
“What happened?” Elena asks.
