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“Incredible, isn’t it.”
I stare at it, amazed. “It sure is.”
“The two of you seem to be bonding a million times quicker than we thought you would. Ave couldn’t stop talking about your walk this morning. She’s always been a happy little thing, but having you here makes it feel like she’s got a Duracell battery strapped to her back with the way she’s buzzing around the house.”
“It feels like I’ve never been without her.” I look at the letters on the bed and swallow. “Although I’m realising how much I’ve actually missed by reading these.”
“Where are you at?”
“Scar was twenty weeks pregnant in this one.”
“Ah, you’re on the good bits. She found herself again as Ave grew, as she started to show. You can imagine how impossible she was about not doing as much around the estate, too.”
I snigger. “Yeah, I can.”
She looks at me thoughtfully, and I realise she didn’t come in here to talk about Scarlet. “Mase told me about the deeds last night,” she says a little quieter. “I didn’t know before—back then. He never said.”
“You were still fighting your way back to one another when he gave them to me,” I clarify.
“I know. I wasn’t mad that he didn’t tell me. I was annoyed he’d put it on you instead of sorting it with Charlie himself. He didn’t know about you and Scar, but the fact he was willing to leave it to you and Charlie to tell her that he didn’t want this place…” She shakes her head, her disappointment clear. “I’d like to think he’s grown from that point in time.”
“I’d say he’s come a pretty long way.” I gesture to the house.
She gives me a gentle smile. “Yeah. And it’s why I’m glad, backwardly, that he was too cowardly to go to Scarlet himself. I’m grateful that you made the decision you did.” Her features tighten, her eyes sharpening as she focuses on me. “That you loved them both enough to go against your word.Again.”
My jaw locks tight.
“When you came to me that morning after the ball. You told me…” She sucks in a breath, giving me a knowing look. I just nod in understanding. “I should have known you were lying to me. You made it make sense for the most part, but then after everything that happened with Scarlet, the way you protected her. And then both of them by keeping the deeds. You know, I played that morning over and over in my head for years before I went to Vinny.”
I stare at her, a chill spreading throughout my chest.
“I know about your sister and her boyfriend. They’re still together by the way.”
My heart thunders in my chest.
“I know that they played you, Lance. And I know that you even tried to stop it that night. I might not have all the details, but Vin got me enough.”
“Nina—”
“I presume they threatened you,” she says with untamed anger. Not anger meant for me, but for them—my sister and Ben. “Which is why you told me it was you.”
“It was me. I believed it was you, Nina. I told Ben to plan the entire thing.”
“I’ve seen the texts, Lance. I’ve seen the fake statements. Vinny told me I could sue them both.”
My eyes widen.
“I know,” she sighs. “Because theydidthreaten you, didn’t they?”
I shake my head, feeling my control of the situation slipping. “You deserved the truth,” I say simply. “You deserved to know that Mason never did what you thought he did. The rest didn’t matter. None of it.”
“Lance, you deserved better,” she says. “You deserved to have someone you could be honest with, unafraid of what that honesty meant for the people around you.” She reaches for my hand, picking it up and squeezing it. “I’m so sorry they did that to you. I really am. I remember that year. The way you were different. Quieter. Walking around as if you were lost. The way you kept yourself from Scar.” Her jaw locks, her eyes shining. “It all made so much more sense once I knew.”
The need to reassure her, to let her know that I have it all under control… “If it ever came out—if Ben ever… I’d take Marcus’s death as my own. I wouldn’t let it come back on Mase.”
“It’s not going to come out. Vinny dealt with it—with all of it. Ben has more to lose by speaking than any of us.” She looks toward the double doors, the sound of laughter carrying across the estate, stealing her attention. She smiles and looks back at me. “Mase still doesn’t know. I stuck to my word.”
I swallow the knot forming in my throat, wondering what I ever did to have the friends that I do. After everything I put them through. “Do you want to tell him?” I ask.
