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Every time Ivy brings up the twins, I give her a bullshit answer and dodge the topic by bringing up Gabriel. To say I’m nervous for her is an understatement.
It’s like a damn tennis match between us as we circle each other with warnings and accusations.
Poor Ava is stuck listening to us not-so-playfully bicker the entire time we’re shopping, at least until we make the mistake of bringing up Mason and the engagement.
She wanders back from trying on a green dress I’d handed her, doing a shit job of hiding how upset she is about the engagement.
“Are either of you hungry? I want to get out of here.”
My stomach is currently tied in knots over another obligation I have today. I couldn’t eat if I tried.
Checking my phone, I groan at the time.
“Not me. I have somewhere I need to be.”
Ava and Ivy both smirk before glancing at each other and back to me. It’s Ava who voices what they both are thinking.
“Tell Damon and Ezra I said hi.”
I wish it were as simple as that. Nothing with the twins is currentlysimple.
“That’s not where I’m going. You two have a good time, though.”
They stare at me as I walk away, and it takes effort not to look back at them and beg them to keep me from leaving.
Every step through the mall to the parking lot is weighted with nervousness and fear.
I can’t believe I’m doing this, can’t believe I’ll be lying to everybody around me just because I want everything to be okay.
It has to be okay, right?
Despite everything, this entire situation has to turn out the way I want it in the end, or else my life really will be worth nothing more than a repetitive routine, day after day, trapped in a loveless marriage.
I can’t stop thinking about Damon and Ezra as I make my way to my car. I can’t stop seeing their cuts and bruises. Can’t stop feeling the heat of Ezra’s skin from when I’d run my lips over those marks, willing them to heal faster.
But beneath all of that is a vein of rage for what put those bruises there in the first place. It’s like flash fire tearing through me, the flames reaching high to lick at my thoughts.
After the engagement party, and after seeing the way they both reacted to the reminder of their father, I’ve slipped one piece into the puzzle of what was done to them.
Seeing red as I pull into a gated neighborhood that’s right next to mine, I grimace.
The houses are just as large and ostentatious as the ones in my subdivision, a show of wealth that makes the owners feel that much more important and powerful.
I hate being in this place, hate pulling into this driveway, hate walking up to this particular door. But I do it anyway, hating the reason why.
Exhaling loudly, I lift my arm and ring the doorbell before looking up into the security camera.
A butler answers the door and leads me into a sitting room off to the side of the foyer.
I take a seat on a wingback chair and fold my hands demurely in my lap. I don’t miss the flash of light on my engagement ring, that little flicker causing my stomach to roll again as I close my eyes, take a breath, and open them again.
It was dumb of me to sit down in the first place, especially when I push to my feet as soon as William Cross walks into the room, his dark eyes looking me over with interest and curiosity.
William’s a tall man, his shoulders just as broad as his sons’. But while the twins are carved in all the right places, the years have only packed weight onto their father.
He appears soft compared to them. But I don’t let that fool me into believing he’s anything less than a monster.
It also surprises me to see William’s face cut up and bruised. Somebody recently fought with this man, the evidence of it reminding me what Ezra and Damon looked like coming back from those horrible weekends.
