AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What do you need to fight?” Liam asked from the doorway.
She gasped, turning.
“That was quick,” Nico said. His voice was calm, but she saw a hint of worry on his face. “Did he not go for it?”
She didn’t know how Liam would convince her brother that they should stay, but he had to, there was no way this would work if they couldn’t. It wasn’t like she could go with them.
She sucked in a breath.
Am I really going to do this?
Yeah. She was. She wanted it so badly she could taste it.
“He went for it.”
“Went for what?” she asked. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you in a moment.” Liam moved in, shutting the door behind him and locking it. She stared at the door.
“It’s only to keep others out,” Nico soothed, coming up beside her. “Not to keep you in.”
“Any time you need to leave, all you need to do is say so,” Liam reassured her. “We would never want to do anything to scare you or make you not trust us. What do you need to help you fight?”
“To move out of that safe bubble?” Nico added.
“I don’t know . . . I guess, I need to feel like I’m going to be safe.”
“You need a safety net,” Liam said with a surety that she wished she felt. “Someone to catch you if you start to fall. To be strong when you can’t. But to stand back when you need to do something yourself. You want boundaries because then you’ll feel safe. And consequences, because then you’ll feel cared for. And freedom so that you can fly.”
“And you both want to provide that? What would you get?”
“Besides seeing you happy and settled and not scared and a pale version of yourself?” Nico asked.
“Yes, besides that.” Because she knew that Liam didn’t do things out of the goodness of his heart.
“You, Lottie,” Liam told her. “We get you.”
Seduction, promise and threat. All rolled into one. She swayed slightly and Nico wrapped an arm around her waist. “Easy, pretty girl. We have you. We’ll always have you. All you have to do is be brave and believe in yourself and us.”
“Oh, that’s all?” she said dryly.
Liam moved forward, standing in front of her. Maybe it should have felt threatening, but it simply made her body heat. Need flooded her.
“You learn to trust us, Lottie,” Liam said, cupping her face. “And we will do all the rest. We’ll have your back, always.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I damned well can. And I don’t promise anything I can’t deliver. Are you going to try this with us, Lottie?”
“You’re not going anywhere? Because I’m not ready to . . . to leave yet.”
“We’re not going anywhere. Even if Regent made us leave, neither of us would give up,” Liam told her.
“Not unless you wanted us to,” Nico added.
Liam smiled, it looked slightly cruel but for some reason that didn’t scare her. “Not even then.”
Oh, Lord. He was such trouble.
