Chapter 14
GIVE A MAN AN INCH…
AURORA
"Can I stay the weekend?"
The ride from the pond has been so quiet, but we're getting close to where Atticus would need to get off the highway if they were headed home instead of dropping me at my apartment.
"We should really get you back," Atticus says, but I can tell there's some room for argument by the way the statement sounds almost like a question.
"Let her stay," Seven says. "It's Eli's birthday tomorrow, she should be there."
Eli says nothing, and that's precisely why I want to stay. If I thought he seemed distant and tense on the way here, that was nothing compared to now. He has this hollow look in his eyes, like someone scooped out his insides with a spoon, and he's a shell now. Vacant.
It's terrifying.
I can't leave him like this.
"Please?"
It kills me to say it, especially to him, but I know he won't refuse me, so I wield the word like the weapon I intend it to be. For Elijah.
Atticus shifts in his seat, then grunts. I assume it means yes because Seven gives me a smirk in the rearview and a cheeky little look that says, Well done, you.
But I can't smile back. Not with the hollow man sitting next to me where Elijah used to be.
I lean into him, trying to be his anchor like he's been mine more than once now, but it's like he's on autopilot as he wraps an arm around me and continues staring out the window into the dark.
Ellie rumbles her own anxiety from the seat next to mine, shifting so her paw taps Elijah on the thigh. That gets his attention enough that he reaches over and gives her a little scratch on the head. But both she and I know his heart wasn't in it.
She perks up when she recognizes the groan of their gate opening a while later and tries to stand on the seat. She barks through the window, wiggling so animatedly that I have to hold my hands up to keep her tail from whipping me in the face.
"Patience," Atticus says, and Ellie immediately sits back down and licks her lips, waiting…patiently.
When did he teach her that word?
Atticus doesn't stop in front of the house, instead driving around to the garage.
When we get close enough, it opens automatically and I realize from this vantage point it's almost the size of the whole house.
There are four bays, each double-wide, and inside are two sports cars, Seven's Jeep, three motorcycles, a four-by-four, and an ATV.
I haven't ridden one of those in ages. Not since Chris bought one the year I turned seventeen. He taught me how to drive it, but when I crashed it within a month he refused to get it fixed. Said if he did, I'd wind up off a cliff somewhere with the reckless way I drove the thing.
Atticus pulls us into the empty spot between the Jeep and a car that looks like it should belong to Bond, James Bond.
Elijah is the first one out, hands in his pockets as he heads across the garage to the door that leads into the house and goes right in without a word.
I stare after him with a stone in my stomach. "Will he be all right?"
"Yeah, Ro. Give him some time. He'll come round a bit later."
Seven doesn't sound sure, but I hope he's right.
Ellie barks, and I whirl to find her jumping up and down in front of Atticus, barking at him and then out toward the drive.
He scratches the back of his neck, sighing. "I can't, Eleven."
"Can't what?"
Atticus's eyes crinkle when he looks at me, and I'm aware I'm breaking my own rule again, but why is Ellie looking at him like that?
"I, uh, I took her for a few runs with me when you guys were in Paris. I think she wants to…" He trails off, indicating the long drive and Ellie still stamping her paws with a decided lack of patience.
My jaw clenches, but I know it hasn't been fair of me…
trying to put some distance between her and Atticus.
At first I really thought I needed to. After he blew up at me, all I could think was, what if Ellie had been there?
But Atticus isn't Jesse. He didn't derive pleasure from my pain or relish my fear.
Despite my not trusting him, I know in my bones he'd never hurt my Ellie girl.
"Then take her," I say.
His lips part, and I look away. I don't want to see the hope on his face. It's not what he thinks. Just because I'm letting him take her for a run doesn't mean I forgive him. And it doesn't mean I trust him, either.
"Okay," he says. "Yeah. Thanks." Then to Ellie, "You hear that, girl? We're going for a run."
She barks louder, and Atticus chuckles at her. The sound rumbles in my chest, loosening some of the knots there.
He grabs a bottle of water from the short fridge on the back wall, kicks off his boots, and slips into a pair of runners by the door. Then his shirt is off because, of course, he simply can't run with a fucking shirt on, and then they're off. Sprinting into the night.
"That was nice of you."
I jump at Seven's nearness, finding the guards I dropped and putting them back up. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Mmhm."
Elijah didn't come out.
Even when Atticus made his favorite—Italian cold cuts—for dinner.
I brought him one, and snuck him one of the bags of chips Atticus bought for me to go with it, but he was already in bed.
I wasn't sure if he was asleep or not, but with the lights out and the shape of him unmoving beneath the covers, I got the message.
He wanted to be alone.
"Is he always like that after a visit with Julian?" I ask Seven after spitting my toothpaste in the sink of his en suite bathroom. He follows suit, scrubbing his tongue before scooping water from the faucet to gargle and rinse.
"Only when they end badly," he replies, swiping the back of his hand over his mouth.
I can't help noticing how much taller and wider he is than I am in the mirror. Shirtless, he looks like a tatted giant behind me. He catches me looking and smirks, wrapping his arms loosely around my shoulders. He settles his chin on my head.
"How often does that happen?"
"More and more lately," he answers honestly, his smirk fading.
"Should I go and crawl in with him?"
It's a bit awkward asking, but something about leaving him to grieve through this alone doesn't seem right.
Seven considers it, but ultimately shakes his head. "I don't think so, Ro."
I part my lips to protest, but he's quicker.
"And I am not just saying that because I miss having you in my bed."
He twists me around in his arms so I can look up at him instead of at his reflection. "Eli likes to deal with these things alone. I think…I think he was already pretty fucked up about things getting started with the plan. None of us expected Ambrose to reply and set up a meeting so fast."
I nod, and he sighs.
"It probably made it all hit a bit harder this time. Maybe give him until morning?"
She nods, but I can see her wheels turning. Aurora doesn’t like leaving people alone with their pain. It’s one of the things I love most about her.
It’s also going to get her into trouble someday.