Chapter 57
Chapter Fifty-Seven
WEST
Easton took me back to his house, promising me that Jesse and Max were asleep so I could go inside and patch myself up for a few minutes.
On the way, I asked him to text Marcus for me, to tell him to come pick me up.
Easton was almost offended that I’d wake up my driver in the middle of the night and make him drive all the way to Harmony Haven just so I didn’t have to stay.
But he didn’t understand that what I really needed was the solitude of my penthouse, not a house full of warmth I didn’t deserve.
Despite Easton’s assurances that I wouldn’t disturb anyone, Jesse rushed out of the bedroom anyway, fussing over me like a mother hen.
I imagined that was exactly how Max felt when he scraped his knee.
Her soft hands, her worried voice, the way she worried over me until I wanted to laugh despite the swelling in my jaw.
For a second, I remembered my mom doing the same thing when we were kids, and the ache of it almost knocked me flat.
Easton gave Jesse the rundown, including the part where I finally admitted that what I had with Blue had been a lie. Just like my brothers, Jesse took it in stride, like she’d already known. Then she asked what she could do to help.
I just shrugged, stretched out on the couch, and closed my eyes.
There was nothing more to do where Blue was concerned.
In the moments before I found out she was tied to my past, I’d let her go.
I’d handed her Fiddlers and the lake house, trying to rewrite what we were so that she no longer had to feel the obligation of our deal.
But now I wasn’t sure I could ever look at her the same again.
Would I always see the echo of her sister in her face?
Would she ever forgive me for the mess I’d made?
I was a master at pretending I was fine, and that’s exactly what I intended to do.
When Marcus pulled up, I thanked Easton for everything and hugged Jesse, promising I wouldn’t scare Max with my bruised face. She waved me off and told me to be at Sunday dinner anyway. I nodded, but the thought of facing my grandparents’ wrath made my stomach twist.
I slid into the SUV, stretching out across the backseat, and laid my head against the leather. The highway hummed beneath us, and for the first time all night I had silence. No phone. No calls from work. No endless buzzing from North Dakota. Just an hour to breathe.
The only thing I hated was the thought of Blue needing me and not being able to reach me. I told Marcus to call my office and get a new phone delivered to the penthouse ASAP. I was about to suggest he text Hattie personally when the car slowed.
“West.” Marcus’s voice was low, sharp. He’d dropped the formality, which meant something was wrong.
I sat up as he pulled over behind an abandoned car.
“That’s Blue’s,” I said immediately, recognition punching me in the gut. It had been parked outside Fiddlers when Easton and I left.
Marcus parked and we both jumped out, using his phone flashlight to sweep the dark. The car was empty. Blue was nowhere to be found.
His phone rang, and he answered quickly. I could only guess it was Marshal, because Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose like the conversation was costing him patience. I stepped closer, ready to snatch the phone, but he hung up before I could.
“She stayed home for a few hours after you left,” Marcus said, his tone careful.
“Then she asked Marshal to take her to Atlanta. On the way, they drove past Fiddlers. Police were still there. Marshal stayed to help your brother clean up. He thought Blue went into the office, but when they finished, she was gone.”
“Gone?” My voice came out harsher than I meant. “Why the hell would she leave in her car?”
“Marshal said she seemed upset about something Miles said, or maybe it was just the destruction of the bar. She probably decided to drive herself back to Atlanta.”
I dragged my hands through my hair, pulling hard. My chest burned. Fiddlers had looked like a war zone when we left. Broken glass, overturned chairs, destruction everywhere. The last thing Blue needed tonight was another disaster tied to me.
“Fuck,” I snapped, climbing back into the car. This time I took the front seat, snatching Marcus’s phone to call Hattie and tell her what I needed. Then I ordered Marcus to drive straight to the hospital. That’s where Blue would be.
Still, my eyes combed the dark highway shoulders as we sped toward the city, just in case she’d decided to walk the rest of the way. It would be just like her. Tough. Stubborn. So damn loyal to her dad she’d do anything to get back to him.
By the time we reached the hospital, it was nearly two in the morning. Relief and dread twisted together in my gut that we hadn’t found Blue trudging the dark roads alone. Blue was smart. Scrappy. Resourceful. But if something had happened, I’d never forgive myself.
Marcus braked hard before I could fling open the door. “There,” he said, pointing.
I followed his gaze and froze.
Blue was walking out of the hospital. Directly into the arms of the same man I had demanded to stay away from her.
Aiden.
She was smiling at him.
He had his arm slung around her shoulders, protective and familiar.
She leaned into it like it, like it wasn’t foreign or wrong.
My vision tunneled, rage exploding through me so hot I thought I might actually combust. Every fiber of my body wanted to launch out of the car, rip her away from him, make sure she was safe.
But I didn’t move.
She trusted him and he was guiding her across the dark parking lot. He helped her into the passenger seat of his old black pickup, his hand steady on her back.
Marcus hovered, torn between following them and waiting on me.
“She knows him,” I ground out, my voice raw. “She’s safe.” At least I hoped so.
He didn’t look convinced, probably because my hands were clenched so tight my knuckles had gone white. The anger vibrating through me wasn’t at her, though, it was at myself.
She’d needed me, and I’d left her. I didn’t deserve to be her hero anymore.
Now she looked fine. Happy, even. Depending on someone else.
I leaned back in my seat, swallowing the acid rising in my throat. “Take me home,” I muttered.
Marcus hesitated, then put the car back in drive and did what I asked.
By the time we reached my penthouse, my jaw throbbed, my head pounded, and my stomach churned with too many truths. The list of my failures was so damn long. But it was exactly what I deserved.
This was my punishment.