Chapter 28 #2
As Gia rubbed my back, I took a few deep breaths to steady my emotions. Then read what he’d written at the very bottom. “Maybe her future path involves law school? Either way, I hope it includes me. I’ll even suck it up and make nice with those other fools, if that’s what it takes to keep her.”
I clutched the napkin in my hands, tears slipping down my cheeks as I squeezed them shut.
Gia stood by me as I gathered my thoughts and emotions.
“So, what’s the plan? Want me to come inside when we get to Camelot Court? Tie him down and let you go at him until he admits how he feels and gives you what you want?”
My eyebrows jumped to the ceiling, and I laughed through my tears. “Let’s put a pin in that idea, for sure.”
She lifted a shoulder. “You know I’m always on standby.”
“Max…” I thought about what I wanted to do.
What he needed right now. “He closes off when he feels vulnerable. When he feels like he’s not enough or worth being chosen.
I think most of those moments have been tied to what he’s dealing with right now.
He’s been pushing me away, and I thought it was because he didn’t trust me, but I did the same thing everyone else has been doing to him.
I didn’t listen to him. I was so hellbent on answers, I got in that golf cart with Ben. ”
“Which we’re still going to circle back to, by the way.”
“I know. When Max asked Kingston if there was still a risk, and Kingston couldn’t guarantee there was none, Max said he’d protect his future wife himself.
” I raised my eyebrows, certain now that he’d been talking about me.
“He set me up, hoping that would finally be enough to make me leave and keep me safe. That’s how far he’ll go to protect me.
Even if he’s protecting me from myself.”
“So, what do you want to do?”
I released a heavy sigh, sinking back on my heels.
With the napkin lying on my knees, I ran a hand through my hair. “I wouldn’t say I want to do this, but I need to.”
After zipping my suitcase, I got to my feet. Then I pulled Gia up with me.
“I want him to see that he’s enough, and that I won’t stop fighting for him, even after what he did.
But I can’t approach it like I did before, making a spectacle of myself and drawing attention to us both.
I have let him do what he needs to do right now.
Stand behind him. Fight the quiet battle, while he fights the one he feels is bigger in his head. Like you did.”
Gia hugged me. “I know you can do it.”
I huffed a laugh into her hair, less confident myself. “I’m glad one of us has faith in me. But you’re right. As impossible as it sounds, I will do it. He’s worth fighting for, and I’m going to prove that to him.”
On the drive back to Pendragon, the need to see Max—truly see him—grew so strong my chest ached.
Each mile we drove closer loosened the tight, achy feeling, lessening the tension while sharpening my awareness of it. A pull existed inside me and refused to leave. It wouldn’t lessen. It wouldn’t rest.
Not until I closed the divide.
As if a string had been tied around my heart, it tethered me to the three of them, leading me back to Camelot Court.
It had drawn tight with the physical distance between us, and tugged heavier with the rift between me and Max.
I didn’t know if my plan would work, or how I’d live with that feeling if I failed.
I didn’t want to consider what might happen if I couldn’t help Max, or if he didn’t find a way out of the Valencourts hold.
If he married Vivian, he’d lose the life he wanted. The one I’d glimpsed during the Honor Challenge, with quiet days away from the crowd. A normal life where he’d been happy.
I didn’t know if I’d regret it—not fighting louder or making a scene, every day for the rest of our lives—if Max traded that life for one where he was trapped. Chained to Camelot Court. Unable to get out of a world he hated.
And stuck doing all of it with her.
All because he couldn’t live with the consequences of going against them. Because of what that might mean for me.
Unable to stop fidgeting in the car, my leg bounced so hard, I shook the whole thing when we idled at a red light. Gia placed her hand gently on my knee, and I settled, right before we turned back into Pendragon Estate.
“It’s going to be alright, Quinn. You’ll see.”
She winked, and right on time, two pieces of my heart came into focus. Kingston waited by the door as we approached, and Landon stepped outside to join him as the car pulled up.
They came down to meet me, worry creasing both their foreheads. Kingston pulled my suitcase from the back while I hugged Gia and climbed out.
The urge to wrap my arms around them was harder to resist than I’d expected, but as soon as I stood beside them, the tension in their expressions eased.
The ache inside my chest did, too.
As we waved Gia off, I leaned into Landon’s side.
“Tell me.” He requested quietly.
“I’m just scared.” I admitted softly, as it all weighed heavily on my mind and heart.
“Gia and I hunted for answers today. And I feel better about Max.” I filled them in on everything I’d learned at the diner and what I’d found in Max’s notes to me.
“I’m less scared having you both here right now, but I wish—”
I shrugged, mouth twisting with sadness.
Kingston’s smile and longing stare assured me he wanted to wrap me up in a hug as much as I needed one.
“I thought about Max’s motivations for doing this while you were with Gia. What I mentioned outside the police station is true. My father’s response, when we returned last night, confirmed it.”
Landon’s body tensed.
“What happened?” I glanced up at Pendragon, aware Drake D’Arthur wasn’t allowed to outstay his welcome. “And where is he—your father?”
Kingston scrubbed a hand over his face. “He left. After he went after Ben—”
“Ben?”
“Yes. I thought he was coming for Landon. But he pushed past us and went for Ben, who was unconscious and recovering after his attack on you. Another Camelot Court Knight, who had made his life harder.”
I stared wide-eyed at them. “He attacked him?”
Landon nodded. “Not to say the bastard didn’t deserve it for what he did to you, but it was…”
“Brutal.” Kingston clenched his hands into fists. “He went into a fit of rage when Max shared what he had done. My father nearly lunged at him, after he’d torn through the house, shattering everything he could get his hands on. Something he had wanted to do for quite some time, I imagine.”
Kingston glanced at the house, so Landon filled in the rest. “His warpath continued until he found Ben in Merle’s private chambers. Well, the small bedroom off to the side, where he’d been recovering, and he grabbed him. Dragged him right into the middle of Camelot Courtyard for all of us to see.”
“By then his stitches had torn.”
“Oh my god.” My hands flew to my mouth, and I struggled to reconcile the quick pang of sympathy in my chest. I had no love lost for the creepy asshole who’d attacked me when the guys first told me, but Drake D’Arthur ripping him from his bed while completely weak and defenseless felt like too much.
I let myself feel sorry for him for one second, and then I shut the emotions down. I still wasn’t ready to think about what he’d done. This close to the end, if I paused to think about how crazy it all was, maybe I wouldn’t keep going.
Some might call that a sign to pause, but not me.
There was one thing I wanted to know, though.
“Did he survive?” I asked Kingston before glancing up at Landon. “Is he still alive?”
“Yes.”
Dark amber eyes filled with murderous intent met mine.
But they didn’t scare me.
They propelled me. I glanced at Kingston before stepping out of Landon’s hold, walking up to the front door and opening it like I owned the place.
“Then, your father can go fuck himself for all I care. I’m not staying in Camelot Courtyard with one other girl between me and whoever else might come for me.”
They shared a look before returning their gazes to mine.
“Now, please take me to my room.”
Realizing I couldn’t wait for the day when we’d stand there together, unafraid to let Camelot Court know how we felt, I decided I didn’t have to anymore.
After everything they’d done, I’d use the legal case building against them to guarantee I had at least one of my Knights and my King beside me when I slept.
“I have a busy day of Lady Bonding to do tomorrow, and I need my rest.”
With pride shining in his eyes, Landon bowed his head. “As you wish, My Lady.”
“No.” Kingston shook his head, but he didn’t argue with me. “Words have meaning, Landon.”
He met Landon’s eyes before he stepped up beside me and held out his arm. As I looped mine through and stared up at him, he gave me my favorite secret smile.
“That was a request from our Queen.”