Chapter 54 Sable
SABLE
Soren might have asked me not to spill his secret, and I have every intention of keeping my mouth shut, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let them all treat him like an unwanted dog.
Me: I need your help.
Lex: Anything.
His quick reply brings butterflies to my stomach, and I find myself looking at the phone with a silly smile.
Of them all, Lex is the only one who isn’t constantly pushing Soren around.
He doesn’t look resentful at all. Plus, Lex is levelheaded and pragmatic.
He knows as well as I do that the twins can’t keep going the way they are.
They weren’t meant to be apart. The phone rings when I don’t reply to his message quickly enough, and I end up explaining my plan to Lex while I get ready.
I’m going to push their limits today so I make sure to look so good, they can’t focus on hate while I’m around. I choose another beautiful nightgown designed by Orion. This one is a rich red velvet with a delicate lace hem.
“Are you sure you want this?” Lex asks as I apply red lipstick, the same tone as the nightgown.
I put him on speaker and start pinning up my hair. “We can’t keep going the way things are.”
“I know,” he breathes out. He knows how painful this situation is. “But do you really forgive Soren?”
My knee-jerk reaction is to tell him there’s nothing to forgive, but I can’t say that without explaining why, so I close my eyes and breathe as I lie, “Yes.”
If I think I’m a good actor, the silence that follows proves me wrong. I can practically hear the wheels in his head turning, but before he gets too ahead of himself, I stop him. “You told me you would help me.”
“And I will. But you know something you’re not telling me.”
It’s not a question, so I don’t waste time denying. “Don’t you love a mysterious woman?”
By the way he grunts his answer, it doesn’t seem like he does, but I push that grumpiness aside.
All I need is his commitment to do as I say.
The rest will happen naturally, I know it.
Once I’m ready, I find a small bag to hide my key.
I bet that was why they changed it for the new palm reading system: no one wanted to walk around with a dumb key all the time.
Especially when you have boyfriends watching you all the time.
I secure the key and my phone in the bag and make my way to Orion’s bedroom.
I know he’s waiting for me, eager enough that I barely have to knock, and the door opens.
He sweeps me off my feet and into his arms, lips descending on mine with a groan as if it’s been ages since we’ve seen each other rather than a few hours. He kisses me until I run out of air and grow dizzy.
“Come on, let’s go,” I say once he gives me space to talk.
“Where are we going?” he asks.
“Lex’s bedroom. I told him to prepare a few things for us.”
He doesn’t argue as I take his hand and lead him there. As we walk, I keep my eyes down so I don’t pay too much attention to my own door and give the secret away. My heart is in my throat, but Orion is none the wiser, and eventually, we reach Lex’s door.
My mouth is dry, and anticipation is making me feel lightheaded.
I know Orion won’t be angry with me for doing this.
He’ll do literally anything for me, but I’m scared of what he might say in the heat of the moment and how he might regret that later.
I wish Soren could open up to his brother and tell him what really happened, but he deserves to do that in his own time.
Shoulders back, I knock on the door, keeping a smile on my face.
Lex takes a moment longer to open his than Orion did, but neither keeps me waiting. His eyes scan me from head to toe. “You’re looking smart, Miss Briarwick.”
He kisses me gently with a smile on his lips.
He knows I dressed to distract them all, and it might not be enough, but I’m ready to do anything I can.
I follow Lex in, my hand clasped in Orion’s, and he tenses the moment he realizes his brother is here too.
I tug him forward, but his feet are rooted to the spot.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he spits.
Soren stands, confusion on his face. I told Lex to lure him in without knowing I was coming too. I was scared that Soren wouldn’t want to interact with me in front of the others, and by the way he’s looking at me, I guessed right.
“I asked Lex to bring him here,” I say calmly.
“You what?” the twins say at the same time.
“Don’t you dare use my words!” Orion points at him.
“What the fuck does that even mean?” Soren shakes his head.
“It means shut the fuck up! How hard is that?”
Lex chuckles, and instead of helping the situation, he finds a nice place beside the fireplace and takes a seat, a drink in his hand.
“Work your magic, Miss Briarwick.” He smiles, and I flip him off.
“Orion, I need you to calm down,” I say, even when I don’t expect that to be possible.
He stares at me, perplexed as if I just slapped him right in his face. It’s expected that he doesn’t understand why I don’t hate Soren, and I can’t tell him why, so I need him to trust me.
“I have to go.” Soren starts for the door, but I’m there first, stepping in front of him.
“No.”
That’s all I can say. My eyes burn into his, my hand over his fast-beating heart.
He looks down at my palm, pure anguish taking over his handsome features.
This is going to be harder than I thought, but I can’t stomach one more second of everyone trashing him.
I can’t. Every time one of them says something about Soren, I die a little.
I feel like I’m betraying him by not defending his name, by not telling everyone that Arabella was a rapist. My eyes close, and I take a breath before bringing the big guns.
“Someone showed me the video today.”
Soren stills under my touch, and he glances over his shoulders, eyes hard and set on his twin.
Orion brings his hands up. “Not me! I wouldn’t do that to her!”
“It was some girl. It doesn’t matter who. What matters is that I want to put this behind us.” My words are for Soren alone.
“Why?” Orion demands. “Why would you want to do that?”
He’s not aggressive, but he looks suspicious as he takes me in.
Obviously, I knew this was going to come up.
When I first found Soren and Arabella together I was so heartbroken I ran straight into the arms of someone I didn’t trust. Someone I knew to be a bad person.
I came to Bellthorn because staying with him wasn’t an option, yet I was so distressed that I climbed into that car without even considering why he was here in the first place.
It would be so much easier if I could just tell him the truth.
“I’m done with the situation as it is. I’m bringing Soren back in,” I say, hoping that if I sound dominating, he won’t fight as hard.
“No, you’re not.” Soren and Orion speak at once.
Lex chuckles, and I stop myself from flipping him off once again. Instead, I concentrate on the task at hand.
“This divide is not working for me. I need you to bury the hatchet—”
“The hatchet?” Orion screams. “You think him ruining my life and betraying all of us is something as trivial as ‘burying the hatchet’?”
Well, now he’s pissed at me too. I shake my head, not interested in arguing. “I forgive Soren.”
Three sets of eyes stare at me at once. Even Lex, who had been enjoying my misery just a second ago, turns to me, with surprise stamped on his features. My gaze moves from him to Soren, finding him watching me carefully. Why is it so hard to make him understand?
“It’s in the past.” I only said that to calm Orion down, and I don’t want to fake-forgive him to his face. There’s nothing to forgive.
“You shouldn’t,” Soren says in a hard tone.
“Yeah, Sable,” Orion agrees quickly. “You shouldn’t. I don’t.”
“Why?” But I’m not looking at Orion. I know his reasoning, I don’t need to hear it again. But Soren? He was in my bed, deep inside me, when I said I loved him. Love doesn’t come with resentments.
“Because he fucked another girl! Wearing my face!” Orion screams.
“Stop saying that like I wore a mask or something,” Soren retorts. “It’s my face too.”
“The twins are a handful, dear,” Lex quips, clearly over the shock of my confession.
“And you’re useless!” I jab my finger at him, and all he does is laugh openly.
His laughter takes the weight off my shoulders, and I shake my head, refusing to get into a stupid argument about faces again.
Orion is hurt, and the more hurt he is, the less rational he becomes.
It used to bleed into cruelty and bullying, but he’s trying to be soft for me.
And while I appreciate the effort, the energy is still within him and needs an outlet.
“Why are you trying to talk to them, anyway?” Lex asks.
“Because—” But the reasons fall from my tongue, and I see his suggestive expression.
I look down at the nightgown. I dressed like this for a reason.
The hair pinned back, the beautiful velvet gown, and the soft makeup.
It was all so when my words failed, I had something they both wanted to dangle.
Chin up, I nod to myself and make the decision.
I leave the space between Soren and the door behind and find a seat on the other armchair across from Lex.
Soren makes it to the door, determined to leave, but I tsk, as if I have everything under control.
“If you don’t think you’ve earned forgiveness, why don’t you crawl for it.” And I wink because there’s absolutely nothing to forgive.