CHAPTER 11 The Choice #3
Blood marked his mouth.
He looked at Mason.
Then me.
“You think this ends it?”
Mason started to stand.
I held his hand.
He stopped.
Richard smiled.
“There’s still one thing you don’t know.”
Noah stiffened.
“What?”
Richard looked at Mason.
“Lily knew who you were becoming.”
Mason’s face went still.
“She was afraid of you.”
I felt his hand tighten.
Richard smiled wider.
Cruel.
Calculated.
Mason started breathing harder.
I squeezed his hand.
He looked at me.
Not Richard.
Me.
Then his shoulders relaxed.
He turned back.
“My sister loved me.”
Richard laughed.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
Mason stood.
Slowly.
“She was afraid I’d try to fix everything.”
His voice was steady.
“She wasn’t afraid I’d hurt her.”
Richard’s smile faded.
Mason stepped closer.
“And you don’t get to rewrite her anymore.”
The police officer pulled Richard away.
He disappeared through the doors.
Mason watched him go.
No chase.
No punch.
No rage.
Just watched.
Noah stood beside him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Noah said, “She would’ve been proud.”
Mason’s face broke.
I saw it.
The wall finally collapsed.
He looked at Noah.
“Don’t.”
“I mean it.”
Mason’s eyes filled.
Noah’s did too.
“She loved you.”
Mason looked away.
Noah continued.
“And she knew you loved her.”
“I failed her.”
“So did I.”
Silence.
Noah stepped closer.
“We were kids.”
Mason shook his head.
“We were old enough.”
“Old enough to make mistakes.”
Noah’s voice cracked.
“Not old enough to know one mistake could be permanent.”
Mason stared at him.
Four years.
Everything between them.
Then Mason said, “I’m sorry.”
Noah closed his eyes.
“For what?”
“For blaming you.”
Noah laughed through something close to tears.
“I blamed you too.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
Mason nodded.
Neither man hugged.
That would have been too much.
Instead, Noah extended his hand.
Mason looked at it.
Then took it.
A handshake.
Small.
Almost stupidly formal.
It meant everything.
Derek stood beside me.
“Never thought I’d see that.”
“Me neither.”
He looked at me.
“You did that.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Mason looked toward us.
He had heard.
“He’s right.”
“No.”
I walked closer.
“You did.”
I touched his chest.
“You chose.”
Mason looked down at me.
Then his hand covered mine.
“So what happens now?”
Behind him, police loaded Richard and Jason into separate vehicles.
Detective Kim approached.
“Now?”
She looked exhausted.
“Now everyone gives statements.”
Mason groaned.
“Then lawyers.”
Noah groaned.
“Then likely a very long investigation.”
Derek sighed.
Kim looked toward me.
“And I strongly recommend all four of you avoid speaking publicly.”
Mason smiled faintly.
“That part might be difficult.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
His eyes moved toward the building entrance.
I followed.
Outside the police perimeter, reporters were already gathering.
Cameras.
Phones.
News vans.
Of course.
Noah swore.
Derek laughed.
Detective Kim closed her eyes.
I looked at Mason.
“Well.”
He looked at me.
“Well.”
“Our secret relationship lasted approximately six days.”
“Good run.”
I smiled.
“What do we tell them?”
Mason’s expression changed.
He reached for my hand.
Intertwined our fingers.
“Truth?”
My chest tightened.
“The truth?”
“As much as belongs to us.”
I looked toward Noah.
He stared at our hands.
Then sighed dramatically.
“Please don’t kiss in front of me.”
Mason smiled.
“No promises.”
“I hate you again.”
“Feels familiar.”
They almost smiled at each other.
I laughed.
Outside, camera flashes exploded against the windows.
Mason looked at me.
“You ready?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
“Good.”
He squeezed my hand.
We walked toward the doors together.
For the first time since meeting him, I wasn’t hiding.
Not from reporters.
Not from Noah.
Not from myself.
Mason Cole was still my brother’s hockey rival.
He was still arrogant.
Still impossible.
Still capable of driving me insane with a single sentence.
But he was also the man who had walked into the darkest moment of his life and chosen not to become the person everyone expected.
And I loved him.
Whatever came next, that was no longer a secret.
The doors opened.
Cameras flashed.
Questions exploded.
“Mason, were you attacked?”
“Emma, are you two together?”
“Does Noah approve?”
“Is the rivalry over?”
Mason looked at me.
I smiled.
Then he looked toward the reporters.
“Yes.”
The crowd erupted.
A reporter shouted, “Yes to which question?”
Mason’s smile appeared.
That familiar, dangerous smile.
“The important one.”
He pulled me gently closer.
I laughed.
Noah groaned behind us.
And somewhere beneath the chaos, beneath the flashing cameras and shouted questions and years of anger finally beginning to loosen their grip, I realized something.
The worst part was over.
Or at least I believed it was.
I should have known better.
Because three days later, while Richard Vale and Jason Mercer waited for formal charges, Detective Kim called Mason with one final discovery from Lily’s USB.
A document none of us had seen.
A document that would change what Mason believed about his sister’s final hours.
And about the future he thought he deserved.