Chapter Forty-Five
TOMMY
“They found a body.” These are not words you expect to hear upon waking up.
We returned to the house in Nice a few days ago, as soon as Elliot was given the all-clear. Lily hasn’t stopped fussing over him or Mia, and honestly, who can blame her? It’s been hell these past few weeks.
“What?” I ask, blinking up at River’s face, which is too close for comfort.
“Sorry,” he says, moving back as I sit up and glance at my watch. It’s barely after Six.
“Jax just got a call from Mason. Richard’s body was found face down, floating in the French Rivera.”
I can’t help it, my lips form a smile, and it takes conscious effort not to laugh. Karma really did pull out all the stops on this one. “You’re shitting me?”
River’s slowly been coming back to himself, so I honestly wouldn’t put some dark humour past him at this point. He shakes his head. “I shit you not.”
It’s been five days since the Yacht situation, so I can only imagine what happened between then and now.
Fuck, I rub my eyes and throw back my duvet. “Does Lily know?”
River shakes his head. “No, not yet… but she’s going to have to go and identify the body.”
“Oh fuck.”
“You can say that again,”he calls over his shoulder. “Jax wants us all there when he tells Lily.”He leaves as quickly as he arrived.
I’m showered and dressed within ten minutes, not surprised to find the guys already in the living room when I enter.
Elliot is propped up on the sofa, his legs in River’s lap.
Jax is sitting in one of the armchairs, and he tilts his chin towards the table, a mug of coffee waiting for me and an Earl Grey for Lily.
She closes the door softly behind her and joins us, glancing around warily.
“What? What’s going on?”she asks.
Jax stands and holds out his hand, and she walks towards him like a moth to a flame. He pulls her in for a quick kiss and then ushers her into the chair he’d just vacated. He gets down on his haunches and pulls her hands into his.
“I got a call from Mason this morning. Richard’s body has been found,”he says.
She blinks, looking at the rest of us before her sparkling grey eyes return to Jax’s.
“He’s dead?”
Jax nods his confirmation. “Yes, and I’m sorry to have to do this, Lily, but the authorities will need you to identify the body.”
“Of course, when?”
“Whenever you’re ready to go.”
I reach for her tea, and Jax releases her hands. I pass it to her.
“Thank you,”she says, hugging the mug. “I don’t want Mia to know until after, just in case it’s a mistake.”
A mistakeit most definitely was not.
It was agreed I’d go with Lily and Jax to the morgue while River and Elliot stayed with Mia, who was still sleeping when we left.
His cause of death was blunt head trauma, but the other contusions over his body would suggest he was most definitely tortured. All of his fingers had been cut off and then cauterised. His eyes had been gouged out, but the medical examiner had sewn his lids shut.
Lily handled it well under the circumstances. Nobody wants to see that, especially not someone as compassionate as Lily.
As soon as we arrived back, she shut herself away with Mia. Wecould hear her sobbing when Lily told her, and honestly, it was heartbreaking, a sound I never want to hear from her ever again. They only emerged late afternoon when Jax said he cooked, which managed to coax Mia out of the room she’d been sharing with Lily.
He hugged her and told her he was sorry for her loss.
We’re all seated around the table, but it’s a quiet, sombre affair. The Christmas tree in the corner is a stark reminder that it’s less than a week away.
“I’m an orphan now, too,”Mia whispers, pushing her pasta around the bowl with her fork. “We’re the same now, Lils, me and you. We’re alone. We only have each other now.”
Lily swallows hard, and I can see how much of a toll this is taking, trying to bestrongfor Mia.
“That’s not true,”I say, causing Mia to look up, her stormy blue eyes finding mine as I continue. “You have Avery, Malcolm… all of us.”I point to the guys, who all nod in agreement.
“But Lily is my only family.”
I nod. “By blood, yes, but the rest of us can be that for you, too, in every other way that counts. Trust us to be here for you—for Lily.”
Her lips ghost into a small smile, and she gives a subtle nod before her focus returns to her pasta.
Lily’s gaze captures mine as she mouths, “Thank you.”
It’s not long before Mia is yawning, and Lily suggests they go to their bedroom to watch some trash TV, as she calls it.
About an hour later, Lily sneaks out of the bedroom and finds us all in the living room.
“How is she?”I ask when she comes to join me on the sofa, our thighs touching. I reach out and take her hand in mine.
“She’s a mess. Her emotions are all over the place, which is understandable. I think it would be good to organise some counselling for her as soon as we return to England.”
Jax sits forward. “I can get together a list of recommendations for you if you’d like?”
“Yes, please.”
Her focus turns towards the Christmas tree, and the fairy lights sparkle around the tinsel.
“Lily. I spoke to our friend Caleb, and he said we’re welcome to keep using his house in Torquay until after the New Year.”
She relaxes at his words. “That would be perfect. I can pay him,”she says.
River shakes his head. “Yeah, good luck with that,”he replies, stroking the back of Elliot’s neck.
“I just don’t want to take advantage of his generosity.”
I squeeze her hand. “Not possible, Sunshine.”
Jax clears his throat, and if I didn’t know him as well as I did, I might’ve missed the rare glimpse of nerves that crossed his face. “Duchess, how would you feel about us all spending Christmas and New Year’s with you and Mia?”
“We know you might not be up for celebrating, but we want to be where you are,”Elliot says from the opposite sofa.
She swallows hard. “What about the rest of your families?”
Rivers’ expression turns serious. “Vixen, you are our family.”
Lily chews on her bottom lip. “Then yes, that would be nice, thank you.”
I lean in until my lips graze the shell of her ear. “You don’t have to thank us, Sunshine. We love you.”She turns her face towards mine.
“I love you too,”she whispers. We’re drawn together like two magnets, her lips ghosting mine in a tender kiss.
Hearing her repeat those words, ones I will never take for granted, helps soothe the most broken parts of me.