Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
IVY
M y phone rang in my hand, and Wynter’s name popped up on the screen. I hesitated. She was my confidant, my best friend, but she was Christian’s sister first and my friend second. After all, blood was thicker than water, and it made me leery about confiding in her.
Juliette would regularly be my go-to, but we’d barely mended our bond and I wasn’t ready to resume as if nothing happened.
It was spiteful and unhealthy, but I had to do things my way.
“Wynter,” I answered as I moved from my walk-in closet into the bedroom.
The glass doors to the balcony were open, so I moved through them to the fresh grass-scent air of the back garden. I had been sleeping in the manor’s master bedroom because Christian didn’t sleep in it, even though all his personal belongings were in this room.
Probably why he caught me red-handed last night. My cheeks heated at the memory, and a deep, deprived part of me wanted an encore. Except Christian was nowhere to be found.
It was for the best, I told myself.
“Hey, I wanted to check how you’re doing,” Wynter said warmly. “I heard my brother… umm… took you to Ireland.”
Translation: I heard my brother kidnapped you again.
I bit my lip as I took a seat in a cushioned chair. The air was brisk this early in the morning, and wearing only my wool socks, shorts, and a crew-neck top, I pulled the knitted afghan off the vacant chair and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“Well, you heard right.”
“So you’re okay? You’re not mad at him? Us?” She sounded deeply morose about the idea, which surprised me. To my knowledge, Christian was the only one who’d had a hand in my kidnaping.
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully.
“I really thought when we helped him break your engagement to Aiden that it was for the best. But we didn’t help him this time, I promise.”
Surprise flared in me as I chewed my lower lip.
“I didn’t know you helped him the first time.”
“You’re good for him,” she muttered over the line.
“As his kidnapee?” I said.
“No, as his wife. Don’t tell me you disagree.”
“How would you know?” I stalled. She blew air through her lips and clucked her tongue.
“You glow when you’re around him. And he doesn’t have eyes for anyone else. Just you. And since you left him, he’s let the Syndicate business fall to the wayside, giving away docks to the Serbian mafia and purchasing damn surveillance companies in every country you step foot in.”
I sighed. Of course he did.
“You’re hardly objective in this matter.”
“Ivy, don’t insult me, okay? We’ve known each other long enough to know better.”
I sighed. “We have some things to discuss, secrets to come clean on.” There was a pregnant pause, static with things unsaid on both ends of the phone.
“But you love him?” she questioned softly.
“Yes.”
“I knew it. And he loves you,” she murmured.
“What?” I blinked as the wind swept in from the cliffs.
“He loves you,” she repeated, clapping in the background. “When I see you two together, I see chaos and peace. You make each other feel alive.”
So alive I burned.
I traced my wedding ring with my thumb. I hadn’t taken it off since Christian slid it back on.
“How did you know?”
“Because I experienced it with Bas. Because I’ve seen it with Juliette and Davina. Because I see it whenever you’re with my brother. You are fierce and strong, but also kind and gentle. It’s exactly what he needs.”
“And what do I need?” I asked pointedly.
“A man who challenges your heart and your soul.” She was utterly and completely right. “If anyone can give him what he needs, it’s you. And if I may be so bold, I think he gives you exactly what you need.”
“You’re the youngest. You’re supposed to be the reckless one, and here you are giving me sound advice.”
Without hesitation, she said, “Juliette was reckless enough for the both of us. I had to balance us out.”
“She came and saw me,” I admitted. “In Lisbon.”
“She fucked up, but I believe if she could go back, she wouldn’t have done what she did,” she said softly, the words waterlogged with timeless sorrow.
“I’m struggling to move past it,” I murmured, the admission escaping me without permission. “Why would he protect her secret when I protected his?”
“Because Dante protected him when they were little,” she pointed out softly. “It had less to do with protecting Juliette than it did with his loyalty to Dante.”
“It hurts,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. “It’s stupid, but I can’t help it.”
“Just tell him,” she said, her voice thick. “Although, I think moving forward, he’s done with secrets. This is a cycle that will be broken because he’s scared of losing you more than losing his own life. This shit with Juliette was?—”
“A clusterfuck,” I finished for her.
“Yes, a clusterfuck.” Then she added tentatively, “Besides, we all need to get past this. The success of the school we’re putting together hinges on it.”
“Maybe this was a test,” I croaked. “Didn’t we take a class on business conflict and amicable resolutions?”
“I think I skipped that class,” she joked.
“I definitely did.”
“Love you,” she said, and I blinked, my lonely heart warmed by the reminder that no matter what, even an entire ocean away from them, I was lucky to have friends and family who loved me and would always have my back.
Even when mistakes were made.