The Grand Pact (The Grand Men #1)(127)

“Yes, darling.”

“Will you stay with me here, at the house, just for a little bit?”

She looks across the room at me, her own eyes shining, and I know she wants to say something, but she can’t, so she nods instead.





I don’t know what time it is, but I startle awake when the front door snaps shut. I hear my dad’s voice and instantly relax into the sofa again. My eyes drift quickly, and I’m almost asleep again when I hear a slight sniff and shoes being kicked off. The sofa dips, and I roll with a frown pulling at my brows.

The lamp in the corner of the room illuminates his beautiful broken face, and I instantly wish it didn’t.

Never in my life have I wanted to reach for something just as badly as I want it to disappear.

“Ell….”

He shakes his head as he looks down at me, telling me to stop.

His body settles alongside mine on the sofa, and he lies on his back.

I reach up and wipe at his cheek, but he quickly stops me, grabbing my hand and twisting his neck to look at me.

He kisses my knuckles, resting them against his mouth as he speaks.

“Lucy, your face,” he mutters, distraught.

“I’m okay.”

“It’s not okay.” His voice cracks, and it kills me.

“Don’t do this to yourself, Elliot. Please.”

“We couldn’t get back. We did everything we could, but I couldn’t get back to you.”

I pull him close.

“There was nothing you could’ve done if you were here. I’ve been resting all day.”

“I’m so angry.”

“Me too,” I tell him. “But I’m also thankful to be okay and here—alive.”

His nose brushes mine, and I lean in to kiss his lips, desperate for the contact and sensing he needs it too.

“I need you to put your arms around my body and hold me for a while, princess. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah. I can do that.”





Elliot





I’ve been awake for hours, watching her sprawled out over my chest while she sleeps. It has to be one of my new favourite past times and not one I’m willing to give up—ever.

The sound of everyone upstairs should probably have me moving my ass to help, but they know as well as I do that Lucy doesn’t need to relive what she did on Wednesday night, and I’m unwilling to let her out of my grasp.

Never in my life have I experienced the dread and unease that I felt when Maggie called to tell us what had happened.

Being in London would’ve been hard, but I would’ve been by her side within hours. Being in Bora Bora with a storm slowing us down and grounding our plane meant that it took us nearly two days. I’ve never felt so helpless, and when Charlie looked at me with utter hopelessness at the airport, I knew there was nothing any of us could do.

“I can hear you thinking.”

Her words settle over me, and I smile through the ache in my chest.

“Your heart started to beat a little faster.” She lifts her head and rests her chin on my chest. “I thought you were dreaming.”

I run my palm over her cheek and into her hair, dusting her jaw with my thumb. “No, I was awake.”

She watches me, and I watch her back. Her eyes are heavy, and she looks drained, her cheeks lacking the colour that usually gives her a glow. My gaze is constantly drawn back to her temple, where a blackish-blue bruise is spreading around her forehead and cheek.

It has to fucking hurt.

“I need some paracetamol,” she tells me, matching my racing thoughts.

I nod to the small table beside the sofa. “Nina got you your prescription already. You need to eat first, though.” I lean over and pick up the other tablets and water to pass them to her, keeping a hand on her back, so she doesn’t try to get up. “She said you can take these whenever, but not paracetamol.”

“Nina’s here?”

“And Mase. The kids stayed with Charlie and Scar.”

“Megan?”

“You think they wouldn’t come?”

She shrugs as tears fill her eyes. “I knew they’d want to, but it’s hard with the children.”

I move us up the sofa, keeping her cuddled to my body. I refuse to let her go. “Take the tablets.”

She sips the water and swallows them down.

When she looks up at me and smiles, I bend tentatively and kiss her bruised temple. I twist my fingers into her hair and bring her back to lie on my chest, dusting over her scalp in smooth circles. We lie for a while just listening to the noises rattling through the house, and I almost think she’s drifting back to sleep.

Almost.

“You don’t put bleach on these floors! Maggie, speak some sense into this man, please!”

Both Lucy and I chuckle as Nina’s voice floats down the stairs.

“I read the bottle and diluted it with water, woman! I’m not wrong,” Mason responds.

“Nina’s rolling her eyes,” Lucy observes, sliding her hand up and down my side beneath my T-shirt.

“Yeah, and Mason is just about ready to give her a good spanking. Nina was stressed trying to get us all here. I almost felt sorry for Mase.”

“We should go help them,” she suggests.