The Grand Pact (The Grand Men #1)(26)

I listen to her inhale then let out a heavy breath. “Perfect. Just perfect.”

“You okay?” I ask.

“I am now. I barely slept last night.”

“Oh, Mum. I’m so sorry.” My shoulders sag, and I lift the phone to my ear as I pause tying my laces.

“No, no, no! It’s not your fault. It’s just me being irrational. It’s so good to hear you’re happy this morning. The way you left at the airport worried me, that’s all.”

“I think it was this buildup of months and months of what-ifs—I didn’t tell anyone for so long, and I didn’t know how it was going to be. This is only day one.” I chuckle, my stomach clenching. “But it’s a good day today, and I’m going to make the most of it whilst it lasts. You know what I’m like. Honestly, Mum, it was a little of everything. Now I’m here, I feel a whole lot better.”

A traitorous wave of tears mist my eyes, and I shake my head as I try to blink them away.

“Okay, I believe you,” she tells me. “You’ll call me if you need me?”

“Yes, Mum.”

“I love you, darling. Your dad said he does too.”

“I love you both, too.”

“Bye, Luce.”

“Bye. Love you,” I add again.

Sitting in the middle of my bed, I drop my phone down and then let my mum’s words settle for a couple of seconds too long. She was worried about me at the airport, and it takes me right back. The way Nina broke down in my dad’s arms.

Am I selfish?

No.

“No!”

I jump up from the bed and grab my headphones.

I can bloody do this.

Walking to the door, I slip my key card into my pocket and leave the room, ready to start this new venture with a spring in my step.





Elliot





I was invited to the Lowells’ for dinner this evening. It’s not out of the ordinary for us all to meet up, but it’s very obvious that Nina is trying to pull us all together after Lucy’s sudden departure.

Slipping my phone from my pocket, I check my messages for the tenth time in a matter of hours. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but apparently, it was more than nothing at all. I know she landed safe and checked in at the hotel because when the girls booked it, I made sure Scarlet sent me all the details so I could track the flight. I’m certain Luce would’ve spoken to her mum or Nina by now, and that’s one of the reasons I had no issue with driving all the way out to the estate for dinner tonight.

Pulling into Lowerwick, I manoeuvre my car alongside the neatly parked vehicles on the circular drive and climb out. Everyone is already in the dining room when I walk in, and I apologise to Nina for being late as I take a seat between Charlie and Scarlet at the table.

“You alright?” Charlie asks, not casting a full glance my way and keeping his voice hushed.

Charlie has been one of my best friends since university. He studied law and only became acquainted with Mason and me because of his first-year antics around campus. Charles Aldridge was a fucker in his day. Now, not so much. He mellowed when he got his degree, became reserved and less about women and more about his work—and some family shit he had to deal with for a while. He’s the good guy and a fucking impeccable friend.

“I’m good,” I tell him with a nod.

Looking around at the people surrounding me, I can’t help but feel off. Lucy is absent, Lance too. It’s hard to imagine the fact we likely won’t see him at this table for at least another five years.

It’s missing energy in the room, and it sucks.

“Ell, do you want a drink?” Scarlet asks from my right, giving me a nudge.

I turn towards her as she pulls me from my thoughts, noticing the table quiet and eyes on me. “The fuck are we all looking at?” I question.

Small smiles pull at their lips, and I shake my head as I rise from my chair. “I’ll grab it.” I spin the red and white bottles of wine in the centre of the table and then go to the wine cellar to grab a couple more bottles. I’m not gone for more than a couple of minutes when Mason joins me.

“Did your wife send you?” I ask, popping a brow as I throw a look over my shoulder. I continue my search for the wine. “She was giving me a look at the table. Fuckers all were,” I mutter.

“You know how she is. She’s probably feeling like Luce is gone forever. It took hours before she stopped crying last night.”

I take that reminder and chuckle. “True.” Lucy might not be gone forever, but she isn’t here right now. And it doesn’t feel right.

“Is it weird for you? With half the gang?” I ask him.

He dwells on it, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he walks over and eyes a row of wine I was nowhere near. He slips one from the rack and hands it to me. Once upon a time—not all that long ago—he wouldn’t have had a clue where to find this wine. “I guess.” He shrugs.

I nod, running a hand through my hair.

“You seem off, Montgomery. In the office today, too. It’s why Nina’s looking at you like that. She’s worried.”

“Worried about what?”

He gives me a look that says, “who fucking knows” and throws his hands up. “You, I guess.”