The Grand Pact (The Grand Men #1)(71)

I stand from the bath and step out as I wrap a towel around my body. I put the phone on speakerphone and walk out into my bedroom. It rings five times, and I’m about ready to give up when he finally picks up.

There’s a rustling sound, then laughing.

“Princess?”

I frown at the female voice. It’s not one I know. “Hello? Ell?”

“I’m sorry, Ell isn’t available to take your call right now.”

“Oh,” I reply, and I feel my brows knit further as if they are trying to pinpoint something. “Umm.”

“HE IS BUSY!” She laughs with someone and my chest aches.

The phone becomes muffled again, and then I hear a woman call out clear as day, “Harriet, babe! Come dance with us.”

My eyes fill, blurring with every second that ticks by on the screen.

“I’ll tell him you called.” She hangs up, leaving me standing in the middle of my bedroom, dripping wet and feeling like the biggest fool on earth.

Harriet? The woman from his office. Why would he entertain her after everything he has said to me? And why is she answering his phone?

Question after question muddles through my mind, my stomach growing tighter and tighter with the hysteria I work myself up into. And I have no right. Not when he isn’t mine, not officially.

Not at all.

Is he?

“Oh, God.” I sit on the edge of my bed, my phone slipping to the floor as my shoulder slump in realisation.

I like him.

I really, really like him.

It’s never felt this way before, and I’ve never felt betrayed over the women he’s slept with. Why do I feel betrayed? He hasn’t done anything wrong.

Has he?

I should have gone to the gala.

Maybe he’s annoyed with me.

I knew he didn’t want me to go out with Maxwell tonight. Is this his way of getting back at me?

I stand, leaving my phone where it landed. I grab my wine from the bathroom and go downstairs to the terrace with a blanket. It’s not particularly warm enough out here at this time of year, but it’s the perfect spot to clear my thoughts.

I need clarity.

For over an hour, I sit and pick apart every conversation between Elliot and me, trying to figure out if I took what he said wrong. Maybe I got the wrong idea, or maybe he didn’t mean to lead me on the way he did.

He’s been there every night, just a phone call away.

We’ve grown closer. That’s not something he can deny, but now he has Harriet answering the phone? A woman I know is unbelievably beautiful and smart, and he’s slept with. It feels shit. And without a label, I don’t feel like I have a leg to stand on when I try to rationalise my jealousy.

How does this work?

How do I pursue a relationship—or whatever this is—without feeling shitty over the women he acquaints himself with? They won’t ever go away—I know this. They love him.

They’re enamoured by him, just like I am.

God… I’m just another one of them, aren’t I?

Why did I want to be special to him?

Who do I think I am?

I always had good reason for keeping Elliot Montgomery on the other side of the line, and now I’m afraid that it can’t be fixed. It’s gone, I know that.

Am I too far gone?

Is that why I feel like this?

“Fucking shit, Luce. Just call him!” I snap, placing down my wine. I go up to my bedroom and find my phone.

I tap my foot as the call continues to ring, but eventually, it cuts to voice mail. Feeling completely rotten on the inside, I climb into bed with the rest of my wine bottle, pull the sheets high, and cry.





Elliot





“Come here, Megamus.”

“Not if you’re not going to stand on your own!” Megan snaps at me, her face laughing even though her words bite.

We take the last three steps to her floor, and I pull her into my chest, trying not to bear my weight on her.

“Ell! You’re too damn heavy for it,” she tries to get her words out, but they are muffled. It sets me off.

“Don’t be so grouchy.”

She pushes me to the side, and I cross my arms with a smirk on my face as I wait for her to unlock the door.

“I used to think you came here for Luce,” she teases.

“I wanted to make sure all my girls got home safe,” I tell her, bopping her nose.

“Whatever,” she says, a knowing look on her face as she pushes open the apartment door.

I stroll in like always.

“Hey, will you come to Bora Bora? I want us all there,” I tell her, knowing that getting Nina on board at the gala was key.

I know they’ll come.

“I’ll see if I can get the time off. I obviously want to, though.”

“Obviously.” I smile. “What are we cooking?”

“Nothing. I’m going to bed.”

I tut and watch from the fridge as she disappears into her bedroom. “You’re a disappointment!”

After a three-course meal, I’m not all that hungry, but I also know that it is almost a tradition to have a feast before bed. At least in this house, it is.

Megan is just being lazy.

I scour the fridge for everything she has, and then I take what I find and go to her room.