The Grand Pact (The Grand Men #1)(73)

21





Elliot





“You got bread crumbs on the cheddar!”

My eyes peel open. “Huh?”

“Don’t mess with my cheese! You know this.”

I reach blindly, feeling the sharp line of her nose. “Megs, go away.”

“You need to get up.” She tuts. “You told Ellis you’d take him out on the boat and over to your mums today.”

Shit. “I did.”

I swing my legs over the bed and stand, stretching. “What time is it?”

“Just gone ten. You’re going to be late.”

Balls.

Ellis has these eyes. He’ll look at me, and I’ll be spending the day trying to make it up to him.

“I need to shower,” I say to myself.

“You do,” Megan agrees. “Nina and Mase know you were out, and you probably shouldn’t drive yet anyway. You were proper sideways last night.”

“I wasn’t that bad.”

“I made breakfast. It’s in the oven. I’m going to get some fresh air, try and shake off this hangover.”

“Have you got your key?”

She shakes her keys in my face. “Go shower and eat. Don’t drive for a bit, okay?”

“Yes, Mum.”

She stops at the door and pokes her head back in. “Did you speak to Luce last night?”

I close one eye as my brows pull in. I run over the night before. The message I recorded but didn’t send. “She didn’t answer.”

“She was in the group chat this morning, but I didn’t say you were here. I wasn’t sure you’d want her to know what a sap you are.”

“She was in the chat this morning?” I frown. “What time was it?”

“Early. Half sevenish, maybe. She said she went to bed at like eight last night so was up.”

“I thought she was going out last night?”

Megan shrugs. “Guess she was home early.”

She leaves, and I work out the time difference. It would have been around two a.m. I consider sending her a message but think better of it. If I wake her up after she was up in the night, she will be knackered for work in the morning.

I shower and eat the breakfast that Megan made me, and then I get an Uber back to my house.





It’s gone midday when I finally arrive at the estate. I spot Ellis sitting on the terrace with Scarlet and Waverly playing with chalks, and I know I’m in trouble when Ellis refuses to look up as I pull up to the circular drive.

I jump out of my car and take the steps two at a time, checking out what they are colouring in. Scarlet—I presume— has drawn a giant fish. It’s not the shitty figure-eight style of fish I used to add to my drawings in primary school, though. It’s a decent fish, with gills and—”

“You’re late!” Ellis accuses, standing up on his little feet. The little guy is almost three and has a better vocabulary than some grown men I know.

“Sorry, mate, Uncle Elliot had a little too much beer last night.”

His dark brows lift. It’s unnerving. “I not going now. I drawing with Ave.”

“You sure?” I ask with a smile.

He nods and sits back down, crossing his legs.

“Alright, I’ll be inside with Mum and Dad if you change your mind, okay?”

Scarlet looks up at me as I step her way. “Why do you look so fresh?” she groans, her face screwing up as the sun peeks through the clouds.

I bend at the knee and kiss Waverly’s soft mousy hair, careful to avoid her flowery garland. She’s sat between Scarlet’s legs, her hands slapping the cold concrete. “I don’t feel fresh,” I tell Scarlet, giving her a wink before disappearing inside.

I hear Nina before I see her, and I follow her voice to the utility room that leads off the kitchen. She’s sat up on the tumble dryer laughing at something while Mason is on his knees with piles of washing around him. A smile just as big sits on his face.

“They didn’t know.”

“They did,” Mason scoffs, looking up at me as I enter the room fully. “My son is pissed at you.”

“Yeah, that won’t last long.”

I go to the cupboard and pick out Ellis’s all in one waterproofs, then bend and search for his wellies in the rack. “Last night was decent,” I say.

“Right,” Nina agrees, a smirk on her face which she directs towards her husband.

I get the feeling I’m missing something.

“Lowell, I will come up there and nail you into that tumble dryer quicker than you can say not in front of Elliot if you don’t stop looking at me like that,” Mason warns as he carries on sorting the washing.

Nina grins wide, knowing he isn’t lying. He’d totally fuck her on the tumble dryer.

“What a lousy threat,” she taunts before turning to look at me. “Have you spoken to Luce today? She seemed a bit off on the phone earlier. She spoke to the kids, but that was it, rushed off the phone when I tried to speak to her.”

“I think she had a shitty night’s sleep.”

“She isn’t the only one,” Mason groans.

“Yeah, it was stupid o’clock in New York when she called. Let me know if you speak to her today and tell her to call me back, please.”