The Grand Pact (The Grand Men #1)(76)

“With?”

“Nothing, Mum,” I snap, walking from the kitchen with purpose and feeling like a prick for it.

I grab my mother’s phone from the sideboard and take the steps out into the small courtyard that sits between the dining room and library.

I call Lucy, my body tense and full of energy.

“Hello.”

“What the fuck, Luce.”

“Please don’t be mad.”

“You think I slept with someone last night?”

“I don’t know.”

“I didn’t,” I snap. Pinching my brow, I try to chill the fuck out. “I wouldn’t.”

Of all the times I’ve fucked around with women—with Harriet, this is what it gets me. Nina told me I’m not notorious in the way that I think I am.

The irony that I’m standing here not twenty-four hours later having this conversation.

“Elliot, I’ve been thinking.”

My body runs hot, the hairs on my arms and neck standing on end.

Maybe another time.

Her words from this morning slap me in the face.

My jaw flexes as my teeth clamp tight. “Hit me with it,” I bite out.

“I think maybe we should slow down. I don’t know if we can do this. The distance thing makes it impossible and—”

“I said I would come out wherever. You can come home.”

“I know, but it’s….”

She’s doing so good without us.

“Tell me what you want, Luce. Tell me, and I’ll make it happen.”

I hear her sniff, and it makes my heart crack.

I’m hurting her.

She’s doing so good without us.

“I don’t want you to do anything. I’d never want to change you.” She pauses, taking a breath. “When she answered your phone, Elliot. I knew you wouldn’t. I don’t think you slept with her. But I wasn’t okay with it. The fact she was with you, and I wasn’t. I felt horrible, and I don’t want to feel like that again.”

I rear back. “When who answered my phone?”

“Harriet. Last night.”

“What?”

What is she talking about?

“Lucy, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“Please, don’t get mad at me.”

I grasp the back of my neck, refraining myself from screaming the words down the phone. “Okay, but I need you to give me a little more than what you are. I wasn’t with Harriet last night!”

“Was she at the gala?”

“Yes. But I didn’t speak to her.”

“She answered your phone. She told me you were busy.”

My jaw clenches. I think back to the night before, wondering how the fuck she would’ve got my phone.

Then it clicks.

“Luce, she’s being a fucking bitch. She’s trying to upset you. I was with the guys last night, ask them.”

“I don’t need to.”

“I left my jacket on the back of my chair, and she must have got hold of it. It’s the only explanation I have.”

“Elliot, please, you don’t have to explain. You aren’t mine, and I shouldn’t be so jealous over this.”

“What?” What is she saying? “Luce, you might be upset, but you are fucking me off with what you’re saying.”

I hear her cry, and I stand frozen to the spot, eyes burning with no idea what to say or do.

I can’t get to her quick enough.

She’s doing so good without us.

“Luce.”

“Can I call you back?”

My shoulders drop in defeat. “Don’t hang up on me, baby.”

The phone clicks off, and I refrain from launching it into the concrete at my feet.

I want to be mad at her, but I know what Harriet can be like. I know exactly how she would have made it seem.

Needing to get home so I can fix my phone, I go back inside and collect Ellis’s things. “Will you and Dad take the boat back to Lowerwick for me? I’m going to take your car and leave it up there.”

“What’s the rush?” My mother asks.

“No rush.” I look down at Ellis who’s watching me. “I have a headache and want to get home.”

“Stay. You can sleep it off here tonight. It’s a long drive back.”

“I’ll be fine, Mum.” I lean in and kiss her cheek. “I promise.”

She nods and smiles at me, leaning in and saying goodbye to Ellis.





22





Elliot





I pull up at Lowerwick and find Mason sitting on the steps with Waverly. She lives to be outside. She’s so much like Scarlet with the way she loves the estate and nature.

Mason stands as I step out of my parents’ car. He walks over with Waverly in his arms. “Everything okay?” he asks, taking Ellis’s waterproofs while I get him from his car seat.

“Yeah. Fine.”

“You’re back early.”

I round the car and pass him, walking up the steps and into the house. “I need to go get my phone fixed.”

“Not on a Sunday, you’re not,” he deadpans. “We have a couple old ones kicking about, let me see where they are.” He walks off down the hall. “You staying for food?” he calls over his shoulder.