Page 72 of Flynn

She nodded. “I know, and I’ll deal. But I was asking about you. You already barely talk to anyone in the family, and you don’t live near me, so I know you’ll be able to duck my questions in the future, so I’m asking now. Will you be okay?”

God, this woman. I reached out to grip her upper arms gently and pull her closer to me. The fact that she didn’t resist warmed me from the inside.

“I’ll be okay, Angel. It’s you I’m worried about and Sofia.”

She nodded. “I’ll be fine, and I’ll make sure Sofia gets through this. We all will.”

I wanted to say more, to ask more, but what else was there for me to say? Ara sighed and leaned up to wrap her arms around me, and I didn’t hesitate to slide my hands around her waist and pull her in close.

“Bye, Flynn,” she whispered, her voice uneven. I tightened my hold on her and closed my eyes. This was for the best; it really was. I kept repeating it to myself, but for some reason, that voice in my head didn’t sound as sure anymore.

We pulled back and I leaned down to kiss her, not wanting to leave the island without one more taste of her. Again, Ara didn’t fight the kiss, and for some reason it made it all the harder to pull away.

Smiling a small smile that didn’t quite reach her tired eyes, Ara cupped my face with her hands and stroked my cheeks. Without another word, she pulled away from me, and I watched her go, the most unsettling feeling in my stomach that I was making a huge mistake.

~

Chiara

Three hours later, Sofia, Kate, and I were all booked on a flight home for tomorrow. Sofia was staying in Kate’s room, and Kate’s boyfriend was bunking with Ellis to make sure he didn’t go looking to annoy Sofia. Thankfully, their rooms were on different floors.

Between myself, Chloe, and Sofia’s mother, we’d managed to cancel everything to do with the wedding. Of course, it was too late to get back any deposits, but everyone now knew the wedding was off and tonotcontact the bride asking questions. We gave everyone the same blanket statement explanation that things between the bride and groom came to a head with irreconcilable differences.

Trevor and Carol had both been to see Ellis and while they were disappointed in their son, they needed to make sure he was okay. Last I heard, he was drinking his way to the bottom of a bottle of whiskey with his best man and groomsman.

I made it to my room and sighed. I hadn’t felt so tired in alongtime, and it wasn’t over yet. I had to pack up my things, shower, try to get a couple of hours sleep, and then we were on the first flight out tomorrow near midday.

As tired as I was, I couldn’t stop thinking about Sofia and all the awful things Ellis had said. The truth about why they got together was so horrible, but the way she found out was worse. I would have given anything to change that.

Pushing my door open, I hesitated a moment in the doorway, wondering if Flynn would be here, or if he’d packed up and left already. He did say he would wait at the airport, but his flight wasn’t until closer to midnight and the sun hadn’t even set yet.

But standing there in the dim lighting of the room, it was obvious that Flynn wasn’t here, and neither were his things. Sighing, I hesitated in entering. If Flynn hadn’t left yet, I could go to him and… and what? I groaned. He’d already made his position clear, and I’d already accepted it. What more was there to say? Going after him now would only make things messy, and the way we’d said goodbye was so cut and dry.

Why mess with that?

Because I still didn’t feel like I had closure. Looking down at my phone in my hands, I brought up our texts to each other and skimmed through them. There wasn’t a lot really, mostly edited photos he’d sent me.

Going after him now would probably leave me crying and him upset to have hurt me again.

Sighing, I stepped into the room, my eyes on the photos he’d sent me.

The door closed quietly as I flicked through them. They weren’t real, but I wished they were. But it was time I let go of the fantasy we’d concocted and get on with my life. I needed to pack, and I desperately hoped I could get some sleep.

My gaze caught on the last photo he’d sent me; the one thatwasreal. It was us in bed that first morning, his lips pressed to my head. My heart clenched at the sight of it, drinking in the whole image. Still looking at the photo, I kicked my shoes off at the end of the bed and turned toward the bathroom, eager for a shower, but came to a sharp stop when I saw Ellis standing in the bathroom doorway, his pale blue eyes were red-rimmed and searching my expression as if all the answers to the universe were on my face.

“Ellis?”

“Why did you do it, Chiara?”

I shook my head, frowning. “Do what?”

What was he even doing here? A wave of trepidation washedover me, and I looked toward the door just as he stepped out of the bathroom and blocked the short hallway to the exit.

Ellis looked at me as if I should know what he was asking and shook his head, arms falling to his side in exasperation. “I want the real reason. Why break it off between us? We were good together. We were happy…or so I thought.”

I took a step back, my gut tightening. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I had the most disturbing feeling that I wasn’t safe. His hair was ruffled and unkept, as if he’d been running his fingers through it, and his tie hung loosened around his neck. The stench of booze was so strong on him I could smell him from here.

“Ellis, we’ve talked about this already. You need to go back to your room.”

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