Page 91 of Lilly
Chapter Nineteen
Lucas
Lilly just lied tome.
I don’t do lies. I grew up around enough bullshit. I don’t need it now. Especially from the woman who is wearing my ring, carrying my babies and claiming that she lovesme.
I go to work like normal so I don’t raise her suspicions, but I keep an eye on my phone to track where she is. I’m relieved when she arrives at the coffee shop like she said she would. I almost close the app and put the whole weird encounter down to her pregnancy this morning. Lilly has been pretty easy to live with so far. She hasn’t complained as much as some of the people I’ve read about online. She seems to be taking all the symptoms in herstride.
Something in me stops me from forgetting about it though, so I finish up what I’m doing and head out. I walk the short trip to where I know Lilly currently is and stand what I hope is out of sight, and look through thewindow.
The second I see her sat opposite another man I feel a wave of anger wash through me, just like when I found Jake with his hands on her. I knew my paranoia this morning was for a reason. I continue to stand and watch them as they talk and laughtogether.
After a couple of minutes, I can’t stand unnoticed any longer, and I walk around to the doors and start to head towards them. I’m barely inside the coffee shop when I’m able to get a better look at the guy Lilly is sat with. Suddenly, it feels like someone’s taken a baseball bat to my chest because my breath catches and my hands shake alittle.
Marcus.
I stand just inside the doorway in everyone’s way, staring at him, taking in all his features that are still so similar to my own. Just like when we were kids. He always was a miniature version ofme.
Marcus must feel my stare because after a minute or two he looks my way. It takes a few seconds for him to focus on me and I see the same shock that must be on my face reflected back atme.
A flash of blonde catches my eye as Lilly’s hair whips around to see where Marcus’ attention is. Her eyes widen when she sees me. I’m not sure if it’s horror or just shock. She looks back and forth between us a few times before her mouth opens to say something, but nothinghappens.
Deciding we’ve stared at each other across the room for long enough, I move forward until I’m stood at theirtable.
“Lilly?” Iask.
“I…uh…I was going to tell you, Luc. But Marcus wanted to meet me first, find out a little more about you. I swear I was going to tell you,” Lilly rambles on, thinking I’m mad. I guess I am mad that she lied to me, but I can sort of see why. What I’m currently feeling is a long way from anger, though. Lilly has gone out of her way to hunt down my brother. I’ve looked a couple of times but was never successful, and I always convinced myself he wouldn’t want to hear from me anyway after I left him in that hellhole.
“It’s okay,” I say, giving her shoulder a squeeze before turning to my brother. “Marcus, you look good,” I say awkwardly. I have no idea what the right thing to say right now is, but I have a huge desire to apologise. “I’m sosorr—”
“Don’t, Lucas. None of that was your fault. You got lucky after a fuck load of bad luck. You don’t need to apologise,” he says, surprising the shit out ofme.
“But I abandoned you,” I say inshock.
“Yeah, and I was utterly devastated, but I got over it. Being devastated made me weak, and I don’t need to explain to you what that meant.” No, he doesn’t need to explain. I know all toowell.
“Grab a chair, Luc,” Lilly says, still looking between the two of us as if we’re aliens. I’m not sure if it’s the similarity between us or the fact Marcus hasn’t tried to kill me yet for what I did tohim.
Reluctantly, I ask the question that I’m not sure I want the answer to. “What happened toher?”
“Dead,” Marcus says coldly. “Overdose a few years back. She lasted longer than I ever thought she would.” I can’t help but agree with him. If she kept up the life she had while I was there, I’d have put money on her dying much younger. “Andhim?”
“Left for a new bottle of vodka one morning and never reappeared. No idea if he’s alive or dead, but at least he’s gone.” I hate the feelings that talking about those two wastes of space drag up in me, so I quickly change thesubject.
“So, what are you up tonow?”
I forget all about work and spend the next few hours sat chatting to someone I never thought I’d get the chance to see ever again. It’s the oddest feeling, because we chat like fifteen years haven’t passed by. Marcus tells me all about his business and I feel so much pride for what he’s achieved despite everything that I’m worried my chest is going toexplode.
* * *
“Ican’t believeyou did that, Lilly,” I say the second we both walk through the front door later that day. “I never thought I’d see him again,” Iadmit.
“I looked for him after you told me about your past. I didn’t honestly think I would find him or that he’s still be local, but after a couple of wrong hits I found him. I can’t imagine not being close to Dec, so I thought it was worth a shot. I could tell how much he meant to you as a child and how much leaving him must have hurtyou.”
“You’re incredible,” I say as I grab her wrist and pull her to me for akiss.
I slide my tongue against hers as I try to show her what she means to me. I kiss her until we are both panting for breath. Eventually, I pull back and run kisses along her jaw and down herneck.
