Page 121 of Crown of Thorns
“Fuck off!” I ball it up, then toss it right into his face.
“Cut it out. Both of you!” Marie-Louise cries. “I can see you’re feeling better.” She’s holding a bottle of Champagne. Got to love my aunt. She glares my way through heavy lashes, painted lips pursed.
“Took him long enough.” Gaël walks inside. He heads over to the piano and tips Dominique’s head up by his hair, then starts eating his face like we’re not all there. Waiting for the drinks to be served.
“Yeah, well, you saved your balls from doing grocery shopping with Dad. Next time you can do it for the whole week,” Arthur grumbles. But this time, when I look at him, I see things crystal clear. He might pretend he’s stoic as fuck, but I know better. He’s an ass, but he’s my other half. And if anyone touched him, I’d raze them to dust. He’d do the same. That’s just how we are.
“Don’t pretend you don’t care,” Régis pipes up from where he’s reading on the couch. “He lost his mind when we couldn’t find you. He was terrifying, honestly.”
I bite my bottom lip to keep a smile from breaking through. Arthur once flipped a desk in middle school after a teacher mocked me in front of the class. Called me weird. Arthur's fist trembled, but he didn’t apologize. Just stared her down and said, “No one shits on my brother.” I think it was the first time I knew he’d go to war for me. I’d forgotten that until now. “I’m touched. Now, can we…I’m really thirsty.” I need a drink, need to feel I’m alive. But I won’t tell them that.
“Arthur.” Dad barks from his office.
“Where’s my phone?” I call. No one replies. Leaning against the couch, I tilt my head back against the pillows. It’s warm here. The piano plays, and my eyes flutter.
I look outside and squint. Melody? What the hell is she doing here? She’s laughing at something Gaël says, head tilted like she’s known him forever.
And then I hear him: Noah’s voice.
My whole body goes still. That voice cuts through the fog like lightning through bone. I’d know it anywhere. He’s speaking softly, formally. That voice I know too well, trying to keep itself steady. He’s talking to my father. I can’t make out the words.
My breath stumbles. I don’t dare move, in case it’s a dream. But it’s not. He’s here.
34
NOAH
“Are you sure this is the place?” Melo asks as we drive toward the gated properties. Three identical villas line the top of the embankment, gazing over the Atlantic Ocean like kings on a throne. She lets out an appreciative whistle.
“Yes. Park the car here.” I need a moment.
As Melo parks the Fiesta, I imagine Louis inside one of these mansions. Everything from the white stone and large windows to the lawns and gardens is perfectly maintained. Behind the fence, I see personnel walking around.
It’s been three days since his family dragged him out of the dungeons of Monterrey, and they have been hell. I don’t know what he was like in the beginning, if he screamed or sobbed or simply shut down. I wonder when he woke up. Did he think of me, the way I’ve been thinking of him? I haven’t heard from him, not his voice, not a glimpse of his face, since they ripped him from my arms.
After the guards dropped me off at home, I stood in the hallway for a long time, keys in hand, staring at the door. When I finally stepped inside, I didn’t bother turning on the lights. I collapsed on the bed and didn’t move. Three days passed like that, quiet, dark, and unbearable. Nothing felt real without him.
“It’s a perfect summer day to celebrate your birthday,” Melo murmurs.
“I guess so.”
She turns to face me. “Louis wants to see you too, I’m sure of it.”
If only I could share that feeling. I’ve dialed his number countless times, but he never picks up. Nothing has been posted on his social media either. But there’s no going back now. We came all this way, and I promised myself I wouldn’t turn my back on Louis. Never again. It’s time to fight for him. If he’ll still have me, that is.
“You okay, Nooms?”
“Yeah.” But we both know that’s a lie. Ever since that night in Monterrey Castle, I’ve been out of it. My other half is missing. My heart is aching. I miss Louis with a fierceness that should terrify me, but it doesn’t. It defines me now. I’ve passed the phase of fear. So here I am, in front of his house, unannounced, in an attempt to save us from breaking into a thousand pieces.
I wouldn’t survive that.
Melo glances at me, her expression soft. “He will take you back, you know. That man is crazy about you.”
Something shatters in my chest. “I screwed up, sis. I hurt Louis and I... I don’t know if I can fix it.”
“You won’t know unless you try.”
I nod, the ache in my chest spreading like fire.
