Page 252 of Things We Left Behind
“Time?” Lucian repeated, like the word tasted bitter on his tongue.
“There’s a lot of undoing to be done. This is real life. It’s not like the movies where one grand gesture will convince Sloane that you aren’t going to close down and abandon her again,” Emry explained.
I’d seen that look before on Lucian’s handsome face. A challenge had been laid, and he was compelled to meet it.
“Now, who’s ready for some wine?” Emry asked.
“Me,” I said with more than a hint of desperation.
Naomi:How are things with Lucian?
Lina:Has he let you out of his bedroom/sight yet?
Me:Things are…complicated. Well, not in the bedroom, just everywhere else. He says he’s committed to this. That he’s not going to change his mind. He’s saying all the right stuff. Everything I’ve spent years wishing he’d say. But I still feel like I’d be an addled idiot to just happily believe he’s going to stick around and make a family with me.
Lina:What if he buys you a castle or something as a symbol of your happily ever after?
Me:I wouldn’t hate that.
Naomi:Or maybe his grand gesture will be listening to the therapist and proving himself to you over time?
Me:Great. We’ll play “getting to know you” while my eggs shrivel into raisins. I just don’t think there’s anything he could do that would undo twenty-plus years of distrust. At least not before I’m a barren wasteland of fertility.
Naomi:There are other ways to be a parent.
Lina:Yeah. You just have to wait for your evil twin to abandon the child you didn’t know about.
Naomi:I was thinking more along the lines of adoption. But I can confirm that the evil twin thing works!
Lina:Hey guys, not to steal the spotlight, but I’m getting married next week!
Me:Has Nash thrown a Morgan hissy fit over baby’s breath yet?
Naomi:There will be no fit throwing of any kind. Only bridal perfection!
45
Snippity-Doo-Dah
Lucian
Nash:Good luck today. Make sure you can still walk down the aisle next week.
Knox:Oh fuck. Today’s the day our boy becomes a man?
Me:Fuck you both very much.
Nash:I’m feeling unloved and used.
Knox:Yeah. Maybe we shouldn’t hold up our end of the deal until Lucy learns to play nice.
Me:I hate you both and plan to kick your asses at my earliest convenience.
Itook a deep breath and straightened my tie in the mirror. On the outside, I looked cool, calm, perhaps a touch pissed off. On the inside, I was a roiling mess of…something. I narrowed my eyes at my reflection.
I was Lucian Fucking Rollins. I didn’t get anxious about shit. I made shit anxious about me.
I adjusted my cuffs one final time, nodded to the mirror, and headed out of the room to kick-start my future.
