Thick as Thieves (The Greystone Family: Stolen Hearts #3)

Chapter 42

42

Xander

London

My heart stops beating when I see the back of her coming through the door. Tasering people? She must be getting hassled. My blood pressure starts to boil. Who the fuck is driving these stories? It’s relentless and all aimed at her.

She stands up and smiles towards Marshall. It’s as if the sun has finally come out on a cold, dark winter's day. The rays of light warm your blood, your mind, and soul. Showing you where you want to be. I can’t move, I can’t speak. I see Kellen from the corner of my eye, trying to get some words out. But no, her face falls instantly the minute she spots us.

Oh shit. We should have come later. She needs more time.

But I don’t want to give her any. I need her to speak to me. I need to be able to tell her what happened. She never gave us a chance to say anything, she was off and running on full meltdown. Winding everything up to its crisis point.

Kell always says she’s total carnage, or nothing. Well I got the full experience, and I hated it.

Jonno’s already pointed out we might be lucky if she hasn’t served Kellen with divorce papers. Or me with a restraining order. And as we haven’t seen those yet, we may still have a very slim chance. It’s up to us to make it right, and take the chance. We certainly will never ever get another.

In the enclosed space, the scent hits me hard. Home. That is the scent of home. Her and the boys. That scent has haunted my waking hours, and there have been a lot of those. I don’t think I’ve slept more than four hours in the last few weeks.

I hear Sorley squeal, and he holds his arms out to come up. He likes to be cuddled the most. But she’s leaving. No, please, don’t leave. I start to move forwards, my movements jerky and stilted. I see Kell has done the same. It’s as if she has us on a piece of thread. Reeling us in.

But she steps back. It's as if I’ve been punched in the heart. No, no, don’t, don’t do that. No, please. I’m screaming in my head.

I see Kellen freeze, but she moves and I hear Marshall try to say her name. He’s as upset as us. But she stops at that.

“I’ll leave these two and come back in a while. It’s fine, Marshall.” And she walks out.

I rush forwards and try to pull the door open.

“No. Leave her, Xander,” counsels Marshall. “Do as she asks, otherwise you’ll push her away for good.”

I turn and look at him, despair in my eyes. “We might be beyond that already.”

But he shakes his head. “No. Midarlin’ is hurt. She needs time to work it out, but she will. And if she wants you, then fine, but if not…” he trails off.

I bend over at the waist, hands on my knees, trying to get a full breath in. “Do you think she looks like she might forgive us?”

He weighs me up, in his calm way, and directs a big smile at me, no malice in his eyes. “I think if she wanted you gone you would be. She did the same to her brothers. She fired them a warning shot, and now she’s done the same to you two. Listen or not, it’s up to you. But this now, this is it. How you act and what you do will determine if you are in her life. I think she’ll let you into theirs.” He points at the babies struggling to get out of their harnesses. “But you might be excluded from hers. It’s up to you.”

“I want in,” states Marcus with absolute conviction. “Totally and utterly in. I love her, Marshall. I want my family back, and she is my family.”

“Me too, if she’ll have us. We’ll do anything she wants, on any terms she sets. I don’t care, I’ll take anything."

We both look at each other and then at the man in the bed. A silent bond passes between us all. The bond only broken by the squawking twins.

I pick up Sorley, leaving Marcus to get Lochi out. Breathing in his scent, it’s as if I’m alive for the first time in weeks. I feel a warmth spreading throughout my veins. Everything becomes brighter. I detect her scent underneath his. It’s gorgeous. And his baby smell is an addiction. I’m an addict and in heaven, the past few weeks dropping away as I hold my son in my arms. And he is mine. They both are. They all are. They belong to me, she belongs to me. Just as we totally and utterly belong to her.