“Yes?”
“I don’t want to just be your friend.”
I wanted to believe he meant it, but I wasn’t sure if it was just the pain medicine talking. So, I bent down and brushed a few locks of hair away from his face before pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“Feel better, okay? I’ll see you later.” Lance was fast asleep when I left the room.
Chapter 40
Elara
I stormed to my rooms with my fists clenched.
Cai called after me but I ignored him, proceeding in a fury.
I accidentally stepped on the hem of my long skirts and nearly toppled over. Cai’s footsteps were behind me. He managed to catch up with me before I could slam my bedroom door in his face.
“Lara.” Cai’s fingers wrapped around the door, and he stepped inside.
“How could you?” I cried out.
“You did not see the state I found them in.” His knuckles were red and split. Some of it from beating up Lance just now and some of it a reminder of what he did to Thatcher.
“Was Gwen screaming for help?” I asked, pouring some water into the basin.
“What?” He frowned.
“Was Gwen in trouble? Was Lance hurting her?”
“Well, I...” He hesitated. I dipped a washcloth into the water and wrung it out.
“Gwen is a grown woman, Cai. And I know you view her as your little sister. But she can make her own choices.”
“Even if that choice is Lance? I won’t allow it.”
“I didn’t say it was a good choice.” I took a seat on one of the chairs in front of the fireplace, gesturing for Cai to do the same. Even if I was furious with him, I didn’t want to see him hurt.
“What’s he even doing here?” Cai reluctantly fell into the chair opposite me.
“Does it matter?” We had so much more to be worried about. I took Cai’s hand, pressing the wet cloth to his skin.
He sucked his teeth and tried to pull back, but I had a firm grip on his hand.
I noticed Cai staring at me, his expression almost that of a young boy being caught doing something he shouldn’t.
“We cannot go on like this. I cannot go on like this.”
“What do you mean?” He was trying not to flinch as I cleaned his hands.
“I mean, I can’t keep fighting with you like this. We’re supposed to be on each other’s side, now more than ever.”
He looked down at my hand holding his. “I don’t want to fight with you either.”
“Well, for starters, that means you can’t just beat up my brother, no matter how much of a selfish bastard he can be.”
“It’s not like he didn’t deserve it at least a little bit.” After everything Lance had done to Cai, he might have deserved worse. But I meant it that we couldn’t be fighting among ourselves right now.
“Fine,” I agreed with him. “Maybe a little bit.”
