She smiles. “You’re allowed your privacy. You’re theyounggirl Aksel talked about, aren’t you? The one Ransom broke up with?”
“Maybe.” I scowl. “Or maybe he has a long line of young floozies he’s been fucking. What do I know!”
She grins. “Ransom is a lot of things, and right now I could kick his ass hard, but he’s never been into floozies. Even Calypso, annoying though she may be, is smart.”
“I’m not smart. I’m an idiot.” I sniffle. “I feel so stupid.”
“You’re not,” Freja says firmly. “You’re in love. That’s not stupid. You want to tell me how it started and all that jazz?”
There’s comfort in telling her, and I do. Everything. From the start to what just happened in the library.
“I thought I was stronger than this,” I bemoan.
“You are,” she says fiercely, reaching out to stroke my hair. “You’re the strongest person I know.”
“I don’t know how to stop loving him,” I admit. “But I know I have to.”
“You don’thaveto do anything. You just have to be.”
“Why do I love him when he’s an ass?”
Freja laughed. “I think he’s worse than an ass. Did he ever tell you about Olivia?”
I nod.
“Scarred him. He’s afraid of commitment. Afraid to fall in love. Afraid to get divorcedagain. Just plain ol’ scared shitless.”
I let out a watery chuckle.
“Tomorrow, when you’re feeling better, you should knee him in the nuts for what he said to Calypso about you,” Freja suggests.
Laughter spills out of me. “Okay.”
Then, as if that is too much emotion, I begin to sob again. She pulls me into her arms, holds me.
“I can’t stop crying,” I mumble.
“You don’t have to. I’ve got you. Let it all out,” my big sister tells me, and I follow her advice.
CHAPTER 18
Ransom
Aksel’s fist connects with my face before I’ve finished the sentence.
“Ember and I dated five years ago. We broke up but now we’re going to get back?—"
It’s not a wild swing—it’s practiced, precise, and thrown by someone who doesn’t lose his temper often but means it when he does.
Instantly, pain blooms across my cheekbone.
I stagger back, catching myself on the edge of the table.
The dining room goes dead silent except for the sharp clatter of my glass of water hitting the floor.
I raise a hand, breathing hard, one eye already beginning to swell. “I deserved that.”
“You deserve another,” Aksel growls, winding up again.
