Any other day I’d defend him, but that’s the last thing she needs to hear right now. Walking to the island, I lean in and hug her shoulders. “What can I do?” I ask.
Her hand encases mine, squeezing tight. “Nothing. Mase is going to need you.”
“I know.” I just hope he lets me.
“Scarlet, honey.” Frey steps into the kitchen with red-rimmed eyes, the only tell that she’s upset. “Glen and I think it would be best that you come home with us this evening, or we can come here for a couple of weeks. We don’t want you here alone.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” She gives her a small smile, and I see the strength behind it. She pulls me tighter to her back and sets her shoulders square, already putting on a front, reminding me of her brother.
“I’m going to go get things straight at the office,” Charlie announces, nodding at Elliot then leaning down to kiss Scar on the forehead. “Call me if you need me, okay?”
“I’ll come with you,” Lance mutters, his hand on the back of his neck as if he is uncomfortable. He gives Scarlet an awkward nod then turns to leave. Charlie following behind.
“Where do you want to stay, Scar? You can come home with us, or we can come here,” Elliot asks.
“I can’t leave.” Her eyes fill with tears, and she bats them away. I look to Elliot, his own eyes shining. “I can’t leave them,” she adds.
Their sadness seeps into me as their heartache becomes my own. How can someone be here one day and gone the next. Just like that.
“Then we will come here. Give me an hour, yeah.” Elliot looks at me, and my stomach drops. I stand conflicted because that means an hour away from Mase. But Scarlet needs me too.
I nod my head, letting him know he can go.
“You don’t have to stay. You can go to him,” Scarlet tells me.
“I know, and I will.”
We sit in comfortable silence, her head resting on my shoulder as we allow the calmness in the house to settle between us.
* * *
After twistingmy key in the elevator, I stand with my foot tapping, and my hands running through my hair.
Emotions. I know he will be feeling so many of them right now. I expect it. But the unknown scares me because I have no idea what I will be walking into.
The only thing I do know is he will be hurting.
The doors slide open, and my heart sinks as the smell of cigarette smoke fills me, along with a heavy beat. It’s so loud I can’t make out the words.
Broken shards of a whiskey bottle lie at the bottom of the staircase, the amber liquid that it bathes in telling me he didn’t drink much of it.
Taking the steps two at a time, I push through the bedroom door, my shoulders dropping when I hear the shower running.
“Thank god.”
Just as I pass the bed, I kick a bottle. An empty bottle. Picking it up, I walk to the bathroom door and push it open, steam billowing out as I enter.
I can’t see anything. “Mase?”
Stepping around the tile wall, I find him lying motionless on the shower floor and completely naked.
I remove my shoes and drop down next to him, my clothes getting soaked through.
“This helps?” I ask, looking at him.
He shrugs, not giving me his eyes, but I can see the bags that sit beneath them. I didn’t notice before, but seeing him now, he looks tired.
“You don’t need to be here.”
