He didn’t know what to say, so he just squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will the nausea away. Willing those damned pills to work.
“I know you have this whole thing of believing you’re never enough for people to stick around for,” Jane said, dropping her gaze to her lap, where she was wringing her hands, another thing he rarely saw her do. “We’re all still here, Wilder. You’ve never had to be anything but yourself. We love you, and yeah, I’ve been a bitch lately, but Solo and I could’ve had thirteen years together if he wasn’t so fucking terrified of losingyou.” Her voice lowered, though it didn’t hide the pain behind her words. “Then we lost you anyway.”
“I know.”
She snapped her head up, tears lining her eyes as she stared at him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, hand reaching toward her. When she let him take her hand in his, a breath shuddered through him, some of the tension in his shoulders easing.
They stared into each other’s eyes for a breathless moment, and then she nearly knocked him over when she threw her arms around him. He hugged her close, ignoring the pain flaring through every inch of his body.
“I love you,” he said, lips pressed against the top of her head.
Jane’s arms tightened around him for a second before she pulled back in his arms. “I don’t need you to be okay with it. I just need you to not shut me out.”
He swallowed hard against the anguish welling up in his throat.
“I know it wasn’t really any of my business, but the lies? You guys not trusting me? That’s what hurts the most.”
“We fucked up,” she said, her voice breaking.
“More than once.”
They turned their heads at the same time, catching sight of Solo standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets, a defeated look on his face.
“I’m sorry, brother. For everything,” Solo said, staring into his eyes for a long moment before he turned his gaze on Jane, his expression softening in an instant.
“I want you to be happy,” Wilder said. “I just… didn’t think my trust would be the price of it.”
“Neither did we,” Jane whispered.
Solo crossed the room, his long legs eating up the distance in seconds. He stood in front of Wilder, brown eyes filled with anguish, though he could tell that there was some hope behind that fear, too.
“No more secrets. No more lies,” Solo said, holding out a hand toward Wilder. “Be pissed all you want. I don’t care if you hate me, if that’s what you need. Just don’t push us away.”
His heart was in shambles, and yet it felt as if pieces of it were trying to stitch themselves back together. He wanted to forgive them and move on. He wanted his family back.
He grasped Solo’s hand, meeting his gaze. “I could never hate you.”
He’d hated their actions. Their lies. He’d hated how they’d made him feel.
He squeezed Solo’s hand before letting go. “One day at a time.”
Solo nodded, relief stark in his eyes and expression.
“I didn’t mean to get between you and Emmett. I was just so fucking worried about you, and I knew you’d never knowingly want to hurt him. I’m sorry.”
Wilder tried to nod, then thought better of it.
“As shitty as that was, it pushed me to realize what I wanted. Don’t expect me to thank you, though.”
Solo huffed, the sound making Wilder’s lips try to lift at the corners.
A throat clearing had Wilder looking toward the doorway where Talon stood. He felt his heart freeze at the pinched look on Talon’s face.
“He’s not saying much, and I doubt we’ll get a location out of him anytime soon,” Talon said, a muscle clenching in his jaw. “What he did say is that he and his buddies save people. From cults and such.”
“That… makes no sense,” Jane said, sharing a confused look with Wilder. “If they save people, why did they try to kill him?”
