If that was true, it hurt worse than anything.
Because I knew it was impossible to love someone who didn’t really love themselves.
Any kernel of hope I’d been clinging to, a hope of some miraculous reconciliation … it withered and died with that realization.
37.Ramsay
The urge to get on the ferry to Glenvulin was strong. Somehow, however, I forced myself to get on the stage for our midday gig in Portree on the Isle of Skye.
We were booked again to perform that night in Broadford before traveling back home the next day.
I had to get through an entire twenty-four hours without giving in to the need to race back to Leth Sholas to make sure Silver didn’t give me away.
Only instinct kept me on Skye.
The instinctual belief that Silver wouldn’t betray my secret.
When the truck had approached my house, the app on my phone went off to alert me. I knew, of course, it was Cammie because I’d reluctantly given her the keys to my workshop to collect the dresser she couldn’t bloody wait another day for.
Then my app alerted me because my front door had been breached.
Checking the camera feed, I saw Silver take my spare key I had hidden.
Nosy bloody woman knew where it was.
I hadn’t set the alarm on the house and probably should have.
Hoping she was there to pick up the stuff she’d left and not to violate my privacy, I’d decided not to call the VHF radio in the house to tell her to get the fuck out.
But then a second alert came over the app, and this one was worse.
While I had no cameras inside the main house, I had one in the hidden room off the bedroom.
I saw on the feed as Silver stood inside the small room, staring around in abject shock.
She jolted as if she’d heard something and then quickly stepped outside, and the wall closed.
She’d found the wall light that opened the door.
In all the time she’d spent in my bedroom, I’d been very careful to keep her on the other side of the bed so she never found it.
I had to hope like hell she didn’t tell Cammie. Or anyone.
Quinn, Forde, Murray, and Laird knew there was something up with me. I was taciturn. More than usual. But I couldn’t tell them why. Instead, I got through our performance on autopilot. We ate. They exchanged looks they thought I couldn’t see. I knew Quinn suspected I was pining for Silver because he’d fucking told me. After I nearly took his head off in response, he hadn’t said it again. Yet I knew he was thinking it.
We drove to Broadford, and I let the lads talk among themselves while I checked my outdoor camera. Sure enough, the recording showed Silver stepping out of the house with Cammie seconds after she’d closed the hidden wall. They left quickly.
Gut churning, I left the lads at the guesthouse bar, promising to meet them before the gig, and disappeared into my room.
I brooded for a bit. Checked in with Annie to see how Akiva was doing. Resisted the urge to call Silver. Finally, it was time for the gig.
After we finished, I switched on my phone and found I had a voicemail.
From Silver.
Miraculously, I got through a late dinner with the lads before excusing myself to head back to my room to listen to her message.
The sound of her voice reawakened that crushing weight on my chest.
