“You might want to sit down. I’m not allowed out of bed yet, though I’m perfectly fine.” She rushed to reassure us. “I want you to be comfortable, and I don’t like you looming over me all worried and angry.”
“‘We’re not angry.” Dante bit out the sentence with a snarl that argued the exact opposite. He pinched the bridge of his nose, set his other hand on his hip, and took a deep breath that filled his chest. “You scared us, Harper. Not just this, but all of it.”
“I’m sorry.” Her eyes glittered, and she patted the edge of the bed. “Please sit. I’d like to talk to you, but I understand if you need to leave. I’m sorry I scared you and that I’ve inconvenienced you so much. I’m more grateful than you’ll ever know that you brought Lila here.”
“Yes, yes. That’s all fine.” Julian waved her off. “We want a real conversation.”
Harper’s lips twitched.
Leave it to Julian to call her out. The strained conversation would get us nowhere. We all knew that, but Harper had to be willing to talk to us, to tell us the truth instead of brushing us off.
“You never have been, nor could ever be, an inconvenience.” I sat in the middle chair and laced my fingers together on top of the bed.
Her cheeks pinked. The color looked good on her. It took away some of the waxy sheen.
I pulled my hands apart and held one out to her. “We will always do what needs to be done. No matter what. Bringing Lila to you was an example of that. There is nothing we would not do for you.”
Her throat worked and a strangled sound left her. “Why do you have to be so fucking chivalrous. You’re making this too hard.”
“What?” I traced the veins in her hand, turning it over to follow the line from the center of her wrist up her inner forearm.
Julian sat and rocked the chair back on two legs. He flexed his arms and laced his fingers together behind his head in an imitation of Dante. “Have we ever given you any reason to think we would not do anything for you?”
Dante took the last seat, taking his sweet time joining us.
I understood. We’d all been affected by Harper’s absence, but Dante had been abandoned before, and her leaving would have triggered all those old emotions, brought up all his old defenses. The fact he was able to talk to her astounded me.
“What do you need from us, Harper?” A muscle popped in Dante’s jaw. “If you want us to leave, that might be the one thing we cannot give. We’ve suffered your absence for two months. I’ve never been more crazed in my life. So make your requests. Tell us why you decided you needed to move several states away from us.”
“Let us in, Harper.” Julian rocked the chair forward and back, his agitation showing in every motion.
I held her hand and brought her knuckles to my lips. “We are yours, Harper. Please talk to us.”
She closed her eyes and waved her free hand around her face. “Okay. Just give me a minute. I’d really like to do this without crying.”
We waited. She took several deep breaths and her face smoothed her. Her fingers trembled in mine, and I held on tighter. We’d give her all the time in the world, especially if it meant we were here, with her, for every possible moment.
“There’s a lot you don’t know.” Harper looked to her left, to where Lila sat on the other side of the bed.
Lila patted her knee and dipped her head in a tiny nod. “You should tell them the truth.”
I hadn’t even realized Lila followed us into the room. She knew about us, so I wasn’t worried about sharing any information shemight not already know. And of course Harper had already taken her into her confidence.
She’d probably known everything this whole time. The fact she’d kept it from infuriated me even as my respect for her grew.
“Okay. Here goes.” Harper shifted to a more comfortable position. “Someone has been sending me threatening text messages. They started at the beginning of us.”
Dante surged to his feet with a curse. “Shit, Harper. Who is it? Where are the messages?”
“Sit down, Dante.” I grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked.
He collapsed in the chair with a squeak of protest from the cushion. The glare he sent my way could have melted the skin from my bones.
“She’s not finished. Let her tell us everything, then we figure out what to do.” Problem solving mode came easy to all of us, but we needed the whole story first. Nothing good ever came from one of us jumping to conclusions or taking control of a situation without all of the details.
“Thank you, Alex.” Harper shifted again in the bed. “I can’t wait to get out of this bed. It’s only been a few hours and I’m going stir crazy.”
“And we feel sorry for you, but please continue.” Julian set his chair down so slowly and carefully that I gave him a second look. His face remained blank. Too blank. I looked deeper, and the blaze of fury burning deep in his eyes. He was absolutely furious but holding back for Harper.
