Her light’s laugh made Scarlett crack a smile, even though that was completely inappropriate, given what was happening in front of her. Thankfully, neither Brayden nor Alastair could see her face.
Brayden took another step forward, and Alastair had to pivot to keep from being backed against a wall. “Then there’s my personal favorite reason—she’smyNorth Star. Not that you’d know what that means. Let me rephrase. She’s my soul mate. No one could ever love her better than I do,” said Brayden.
The bond between them was all she could feel, and Brayden’swords meant everything to Scarlett. Hearing him speak such truths like he knew her as well as he knew himself—he was right about all of it. She wanted nothing more than to leave with him.
Scarlett moved in between them and took Brayden’s hand. “Thank you, my love.” She tried to imbue her gratitude for his words into her expression as she met his gaze. “Let’s go home.”
She turned to leave, but Alastair reached out and grabbed her by the arm. “Don’t you see I’m trying to help you?” His voice broke. “I care about you.”
His words and obvious distress on her behalf would usually move her, but the way he was grabbing her erased any sympathy she might have felt. Scarlett tried to yank her arm away. Alastair held on, but Brayden’s hand came down over it and squeezed until Alastair released her with a shout of pain.
“Listen to her, and let us go,” said Brayden, his voice low and threatening.
Alastair slammed his body into Brayden’s, but Brayden didn’t budge. “This isn’t over,” he yelled over his shoulder as he stormed off.
“Keep telling yourself that, mate. Try not to trip over your own ego on the way out,” Brayden called after him, earning a growl from Alastair.
“I’m so sorry,” said Scarlett when he was gone. They started down the hallway hand in hand.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said, but he was smiling.
Why was he smiling?
“What’s funny?” she asked.
“It’s not really that funny,” he said, sobering. “It’s just, I’ve always been a little bit jealous of him. He got to be here, with you, and it seemed serious. It might be petty of me, but I’m enjoying our role reversal.”
“You were right about everything you said back there,” she said. “And I’m enjoying our life together too.”
His hand slid to the small of her back as he let her go first through the exit. Happiness flooded through her as she replayed his words again and again in her mind.
“She’smysoul mate.”
Scarlett would never tire of hearing those words.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
The next morning, Scarlett and Brayden walked into Wake Up, Darling, a coffee shop near Parliament. They bought coffees and took them to one of the high-backed booths—the only seating available in the oddly long, thin shop.
Cass walked in minutes after them. Scarlett rushed to the front of the shop to greet her, with Brayden trailing behind.
Beaming, Scarlett held out her hand. “We meet again. Thank you for coming. I couldn’t believe it when I mentioned you and my father-in-law knew exactly who you were.”
Cass returned her friendly smile as they shook. “Good to see you again, Scarlett. And yes, how fortunate he could put us in touch.” She wore a white T-shirt that emphasized the bronze of her skin, and her brown hair was pulled back in the same practical braid she’d sported the last time they met.
“This is Brayden, who you spoke to on the phone,” said Scarlett, gesturing to where he stood behind her. “We just got married.”
Cass’s gaze darted to Brayden and back to Scarlett, following Nori’s path as she buzzed around Scarlett’s head. “He mentioned that when we spoke, and I could hardly believe it. You have your soul light, and you’ve upgraded to a better man. So manychanges in a short time.”
“Oh, yes. Lots of changes.” Scarlett sighed and her cheeks grew hot as she remembered the breakup fight Cass had witnessed.
Brayden, on the other hand, grinned. “Good to meet you in person, Cass. And thanks for that endorsement.”
“To be fair, it wouldn’t have been hard to come across better than that guy,” said Cass with a crooked smile.
Brayden chuckled. “Still, I’ll take it.”
