Tears well in his eyes but they do nothing to simmer the rage within me.
"You don't mean that, Cor," the man before me says. The man that I no longer recognize or want in my life.
"You were supposed to protect me." I shake my head. "You're nothing but a coward." I stare him directly in the eyes as I mutter, "I never want to see you ever again." I don't bother waiting for him to respond, yet I take one parting look and say goodbye to the man who helped bring me into this world.
I leave him behind and don't stay for my mother to be returned to earth. I lost her weeks ago, today is just some formality I'd rather not be a part of.
Miller catches up to me as I'm nearing the vehicle Alec drove us here in. "You okay?"
"I want to leave," I tell him and reach for the door handle, my entire body and mind going numb to everything that's happening—that's already happened.
Miller mumbles something to Silver and Alec, the three of them climbing into the SUV with me and sitting in silence the entire drive to The Wellerton as I watch out the window, everything passing by in a blur.
The silence stretches out into the elevator ride up to my unit, and only stops when we near my front door.
Their attention turns on me, collectively, and I wonder what could possibly happen next for them to be acting like this.
"Before you go in there," Alec says. "Just know that we love you, and we're here for you. No matter what."
Silver and Miller nod in agreement, and I go inside because I cannothandletheir mysterious nature anymore.
But once I'm in my apartment, IwishI could grow invisible and vanish into thin air.
June is the first to approach, a plate in her grasp, her expression nothing like the normal resting bitch default she's usually in. "Cora."Shereaches out to me, wraps her arms around me, not caring that I don't hug her back. "I'm so sorry." She sighs and squeezes me tighter, and I try to recall her ever hugging me before. If she had, I don't remember it, atleast notimmediately.
She releases me, keeping her hand on my shoulders.“I made you cookies.”
Magnus comesover, nudging June out of the way and hugging me next, hard and soaggressivelyit lifts me off the floor. "Cora bora." He drops me gently and wiggles mebackand forth before finally letting me go. "Whatever you need, we're here."
I swallowtheanticipation of who's going to approach me now that June and Magnus have had their turns, a great part of me hoping that this istheend of my pathetic welcome party.
Simon strolls toward me and envelopes me in his arms and kisses the top of my head. "I'm sorry for your loss." He joins Magnus and June at my side.
I wait for Coen, knowing damn well June put him up to offering me his condolences, too, even if we never really have been very close. June tells me he's a nice guy, and Ibelieve her, but he has this off-putting, murderous vibe about him that usually keeps me at a distance. He kind of reminds me of a dog that is very protective of their owner, always lingering and ready to bite someone's head off if they fuck with her.
"Come on," I tell him. "Get it over with." I wave Coen over and he offers me a sympathetic smile before throwing an arm over my shoulder and giving me a one-armed hug. It's more than enough, especially from him.
Dominic stiffly nods at me, the two of us no stranger to this conversation since he's been around the last few daysanyway.
June wraps her hand around my forearm. "Can I talk to you, alone?"
I glance at my men, sending them daggers with each glare as they avoid saving me from this kidnapping. I sigh, knowing damn well there's no getting out of this. "Fine." I lead June out of the front area and deeper into the apartment until we reach my bedroom. I slip from her grasp and go over to the closet, desperate to get out of these depressing clothes. "Talk," I tell her as I search for something else to wear.
June waits for me to change as she noses about my room, no doubt examining the wealth of things Miller has spoiled me with, within our short time together. She settles onto the edge of my bed, her feet dangling just above the floor. The plate of cookies at her side.
I sit a couple of feet away from her and cross my arms over my chest. "What is it?"
June swallows and repositions her legs to face me. "First of all, I want to tell you how sorry I am, about your mom."
I hold my hand out. "June, please, if I hear one more apology about my mom, I'mgoingto lose my mind."
She nods. "That's fair. I get it." June clears her throat. "What I really want to apologize for has nothing to do with your mom and everything to do with our friendship. I miss you. I fucked up. I did the very thing that had been done to me so many times over, and I was an idiot for thinking my reasons justified it. I see the error of my ways now, and I hate that I didn't sooner. I wanted to protect you. I never wanted you to get hurt, especially if I could prevent it from happening. I didn't realize how much of a wall that put between us. I'm so sorry you had to deal with all of this on your own. I should have been there for you."
"But that's the thing," I tell her. "I didn't go through it alone. I had Silver. Alec. Miller. You know, the guys that you tried to sabotage me from being with."
My words slice through June like a blade, and I hate how I immediately regret the cadence of my voice. At the end of the day, I never want to hurt her, either, even if what she did hurt me.
"You're right," she admits. "I did do that. I thought that if I drove you away from them, that maybe it would keep you out of harm’s way." June chuckles. "We're so much more alike than you think. I would have done the same thing if I were you."
