“How did you get over it?” I whispered before I could even think better of it.
“By almost losing the one thing that meant more to me than anything else.”
I had no doubt he was talking about his husband. Since that wasn’t in the cards for me, I simply said, “I’m no threat to Ethan.”
Ronan climbed to his feet. “It’s not Ethan I’m worried about,” he murmured. I didn’t respond to his cryptic statement, nor did I move as he headed for the door. “Get some rest, Cain. We can discuss strategy tomorrow.”
Once Ronan was gone, I went to my truck to grab my bag and then headed down to the gym. While I could’ve used the gym at the hotel I’d been staying at the past few months, I was still too on edge from the encounter with Ethan to wait that long. I worked out for more than an hour before I finally felt some of the rage leave my system. After using the shower to get cleaned up, I was about to leave the gym and head for my truck when I noticed a figure out in the backyard. I recognized the long black hair instantly.
I was tempted to just continue on my way, but I knew I needed to mend some fences. I left my bag in the gym and walked out the double doors leading to the back yard.
Ronan and Seth’s house was quite sizeable and sat on a good chunk of property on a bluff overlooking Elliot Bay. I walked to where Lucy was sitting on one of the swings of an elaborate play set. Her back was to me so she didn’t see me coming, nor did she notice when Bullet left her feet to come greet me.
As I rounded the swing set, she startled and then hastily wiped at the tears that had been trailing down her cheeks. She went on instant alert as she eyed me suspiciously.
“He told you, huh?” I said softly.
Lucy hesitated before nodding.
I eased around the post I’d been leaning on and went to sit on the swing next to hers, hoping it would hold my weight.
“It’s for the best, Lucy. We can end all this and things will go back to normal.”
“Normal,” she whispered. “My mom’s dead and my stepdad killed her. I don’t have a normal anymore.” She dropped her eyes and leaned heavily against the chain holding the swing up. “I don’t have anything anymore.”
“You have Ethan,” I offered.
She sniffed and said, “He only took me in because he had no choice. He has a whole life he gets to go back to,” Lucy murmured. “He’s not going to want a reminder of everything Eric did to him around.”
“You’re not a reminder,” I pointed out. “Ethan loves you verymuch and I’m sure he’ll do everything he can to make sure you two can stay together.”
It was a point I really had no right to make, but I’d seen the way Ethan looked at the girl. Circumstances might have forced them together, but he’d given up everything for her and I knew he hadn’t done that out of a sense of obligation.
There was no response from Lucy. It was a reminder of how badly I sucked at this communication shit. “I thought I was alone when I was your age too,” I said softly. “My life changed in the space of a few minutes and everything I ever knew was gone just like that,” I said as I snapped my fingers.
“What happened?” Lucy asked.
I glanced at her and said, “A miracle.” As her brow furrowed in disbelief, I felt a smile tugging at my mouth. “My grandmother,” I clarified. “I didn’t even know I had a grandmother. There I was with nothing…scared and alone…broken,” I murmured. “And she swept in and said she was my family now and that everything would be okay.”
“And was it?”
Since I couldn’t lie to her, I said, “It was as good as it could be.”
The answer seemed to satisfy her.
“Lucy, I’m sorry if I scared you last night. I can’t tell you why I reacted like I did because it’s just not something I talk about…with anyone. But I hope you’ll believe me when I say I never would have hurt you or Ethan.”
She cast me a sidelong glance. “We weren’t going to hurt you,” she said softly.
I sighed and said, “Before all this shit happened with Eric, you probably never looked at other people and saw only monsters, right?” At Lucy’s nod, I said, “All I see are monsters…until they prove to me they’re not. I’m not saying it makes any sense-”
“It does-” she interjected. “I see Eric everywhere,” she admitted. “In every face I see. It wasn’t like that before…”
“Before he killed your mom.”
She nodded.
“It’ll get better,” I offered.
