Lucian’s eyes were dead serious. “I’ve never trusted Atlas. He’s been riding on Henry’s coattails since they first met. Henry likes to focus on the best in people, but sometimes it blinds him to the worst.”
My throat tightened at those words. I’d seen it myself. His entire relationship with Cadence seemed to have been built on his putting his all into them, and her taking what she needed out of it, chewing him up and spitting him out when she’d had enough.
And what about us? He trusted me, he protected me … and the worst part was, he didn’t even know what he was protecting me from. Not the full truth of it, anyway.
Well, I had the power to change that. I had the power to put all my trust in him, to break down that last barrier between us. If we were going to give this marriage thing a real try, then it needed to be from a place of honesty.
When we got back to theGirl on Fire, I was going to tell Henry everything.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Lies Left Lurking
IRINA
“How was she?” Henry asked the moment I stepped onto the plane. His green eyes were intent on me, and a surge of longing had me rushing to him, eyes prickling. I buried my face in his shirt.
He rubbed firm, comforting circles on my back. “I’m sorry, Catnip,” he murmured against my hair. “I’m sorry this happened to your friend.”
“I swear I’ve cried more in the last few weeks than I have in my entire life!” I snivelled into his chest. His lips brushed my hairline, and like a bolt of lightning, I realised the truth of it. I looked up at him, swiping at my wet eyes.
“It’s you,” I breathed.
Henry’s brow furrowed. “Me?”
A watery smile split my face. “Yes, Hubby. You. You’re my safe space to let go. You’re my person.”
His expression morphed from confused to joyful; a goofy, adorable grin lighting him up. I giggled wetly.
“Bax, we have to do something about Atlas,” Lucian rumbled, and Henry looked past me to Liv and Lucian. He sighed, and all that light and warmth I’d just seen in his face leeched away.
“I know we do.” His palms slid up my back to my neck, thumbs caressing my cheeks, and then he stepped away, turning to the pair of them. His eyes fell to their joined hands.
“Uh … yeah,” Lucian mumbled, noticing where Henry’s attention was. His expression turned sheepish, but he didn’t release Liv’s hand. “About this?—”
“Lucian and I need to fill in an employee fraternisation disclosure,” Liv explained in a rush as I bit back a laugh.
“Well.” Henry cleared his throat, moving to the table where his laptop was set up. “It’s about damn time.”
Lucian’s jaw dropped. Liv blinked at her boss. Henry opened his laptop and pulled up an online form. “No time like the present to make it official, you two.”
“Wait. How did you …” Lucian’s shock turned to suspicion, and his eyes landed on me. “Didyou?—”
“I said nothing!” I protested, throwing my hands up in mock surrender. “I am a vault when it comes to secrets.”
Wasn’t that the truth. But I was going to throw that vault wide open, for Henry.
“I know you think I’m useless at noticing anything that isn’t spelled out for me,” Henry explained mildly. “But come on, Lucian. You’re my cousin. My best friend. Give me some credit for spotting the way you look at Liv like she hung the moon.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Lucian asked, as Liv tugged him towards the table and the waiting disclosure form blinking on Henry’s laptop screen.
Henry shrugged. “I didn’t feel like it was my place. I figured you two would work it out eventually.”
Liv plonked herself down on the chair opposite Henry, turning the laptop and typing away into the form. “Have your important conversation about Atlas while I fill this in.”
Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply. “This day feels like it’s lasted about a week,” he mumbled. “You can’t let this slide with Atlas. He’s dragging Tickle through the mud.”
“I know,” Henry huffed. “I need to have a hard conversation with him. But he’s not answering my calls, he’s not responding to text messages—not even reading them.”
