“I don’t. I decided to stick by her, and if given the chance I will do it all over again. She’s always been a part of my family. I like to think they were proud of that decision.”
“They were,” the surety in my voice makes his eyes gleam with hope. “Your dad never stopped talking about how brave his son was and how it was obvious you didn’t leave Nevaeh when she needed you the most.”
His head falls forward, barely holding on when he asks tiredly, “What happened?”
I take large gulps of oxygen to stall, but it’s not fair. Harvey has every right to know what happened in his absence, even when it guts me to say it.
“Stella fell sick after you were taken. The grief was too much for her and unfortunately, our Divine can’t heal a broken heart. The pain slowly ate her whole, and she was gone within a year.”
That’s when the first tear drops, but I push forward. “Henry held on as long as he could. I found out too late that he was only waiting for me to take over before he gave in to his heartache. Not even a day after he handed me War, he followed after her.” I don’t hide the wobble in my voice, and Harvey doesn’t hide his tears anymore.
We stay like that for a while, letting our hurt take over before we have to pack it all up and move on. Inhaling sharply, he rubs under his eyes, laughing bitterly, “Fantastic, I’m an orphan now.”
I couldn’t help it. Smacking the back of his head like I do whenever Seiji says something stupid. “Never say that again.” Harvey is shocked I hit him, but stays silent. “You have a family, and you will always have one. Every single person waiting for us downstairs is your family. Blood or not. Including August.”
Slowly nodding, Harvey let my words sink in before his shoulders sag as if a weight finally dropped from his shoulders. Not knowing what happened except that he lost the people most important to him must’ve been awful. And to think Visha used that information to break him some more.
“I’m not too fond of kids, but that is one cute as fuck toddler.”
“Right?!” I agree a little too enthusiastically, which makes him laugh.
“I’m going to ask Grace for one as soon as we are done with all the talking, sharing, and ‘getting to know one another’ part.”
I’m shocked he’s ready to move that fast. Maybe Nevaeh was onto something when she said Harvey would be wrapped around Grace in less than a week.
“Fates, you don’t waste any time, do you?”
“They snatched a lot of time from me, brother. I don’t want to wait to do the things I thought I would never get to in this life. I had almost given up on ever returning home.” When he says it like that, I understand where he’s coming from.
I can see how Nevaeh and Harvey handle their trauma differently. Where Harvey wants to grab life by the balls and never look back, Nevaeh can’t stop glancing back, worrying about making the same mistake again and ruining her future.
Having Harvey around would be good for her. For selfish reasons, I want Harvey to stay close so she has more people in her corner than me.
“That kid will be lucky to have both of you as parents. With your genes combined, you’ll make some adorable babies.” Harvey is practically bouncing in his seat, smiling like a lovesickidiot. Nevaeh was right, this guy is a giant teddy bear on the inside.
“Imagine a little one with her curly hair and my eyes. The kid would rule the world.”
“I see your ego is exactly as big as your body.”
“Hey,youdon’t get to call me a giant.” Shoving my shoulder, his demeanor changes, similar to the man I met a few hours ago. “You’re good to her, right? Because I would gladly bury you in my future backyard if not.”
“I would never even think about hurting my mate, Harvey. I would do anything to keep her safe and happy. It will take her some time to believe she deserves that, though,” I sigh tiredly and try to fix the mess my hair feels after Nevaeh plays with it. “Sometimes I worry she thinks she’s too damaged to be pieced back together.”
“She is.”
The certainty in his voice startles me. I don’t get why they both believe they aren’t worthy, but I bet it has something to do with that witch. I know now it will take some time and a truckload of love for these two to believe we aren’t leaving or hurting them.Ever.
“Just don’t give up on her.”
“Never,” I promise before climbing down and dusting my pants. “Now, let’s go back before they send a search party for us.”
Everyone has already retired to their rooms when we return except Grace, who is waiting for Harvey. The smile on her face when Harvey walks into the room almost blinds me.
Smirking, I walk past the couple that’s too busy drowning in each other’s eyes to notice me leave.
Seiji is going to lose the bet and this mind.
CHAPTER 18
