My pulse pounded in my ears. Each thought trippingover the next. Cameron caught my hands, cupping them between his own, exactly the way he used to.
It felt wrong now.
Too intimate.
I shook my head. Refusing to believe it. “I need to talk to Alistair.”
“I’m not done.” I somehow sensed the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “I need to tell you that I – I want you back. I want myfamilyback, you and Teddy.” He was talking so quickly I struggled to keep up. “I was so stupid, stressed at the restaurant, and I had this fear that life was passing me by, only being with one woman for the rest of my life. But I’ve done it now, Isla. I know for certain that I’ll never want anyone but you. We can go back to the way things were. Just the three of us.”
“What about Annabelle?” My voice sounded far away. Like it belonged to someone else.
He shook his head, anguished. “I’ve been trying to put on a brave face, but Annie and me – we’re too similar, both of us so ambitious all we do is fight. But seeing you with Macabe, it made me realise how stupid I’ve been. What a fool I was to give you up when we were so good together. Remember the wedding we used to talk about? We can still have that.” He cupped my cheek, forcing my eyes to meet his.
The wrong eyes.
“We were kids then.” I pulled against his grip. Even if he was right about Alistair, could he truly think I’d still want him? After he’d torn our family apart and taken such delight in hurting me.
“We can have that again,” he said. “We can be a family.”
A few months ago, I would have taken his offer, even through my anger.
But now it left me cold.
“We aren’t a family, Cameron. You don’t treat family how you treated us—”
“But—”
“You ripped up my life. Ignored us – for months. Without a second thought, you’ve broken your daughter’s heart over and over again, and now you’re telling me, what? That it was all for the fear of missing out?” We were worth so much more than he’d ever given us. “I wouldn’t take you back if you were the last man on earth.”
Hurt slashed across his face. In our entire relationship, I don’t think I’d ever spoken to him that way.
It felt better than it should have.
His jaw tightened and I watched him smooth a hand down his chest, pulling all of his carefully controlled pieces back together. “Fine.” He rolled his shoulders back and started for the door.
I stood, frozen against the sofa, wishing more than anything that he could walk out of my life for good.
He opened the door and paused, his back still to me as he said, “You know he’s going to hurt you, right, Lala?” One last parting shot.
“No more than you ever did,” I threw back. “And don’t call me Lala. I always hated that nickname.”
“I’ll be waiting to pick up the pieces when you come to your senses.” With that, he thundered out into the night, the door slamming back into the frame.
The wood hadn’t even finished groaning when I realised I’d lied.
Alistair had the ability to hurt me more deeply than anyone. Alistair knew it too. Why else would he have been warning me all this time?
31
Alistair
Alistair: I’m heading home now, sorry that took so long.
It was after ten when I finally parked outside the cottage. Dragging myself from the Land Rover, I reached back inside for the pizza box.
My eyes instantly strayed to Isla’s place. Light blazed from the lamp in the window.
I was dog-tired.
