Page 135 of In Love and Revenge

‘You’d have reversed too,’ she says. ‘Just to make sure.’

Aurora sobs out a laugh. ‘Probably.’

A smile tugs at my lips as I stand back and watch two of the most important women in my life hover by one another, waiting for the other one to make a move.

‘He hasn’t sent you roses, has he?’ Dove asks, suspicion oozing from her.

Aurora shakes her head. ‘No. But those arrived this morning.’ She gestures to the giant bouquet of lotus flowers I ordered after she fell asleep in my arms last night.

‘Lotus?’ Dove questions.

‘They’re the symbol of dawn, like the meaning of my name,’ Aurora says softly, turning to gaze at me.

Her eyes shine with the same unconcealed joy they did when the flowers arrived, and I told her that lotus flowers can bloom in muddy water – just like how she’s never given up, despite what she’s been through.

Dove looks at me like I’ve grown an extra head. ‘Rafe?’

‘I love her.’

My sister’s eyes light up and then she looks back at Aurora.

‘You understand, if you want to ditch him, he’ll haunt you like a weird smell? We’d all given up hope he’d ever fall for a girl, but knew that if the day ever came that poor girl would be stuck with him, because once he makes up his mind, that’s it,’ she adds.

Aurora gives Dove a hopeful smile. ‘I mean, I love him too, so I guess I’m okay with that.’

Dove’s brows shoot up and she exhales. ‘Jesus, okay. Just ...’ She wrinkles her nose. ‘I don’t want to know ...everything.’

Aurora nods seriously. ‘Absolutely. No sex talk.’

‘Ugh, please.’ Dove covers her mouth like she feels sick.

The two women snort into giggles and then they’re in each other’s arms, a mix of apologies, sniffling, and tumbling words I can’t make out.

‘I need to make a call in my office. I’ll leave you both to it,’ I say.

‘Yeah, sure, whatever.’ Dove waves me off, not even glancing my way.

Aurora catches my eye and the relief on her face makes my heart swell. She’d been worried about telling Dove, but I know my sister. All that matters is that I treat Aurora the way she deserves, then my sister will be on our side. And I have no intention of hurting the woman I love.

After my call, I return through the kitchen, and their conversation floats towards me.

‘Has Vance tried to contact you since last night? He looked right at you,’ Aurora asks.

‘No,’ Dove replies. ‘At least, not yet.’

I bristle. My sister’s better off keeping far away from Dr Vance Falcon. The guy hurt her once; he isn’t going to get the chance to do it again.

‘How’s the sleuthing going?’ Dove asks.

Aurora’s exhausted sigh makes my gut twist, and I pause, waiting to hear her response.

‘I’m not getting anywhere. I know he’s innocent, but I can’t prove it. The only thing I’ve found that seemed weird was about that woman – the one who drafted the sexual harassment email to HR and then vanished into thin air. Well, she mentioned a client in the email. It must have been one she worked with my father on, but I can’t find a thing out about them. It’s like they don’t exist.’

‘Weird,’ Dove muses. ‘What’s the name?’

I strain to hear Aurora’s answer. Maybe it’ll give me a start of where I can help.

‘Larkhay,’ she replies. ‘My father had never heard of them either when I asked him. I found a candle company with that name, who are completely unrelated, but that’s all.’