Page 270 of Remy

“Berkeley Springs.” He strides back toward the kitchen and clatters pans on his stove. “I asked that A-hole chef.”

“The same chef you told me you envisaged gutting like a pig?” Abri asks.

“Don’t test me, sis,” he mutters.

I hide a smile behind my coffee mug and take a sip. “Thank you, Remy.”

He shoots me a wink and carries on with his project at the stove.

“So…” Abri drawls. “Can you see yourself having kids?”

I choke, the hot liquid shooting up my nose.

“Abri,” Remy shouts.

Tilly giggles from the sofa.

“What?” Abri looks at me in mock surprise. “I’m just making conversation.”

I can’t help laughing as I wipe my nose, my cheeks, my lips, cleaning up the spluttered coffee.

I’m lighter than I have been in months, the weight of pain and heartache easing. There’s something about the playful camaraderie between mother, daughter, and uncle that makes me feel at home.

“All jokes aside,” Abri says quietly. “He’s been beside himself. I had high hopes after your weekend away. But the past few days have had me worried you two wouldn’t pull through.”

I ignore the sadness attempting to edge its way back in. “I wasn’t sure how things would pan out either. I guess I’m still uncertain,” I admit. “This isn’t a typical sort of situation. I’m new to all this.”

She levels me with a kind smile. “It’s not typical, but it doesn’t need to be complicated either. He loves you, and I have a feeling you love him?—”

“I do.” I nod.

“—so just spend time loving each other for a while. The family business might not be something you’re accustomed to, but neither is Remy. You can work it out together.”

I turn my gaze to him as he remains at the stove, focused on something in the pan in front of him while he lazily holds a spatula.

For a second, I could almost kid myself into believing he could leave ‘the life’ and become an average Joe with a nine-to-five, a mortgage, and a predictable routine.

Yet despite the business being new to him, it’s his vibe.

I think it’s where he belongs. And given the lines I’ve recently crossed, I think I could see myself belonging there, too.

“If you choose to give him a chance,” Abri continues, “I have a feeling he’ll obsessively adore you for as long as you’ll let him. He’d move heaven and earth to make sure nothing else came between you.”

Warmth builds inside me. Hope, too.

I believe her.

I believe in him.

“Exactly what has he told you?” I ask with narrowing eyes. “I didn’t picture Remy as the type to kiss and tell.”

She pulls an expression of disgust. “Believe me, I wish he wasn’t. There are things that shouldn’t be shared between siblings. But apparently he didn’t get the memo. Or he’s just been so caught up in the thought of losing you that he doesn’t care. Which means I’ve heard a whole heap of stuff that I’ve had to unpack with my therapist.”

My cheeks heat. “Like…?”

“Well, obviously I was at the club the night you got attacked, so we’ve talked a lot about his guilt concerning that. Then he told me what happened the night he got shot.” She raises a brow and sips from her mug. “And I’m not talking about your suture skills.”

The heat turns to an inferno.

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