Page 26 of Ours to Keep

You could cut the tension in the room with a fucking knife. We’re all strung so tight. Elliot helped me take the edge off earlier, but it’s back with a vengeance now.

“We know we failed her, Avery. But we’ll do everything we can to ensure she’s safe,” Tommy says, holding her gaze.

She tilts her head. “Yeah, something tells me you will. But it doesn’t stop me from being mad at you.”

He nods his head in acceptance. I mean, what can we say to that?

She studies Tommy for a moment, holding his gaze when she says, “So, what’s going on with you two? Are you and her, you know?” The corner of her lips lift into a smirk as she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

I put my mug on the coffee table and push to my feet. “And on that note, let me walk you over. I’ll help you pack Lily’s stuff.”

“Fine.” She takes another swig of her coffee before placing her mug next to mine and then grabs her coat. “But don’t think you’re getting out of this. I know chemistry when I see it,” she says. I know she’s trying to defuse the atmosphere a little, but I don’t think Lily would appreciate us all discussing her love life, at least not until we all understand what this is between all of us.

We cut through the back door. Malcolm is the only one still allowed access to the property, he’s aware of what happened with Lily. We needed to cover all bases, which meant finding out how much he knew. He was the one who explained about the hidden door in Lily’s room, the same as in Richard’s suite and Mia’s, which leads to a secret passageway that takes you to the kitchen. We never knew about it, and it wasn’t on any of the specs or blueprints.

I follow Avery up the stairs, and she takes a deep breath before pushing Lily’s bedroom door open and entering.

It’s still a bit of a mess. When I returned to grab some essentials for Lily, I stripped her bed and dumped the discarded gauze in the bathroom, but that was the extent of it.

Tommy couldn’t bring himself to come back here, and I can’t say I blame him.

Avery claps her hands once, all business. “Can you please grab the large holdall and small suitcase from her closet?”

I arch a brow, her accent becoming Americanised around the word ‘closet’.

“What? More hands make light work or some shit.”

“Closet?”

She rolls her eyes. “Wardrobe then, don’t be so pedantic, River, it doesn’t suit you.”

I laugh at that. “You know you’d make an excellent school headmistress,” I retort instead as I walk backwards towards the wardrobe. I try to do anything to dispel the engrained images of finding Lily’s body almost lifeless.

“Yeah, no. Thank you.”

“How long have you lived in England?” I ask, dragging out the case and bag as requested.

“Since I was twelve, but we travel back to the US a lot,” she says with a sigh, taking the case and sitting it open on the bed. “Hence my accent, but when I’m there, people say I sound posh, go figure.”

She walks around me and into the bathroom, coming to a halt when she sees the state of it.

“Shit, sorry.” I rush around her, grab the bin, and start stuffing the gauze with dry blood into it.

Her face pales, and she covers her mouth with her hand, her eyes filling with tears.

Since I’ve met Avery, she’s always been the epitome of strong, giving off don’t-fuck-with-me vibes, but seeing theaftermath of her best friend being hurt cracks through her hard exterior.

Dropping the bin, I pull her into my chest, and she wraps her arms around my waist.

“Fuck, Avery, I was meant to clean it up, but between the hospital and trying to search for the cunt I didn’t get around to it.” After grabbing the basics for Lily, I didn’t want to return.

“I-it’s not your fault.” She sniffs, pulling back and wiping under her eyes. “She didn’t deserve that. No one does.”

She looks around the bathroom once more. “I can see why you don’t want her coming back here,” she says.

I nod in agreement. “Come on, the sooner we get what we need, the sooner we can get out of here.”

There’s no way we’ll be bringing Lily back here—to this. With Camber Sands no longer an option and Torquay being further away than initially planned. I’m going to suggest to the guys about her coming back to our flats in the city for a day or two before setting out with Tommy.

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