Page 120 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“I—” She wrung her hands and looked around the room nervously as she walked in, closing the door behind her.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, already anticipating bad news.

“I-I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you for a few weeks now, and I’ve run out of time,” she answered quietly.

“Tell me what?”

“My sister just had another pup. She asked me to come help her by taking care of them. She gave birth yesterday and bought me a flight for two days from now.”

“How long will you be gone?” My heart sank when her eyes shifted away. “You’re joining her pack,” I guessed.

“I—She’s the last family I have left. I thought I might be able to find a mate there.”

“Will you be able to work tomorrow?”

“I could. I do need to pack, though. I left everything to the last minute.”

“Why don’t you meet me at the daycare in the morning so you can give over the keys, and show me where things are? I’ll try to find someone to take over.”

“Thank you, Luna. I’m so sorry. I should have told you earlier. I just-I didn’t want to put more burdens on you, but I made things worse.”

I sighed, not wanting to make her feel worse. It wouldn’t achieve anything. The damage was done.

“It’s okay, Lydia. I hope you find what you’re looking for there.”

I went and grabbed Adam from Violet and put him to bed, trying really hard not to fall on my knees and cry as I read to him. Today was too many blows at once.

I managed to keep things together until I reached my room, where I found Cade falling asleep on the couch. Cold plates of food and wine were on the coffee table, a candle was lit between the set up.

Cade shook his head to clear the sleep from his head when he heard the door shut and looked at his phone. I was late. I was late to the lovely dinner he set up for us. As I looked over the nicest gesture someone had done for me in a long time, I wondered if he would be mad I took so long.

He stood, and I braced for impact, but what he said was much more devastating than what I expected to happen.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You look like you’re on the verge of tears.”

His soft, concerned voice made the tears gather in my eyes quicker than I could blink them away. When he guided me toward the bed with a tender hand on my lower back, and then sat me on his lap, once again asking me what was wrong, the dam broke.

“Bells, sweetheart, what’s wrong? Talk to me, Princess. I can’t help if you don’t talk to me.”

I tried, but I couldn’t get any words out. The tears just flowed. His arms encircled me, hugging me close to his chest. I felt the weight of everything crashing down on me, and I crumbled under its weight. I cried and cried, gasping for breath at times because it felt like I wasn’t getting any oxygen into my lungs as my body seized with sobs.

“Princess, you’re breaking my heart,” he whispered, his voice cracking. He laid me down on the bed and pulled the covers over us before he encircled me with his body. “Let it all out. I’m right here with you.”

I don’t know how long I cried before I finally ran out of tears. Cade continued to hold me in his arms without asking anything until I was able to talk about what happened. His embrace never wavered, though I thought the arm under my body must have gone numb hours later. He listened as I told him about my conversation with Lydia and Hugh.

After that, I started explaining some of the things that happened in the last year. It was all coming out as word vomit. The only thing I couldn’t do was talk about life with Brandon. I couldn’t open that can of worms yet. Opening up to Cory about it was hard enough, and even then, I couldn’t tell him everything. It would destroy my brother.

Once I was done processing what had happened to me when I entered the room, I began to realize that maybe Violet was right. I needed to speak with someone. Someone to listen and not judge. Maybe I would ask her to put me in touch with Dr. Campbell on her next appointment. Therapy was working wonders for her. She was so strong and becoming stronger every day. I would need to do that to keep dealing with all the hits life threw at me.

I fell asleep in Cade’s arms, feeling a bit more settled but still unsure of how I could fix everything. One thought stayed in my head as sleep claimed me: Maybe Cory was right. Maybe it was just time to go back home.

Chapter Twenty-One

Violet

My alarm went off at four-thirty in the morning, but I was already awake, so it barely made a noise before the sound was turned off. I got up numbly and walked into the bathroom. I locked the door to Chris’ room, though the door was permanently closed now unless he needed to use the bathroom.

I went through the motions of getting ready and then sat on my bed, wondering if I should text Elim and tell him I wasn’t feeling well enough to train.

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