Page 76 of Monsters

“I am,” I finally managed, relishing the intensity of his gaze. He cupped my cheeks, thumbs working gently to wipe the stray tears.

He frowned. “Why, after all this time?” The old hurt reappeared. The same heartache I saw when he was leaving.

“Lucas, I don’t blame you. You having to leave without saying goodbye wasn’t a choice of yours. I know that.”

Lucas stilled, lost to a dark thought. His hands grew firm on my shoulders before carefully pushing me aside. He looked away, suddenly agitated.

“You can’t be here, Gemma,” he practically pleaded. There was a glimpse of the teenage Lucas again. The one that carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. That, and fear. I knew the path this was heading down. The very reason why we were in this position in the first place.

“Mason has already found me.”

I watched, assessing his reaction. He swallowed heavily, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Mason found you?”

I nodded. “According to him, every week for the last ten years.”

“Does he know you’re here?”

“I don’t know.”

Lucas rubbed his jaw, again lost in thought. I needed to ease his mind.

“I don’t understand the full hold Mason has had on you, but this can’t go on.”

“Gemma, that’s all well and good saying that, but Mason is—”

“Dangerous?” I almost scoffed. “Loose? I know this. I knew it ten years ago, and I’ve recently been reminded of it.”

A moment of confusion crossed his face. He wasn’t aware of everything Mason had put me through and now, after meeting for the first time in a decade wasn’t the time to bring it up.

“Lucas, it’s taken me this long to build up the courage to find you. I’m not leaving.”

The tension slowly faded, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Dominic,” he called, not breaking his gaze from me.

“Yes, boss?” I heard the voice of the man I’d seen earlier. To be honest, I’d forgotten he was still there.

“We’re done for the day.”

We waited until Dominic packed up and a car door opened and closed, the engine noise fading down the drive. Silently, Lucas held out his hand and I accepted, feeling the connection we’d always had. I let him steer me across the pine-covered grass down to the water’s edge and onto the small jetty that fronted the cabin. The wood creaked under our feet, the lake glistening around us. We sat side by side, our legs dangling over the edge. Lucas now held my hand in both of his, the sides of our bodies connected like glue.

We sat in silence in an attempt to gather our thoughts. I had a short time to mentally prepare for this but for Lucas, randomly appearing on his doorstep after so long, he was going to need some time.

“You look beautiful, Gem,” he said warmly, his thumb stroking my hand. “I often wondered what you would look like now. Whether you still had your long blonde hair, or if you finally cut it off like you kept threatening to do when you were fifteen.”

I knocked his shoulder with mine while laughing at his very accurate memory. “You always want what you’ve never had.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” A melancholy settled between us, the love we shared for each other having never lapsed or been explored.

“What brings you here?”

I wanted to tell him everything. But I was scared to tell him about the stalking, the threats, and harassment. I wanted to just enjoy the moment catching up on years that should never have been lost.

“There’s a few reasons. Most of them can wait until later.”

Lucas cocked an eyebrow, amused. “Later?”

“You going anywhere?”

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