Page 89 of Scandalous Kingpin
I took a hesitant step, placing my hand on her forearm, and smiled sadly.
“We all think so, even though Aemon and Bren act all tough. They’re overprotective, so don’t be surprised if they start that macho stuff with you.” I glanced over my shoulder at my brothers who rolled their eyes, but the truth was written all over their faces. “I hope you won’t judge us for Athair’s betrayal.”
Her delicate throat shifted. “I’ll admit, I’m… Iwas… jealous.” She looked over to Kingston and Lara, her eyes softening. “But now… I have my family.” She turned her attention back to me. “But there’s room for more people in it.”
“I agree,” I rasped, the lump in my throat growing until I thought it’d suffocate me. I blinked rapidly and wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand.
“I’m glad.” Louisa smiled, her expression softening. “Because good friends are just as important as family, and I hear that you’re… or were… very close with Juliette?”
My eyes darted back to where Juliette stood with her husband, her shoulders slumped. I couldn’t comprehend what she had to do with any of this.
“Until I dropped the bomb on you,” she added.
I stiffened. “You only told the truth.”
“Yes, but maybe not the whole truth.”
“Explain, please,” Aemon demanded, very much the head of the Irish mafia in this moment.
Louisa tilted her head, studying him pensively.
“You look like him.” There was no need to ask whohimwas. Aemon was a spitting image of our athair. “Demanding, never asking.”
It was a harsh accusation, and not entirely incorrect, but she didn’t know him like I did. Aemon was a big teddy bear once you got to know him.
“Not always,” I jumped in, defending him.
She nodded, seemingly accepting my words at face value.
“What I meant is that I should have explained that she killed your… eerrr, our… father—” Her words said more than she realized. She didn’t consider Athair her father, and I couldn’t blame her. “She did it because he arranged the Cullens’ executions. He attempted to burn her birth parents alive. As you know, the Cullen children survived, thanks to Liam Brennan. But if he hadn’t shown up…”
My brothers spat out curses in Gaelic, clearly disturbed with the images Louisa’s words created. I was overwhelmed with it too. My own throat felt tight, clogged with emotions while my stomach roiled. How could Athair ever allow such a thing to happen?
“It doesn’t excuse the lies,” I whispered. I wished Juliette all the best, I really did, but I didn’t know if I’d ever be close with her again. I didn’t know if I had the strength to face the demons she represented.
“It doesn’t,” she agreed. “But we’re all human, and to be human is to make mistakes. And trust me, life’s too short to hold grudges.”
I hesitated. She was right, life was short, and maybe the whole betrayal had more to do with my husband and the fact that he took Juliette’s side over mine.
Or maybe it was my fault as much as hers that it had come to this. I hadn’t given her a proper chance to explain herself, nor did I attempt to explain what I had learned about my athair either.
“Let’s go inside,” Louisa recommended, sliding her hand around my elbow while taking Lara’s hand as we made our way into the charming white-stone house. She flicked a glance over her shoulder to Kingston. “Are you guys coming or are you planning on standing out here all day?”
She didn’t wait for their answer, stopping by Juliette, whose red-rimmed eyes betrayed her state of mind. She looked tired, that usual mischievous, slightly crazy gleam in her eyes gone with her rumpled hair and faint purple smudges beneath her eyes. If her physical appearance was anything to go by, she was just as heartbroken about the state of our friendship as I was.
My steps faltered and we stared at each other, the world stopping in its tracks.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked. “I was an idiot to think my revenge was the most important thing.”
A sob rose in my throat. “Your betrayal hit hard.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said again, tears streaming down her face. Agony scraped her voice raw, making my own soul bleed.“You’re more important to me than anything else. I’ll do anything?—”
Her voice broke and I sucked in another shallow inhale. “Juliette, I…”
She froze, her breaths heavy with regret.
“If you can’t forgive me, at least forgive him.” I couldn’t breathe. I needed to think. How could I forgive the scars Christian and Juliette caused? There was too much going on. I was here for my sister, not for Juliette and Christian. “I’ll be sorry until the day I die,” she said hoarsely. “For not coming clean. For not choosing our friendship first. For using Christian’s loyalty to his brother to keep a secret from you. You deserved better than that.”
