Page 78 of Twisted Trails
“Bonne.” He’s already turning on his heel. “Then it’s settled. Let’s go.”
I trail after him, feet moving while my mind runs in a hundred directions. I haven’t eventhoughtabout this. Not once. Not during. Not after.
How thefuckcould I be so irresponsible?
I should’ve thought of this.
My stomach knots, and before I can stop myself, the question slips out.
“What about… pregnancy?”
Luc stops dead in the hallway and spins around so fast I nearly walk into him.
“You’re askingmethat now, and notherbefore you bombed the gnarliest line without a helmet?” His voice is sharp, incredulous, but there’s a glint of something like disgusted amusement in his eyes. “Mon Dieu, you’re even more of a mess than I thought.” He throws up his hands. “Were you dropped on your head before or after the gondola, Greer?”
I flinch. I deserve that.
His voice flattens, a little darker now. “She can’t have kids. The crash took that option off the table.”
The floor shifts under me, even though I remember that she was loud about never wanting kids when she was seventeen. But people change, and she didn’tchoosethis. The choice was stolen from her.
“If that’s a problem…” Luc continues, his tone turning ice-cold, “… then walk. Walk the hell out of her life the second you’re done testing. Don’t waste a minute more of her time.”
I blink, shaken, but not by the news, but by howlittleit changes anything in me.
I want her no matter what.
“I’m fine. Ifshe’sokay with it, then I’m okay.”
Luc stares at me for a long beat, then gives a slow nod and starts walking again, and I follow him once more like a kicked puppy, still stunned, still trying to wrap my head around everything, what he’s saying, what he’s offering, what the hell this even means, but one thing is for sure.
If this is what it takes to prove I’m serious about Alaina, to fight for her, protect her, and maybe, one day, deserve her again, I’ll do it.
Whatever it takes.
Even if it means teaming up with the French asshole who humiliated me in a Polish pub and just invited me into his chaos.
For her?
I’m all in.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Luc
Kitchen? Empty. Hallway? No sign.
I even peeked into the laundry room, just in case Payne talkedPetiteinto something weird involving soap and wrenches, but I still can’t find them.
“Where the fuck?”
A soft clink of tools comes from outside.
Bingo.
I head out the front door, and there they are. Mason is crouched next to his motocross bike, elbow-deep in something mechanical and manly, grease on his fingers like he’s trying to turn himself into a thirst trap for mechanics. Beside him, Alaina sits on a fold-out chair, one leg pulled up, watching him with that quiet calm she rarely ever wears unless she’s riding or breaking people’s egos.
They’re not talking, and it’s weirdly peaceful, like one of those slow-motion moments in a movie right before the explosion. Only the explosion is me.
