Page 139 of Seeking Two Lovers

Murder.

Bodies dug up from a corner of the property, autopsies on order to identify who they were.

But Quell’s man? He claimed he knew each and every one—by name, and he spilled that shit too.

Again, I clutched my cell in my hand, desperate to talk to Blaine. His parents had disappeared without warning, without a word to Sarah all because there had been an altercation with Quell, and I feared the worst.

The phone rang a heartbeat before I could put through the call.

Grey.

“What the fuck?” I whispered in greeting, hoping up to paced behind my couch while Haley sat on its edge. Both our gazes glued to the TV.

I could hear sobs in the background.

“He killed them,” Grey bit out.

I clenched my teeth as my eyelids slammed shut. My feet stumbled to a stop.

Oh God.

Imagining Blaine and his sister’s heartache, hearing their sorrow beyond Grey ripped grief through my chest. Grey knew their emotions to some extent, and I couldn’t begin to wonder over how he held up.

“It’ll take some time to identify the remains of the bodies they exhumed, but I have no fucking doubt.” He stated each word like a curse with barely controlled rage. “I’m going to fucking rip his goddamn guts out!”

So anger, not reliving his own grief.

“Grey.” I swallowed hard, seeing him in my mind, pacing as I’d been doing, his heart broken and bleeding for Blaine. “You have to stay calm. He needs his anchor. Breathe. Count to a hundred if it’ll help, but you’ve got to cool down.”

“Fuck, Lily.” His voice broke. “I can’t even right now.”

“Yes, you can.” I straightened, stiffening my spine for him even as tears of empathy stung my eyes. “You can’t lose your shit when you’re his rock. You and I can break down together later then kiss and make everything better, okay?”

“I love you,” Grey choked out the words, and my eyes welled at the pain and longing in his voice.

“I love you too,” I barely managed to whisper through a happy sob that wanted to release coursing tears down my cheeks. What a fucked-up time for exchanging those three words, but when had anything in my life come to pass by conventional means?

“I-I needed you. That’s why I called.”

Aaaaand the dam broke, wetness dripping from my chin.

“I’m his anchor,” Grey continued when I couldn’t speak, “but I’m starting to feel like you’re my emotional gas tank, my GPS to navigate the softer side of me I’ve denied myself for too damn long.”

I laughed through my tears, and Grey even chuckled. “It’s okay to be needy,” I said through my tears, feeling a shit ton better since he’d called.

“You’ve got it down to an art.”

A huff escaped me as I wiped my arm across my eyes. “You love when I’m begging for all your attention.”

“Fuck yeah, I do.”

My smile faded as I once more focused on the quiet sobs beyond Grey. “Go hold them,” I told him, my emotional turmoil over us locked in a casket and buried. “Let them rest against you. You’re strong enough for the both of them.”

“Okay,” he whispered. “I miss you.”

I smiled so damn hard my cheeks hurt. “I miss you more.”

“Soon.”

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