Page 163 of The Stolen Moments Trilogy

I pause in front of the treehouse, worried that I might be overstepping. I drop my forehead to the door and inhale deeply, but in the end I can’t stay away. I push the door open quietly, and my heart sinks when I see her sitting on the floor, trying her best to cry as silently as she can.

I sink to my knees in front of her, and she looks up at me through her tears. Seeing her like this devastates me. “Emilia,” I whisper. “Minx, don’t cry,” I murmur, lifting her into my arms. She comes gladly, and I close my arms around her. Emilia rests her head on my shoulder, and I tighten my grip on her. Her entire body is shaking from the force of her tears, and I bury my hand in her hair. “Baby, you’re breaking my heart,” I whisper.

She clutches me tightly, but we couldn’t possibly be any closer. “Carter,” she whispers.

“Yes, I’m here. I’m here, Minx. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

Emilia cries even harder, and my heart shatters. When she cries like this, I can only barely keep my own tears at bay. I don’t think I’ve cried in years, but seeing her like this brings me pretty damn close. I swallow hard and press a kiss to her head.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m ruining everything. I’m ruining Thanksgiving. I’m ruining everyone’s evening. I’m doing it again.”

I pull away from her a little to look at her and wipe her tears away. “Baby, you haven’t done a thing. I don’t think you’ve even spoken a word, so how did you ruin anything? My love, it might not show, but Mom is actually happy to have you here. Don’t do this, okay? Don’t make yourself believe these lies your pretty mind has spun. I want you here. You’re wanted here, Emilia.”

She looks into my eyes and nods, but I can tell she doesn’t believe me. I pull her closer and press my lips against her forehead, my lips lingering. “What am I going to do with you, Emilia?” I whisper.

She visibly steels herself, and I sigh. “I’m sorry,” she says again. “I… thank you for coming to check up on me. This is silly. I’m sorry, I’m overreacting. I apologize. I’ll be better… I— I’ll act normal. Everything is fine.”

I hate seeing her like this. I hate seeing her so insecure and so broken. “Minx, if you’re hurt, you’re hurt. If being here is hard, then that’s okay. Fuck everyone else. Fuck everyone that’s hurt you in any way. Fuck them. You owe no one anything. You don’t even owe them civility if you don’t feel like giving it to them. You do not need to force yourself to sit through a night off bullshit appearances. I won’t ever ask it of you, and if your dad truly understood how you feel, he wouldn’t either. He just thinks he’s helping you heal, Minx. But if this isn’t what you want, if it isn’t what you need, then we won’t stay. Say the word, and we’ll go. I can drive us home right now. We don’t even have to say bye to anyone.”

Emilia looks into my eyes and she inhales deeply as she threads her hand through my hair. When she looks at me that way my heart aches. It aches for everything we used to have. Everything I can no longer have. I close my eyes and swallow hard when Emilia drops her forehead to mine.

“I’m okay now,” she whispers. “So long as you’re there, I’ll be okay. Let’s stay.”

She pulls away from me and smiles, and my heart skips a beat. Even with tear marks running down her face, she’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I almost wish that she hadn’t asked me to stay, because all I want to do is keep her to myself. I don’t want her sitting next to Sam. I don’t want to go back into that house that’s filled with all the people that tore us apart.

Chapter 37

Emilia

Sam seems tense and angry as we walk into our bedroom. Attending Thanksgiving dinner has been so draining for me that I didn’t realize that he’s been as quiet as I have been. He inhales deeply and runs a hand through his hair as I close the door behind me.

He turns to look at me, his shoulders stiff and his jaw clenched. He’s radiating rage in a way he never has before. I don’t think we’ve had even one bad argument in the last couple of years.

His eyes look cold as he looks up at me, and I shudder involuntarily. Sam inhales deeply and walks up to me, and I tense.

“What’s wrong?” I whisper, my heart racing. He’s making me uncomfortable, and another shudder runs down my spine.

Sam narrows his eyes and grabs my chin, pinching hard. I flinch but don’t pull away from him. Somehow, I’m sure that’ll just anger him more. “Tell me, Emilia,” he says, speaking slowly. “Are you sleeping with Carter? Are you fucking him?”

I freeze and look at him with wide eyes. “What?” I whisper, in disbelief. “No. Of course not.”

“But you want to, don’t you?”

I shake my head and place my hands on his shoulders. “Sam, no. What are you even talking about? What has gotten into you?”

Sam looks into my eyes as though he’s searching for something, a hint of a lie, a sign of betrayal. But there are none. I may have been tempted, but I never acted on it. I wouldn’t. I’m not a cheater.

Sam moves his hand to my hair and tangles his fingers through it. “I know it’s him you want. He’s the one your dad prefers too. Did you think I didn’t notice you sneaking out of the room early in the morning, just to have coffee with him? I’ve never said anything because I trust you, but now I’m wondering if that trust was misplaced. If it was all so innocent, why did you stop right after I caught you standing in the living room with him in the middle of the night?”

He tightens his grip on my hair and I whimper slightly. My heart is racing, and though I want to protest, I can’t make myself.

“I called your dad a while ago. I told him I was going to ask you to move in with me, and that I wanted to propose to you soon after. I asked for his blessing, but he was just quiet for a while and thanked me for calling him, but you know what… he never actually gave me his blessing. Just a day later he called you, telling you that he was sick and asking you to come here. At the time I was so worried for both you and your dad that I didn’t think much of it. But now? Now it’s obvious. He’d been sick for months and only just decided to tell you then. Why do you think that is, Emilia?”

I shake my head. I know what he’s trying to say, but there’s no way dad would do that. Dad would never scheme like that.

“And Carter… it’s obvious he still wants you. He had me fooled for a while, you know? I thought he was such a great guy, and he was so nice to me. It’s like he genuinely wanted you to be happy. But that didn’t last, did it? Did he make a move on you?”

I shake my head, my eyes wide. “He wouldn’t,” I whisper.

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