Page 187 of The Grand Ruin: Lance & Scarlet-Part One

Lies—so many lies twisted between us all.

They don’t deserve any of this.

Nina shakes her head at me in disbelief. “Did you plan it beforehand? Did you plan it before Bora Bora?”

No. God, no. And if I’d only trusted my gut. I knew she would never do it. I knew, and I still let Ben make me believe she could. “I was off my face that night. It’s no excuse, but Lowell was fucking all over the place for months. Everything came out about Marcus and Cara, and I felt like everything I spent the year burying was being dug up.”

The half-truth.

The only parts I can tell her.

“So after? You planned it after the holiday?”

I grit my teeth. I fucking hate myself. “It was after you spoke to your mum on the phone at the lodge. You told her you’d send her money, and I read it all wrong. I read you so wrong, Nina. I’m so sorry.”

A tear rolls down her cheek, and I fight the urge to comfort her.

I want her to lash out. To hit me or scream at me. Anything but this.

“You’re in love with Scarlet,” she says in a daze, lip trembling. “What will she say? What will she do, Lance?”

My chest feels like it’s breaking in two. I’ve pushed her so far out of my mind. It was the only way I could ever walk in here. I drop my head to my hands, running my fingers through my scalp and pulling at the roots. “She told you about us?”

“No.” She sniffs. “It’s painfully obvious, though. It has been since Anthony passed away. I knew she wasn’t alone.”

Fuck… fuck. “Does Mason know?”

“No. But it wouldn’t have been long. He heard you last night in the kitchen.”

I scrub at my face.

I can feel myself breaking. Feel the lump in my throat getting thicker and thicker. “I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry.” My eyes blur, and I swipe at the corners, reaching forward. “I have it all here, every copy of everything that was sent to me. I’ll stay away from you, from Scarlet too. I won’t be around.”

“He’s your best friend.”

“I know.”

“She won’t forgive you.”

My jaw cracks as I clench it. I don’t bother to hide the tears that fall. Nina doesn’t deserve to see my pain. She has enough of her own to deal with, and I’m the root of it. But when it comes toher, I can’t fake it. Ican’thide it. “I know.”

And I do know it.

Mason means the world to Scarlet. They’re the very thing I dream of for myself. I won’t blame her if she walks away from me because if I had someone—a family who loved me as fiercely as they love each other—I’d burn the world down for them.

Nina’s hands run through her hair before she sighs and stands. She reaches for the USB and file. “Go home, Lance.”

“I can’t,” I mutter. “It has to come from me.”

I wouldn’t let Nina take Mason’s wrath for me.

She shakes her head, not looking at me. “No. Go home, Lance.”

“Nina—”

“GO HOME, LANCE!” she screams, tears filling her eyes. “You’ve caused so much unnecessary pain. You’ve kept me from my family.” My nostrils flare as she cries. “But telling Mason that you did this won’t lessen it. It won’t change anything, and it will break him. The boys too.” She hesitates, looking into my eyes so fiercely I can’t look away. “I want my family back now. I want to stop hurting him. I want to see him happy. I need to see him happy.”

My face screws up as I try to comprehend what she’s saying. “You want to keep it from him?”

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