Page 113 of Until You (Forgive Me)

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I stopped being your best friend. Lucy also knows I have a key to this place.”

Christian looked around. His phone was nowhere in sight. As if knowing what he was looking for, Seb huffed and dropped into the chair opposite him.

“It’s on the sideboard in the kitchen,” he added, before motioning to the empty decanter and knocked over glass on the desk.

“What’s going on, Christian? Is this about Isabella leaving? Because...”

Christian sat up, wincing, before resting his head against the back of his seat and closing his eyes.

“No... yes... no,” he said.

Part of it was about Isabella, the rest was about his screwed-up past and the beautiful woman he had let down and how even in death, her warm heart still touched him and cared when he didn’t deserve it.

“That makes no sense,” Seb said.

“Isabella asked me to stop contacting her. She said we both need to move on with our lives.”

Seb stared at him, wide-eyed. “Is that what you want?”

“It’s not about whatIwant.”

When would people start understanding that?

“Like hell it isn’t. There were two people in your relationship. I saw you together. You were happy, Christian. Happier than I’ve seen you in... Is that not worth fighting for?” Seb threw up his hands.

Christian leaned forward, handing him Lily’s letter.

“What’s this?” Seb asked, taking the piece of paper.

Christian watched as the colour drained from Seb’s face. “What?... Where?...” Misty eyes locked with Christian’s. Seb had been a Lily advocate. He’d loved her too, like a sister. He’d beaten Christian black and blue when he had told him what had happened with his father, and Christian had let him.

“Star opened Lily’s journal. She found some letters inside. Lily explained everything to her... about the company, the threats, how I had been there at the end. How she asked me to sign Skylar away.”

Seb ran a hand over his face. “Oh man,” he said. “How did Star take it?”

“She cried... had been crying.”

“How about Damian?”

They both knew how protective Damian was over his wife.

“He told me Star loved me like a brother, that I needed to forgive myself.”

Christian leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk, cradling his head.

“You do.”

They sat in silence for a while. Christian could almost hear the cogs in his friend’s brain whirring.

“Come on, you need to get showered. This room smells like a distillery.”

Christian staggered to his feet, the pressure in his temples searing.

“Come on.”

Seb grabbed his arm to steady him, leading him to the bathroom in the gym next door. That was the wrong move. His stomach cramped. The gym was somewhere Christian had avoided since Isabella had left. It had been one of her favourite places. Everywhere he looked, he could see her practising her yoga, or meditating. Breaking free of Seb, he ran the rest of the way to the bathroom, dry retching over the toilet. His stomach was long empty.

“I’ll grab you some fresh clothes. You get showered,” Seb said from the doorway before turning and leaving.

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