She accepted every single one of them.
In the end, lying only delayed the inevitable.
The truth, the only constant in this universe, would always come out.
“I think you’re incredibly brave, Margo,” she whispered into my hair.
We were still on my kitchen floor, curling into each other against the cabinet, our teas forgotten and cold. It had beensome time since I’d finished talking. The hour was late. My problems had now infected lives they were never supposed to touch, but I was too emotionally exhausted to determine what that meant, to begin coping with the unexpected, the grim surprise of the past resurrecting from the grave I pushed it in.
Now that the truth was free, the gate refused to lock again. “I don’t feel very brave.”
She hummed a quiet note. The sound vibrated inside her chest cavity, shaking my eardrum, demanding me to pay attention, to not brush off her next words. And I didn’t. In fact, I knew her next words would stick with me for the rest of my life. Not haunting me but guiding me to heal. “I didn’t either, but you will. Somewhere along the way, you’ll realize how brave you are, how strong you are, and how deserving of good things you are. And when that day happens, I’ll be right beside you, still as proud of you as I am right now.”
I sat up and found her eyes. My voice was weak, my throat raw. “I’m not deserving of good things.”
“You are, and it’s okay if you don’t believe that right now. I understand why you don’t. You have people in your corner who have no issues proving that to you.” She leaned in, her lips stretching widely. “Including Hayes.”
I could feel my cheeks heating. “Cardinal—”
She held up her hand and gave me a knowing look. “Oh, please. I see the way he looks at you and vice versa. Sarah and I have had a bet going to see how long it would take for one of you to cave.”
My jaw went slack. “Excuse me?”
She beamed at me, giving me a feral grin, followed by her sweet laughter. “Margo, we’re not stupid. He came in every week to check onyouafter he saved us.”
“No, he came in to check on all of us,” I argued.
Her blue eyes rolled. “That man could give less of a flying snot monkey about me or Sarah. He was there for you. Only you.”
My bottom lip slipped between my teeth and my mind tried to formulate a sentence.
Shit.
Shit.
Damn.
Fuck.
“So what? Did he find out that you were in danger and go all caveman on you?” she asked on a sigh, stretching her legs out in front of her, ankles crossed. When I didn’t answer, she tacked on, “We’re done with the heavy stuff—for now.”
“But—”
“Did he go caveman when he found out all this shit?”
I swallowed. “No, I mean, yes. He kicked my door down but—”
All the breath vanished from her lungs, and she choked on her words. “He what?”
“Is that not normal Red Snake behavior?” I thought back to the BBQ she and Grayson had thrown in July, the conversation I’d had with Ash and Sarah. “Ash told me it was, that all the guys do badass things like that.”
She scoffed and waved her hand. “Don’t listen to Ash about anything. He blew up a building in Kansas City. He’s the wildest out of the five of them. But Hayes kicking down your door is—wait, you talked to Ash?”
“Ash blew up a building?” I breathed, my eyes nearly popping out of my skull.
“He said it was only a one-time thing,” she assured with a shrug. “Grayson wasn’t too upset about it when it happened, but Hayes? Oh, he was furious.”
I brought my hands to my hair, my fingers weaving between the strands as I tried to imagine how that scene played out. “He blew up a building…” I repeated under my breath, staring atthe cabinets. I could practically see Hayes getting in the retired SEAL’s face and screaming at him while police sirens wailed in the background.