Chapter Twenty-Six

Ava

After telling Jennifer to contact Rachel to go ahead with the lease, Lucas takes me to Elliot’s place. He also gives me Rachel’s contact info in case I needed anything from her, which I doubt. She’s his assistant, not mine, and I don’t feel comfortable using her for my personal tasks.

I cuddle next to Lucas in the car, enjoying the closeness. The driver can see us in the rearview mirror, and maybe I shouldn’t be so obvious, but I don’t care. I can’t bear to be away from him any more than I have to.

To be honest, I’m a bit nervous about meeting Elliot and his wife. I only know what I’ve read on Google, and he seems unpredictable and sort of out of control.

My nerves get even more frazzled when I sense Lucas starting to stiffen as we get closer to Elliot’s home. “You all right?”

“Why?”

“You seem tense.”

He waggles his eyebrow. “Because I’m horny.”

I laugh, but I know he’s not telling me the full truth. Before I can probe, his phone buzzes.

Lucas takes it out of his pocket and checks something, a frown appearing. “Do you just want to skip it?” he asks suddenly.

“What?”

“You’re going to meet everyone when we go to Ryder’s Thanksgiving dinner. We don’t have to meet Elliot today.”

I straighten and push the hair out of his face. He doesn’t flinch when my fingers brush his scar—a huge change that shows how much he trusts and feels secure in my love. “What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Just…” He shrugs, then clears his throat. “Nothing.”

“Lucas. We promised to be honest with each other, remember?”

He nods, inhales deeply. “His wife’s younger sister’s going to join us. She’s a teenager, and teenagers are bipolar at best.”

I laugh. “Oh, come on. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“I don’t think you’ll like Elliot, and I don’t want to waste our time with people you may not like that much.”

My lips part. “Why would you think that?” Then I tilt my head. “Are you worried that Elliot might not like me?”

He snorts. “He will like you because I chose you and I love you. There won’t be any other option for him.”

I grin. “So by that logic, I have to like him too.”

“No. That’s not how it works with you. You already don’t like Blake.” He laughs harshly. “Who am I kidding? You probably can’t stand the guy, not that I blame you. He can be…insensitive.” His expression turns serious. “You chose me despite all the odds, but I’m aware that my relationship with you can be made difficult if none of my family manages to endear themselves to you. I just thought…it’d be nice to have someone who everyone likes there to smooth things a bit.”

“You mean Elizabeth.”

“Yes.

I can’t help but fall a little bit more in love with this man, which is insane because I thought there was no way I could love him more. I can’t believe he’s worried about how I’m going to feel about his family. “Just like they’ll have to like me, I’ll do my best to like them because they’re your family and I know they matter to you.”

He shakes his head. “You aren’t going to do anything you don’t want to. You’re my priority, Ava, not anyone else.”

I press a kiss on each of his cheeks, then his mouth. Does he have any idea how much his regard means to me, how sweetly he wrecks me? I’m more determined than ever to get along with his siblings. Unless I misunderstood Elizabeth at the hospital, he already doesn’t talk or otherwise communicate with his parents. Losing contact with his brothers and sister would be too cruel.

The car stops in front of a high-rise, and we make our way inside. The building is astonishingly swanky—more luxurious than the one that houses the condo Lucas and I saw earlier. Not that the place we’re moving into is shabby. It’s just that Elliot’s building is like a palace, except constructed with modern sensibilities.

When we step out of the elevator, Lucas squeezes my hand. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” I smile even though nerves are jittering through me. I’m sure that Elliot will probably behave—I can’t imagine anybody being more appalling than Blake—but I really want him to like me…just a little bit…and hopefully be nothing like their oldest brother.

Elliot’s penthouse is breathtaking—ultramodern and ultra-expensive. A view of nighttime L.A. glitters on the other side of floor-to-ceiling windows, and a beautiful, contemporary staircase leads to a second level. The furnishings are opulent and quite masculine in taste. It’s obvious that his wife hasn’t had a chance to change the décor at all.

“Finally! You made it.” A man who looks just like Lucas comes out. Unlike the love of my life, his hair is short, cropped to show off his unscarred and handsome face. But even so, I feel no spark, no stirring. What I feel for Lucas isn’t about his appearance. It’s about his soul, what’s in his heart.

Elliot is dressed somewhat casually in a well-fitted V-neck shirt in sleet gray, and slacks as black as ink. His ebony leather shoes are shiny, looking like they’ve been freshly polished.

“Perfect timing,” comes a soft, feminine voice. Heels clicking, a pretty redhead walks toward us, her designer yellow dress showing off her lovely curves.

Lucas makes introductions. I shake hands with Elliot and his wife Belle. Their smiles seem genuine, and I start to unbend. “And Nonny is Belle’s sister, but I’m not sure where she is,” Lucas says.

Elliot cocks an eyebrow at Belle. “Finishing up her homework, I think,” she says.

“Are you sure? She’s not obsessively checking her messages again to see if that boy texted her back?”

Belle rolls her eyes. “Let her be. It’s her first real crush.”

“Ugh.” Elliot makes a face. “I’m going to have to find out who this boy is and have a firm conversation with him about treating women right. Well…one of them, anyway.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” Lucas says, putting an arm around me and pulling me closer. “So is the food here yet?”

“We ordered about ten minutes ago.” Belle gestures to the open space behind her. “I prepared some cheese and crackers and decanted a bottle of wine. Why don’t we have a drink before the food arrives?”

Ever the gracious hostess, she leads us to the low coffee table in the living room. I’m surprised at how much I like her. Given what the tabloids said, I thought she’d be slightly…mercenary or something. I don’t think she’s soft the way Elizabeth is, having grown up in the lap of luxury, but Belle is definitely the kind of woman I would love to befriend.

“By the way, love your dress.” Belle smiles. “I wish I could wear red, but it’s really hard with, you know, the hair.”

“Well, who needs a red outfit when they have hair as stunning as yours?”

Belle flushes, and I know then we’ve taken the first step toward forming a friendship, and that more than anything else helps me relax—because she’s my second ally in Lucas’s family.

“Did you find anything you like?” Elliot asks as we sit around the table.

“I’m sorry?”

“You guys are looking to move in together, right?” He studies me and Lucas until I feel like squirming.

“We are.” I smile. “Lucas’s realtor found a very nice place.”

“It’s a little small, but it’ll do.” Lucas pulls me tight and presses a soft kiss on top of my head. “Once we’re moved in, I just need to buy her a ring so everyone knows she’s taken.”

I quirk an eyebrow, bemused but glad that he’s changed his mind about the wedding.

“Congratulations. When’s the date?” Belle asks.

“Not for several months. I’m going to give her the kind of wedding all women dream of. She deserves the best.” Lucas looks at his twin and his wife with something that seems halfway between envy and admiration.

Then I finally realize something. Lucas isn’t trying to get the beautiful penthouse and give me nice things like this pretty dress to control me the way my dad did my mother. Lucas is doing this because he has a need to provide for me, to prove I matter to him. I’m not blind. I see the huge diamond on Belle’s finger, and beautiful pearls dangling from her ears. But she doesn’t merely look like a woman who’s expensively kept. People glancing at her will know with certainty that she has a loving and indulgent husband who she loves to death. It’s in the way she glows, the soft gleam she gets every time she glances at her husband. Then there’s Elliot. He grins at her affectionately, and occasionally feeds her the cheese and crackers.

Lucas wants that for us. He wants it so bad, it’s almost palpable. My heart twists at the cruel words I said to him in Charlottesville. Even though we’re back together, he’ll never forget—and the wounds they left probably still hurt underneath.

I’ve got to find a way to make it up to him—show him I was a scared little girl back then, but I’m braver and wiser now.

Elliot puts his free arm on the back of the couch and twists away from us. “Nonny, if you don’t come out soon, we’re going to eat all the brie!”

The door remains closed.

“My brother and his wife are here. I’m about to tell them about that boy in your algebra class.”

Before he can straighten back to us, the door opens, and a teenager with brown hair marches out, the hem of her black maxi dress almost skimming the floor. She’s probably thirteen or fourteen, and she’s skinny without any curves yet, although her facial resemblance to Belle is striking.

“Must you share details of my life?” Nonny says.

Elliot shrugs. “You wouldn’t come out.”

“Totally unfair. I was about to.”

“Hey, whatever means are necessary.” Elliot turns to us. “I’m thinking about hacking into his account.”

“Just hire a PI and see what he’s up to,” Lucas suggests.

She flushes as she takes us in. “Hi.”

I smile at her. “Hi.”

“Sorry about the outburst. And just so you know”—she glances at Lucas—“that idea is terrible.”

He merely laughs.

She rolls her eyes in the way only a teenager can, until I’m afraid they’ll spill out of her eye sockets. “Elliot can be overprotective. And drive me insane.” She sits down on the floor near the table and takes a cracker.

“I think it’s nice,” I say. “It means he cares about you.”

“I really want to figure this out on my own. What do old people know about love anyway?”

I can’t help it. I burst out laughing at her serious expression. Elliot, Belle and Lucas join in my hilarity. Elliot pats Belle affectionately and hands her a thick slice of brie.

In that moment, I learn two things.

One: Elliot is cool. He’s protective and he cares deeply about not only his wife but her younger sister. An asshole like Blake would never be as indulgent or patient.

Two: I’m glad we’re having dinner together. Because I know that Elliot can be my ally in convincing Lucas that we really should get married ASAP.