Family Affair by Elle M Thomas
Chapter 23
Declan
Mase stares at me across the roof as he gets out of my car and stands to his full height when we arrive at his home. “You ready to sort things out with Anita?”
I nod. “What do I say to her?”
“The truth.”
“But—”
Mase spins on his heels as we make our way towards the lift that will take us to the home he shares with Liv.
“Declan! I thought we’d agreed that you were going to tell her the truth.”
“I am.”
“Then do that. No half-truths or omissions because they’re essentially lies. In fact, they’re worse than lies, and not only will they come back and bite you on the arse. They will hurt Anita and I know that’s the last thing you want.”
“Thanks, Mase.”
“No problem. What else are big brothers for? Come on, time to face the music.”
When we walk into the flat on the top floor of Mase’s work building, that is essentially a penthouse apartment, we are greeted by the sound of silence.
“Where are they?” I whisper, somehow encouraged to match the quiet of my surroundings.
Mase shrugs. “My car was downstairs, so Liv made it home.”
“Maybe they’ve gone on somewhere…” my voice trails off when I see the murderous expression spreading across his face.
“They fucking better not have. In case you’d forgotten, my wife is pregnant.
“As if anyone could forget that fact.”
Looking around, I wait for something to confirm that the words I had planned to keep in my head have been spoken. I quickly realise that my words had remained in my head and the words were Liv’s as she comes into view in the dimly lit, open plan lounge.
“Baby.” Mase is already heading for his wife who stands against the wall of the corridor that leads to their bedroom.
I notice that she is wearing a pair of soft shorts and a baggy T-shirt. Sleepwear, begging the question if Liv was in bed, where is Anita?
“Don’t baby me.” She side steps him. “We need to talk.”
“I know and we will.”
She looks across at him and as pissed off as she is with him, there’s still a softness to her that shows that she loves him and they will be okay, no matter what.
I want that with Anita.
That thought prompts me to speak as I watch Liv make her way into the kitchen.
“Drink?” She stands with the fridge door open.
“I’ll do it,” Mase says, taking some milk from her hand.
She rolls her eyes at him then she looks at me. “Dec, do you want a drink?”
“Where’s Anita?” I ignore her question but have found my voice at least.
“Home.”
I absorb her reply before a frown mars my brow. “She doesn’t have a key. How long ago did you drop her off? I don’t want her hanging around for me.”
I get the roll of Liv’s eyes now.
“You men are so conceited and cocksure! I said she has gone home.” She overemphasises the word home as if she is trying to convey some other meaning, but it is wasted on me.
I stare at her, silently fuming that I am no closer to knowing where my lady is, but silently accept that although she is being a bit of an arse about it, this is a situation of my own making, not Liv’s.
A very small, but unamused laugh leaves Liv’s mouth. “She has a key to her home. She has gone home.”
“Why?” My question doesn’t need an answer and I am relieved when Liv doesn’t offer one. “You took her there instead of here!” My tone is accusatory and that was my intention.
“Declan,” Mase warns.
Liv steps closer. “Declan, I am a grown-up and another grown-up asked me to take her home. I knew you wouldn’t be happy, said as much to her, but it was her choice, just like it was yours and Mase’s to lie to our faces. Now, normally, you’d be welcome to stay, but assuming you don’t want the drink that was offered, Mase and I have an argument to have before I go to bed to sleep because my baby considers two in the morning the time to lie on my bladder and then I struggle to get back to sleep.”
She rubs her belly and smiles softly.
“Yeah. Sorry. Mase, I’ll catch you tomorrow, and Liv, I don’t need to know when you are peeing.” I lean in and land a kiss to her cheek before rushing back to the lift.
Before the doors have closed, I hear Liv speak. “Who the fuck is Audrey and why have you lied to me?”
I swallow down my guilt and will the lift to travel quicker so I can go and explain myself to Anita, not that I have actually thought that plan through because it is now after midnight and I assume her and her parents are all in bed.
Pulling up outside her family home that is in darkness, I briefly question if this is a mistake. I push that thought down and am out of my car and heading to the front door. Pausing, I look at the doorbell and the darkened house again. Maybe I should wait. Or not. I pull my phone from my pocket and type a message.
<Cupcake, open the window, please. x>
Anita
I’ve tossed and turned from the second I got into bed which was about half an hour after Liv left. However, I am struggling to get to sleep. I have so many questions in my head. Questions for Dec and for the first time since returning home, I begin to wonder if I should have waited for him. No. If I’d waited, we would have ended up arguing because I am angry as well as hurt.
My mind turns to that woman, Audrey. Who is she and what could be so awful that Dec felt the need to lie about her identity and drag his brother into it? I brush off any guilt I feel emerging for Mase. He’s a big boy and although I know their intentions are well meant, Mase and Liv think nothing of offering opinions on my relationship with Dec. I love that Liv cares so much and I do acknowledge that Mase is a little more reluctant to be involved, but they are.
The sound of my message alert breaks my thoughts and then I hear something else. A tapping sound but without any regular pattern or rhythm. I hear it again as I sit up and reach for my phone to find a message from Dec.
<Cupcake, open the window, please. x>
Then the tapping sounds again. Shit! It’s something hitting the window. Dec.
I rush to the window before he wakes anyone else. Pulling the curtains back I see him standing beneath my window and as I open it something hits me, a small piece of gravel, the sort we have on the ground around the path. At least I know what he was throwing at my window.
Dec drops his hand, presumably releasing more stones.
“Window’s open,” I whisper down. “You can go now.”
Dec holds my stare. “I want to talk.”
“Oh, well in that case, I will of course drop everything.” This could go really badly because he is pissing me off.
“You’re angry?”
Fucking hell! There are moments when his stupidity shocks me. “No shit, Sherlock.”
“Let me in.”
“No! My parents are in bed and we do not need to wake them to share this.”
He nods. “Yeah, your dad already hates me. So…”
I watch, aghast as I realise he is climbing the lower of the branches on the tree to the front of the house. He makes short work of the height until he is within a couple of feet of my open window.
“You might need to step back.”
My face is screwed up into a confused frown. “This is not an 80s movie.”
He laughs. “No. If it was, I’d have been blasting tunes from the ground before climbing up here. Cupcake, step back, please.”
I consider refusing but the chances are, him climbing back down the tree will make more noise than letting him in.
He lands with something of a thud a few seconds later. Getting to his full height he looks down at me and I can see now that he looks sad.
“I went to Mase’s and you weren’t there.”
“I came home.” Clearly my explanation is unnecessary as we are both standing in my bedroom.
Dec scans my room. “Your bedroom?”
“Yeah. Good job you got the right one.”
“Yeah…I hadn’t even considered that when I started throwing stones.”
“Liv told me you were here…at home. She’s great and somehow a pain in the arse at the same time.”
I smile, imagining the grief she may have given him.
He reaches for me and gently brushes his thumb over my cheek. “If you really want me to, I’ll leave, but I want to explain about Audrey.”
Part of me wants to tell him to go. To show him that I can be tough too. Someone who won’t take his shit indefinitely. Someone more like Liv, but then I am not Liv, I’m me, and he is here and ready to tell me what I want to know.
“You’d better come in properly then,” I whisper. The last thing I need to do is to wake my parents.
I close the window and indicate for him to take a seat at my dressing table while I sit on the edge of my bed.
“I have never slept with Audrey.” He laughs a little. “That is not a claim I ever imagined making. I was involved with her daughter, Amber.”
Looking across at Dec, I absolutely believe every word he says, and yet, it still doesn’t make sense for him to have lied about who Audrey is. He could have told me this, so there must be more.
“Involved?”
“Yes, seriously involved.”
“How seriously?” My heart is thumping against my chest as I consider all the possible responses I might get.
“Really seriously, like engaged serious.”
I get to my feet and pace a little before finding myself standing before Dec, looking down at him still at my dressing table.
“You were engaged,” I state more than ask in a flat tone that I hope doesn’t give the impression of anger or apathy because whilst I am not angry, I care, I care deeply. I hate the idea of him ever having felt strongly enough about another woman to have been engaged.
He reaches for my hand and brushes a thumb over my knuckles, and it is one of the most understanding and comforting things I have ever been on the receiving end of. He understands how I feel.
“Yeah. She erm…she jilted me.”
My jaw drops as I absorb what he is telling me. “Jilted you?” I just need to be sure.
“Yup, at the altar. Me and Mase stood there in our Sunday best, waiting for the arrival of the bride along with the rest of the congregation and she didn’t show.”
He laughs but it’s hard and a little cold.
“Shit!” I’m unsure what else I can say.
“Yup.” He laughs again, but this time it does at least carry some warmth and a little amusement. “So eloquently put, Cupcake.”
“Sorry.”
“No, don’t be.”
He reaches for me and pulls me down until I am in his lap, straddling him, but this is not sexual. This is comforting, open and somehow feels real and meaningful. My face immediately and instinctively comes to rest in his neck while I feel his in my hair, inhaling my scent.
“Anita,” he says just as there’s a loud knock on my door, followed by it opening to reveal my dad filling the space while my mum stands a few steps behind him.
My mum doesn’t look in anyway surprised to discover us here, unlike my dad who might have steam coming out of his ears.