was ashamed. “Help her the way we’re helping Story.”
I arched a brow. “You want me to tell you how to fuck your sister?”
“No, dick. I want us to free her. Free her from my mother. From my father. From this fucking world. I want to make sure that when this is over, Lottie is taken care of.”
“Why can’t her brother do that?”
West looked away. “Just promise me you’ll take care of her, Grayson.”
West held his hand out for me to shake.
“Does she know?” he asked.
“About our truce? Pretty fucking obvious.”
“That if you manage to get that coin, you’re not leaving this place.”
I shifted, my back suddenly aching—
The way you shift on the mattress when something hurts your heart.
Goddamn.
She knew me better than I knew myself.
I told Story I wouldn’t put my faith in fairy tales, and I guess for both of us, I have no choice.
One way or the other, Story would be free. My wife would be safe. Whether that meant finding the coin, or destroying my grandfather and becoming the thing I hated most: the monster that goes bump in the night.
Becoming the Crowne.
Anyone who came after her, would have to come through me.
A slow smile spread across West’s lips at my silence. “So there are some things you keep from the missus, then.”
My hand clasped his, then I yanked him to me, our noses barely touching. “So we’re clear, you don’t fucking touch her, she doesn’t sleep in your bed, she doesn’t sleep in the same fucking room as you, and you don’t take her phone again.”
He laughed. “Or you’ll beat me up again?”
“I’m still married to your sister, du Lac. I would hate to break her heart any more than I already have…especially with what stress does to her and the baby.”
It burned like acid coming out.
West’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you were the good guy in this story, Grayson.”
Your dream wasn’t exclusive to me. You want to be good to Lottie, and I want that for you.
I told Story I would do it my way…I just hoped she could forgive me.
I shoved him off. “I’ll be the villain, I’ll be the bad guy, I’ll be whatever I have to be, to keep Story safe.”
West grinned. “Truce.”
“Truce,” I gritted.
Twenty-Six
STORY
I fell asleep against the door, listening to the muffled voices of Gray and West, so I was disoriented when I woke in a bed. Last night came back to me in hot bursts.
“Are you feeling okay?”
Grayson sat on my bed, and I smiled, thinking I was in a dream. That I was back to before—before everything got ruined. Destroyed.
“Atlas,” I whispered.
“Grayson hogs the bed.”
The dream shattered with West’s voice. West came into focus behind Grayson, leaning in the doorway, in plaid pajamas with Christmas trees. Grayson wore what he had the night before, but no tie, and his dress shirt was rolled up and messy.
I looked around, realizing I was in the guest wing. My prison.
West.
West and Grayson.
I looked between the two of them, still unsure if I was dreaming. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?”
“Yeah, Gray,” West mocked. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m not leaving your side, Snitch. Never again.”
The night before. The truce.
Two of the most powerful men in the world, after me.
“You both slept here?”
Grayson leaned forward, brushing the hair from my eyes, but his glare was on West. “I didn’t sleep, little wife.”
“Grayson, you should probably get the fuck out unless you want everyone to know you spent the night here,” West said. “I just don’t know if the world is ready for our relationship—maybe go back to my sister. I wonder how she’s doing. Do you even know?”
West was clearly needling him. Any mention of Lottie, Grayson flinched like he was in serious pain.
Grayson rubbed a hand across the blond shadow on his jaw, dragging his bottom lip, eyes dark and jaw tense.
“Fuck off, West,” I gritted. I touched his arm and his eyes found mine. “I read somewhere you’re not supposed to break jaws before breakfast.”
His eyes softened on mine.
Still, I worried.
They don’t let me out of my wing unless it’s to take pictures or smile on command.
How often could Gray do this before getting caught? Before getting all of us caught?
“What’s going to happen when they realize you’re gone? I told you I didn’t want you getting hurt over me.”
I can do this. I can handle West.
And just like that the world dissolved—for about two seconds, then I felt a violent lurch in my stomach. I quickly bolted