There’s too much pain in his body. Too much suffering in his heart. If he just loosens his grip, Beckett will fall, and it’ll all be over.
“Luca,” I say softly. “On three.”
Luca huffs, opening his eyes again and nodding.
“One,” I say, sending love and support into Luca’s soul.
“Two.” Strength pulses from me to him, and the knowledge that the guilt of Beckett’s death would kill him eventually. We have to save Beckett—even though they’re only half related, even though he tried to kill Luca, even though he poisoned Margot, even though he did it all out of sick jealousy—we can’t let him fall.
“Three.”
Luca lets out a wordless scream, pulling Beckett up over the edge. Beckett’s limp body lands on top of my husband’s, and I help to roll Beckett over onto his back. His head lolls to the side, his tongue hanging out.
Panting, Luca feels for a pulse. He nods.
Beckett’s still alive.
I let out a breath, closing my eyes for just a moment. Then, I pick myself up off the ground. Luca stands up with me, wrapping his arms around me as tears start to fall from his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he says, over and over again. “I’m so sorry, Ivy.”
“Shh,” I say. I don’t have the energy to say anything else. I just nod, kissing Luca’s tears away and nodding to Beckett. “Let’s deal with him.”
Beckett is too heavy to drag or carry back down to the palace, so we scrounge around for something to tie him with.
The only thing we have is our shoelaces. I take them off my shoes and hand them to Luca, who does his best to bind his brother’s hands and feet. I pray that he’ll still be here when the guards come back.
Then, the two of us stumble back as fast as our screaming bodies will let us. I wave Luca ahead. “I need to go slow,” I say, putting a hand to my stomach. “You go get help.”
“You’ve got to be crazy if you think I’m leaving you, Ivy,” Luca says, dropping back to stay by my side. “We do this together.”
My lower lip trembles as a wave of emotion crashes into me.
Luca slides his hand over my shoulders and holds me close. “It’s over now, Ivy, my love. It’s all over.”
I nod, not trusting my voice. Tears stream down my face as his words sink in.
It’s all over.
Now, we can live. Now, we can be free. Now, we can move forward.
30
Margot
I’ve been spending more time at Spoonful of Sugar since I got back to Farcliff. Giselle and Georgina have been running the place since Ivy’s been gone, and it’s nice to have some familiar faces around. In a way, being at the bakery feels more like home than the big mansion where I sleep.
One evening, Ivy calls me, breathless, and tells me they caught Beckett. She tells them he confessed to injecting me with heroin laced with fentanyl, causing my overdose. A tear drops from my eye, and all I do is cradle my stomach.
A part of me expects to get a call from Dante.
I don’t, though. Why would he call?
Catching Beckett doesn’t change anything. He’s the father of my child. I withheld that information from Dante. Just because Beckett is behind bars doesn’t mean that Dante’s opinion of me has changed.
I mostly work in the back of the bakery, doing odd jobs and keeping myself busy. Even though Felicity and Melissa want me to get back into the public eye, I’ve been enjoying spending time with people like the twins and their brothers.
They don’t treat me like a celebrity. I’m not Margot LeBlanc to the seven of them, I’m just Ivy’s sister. Plus, my baby kicks happily anytime I’m at the bakery, and who am I to resist that kind of endorsement? Whether it’s the smells of delicious baking, or the laughter and camaraderie of the twins and other workers, I’m not sure.
Either way, it’s where I want to be.
Irving, the twins’ oldest brother, usually elicits lots of kicks from the baby. His big, booming voice and constant supply of milkshakes keeps both me and my child happy.
“Any plans for the holidays, Margot?” Irving asks, hauling a huge bag of flour over his shoulder. “Christmas is only two weeks away.”
“Just going to take it easy,” I respond, trying to keep the grimace off my face.
Last year, the holidays were full of celebrity-studded parties, drinking, drugs, and time spent with Ivy. This year, my sister is in