for months, I opened the mailbox half expecting one to be in there. It never was. But now, now, you decide it’s a good time to show up with your words of apology.”
Rehab. Everyone in his family thought that it was the fight—or more accurately brawl—that he’d had with Peter that had been the tipping point to him admitting he needed help.
The truth was, the morning he’d woken up next to Sabine had been the tipping point. The line he’d crossed that even he’d thought beneath him. So he’d provoked a fight with his brother. Wanted to feel Peter’s fist in his face, desperate for his brother to give him the beating he deserved.
He hadn’t counted on Emelia being there. Hadn’t known she was part-ninja and could take him down before Peter had even started.
“Why now, Victor?” Sabine had his crumpled letter in her hands and was waving it in front of her. “For the love of all that is decent, why would you send this now?”
“I—” Victor couldn’t find any words. Sabine was right. There was no excuse. No good reason. He should never have sent it. Never should have let Lacey get under his skin and make him think it was never too late to say sorry. Because clearly, it was.
“Oh my gosh.” A brittle laugh. “I don’t believe it.”
“What?”
Sabine crumpled his letter in her fist. “You’ve met someone. I don’t believe it. Victor Carlisle, Britain’s biggest womanizer, has met someone. Is this what this is all about? You trying to prove you’re good enough for her?”
“I’ll never be good enough for her.” The words fell out of his lips before they were even a thought.
“You’ve got that right.” Sabine shoved his letter back in her pocket. “Well, thanks for this. It’s been enlightening. You were obviously on your way somewhere, so don’t let me keep you. I’ll see myself out.”
She brushed past him, but not before he saw the sheen in her eyes. She lifted her hand and swiped it across her face.
“Sabine.”
She paused but didn’t turn around.
“Why did you come?” The look of horror on her face that morning had mirrored how he felt—one of the other reasons he’d never made contact. But no part of this conversation explained why she’d showed up on his doorstep.
“Don’t worry, Victor. I got what I came for. Just pretend I was never here. It’s better that way. I promise. Good luck with whoever she is.”
He followed her down the hallway, his stomach loosening a little. Sabine wasn’t after revenge. She wasn’t going to tell Peter. She wasn’t going to wreck whatever infinitesimal chance he had with Lacey. He didn’t know how she had gotten what she came for from their conversation, but he wasn’t going to question it.
Thank you, God. Whatever bullet was coming his way, he appeared to have dodged it. Maybe it was a sign that he had finally paid enough.
Sabine’s phone pinged, and she pulled it out of her pocket as Victor reached to open the door. Her screen lit up with the beginnings of a message. Sabine only glanced at it for a second before shoving it back into her pocket.
But a second was enough. Enough to see the photo on her home screen.
“Who’s that?” His voice sounded distorted and far away like he was speaking the words underwater.
Sabine froze. “Who’s who?” Her voice sounded calm enough, but there was a tremor threaded underneath.
“The photo on your phone. Who is that?” He didn’t need an answer. He already knew. Already knew because he had seen enough photos of his own childhood to know what had stared back at him.
Sabine looked over her shoulder. “That’s my niece. Now I should go. And you have someone to go and see.” She offered the lie with a pointed look at his bag.
The offer hung there, the chance for them both to go back to their lives like the last ten minutes had never happened. Back to the future he had been so desperately hoping for.
Future possibilities in one hand, a grenade in the other.
He had a split-second to decide which one to grab. “Sabine, you don’t have any siblings.”
Lacey dropped her carry-on onto the stoop and knocked on Emelia’s door. Her cousin’s car was in the driveway, and there were lights on inside.
Can I take a week to think about it?
No one had been more surprised than her when the words came out of her mouth. When she’d walked out of her meeting with Meredith and told Janna