Chapter 166
RAINA
Just one break. That was all I’d asked for. One moment of respite where I could breathe without the chaos clawing at me. But, of course, life had other plans
My phone shelled on the nightstand, its vibration cutting through the stillness, I groaned, reaching over to grab it before the noise woke Alex. “Faith?” 1 mumbled into the receiver, rubbing my eyes In an attempt to scrubs the sleep from them.
Her voice broke immediately. “Raina, she’s here“”
I sat up so fast I almost knocked the lamp over. “What? Who’s there?”
“Eliza,” she sobbed, her words tumbling over each other. “She’s at the house. She says she’s pregnant, and she’s refusing to leave!”
My heart sank. “What do you mean she’s at the house? How did she why is she-
“Dom let her in!” Faith’s voler cracked, and I could hear the sound of muffled crying. “I don’t know what to do, Raina. I locked myself in the bathroom. I can’t. I can’t face berl
I had the phone clasped in my hand so hard that my knuckles turned white “Faith, listen. Listen carefully, I’m on my way there, just in a moment. Whatever is happening at this very second where you are, hang in there just till I get there. Just don’t go near that door; promise me?”
I flung the covers off and made a mad dash to the edge of the bed, my fingers closing over the clothes in a frantic rush as her panicked voice echoed in my mind. But before I could get any further, an arm snaked around my waist and dragged me back into the warmth of the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Alex’s groggy voice exploded through the stillness as he pushed up onto one elbow, his lips grazing my shoulder.
“Faith called,” I panted, rolling over to look at him. “Eliza’s at the house, Alex. She says she’s pregnant and Faith is out of control. I gotta go.”
He scowled, fingers flexing on my hip, squeezing ever so tightly. “You just got here, Raina What’s going to happen to the kids? They need you here.”
My lips parted to protest, but his words stilled them “They’ll be fine for a couple of days,” I said without conviction, but could hear how uncertain I sounded. “This is important. Faith needs me.”
Alex sat up fully, his hand finding mine. “I get it,” he said softly, “but you have to keep in mind the fact that you’re not the only one Faith has on her side -she has Dominic, and those two are adults, they’ll find a way out of this, but Ava and Liam, well, they’ve got no one else. You can’t be forever running to fix everyone’s problems except your own.
Guilt hit me like a punch to the gut. He was right, as much as I hated to admit it. The kids needed me. They were, after all, the reason I’d come here in the first place to keep them safe, to be with them. But how could I just stand by while my brother and Faith’s marriage crumbled under Eliza’s chaos?
can’t just do nothing, Alex,” I said, my voice cracking
“You won’t be doing nothing.” he reassured me, his thumb brushing against my knuckles. “I’ll go. I’ll handle it.”
My eyes widened. “You’d do that?”
“For you? Always,” he said simply, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Stay here with the kids, Raina. Let me take care of this.”
Hellef washed over me, though it was tinged with worry. I trusted Alex, but the thought of him walking into the middle of that mess without me made my stomach twist.
“Okay,” I said quietly, nodding. “But promise me you’ll keep me updated.”
“Of course,” he said, leaning in to press a soft kiss to my forehead. Then his lips brushed against mine, hanging there just long enough to make me shiver down the length of my spine.
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