Facing West (Forever Wilde 1)

Chapter 11

Nico

West stayed on my mind long after he drove away. The feel of his arms around me, the scent of him as my nose lay buried in his neck, the way he’d cared for me in that moment and admitted to understanding how I felt about losing Adriana without ever really having a chance to get to know her.

For just that second, I’d felt understood and loved. For just that moment, I’d had a tiny break from the loneliness I’d felt for the past fifteen years. But the moment came and went, and for some reason I felt even more alone now after having had it and lost it.

I’d asked him to stay, and he’d gone. Story of my fucking life.

I turned back toward Adriana’s room in search of some clothes to put on. With my luck, Pippa wouldn’t stay asleep much longer. Surely the only reason she’d stayed asleep through West’s and my fight to begin with was the fact that she’d so recently fallen asleep. I’d learned quickly that those first minutes of her sleep after a bottle were like a coma. Nothing could bring her out of a milk-drug-induced stupor.

As I crossed the threshold into Adriana’s room, I looked around and realized being in her personal space no longer upset me. Ever since I’d woken up in there several nights before, I’d felt at peace with being in her room. Of course, I’d never admit to West that he’d helped me cross that hurdle, but nonetheless, I was grateful to sleep in a real bed and not on the couch any longer.

I knew there would come a time I’d have to go through all her belongings and get rid of them—either by packing some away for Pippa or donating them to charity. Just the thought of it made me shudder.

The following day, I was scheduled to meet Pippa’s prospective adoptive parents at Honovi’s office, and I was feeling anxious about it. I started a load of laundry so I’d have some decent clean clothes to wear and then popped leftovers into the microwave for dinner. Once I’d settled in to finish my evening with a movie on television, my cell phone rang.

It was Griff, but before I even had a chance to say hello, he was giving me hell through the phone.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” he railed. “I show up at the shop to find out where the hell you’ve disappeared to, and Mike tells me you have a sister who died?”

“Griff—” I tried.

“No! You listen to me, you selfish asshole. You’ve been my best friend for almost fifteen years, and you never once told me you had a sister. How could you? How could you go through losing your fucking sister and not tell me?”

I could hear him on the verge of losing his shit completely when I tried again.

“Griff, I’m sorry. Is Sam there? Can I talk to him please?”

A sob came through the line, just like I knew it would. I could kick myself for hurting him like that, and it was sure as hell going to take a while to earn back his trust.

“How could you, Nico? Where are you? I’m coming. Where the hell are you right now?”

I heard him break down fully and finally hand the phone over to his husband. When Sam came on, I could hear Griff’s muffled cries and assumed he had his face tucked into Sam’s neck or chest.

“Hey, Nico,” Sam said in a kind, calm voice. “He’s okay. Just give him a minute. For some reason he thinks your losing your sister is all about him.”

I could hear Griff grumble something in the background followed by Sam shushing him.

“I understand Griff’s reaction, Sam. I knew he’d be hurt,” I admitted.

“Then why didn’t you tell us? We would have come with you—you know that.”

I blew out a breath. “That’s just it. I knew you guys would drop everything to come with me, but you have Benji now. I didn’t want you to have to leave him or, god forbid, bring a newborn on an airplane. I hadn’t seen my family in fifteen years. It’s not like we were close. The last time I saw Adriana, she was seventeen and mean as a snake. She fucking hated me.” I tried to explain it wasn’t quite the same as Griff or Sam losing their sister. They both had sisters they were extremely close to.

Sam’s voice stayed steady and calm, and I thought about how damned lucky my best friend was to have found someone so perfect for him.

“Nico, it doesn’t matter. Griff’s coming there whether you like it or not. I’ll stay here with Benji, okay? You know he’s not going to take no for an answer. If you fight us on this, all three of us are coming.”