“Fi, I’ve told you that wasn’t your fault—”
Fiona held up her hand. “No, Liv. Don’t. Stop making excuses for me, okay? You’ve been doing that our whole lives, and it just spurred me on. I’m not saying that to make you feel bad. I’m just saying, I felt like you were being condescending to me, and it made me want to act out worse. And no, I didn’t have a clue what Greg really was, and maybe he already suspected we’re dragons, but I still shouldn’t have told him. And I should have listened when you tried to warn me about him. Instead, I gloated about how I had a man for once, one who wanted me and not my beautiful, perfect sister.
“I was horrible to you, and I’m only sorry that I didn’t realize it until we were locked up. I haven’t gone back to that wretched version of myself, I promise. I’ve just been worried. That experience scarred me badly. I barely sleep. It’s hard to eat. My mind never stops replaying every single moment. You’ve been recovering faster than me, and I was worried that because you were, you’d make the same mistake I did and trust the wrong man.”
“Fiona…” she began, heart aching as she searched for her words. “I know you’ve been going through a rough time, but I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
Her sister gave her a faint smile. “Don’t go taking that on yourself too. You didn’t cause it, and there’s nothing you can do or say that will help. I just need time. But if I seemed relieved this morning, it was because I was worried he would hurt you, and you’ve been hurt enough. I don’t want to see it happen again.”
“He won’t hurt me, Fi. Cody’s a good man. One of the best I’ve ever known. So please don’t worry about me. Be happy for me instead. I’ve found my mate, and he’s an amazing man.”
Fiona’s eyes widened. “He’s your mate? I didn’t know that.”
She gave her a faint smile. “I didn’t either. My dragon just told me today.”
“That changes everything, Liv.”
“It does?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course. I won’t worry about you and him so much anymore. Mates would rather cut their own hearts out than hurt each other.” She smiled, some of the shadows leaving her eyes. “I’m truly happy for you, Liv. You deserve so much to be happy.”
“Thank you. And you deserve it too, you know that, right?”
Fiona shrugged, her smile dimming just a bit. “It’ll take me more time to realize that, but maybe I will someday.”
Before she could reply, her sister drew her in for a hug, holding her tightly for a long moment. Tears filled her eyes, and she tried to blink them back, but she couldn’t. Like Fiona, she hated that it had taken a tragedy to reach this point, but she was incredibly glad they had.
Her sister pulled back, her eyes glistening with tears of her own, and gave her a tremulous smile. Without another word, she ran back inside, and Olivia stared after her with a heart so full, she thought it might burst.
She and Fiona were finally starting to build the relationship she always wished they had. It wasn’t all her sister’s fault that things had gotten so bad between them. Clearly, the way she’d coddled her hadn’t done any good, and she knew there were other things she should have done differently.
But they were finally coming to a good place, and despite how much her heart hurt from the way her sister was suffering, she still felt an impossibly large amount of pride. Her little sister was growing up, and though it had taken some hard truths and hard situations to make it happen, it was beautiful to witness.
And history hadn’t been repeating itself. Fiona wasn’t upset or jealous over Olivia finding Cody—she was just worried, which was more than understandable.
Olivia had finally found her faith. Now, all she wanted was for Fiona to find peace.
Chapter 17
Cody
Cody was trying his damnedest to concentrate on the cabinets he was building, but his mind wasn’t cooperating. All he wanted to do was think about Olivia—his mate.
It was still hard to believe. He actually had a mate. And she was Olivia, the woman he’d felt an incredible pull to from the moment he saw her. The absolutely gorgeous woman he wanted with an ache that only grew stronger with every passing moment.
It made complete sense when he thought about it, but he’d never even tried to put two and two together. He was the first of his people to find a mate.
He’d wanted to tell everyone the moment he got home the night before, but he had to deal with the brewing shitstorm with Pops, and by the time he was done, it had been too late.
Speak of the devil… His grandfather walked in, and he narrowed his eyes as he watched him go straight to the rocking chair he’d been working on.
“What are you doing in today, Pops?”
Halting in the process of reaching for the sandpaper, Pops turned a dark scowl on him. “What, am I not allowed in the family business anymore, either? I must not even be a member of the family at all at this point.”
Exhaling heavily, he shook his head. “I don’t want to get into this with you again. I’ve already told you why it’s not a good idea to move back in. Besides, you were the one who moved out in the first place.”
“That was before I knew there was a threat! You need me there to give you guidance. You’ve never faced anything like this before. You don’t know how to handle it.”