Blaze (Virtues & Lies 3)

Lucian starts to pull back in his seat, his hand curling around the sharp cheese knife between him and Freddie. I don’t think he’s taking kindly to his venom. Neither am I, but I’ve got Grace in my arms, and I’m not about to do something stupid.

“But your girlfriend is?” I ask, taking a couple of steps back from the table in case it kicks off.

“Yeah,” he says with a bitter laugh. “Yes, she is. Because no matter what you say, she’s not the spawn of a traitor. Lucy is one of us.”

I don’t miss Georgina’s shudder, even if she’s trying to hide her hurt feelings. I feel for her, but it’s best she knows the real deal of whatever is going on between them.

It doesn’t stop me from wanting to beat the shit out of him. However, the shutters come down in her gaze. Her posture straightens. There’s no doubt they’re done. It’s one of the things I’ve always admired about my sisters—they know their worth, and they don’t settle for scraps.

“One of us?” Lucian spits.

Standing with a laugh much like Freddie’s, he rounds him until he’s at his back. Without warning, he holds the knife to his throat. “You ever talk about my daughter like that again, like she’s worthless, and I’ll kill you myself.”

Throwing the knife into the middle of the table, he socks the back of Freddie’s head hard enough that it takes him a moment to react when Lucian starts for the door, his jaw clenched with his pissed breaths as he turns to look at Francis.

“Get him under control, or send him home. I don’t give a fuck. He needs to learn some respect.”

“What the fuck?” Leo grits out, finally breaking his silence. His eyes shoot to the doorway, or beyond it, and I know she’s standing there. Her presence is palpable in the marrow of my bones. Unmissable, even by our daughter.

“He makes another threat, utters another insult, or even so much as looks at Fleur wrong, and it will be me putting a bullet in his brain.”

It’s only when Grace starts crying loudly that Fleur comes into the room, taking her from me. She doesn’t have to look at me for me to know she’s upset. I sense it in the way she holds Grace as close as she can to her chest, hiding her face in the crook of our daughter’s neck.

“I’m sorry,” Lucian tells her, stopping beside her as he starts to leave the room. “You weren’t meant to find out like this.”

“Are you kidding?” Leo growls from where he’s sitting. “She wasn’t meant to find out like this?”

“Neither of you were.” Lucian looks over his shoulder. “But now you know, so you’re aware of where your loyalties lie.”

There’s no certainty on what will happen next. Leo’s fuming and Freddie’s got that bloodthirsty look on his face, the one he gets when he needs to exert his frustrations.

It’s only when Grandad stands and pulls the chair beside him out for her that anyone moves or even makes a sound.

When Fleur takes her seat, I sit beside her, watching as she pulls the large muslin from her shoulder and covers her chest before letting Grace feed.

It’s awkwardly quiet until she looks up at Freddie and says, “I don’t need anyone to defend me or my honour. And I don’t need to be important to you. At the end of the day, you’re a little boy with anger issues. Nothing but a spoilt brat throwing a tantrum because he can’t get his way.”

She pours herself a glass of juice, taking a sip before she continues. “I don’t have the time for it, Freddie. I don’t care. You can have him. But know that you’re taking justice away from the people that love you for someone who may not be the person you remember.”

Freddie storms out, and Fleur continues caring for our daughter in silence while the rest of them look amongst themselves. It’s about time they realise that she’s trouble—beautiful, fierce, and mine.

Fleur’s not a queen or a princess. She doesn’t need a crown to make her great. She is greatness personified. And greatness doesn’t give without a fight, no matter how hard you try to crush it.

Chapter 34

CASPER

“Why would he say all of that and then just leave? He walked out and disappeared without answering any of my questions. And Leo? He’s going to really fucking hate me now. Isn’t he?” Fleur stops pacing in front of the shower. Leaning on the far wall, she stares blankly towards me.

The stress she’s putting herself under is unnecessary. Leo won’t hate her. It’s not like she forced Lucian into having an affair with Grace when he was still married to his mother. Besides, out of all of us he’s probably the best compartmentaliser.

“I would hate me,” she murmurs, zoning back to the here and now, her hands clutched over her tiny rounded belly. There’s not much evidence left of her bump. It seems that in the last week she’s lost weight in spite of the amount of food she’s consuming.

“Would you hate me? My mum broke their family up…God, that sounds awful. My mother stole another woman’s husband, Casper…fuck! And to top it all off I have a murderer and crook for a grandfather. Fuck. I can’t wrap my head around this. Lucian is my father, which makes Kingsley my grandfather.”

Oh shit.

“Can you hand me a towel?” I ask her, trying to get her to snap out of this vicious circle she’s going around in.