My sister comes back from the hallway with a cup of coffee and hands it to me. “Thanks,” I say, taking a much-needed sip.
“You okay?” she asks as she sits down beside me on the small chairs in the waiting room.
I nod, but it’s a lie, and when she wraps her hand around mine and squeezes, I can barely keep it together.
“I’m sorry,” she says.
I look up into her tearful eyes. “It’s not your fault.”
Her face contorts. “It is my fault. When I found out you were missing and saw the notes in Luca’s study, I knew exactly where you went. And I begged him to save you for days on end. He finally agreed, and now … here we are.”
“I thought Luca wanted to see him dead after Liam tried to throw you off a cliff.”
She shakes her head. “Maybe … but it was my idea to come here and save you. Luca tried to tell me it was your choice and that we can’t do anything, but I didn’t want to believe him.” She shakes her head, glaring off into the ceiling lights. “I thought Liam forced you.”
I snort. “He did …” I gaze up too, unable to look her in the eyes. “I wanted to protect you.”
Her hand squeezes tighter around mine.
“I just didn’t expect to fall for him so badly,” I add.
She snorts. “You sound like me.”
A smile still manages to worm its way onto my face. “You know, I once thought you were crazy for liking Luca.”
The left side of her lip quirks up. “Guess love doesn’t listen to any rules.”
I roll my eyes. “I wish it did. It would’ve been much easier.”
She laughs. “You’ll get over it.”
“How long did it take with you?” I ask. “Weeks?”
“Days.”
A blush creeps onto my cheeks, and it’s quiet for some time before I finally get the guts to speak up again. “You know, I’m not even mad you kissed Liam.”
She looks away, but I know she’s blushing too. I can tell from the way she grabs her hair and draws it across her face. “I didn’t do it to hurt you. I just needed to know the truth.”
“I know,” I say, and I squeeze her hand back so she looks at me. “I told him to give you two a chance.”
Her eyes widen. “But why? If you felt like this for him all the time?”
I shrug. “I just put our parents and their business first.”
She sighs out loud. “Jas …”
“I know, I know.” I wave it off, but the way she looks at me gets to me.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she says. “You should’ve just told us.”
“What was I supposed to say?” I raise a brow at her. “My parents picked you and Jill, but I want you to pick me and run away with me?” I snort. “Like he’d ever made that choice.”
“Maybe. You’ll never know,” she says.
It’s quiet for some time, and the clock is slowly ticking away. It feels as if we’ve been here a lifetime now. And all this time, my heartbeat’s been insane as I wait for news. Any kind of news.
“I’m sorry this all happened. I should’ve known you didn’t want to come back,” Jill suddenly says with tears in her eyes again.