Page 62 of Burning Embers
I take a step back “What?”
“Between Marcus and me,” she says, biting her lip.
“Did I say that?”
Her face is crestfallen, and she dips her chin. “No, but I’d never do that to you, Olly.”
I kiss her forehead. “I know.” And I do. When I saw him, I never thought she had been with him.
“Well, isn’t this cosy,” says Marcus.
She sighs and pulls away from me. “Don’t be like that,” she says facing him.
“Whatever, I have to go.”
She steps forward, touching his arm. “We need to talk about last night,” she says.
“Nothing to talk about,” he replies, typing away at his phone. It rings. He turns, answers it. “Cool, man, I’ll be there in an hour,” he says and then hangs up.
Turning back towards Rachel, he leans down and kisses her smack-bang on the lips, and then just as quickly, pulls back, waves, saunters off. She wipes her lips with the back of her hand, shuddering. It takes everything in me not to go after him, but I’d be giving him exactly what he wants.
I hold up the bag. “I also brought wine.”
Her shoulders relax a fraction. I reach for her hand. She wraps her fingers with mine and pulls me into the flat, closing the door behind us before bolting the chain.
When she turns back around, I pull her into my body and hold her until the tension eases.
“Where’s Molly?”
“Sleeping,” she’s says. The bedroom door is closed.
We head into the living room, and I see the sofa made up with a cover and pillows…and a blanket on the chair. She quickly strips off the cover and pillowcases, then tosses them into the washing machine.
“Did you sleep in the chair?” I ask her while she’s grabbing plates and cutlery.
Nodding, she sits at the table, and I join her to dish out the food. Thankfully, it was double wrapped and still warm.
After we’ve eaten, I pop to the bathroom and that’s when I see it—on top of the small vanity. “Rachel,” I call out but not loud enough to wake Molly.
“Yeah?” she says, pausing in the doorway. I point to the vanity, and her eyes grow large. “That arsehole. He’s using again, andin my flat.”
She reaches for the rolled-up note and the mirror. With swift, angry motions, she washes it under the tap to rid it of the remnant of what is likely cocaine. “I wouldn’t have let him in if I knew he had shit on him,” she says. “I don’t want that shit around Molly.”
It takes everything in me to keep my anger at bay.
Chapter Forty
OLLY
I grew up around parents with addictions—that’s the last thing I want for Molly or Rachel. I know they have a bond that will forever bind them to Marcus. But I sure as hell won’t sit idly by and watch him destroy himself. I saw first-hand what damage it can do. Whether they are together or not…he is their family.
Taking Rachel by the hand, I sit on the edge of the bath and pull her into my lap. “Talk to me,” I say, tucking loose hair behind her ear.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” she says, exhaling.
I lean down and kiss her softly, her warm lips inviting. She opens up to me without hesitation. We kiss until her body moulds to mine and my butt starts to go numb. I pick her up; she wraps her legs around my waist.
Walking into the living room, I make a beeline for the chair, then sit down with her straddling me. Her eyes pierce mine, her fingers delicately tracing the lines of my face.
