Helanie:
The way he said my name, I thought he was going to yell at me.
"Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. I mean, please accept my gift. I didn’t mean to say that you insulted me," Emmet said as he got out of his chair to approach me. His voice was now calm and soothing.
"Now, take it," he insisted and held my hand in his manly big hands and placed the bracelet back in my hand.
"Umm, Emmet—Norman wants you to visit his office," Kaye intervened when Emmet just placed his hand on my shoulder. His touch was so soft and comforting.
Emmet turned to him and watched him for a moment. "What does he want?"
"I don’t know. You need to go see," Kaye said, sounding serious.
"Okay, and Helanie, don’t take everything so seriously. Just accept my gift and go eat your lunch, okay?" Emmet’s voice was so sweet as he insisted I don’t talk about returning the gift. Then, when he gently placed his finger under my chin to lift my face, I felt my heart skip a beat.
Without any thought, I just nodded obediently.
Emmet walked out while I grabbed the bracelet. I thought that was it—I’d be out of the office and that would be done. What I didn’t realize was that Kaye had made Emmet leave for a reason.
The minute I was close to the door, Kaye rushed out of his chair and stepped in my way, turning me around by holding my arm and pinning me against the door.
I had my eyes on his face, wide with shock.
"Kaye—" His name left my lips in an utter plea.
"Why did you get so sad so quickly?" He placed his hands on the wall beside me, his body hunching down to my level, but he couldn’t quite reach my face because of how tall he was.
"It was nothing—" My response came out in a whisper.
"Helanie! You don’t have to feel so sad and apologetic, especially not to any of my brothers. And this bracelet, it is yours. All the wealth my family and I own is equally yours, my mate." His whisper hit my skin as he leaned down, his eyes looking through mine. My body got covered in goosebumps, the hair on the back of my neck standing too.
"And—don’t—" He suddenly gave me a peck on the lips, and I couldn’t even move a muscle in shock. "Never—" He gave another little peck. "Be sad—" As he gave another peck, the touch suddenly turned from pleasant to traumatic. I don’t know why but the sweetness of his touch took me back in time.
Right before my eyes were flashes of that night and their lips against mine by force. It shouldn’t have happened because Kaye’s touch was not harsh and neither was it forceful. It was a kiss of a mate, like a shelter during a storm.
"No, it was just me," she shrugged.
"Oh, ah! I heard Gavin had pain the other night. He couldn’t even transition or anything," I sighed, feeling like I needed to speak to Gavin at least once. It had been days, and we hadn’t been able to talk about anything—mainly because I was avoiding him asking me if I knew what Lucy had been up to these days.
"It must have been bad. So bad—" The strange grief in her voice made me raise my eyebrow at her.
"You know how it feels?" I don’t know why, but I felt like I should ask her that question, so I did.
"Were you told and explained—" As I started to clarify my question, she explained it to me herself.
"I’ve felt it. I’ve felt that pain with so much intensity, Helanie, that I thought I was going to die. The whole night, I thought it would end now—now—but it didn’t. It just kept going, and I knew—he was cheating on me because he didn’t even pick up my calls that night. But—well—I know that pain, so yeah—" Through her weak smile, she uttered the most painful words.
"Oh, Jenny, I’m so sorry," I instantly held her hands to comfort her.
"Helanie, I even threw up blood because whoever he was with, he didn’t stop until morning," she continued to tell me her heartbreaking story.
At that moment, I realized how little I knew about the people around me.
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