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I reach out to put a steady hand on him as I walk forward. “Keegan, I’ve been looking for you.”
“I know.”
He still looks like the ghost of his former self. His dark hair such a stark contrast to his pale skin as it falls over his forehead. It’s at least an inch or two shorter than I’m used to seeing.
He and I have never been best friends. Hell, we could barely stand each other, but in his grief, we are alike. Seeing him like this makes my own rise and grab onto my heart with piercing claws.
“I’m sorry I missed your dad’s funeral. I didn’t want my dad to grab me and force me to marry you right there.”
I swallow hard, knowing that’s plausible. Sad and terrifying but plausible.
“What are you doing here?” Leo asks with his no-nonsense attitude on full display. He gives zero fucks about anyone outside our circle, and really, he only gives one fuck for Oliver and Alaric both. Though, he’s coming around.
Keegan pleads at me with his eyes, and I take pity on him. “Come in.”
When I step onto the stoop with him, he says, “I wasn’t allowed to enter until you guys got here.” He looks at my pantsuit. “Anne-Marie’s wedding I take it?”
“You didn’t miss much,” Oliver helpfully offers before turning the knob and letting the door creak open.
“Sir, there’s a Mr.—”
“I know, James. Thank you,” Oliver calls out.
“Sir,” James says in response, leaving behind a trail of footsteps echoing through the foyer just as we fill it again with our own.
In the great room, the crackling fire calls to me, and I lead the way. Oliver turns on the light in the center of the room, casting the shadows away. It’s such a contrast to the last few hours that it takes a bit for my eyes to adjust. When they do, I find Keegan again who gravitates toward the edge of the fireplace.
His shoulders are practically to his ears. “How long were you waiting for us?”
“A few hours.” He turns, and I try not to focus on the dark bags under his eyes. “I saw Devon. He told me you came around. Then I heard you were getting married, and I figured I didn’t need to hide anymore.”
“You heard right,” Leo said, reaching down to take my hand.
Keegan peers at where we’re knotted together and then up at me. He stares long and hard. If he has something to say, I wish he’d just say it.
“I like this for you, Eden. If you’re happy. He seems appropriate.” Keegan’s gaze lingers on Leo’s tatted arms briefly before he stares at the fire.
Alaric sits on one of the sofas. “Does your dad know you’re back?”
“Not if I can help it. I’m probably the last person he wants to see, anyway. He’s threatened every day to disinherit me.”
As much as my old self thinks that’s hilarious, there’s no way Leon Forbes would do that. He only has one son, and he’s way too damn proud not to have the Forbes name passed down to another degenerate generation.
“Listen,” he says, turning his gaze to Leo. “Is it possible I could have a moment alone with Eden?”
“No.” Oliver answers, surprising me.
Keegan darts his stare to my best friend, then to me. It makes me kind of smile, but I can also speak for myself. “We can talk in front of these guys. You don’t have to be afraid of saying something…” I have no idea what I want to say here because even though Keegan seems as if he’s done with the Forbeses in this world, I know that when money and power is concerned, people change their minds easily. “You don’t have to be afraid of saying something wrong. They’re—”
“Listen,” Leo interjects, “we don’t give a fuck about anything except for Eden. Fucking period. We’re not going to tell your daddy you were here.”
“And we won’t tell anyone what you say,” Alaric adds, confirming everyone’s sentiments.
I let Keegan sit and stew with that for a bit. He studies all of us before he leans against the side of the fireplace, that dark lock of hair falling over his face again. He definitely wasn’t living in squalor, not like Devon in that cabin, but he looks lost in other ways.
“We were going to be family once,” I say, still trying to convince him.
He chuckles. “Yeah, and I told your sister that we wouldn’t be giving you any money since you were such a fuck up.”