Chapter Forty-two: Moving Forward

Grace’s Point of View

As Aamon drove us back to his place, I called Xavier. He held the steering wheel with one hand and my hand in the other, a simple but meaningful gesture. To his credit, Xavier answered immediately despite it being late at night.

“You were right, Xavier. For what it’s worth, I chose Rei too. I will stay with the kids tomorrow night,” I said.

A shaky breath on the other line sounded like Xavier had been on edge, waiting to see if I would call him back. I felt terrible that it took as long as it had, but would my answer have been the same if I had responded right away? If I was honest, I don’t know if it would have been initially.

Seeing Lillianna unravel like that before my eyes was something seared into my memory. That, paired with the memory of her covered in blood, smiling as she stared at herself in the mirror years ago, destroyed the version Lillianna had created for my benefit.

Were we ever truly friends, or was I just another pawn in Lillianna's game of life? A mere chess piece moved around for her gain?

“I don't think we ever truly knew Lillianna,” Xavier's voice quivered on the other end of the phone. "Maybe it was just a facade she put on for each of us."

I may be the only one who understands his pain right now. We’d both lost a friend—or someone we’d believed to be a friend.

Perhaps Xavier was right, and we never really knew Lillianna at all. His words were heavy with emotion as he spoke them.

But then I thought about how Lillianna had spoken about Xavier and how her eyes sparkled when she did. She had loved him deeply. Maybe it was more obsession than love, but whatever it was, Lillianna felt it strongly for him.

“Lillianna cared for each of us in her way, the only way she knew how to. You were important to her, Xavier. She always lit up when talking about you,” I said.

"You know who Rei is, and I trust that you will tell her. I'm with Aamon now, and someone will be watching over me and the kids tomorrow so you don't have to worry about that. Please just focus on telling Rei the truth; you know she can't stand lies," I urged.

“I was going to take her to the little Italian restaurant and tell her there for our date,” Xavier sighed. “But, given what has happened with Lillianna, I think it’s best if I just made dinner for her at my place.”

“Probably wise, especially if Lillianna knew that is where you might have taken Rei. You can’t trust her, Xavier, don’t forget that,” I warned.

“Yeah, I know,” Xavier sighed in defeat.

“Wait… can you cook?” I wondered why he hesitated to have Rei for dinner at his place.

Xavier laughed loud and long at that. I guess the man could cook.

“Alright, what are you planning to cook for my best friend, smartass?” I taunted.

“Really?” Xavier scoffed, offended but entertained by my challenge.

“I’m waiting,” I teased while Aamon chuckled in the background. He was enjoying this, too.

“I've got this all planned: Florentine steak on the grill served with Tordelli Lucchese and sautéed spinach. And, of course, a nice bottle of red wine to go with it. For dessert, we'll have tiramisu. Your thoughts?” Xavier responded.

“She’ll love it, Xavier,” I whispered, tears in my eyes.

Aamon squeezed my hand gently. He knew why I had responded as I had. Greg had never made that kind of effort for Rei, and no one other than her friends had.

“I hope so. I love her, Grace,” Xavier replied, a catch in his voice as he did.

He was afraid of also losing Rei, just as she was finally becoming a significant part of his life.

“Rei loves you too, Xavier. You need to be honest with her. Don’t worry about losing her; she deserves to know the truth. She may be hurt and scared when she finds out her life is not as it seems, but don’t let her anger push you away,” I reassured him before hanging up the phone.

Aamon shot me a significant glance as I spoke to Xavier, silently urging me to take my own advice. I rested my head against Aamon's shoulder while he drove us back home, gripping his hand tightly as if it could anchor me in the midst of all this turmoil.

Xavier’s Point of View

Knowing that Grace would be staying with the children and that Aamon was involved was a relief. Grace didn’t tell me what happened with Lillianna this evening, but it could not have been good if she had been with Aamon.

After speaking with Grace, I was glad that I had gone shopping for ingredients to make the meal tomorrow and thoroughly cleaned my apartment. My gut told me it wasn’t safe to take Rei to a secluded restaurant, even if her stepbrother monitored the situation.

I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when Grace expressed her admiration for my dinner plans with Rei. However, it wasn't really Grace's approval I was after; deep down, I wanted to impress Rei and take our relationship further. But that could only happen once I came clean and was completely honest with her. I could only hope that Grace was correct in her belief that Rei would forgive me for not being truthful from the start.

I was willing to give up everything for this woman. I really did love Rei, and hearing that she felt the same about me was the ultimate validation. I couldn’t lose that. I couldn’t lose her. I would honor her, treasure her, be a good partner to Rei and, in time, if she would let me, a father to her children. I wanted forever with Rei Brzezinski, no matter what it cost me.