Page 155 of Enchanted

“Please don’t apologise,” I said to Matty gently. “That wasn’t a criticism, just me pointing out how removed I was from your lives. I hadn’t been there for any of you, why would I expect you to be there for me?”

“Because we still care about you,” Lucky exploded suddenly. “Just because you weren’t in our lives, it didn’t mean we wouldn’t have been there. For fuck’s sake, Ethan. What kind of men do you think we are?”

Shame filled my throat, so thick I almost choked on it. “I’m sorry.”

“Ethan knows what he did was wrong,” Rami said quietly. “But, in his defence, he was trying to protect you.”

“Protect us?” Matty asked. “How?”

“Because I knew I was dying,” I choked out. “I didn’t want any of you to suffer through that, especially given we hadn’t spoken for years. What kind of man would that make me?”

Several people started speaking at the same time.

“A man who deserves to be loved!”

“Someone who knows people care about him.”

“I can’t believe you thought that was okay.”

“How do you think we would’ve felt learning you died through fucking social media?”

“Quiet!” Ferry’s shout had everyone falling silent. He glared around the little circle. “Watching someone you love die is no joke, especially if there’s no coming back for them. It cuts away a part of your soul that can never heal. There’s no pain like it, so don’t judge Ethan for trying to protect you from that.”

Leo slid his hand into his mate’s.

“I knew Leo would be back one day,” Ferry continued quietly. “But that didn’t make watching him die any easier.” He lifted his chin as he met my gaze. “I’m not saying you did the right thing, Ethan. But I understand why you did it. You knew you were going to suffer, and you didn’t want to make anyone else do so too.”

I nodded, my throat thick.

“At least you didn’t go through chemo alone,” Matty said, rubbing his arms. “Your mum was there, right?”

I tensed. Of course they didn’t know this. Why would they? “Ah…Mum died a few years ago. Before I was diagnosed.”

More tears followed that revelation, followed by tight hugs and yet more rebukes for not reaching out.

When that was done, Riley shot me a pitying look. “Are you saying the only person there during chemo was Dave?”

Rami growled. “Dave wasn’t there. He apparently had better things to do than attend Ethan’s treatments.”

I turned to glare at him over my shoulder. That wasn’t information I’d planned on sharing. Rami shrugged. “Sorry, babe, but they deserve to know the whole truth.”

“Where is he?” Riley demanded, getting to his feet. “I don’t need Danny to kill him, I’ll murder the fucker myself.”

“Easy, Princess.” Danny tugged on him until he landed back in his lap. “I’m sure Rami’s already taken care of it.”

I winced. Rami hadn’t done anything of the sort because I’d forbidden it. If Riley wanted to murder Dave already, he wasn’t going to like how that part of the story ended.

“Are you saying you went through chemo completely alone?” Tears were rolling freely down Matty’s cheeks now. “Oh, Ethan.”

“We would’ve been there,” Lucky said, his eyes also suspiciously wet. “I get why you didn’t tell us, but I want you to know that. Even if it had meant only being back in your life for a few weeks, we would’ve done that.”

“We would’ve dropped everything,” Riley said, voice thick with emotion. “All of us. Without question.”

“I know,” I said. “I know you would have.”

“No,” Dimitri said suddenly, his horror-struck eyes going over my shoulder to Rami. “What we would’ve done was connected you with Rami, who would’ve healed you instantly. Who would’ve known he was your mate immediately.”

“I had that same realisation a long time ago,” Rami said heavily.