28. Eliza

28

ELIZA

L evi's parents were genuinely thrilled for us and so gracious and welcoming to me. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think my own parents, even Niven, would not react to the news of my engagement the same way.

I tried my best not to let it dampen my spirits but knew Levi sensed what was on my mind. The one other person I wished I could tell today was Mike. He would've been elated for us. That's what I wanted: people in my life who would celebrate our news in the same way I would for them. That included my cousin.

I'd told Levi, in a roundabout way, that if he ever made me choose between him and Niven, I wouldn't side with him. I couldn't say if that was still true. I loved Niv, but there hadn't been a single person in my life before, including him, who cared for me the way Levi did. He hadn't failed—even once—to let me know how much he loved me.

"It's as if I can read your mind," Levi said, snuggling me close on our way home from dining with his parents.

"I'm sorry." I shook my head. "I'm the happiest I've been in my entire life, and I'm apologizing." I turned to him. "Levi, you know it isn't you."

"I do know, and I wish I had the power to make it different."

"I want to tell Niven. I'd say I'd like Harper to be there too, but I don't know if that would be fair to her."

He kissed my forehead. "I'd ask how you'd feel in the reverse, but that isn't applicable to our situation. I'm the problem."

I looked up at him. "I disagree. Niven is."

Levi tensed. "I'll never allow myself to come between the two of you."

"If he puts himself there, how is it your doing?" I raised my left hand and wriggled my fingers. "Plus, we're engaged now." He smiled, which had been my goal, and I rested my head on his shoulder. "I don't want to go back to Brighton tonight."

"There's no reason we should have to."

I sighed. "Niven."

"I understand, my love. By the way, Z promised we'd catch up this afternoon or tomorrow."

Once we returned to my apartment, Levi contacted Z, who said this afternoon would work best as long as I didn't mind.

"I don't. In fact, I might lie down for a bit while you're gone."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Just let yourself in, okay? You don't have to knock, Levi. We are engaged, after all."

"Yes, ma'am." He kissed me once more and left.

I doubted I'd been asleep for ten minutes when a knock at the door woke me. I could only assume Levi had forgotten something, but why did he knock when I'd just told him not to?

He'd installed a coded entry system for me, so it wasn't as though he would've forgotten the key. I was halfway to the door when I heard the second knock.

"Coming!" I shouted.

I pulled the door open, ready to tease him, but it wasn't Levi. It was Niven. Never in my life would I have minded the doorman letting him come up without alerting me—until now.

He brushed past me. "Are you alone?"

"Hello, Niven. How are you? It's nice to see you. What's that you say? It's nice to see me too? Why, thanks."

"Cut the crap, Eliza. I'm here—" He saw my ring, stalked over, and grabbed my hand. "What in the bloody hell is this?"

I jerked it away from him and sat on my sofa. "Niven, please don't do this. I beg you."

"I forbade you to see him months ago." He paced in front of where I sat. All I could think of as he did was how much he was reminding me of my father.

"Niven, sit down."

"No. This has gone on far too long. If you won't put an end to it, I will."

I stared up at him. Had he no idea he was breaking my heart? And not because I intended to end my relationship with Levi. I stood, walked to the door, and opened it. "It's time for you to leave."

He looked stunned. "You cannot be serious!"

"I'm very much so. If you do not, I'll have to call building security."

"Eliza! Can you hear yourself?"

This wasn't a pissing match for me. It was my life. I didn't want to have this conversation, let alone engage in an argument that wouldn't change either of our minds.

"Will you at least listen to why you cannot continue your relationship with Typhon Marras?"

"I'm marrying him, Niven. Whatever you say won't make a difference."

His tone softened. "Please close the door."

I did but stood beside it and leaned against the wall.

"Sit down."

"You are in my home, raising your voice at me. Do you even realize what you're doing?"

"And you have refused to listen to reason. Just like?—"

" Stop. If you're about to suggest I am anything like my parents, I invite you to take a look in the mirror. It's you who's behaving like Nigel. Not me."

He stared at me with wide eyes.

"Before you say anything else, I have one question for you," I said.

"Eliza, please?—"

"I want you to really think about this before you respond."

He nodded once.

"Would you be talking to me this way, treating me this way, if Harper were here?"

"I'm concerned about you?—"

"Answer the bloody question, Niven!" I shouted at him. "Would you?"

When he sat in a chair and put his head in his hands, I sat on the sofa.

"Will you listen if I tell you why?" he asked.

"As long as you do not raise your voice again or make any demands of me. I'm not a child, Niv. You've no right to treat me as such."

"Agreed."

"The other thing you should know is that, regardless of what you tell me, I love Levi."

"I promise that when I explain, you won't."

I folded my arms. "Get on with it, then."

"Your fiancé wants to kill me. He's been waiting for an opportunity to do so for eleven years."

"Go on."

"Isn't that enough? Do you really want to be married to someone who's threatened to kill a man who is as close to you as a brother?"

I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees. "The only person I heard issuing such a threat was you."

"It was a figure of speech said to protect you."

"I heard you, Niven. It wasn't an idle threat. I stood there, waiting for you to say more, anything at all that would help me understand."

He shook his head. "You've met Kima Sakari."

I raised my chin. "I have. She's a lovely woman."

"Do you know who she is to him?"

With every word Niven spoke, I felt more disgusted. "They're like siblings?—"

"He blames me for her father's death. Holds me personally responsible for it. That's why he wants to kill me. The man he considered his mentor was a double agent. He got himself killed. Typhon can't accept that, so he's made me the scapegoat to anyone who will listen."

"While I have no idea what you're talking about, it still makes little sense. If what you're saying is true, there would've been an investigation. No one would act on Levi's word alone."

Niven shook his head. "There was one, and the findings were sealed. Even I wasn't given the chance to read it. I know damned well that whatever it contains would've exonerated me. Typhon and Z buried it to cover their own arses and Jekyll's."

"If that's the case, why are you considering returning to work for Z?"

"Another man who was there that day has appealed to him on my behalf. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he was blackmailing him into it."

"Refuse. You certainly don't need the money. Even after spending a million pounds on the cottage, I know you have more than enough to live on. We have the same trust, Niv."

He stood and paced. "Money isn't the point. If I can get back into MI6, maybe I can get my hands on that report somehow, then I can prove exactly who Jekyll was and who Typhon is now."

"If you're suggesting Levi is also a double agent, I don't believe you. I'll never believe you. That night in the hospital parking lot, I heard every word you said as clearly as I would've if you were standing beside me. Rather than admit I heard it, I asked Levi what you'd said. He covered for you, Niven. He said I must've misunderstood."

"Did he tell you what happened between us in Shere?" he asked.

"He hasn't mentioned seeing you."

Niven shook his head. "Of course he hasn't. He wants you to think he's the bigger man. He's even proposed, for God's sake. Once he's worn you down, made you trust him, that's when he'll strike. He'll devastate you as a way to get back at me."

"I don't believe you."

He walked over to the door and pulled it open. "When it happens, and I promise you it will, know this. I will be there for you because I love you. Because I'd do anything for you. I've proven this to you time and again. I'll forgive you for not believing me, and I will comfort you just like I have every time your parents have trod all over you."

"Niven—"

"I love you, Eliza, no less than I'd love a sister. I am the one who's looked out for you and protected you. That will never change."

When he walked out, shutting the door behind him, I put my head in my hands and cried.