Burning hatred (book 2)

Epilogue: Always and forever

Helena Walton POV

Closing the door to the twins' bedroom, I heard a noise coming from downstairs and checked my phone's clock. It was already a quarter past eight and Adam was having another late night. I knew he was busy lately, but I missed him terribly and couldn't help but feel a bit upset with him for staying late at the office. I made my way to the staircase wanting to welcome him and rolled my eyes when I saw Emily's school bag lying on the carpeted floor half open with a few of her items scattered around it. She must have left it there when Amanda came to pick her up for the weekend. I was going to lean down and pick everything up but stopped upon hearing my name.

"Helena? You there?" That's not Adam.

I rushed down the stairs and smiled at Mason who was hanging his suit jacket and loosening his tie.

"Mason" I gave him a small hug and messed up his hair just to annoy him. "I forgot you had a key and thought it was Adam."

"Well don't look so sad, I'm considered great company you know" he smirked rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt.

I took a second to really look at my brother and smiled at how mature he got over the years. He looked more like dad especially while in a suit. Mason and I were always close, but lately, he's been spending a lot of time here. Sometimes he would come over in the middle of the night and crash on the couch claiming he missed seeing me in the morning. Being his older sister, I had to do something about it and actually redecorated one of the empty rooms to his liking and gave it to him. Adam loved Mason and he was even happier than Mason himself about the new room in the house.

"I'm not sad Mase, I just miss him." I shrugged and made my way to the kitchen "Want some wine?"

"Yeah sure." Mason followed me with his hands in his pockets "I know you miss him Helena, but remember that major client from Boston who contracted us? James Williams? Well, we had an important meeting with him that we couldn't postpone and James couldn't make it until six pm so it's not really Adam's fault. And trust me, he wasn't happy about it."

"Of course he wasn't" I rolled my eyes handing him his glass of wine "And of course he sent you to keep me company until his meeting is over." Mason took a sip before nodding "Well Mason it's not enough."

I gulped down my glass of wine and exited the kitchen making my way into the living room where I sat on my favorite armchair that overlooked the driveway. Lately, I've been sitting there a lot waiting for Adam to show up. Sometimes I would even fall asleep while waiting. I knew the business was booming and as CEO and owner of the firm he needed to be there a lot, but Mason was our partner, he could give him more projects and more responsibilities in order to spend more time with his family and at least make it home for dinner. But that was not an option, Adam as stubborn as always refused the idea as soon as I told him about it.

"Hey look at me," Mason took a seat next to me and held my hand in his "Don't be mad at him. He's doing his best to keep his and our dad's legacy to its peak. He's a good guy and I'm sure he hates doing this to you."

I wiped away the tear that just the corner of my eye and gave Mason a weak smile. "I know he's a good guy Mason or I wouldn't have married him. But he promised to put us first no matter what. He promised to always be home for dinner, he promised to never keep me waiting. He bailed on me twice this month for date night! I know he's doing his best for the company but he's disregarding my feelings and it's annoyingly upsetting!" I took a deep breath after my outburst and closed my eyes. "He's not late every night, but still, being late at least ten times a month is frustrating."