“I’m sorry,” she said tearfully.
“Notthat,” I said impatiently.
“I love you,” she said breathlessly. “I love you so much. I wanted you to know that before I tell you what happened.”
Some of the tension left my body as I lowered my head and kissed her.
My gut clenched as I devoured her lips like a desperate man.
I hadn’t realized how damn sweet those words would sound until she’d actually said them.
She obviously wasn’t planning on breaking up with me.
She loved me.
Now that she’d said those words, there was no way in hell that I was ever going to let her go.
No more space for her.
I was going to be at her side the next time I knew something was bothering her.
She was even more breathless by the time I finally released her mouth.
“I missed you,” she said as she ran her hand along my stubbled jaw.
“Then why in the hell didn’t you just talk to me?” I asked in a disgruntled voice. “I’m always going to be here for you, angel. I love you, too. I probably have almost from the beginning. Your silence nearly killed me. It started to make me think about things I probably shouldn’t have. You know I’m not an insecure guy, but I started to wonder if you wanted out of this relationship when you started blowing me off every single day.”
She shook her head. “Never. Honestly, I was worried thatyouwere going to want out. Cole, I’m not sure how to say this, so I’m just going to blurt it out. My brother killed your father. He admitted it in one of the last entries in his journals. He went to talk to your father about what happened in the barn that day. I think he was hoping he would scare him off of trying anything with me in the future. Your father goaded him. Told him he’d eventually find a way to get to me. He even admitted that he killed your mom to intimidate my brother. I think Keith felt like he was backed into a corner, and he shot him.”
I tightened my arms around her.
Fuck!
I hated that she’d gone through that kind of discovery alone.
“That’s not a huge surprise to me, angel,” I told her honestly. “I had no proof, but I suspected that it could have been your brother. It made sense. My father was killed just a few days after he pulled that bullshit in the barn. If I’d had a sister that had caught the attention of a child molester, I would have been tempted to do the same thing. I couldn’t blame him for wanting my father dead.”
Her eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell me that you suspected Keith?”
I shrugged. “Because I didn’t know for sure that it was him, and I knew it would turn your world upside down if it was true. Justified or not, learning that your adored sibling murdered someone would change some of your perspective about that person. You loved him, and you lost him way too soon. I didn’t want that to happen.”
I hated the fact that it obviouslyhadhappened, and that she’d been through hell alone in the last week.
The news had obviously devastated her, and it apparently had turned her world upside down.
“I was afraid to tell you at first,” she said softly. “You and Asher were blamed when it was my brother who actually killed your father.”
I frowned. “You thought I’d give a shit about that? Hell, I kind of wish you’d never found out the truth, but only because it would have been less traumatic for you.”
“I was heartbroken,” she confessed. “I had to come to terms with what my brother had done and why. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to Tanner. He was Keith’s best friend. It was a shock to him, too. Keith never told him. In the end, I guess I was afraid that you’d look at me differently. I am the sister of the man who killed your father. I’ll never be able to change that.”
“And I’ll never give a shit about that,” I growled. “Hell, Lauren, you never blinked an eye over the fact that it wasmyfather who nearly molested you. I was the son of the man who almost molested you. In fact, you made damn sure that I knew that I wasn’t my father just because we were related. Did you honestly think that I was going to care that it was your brother who killed a father who did nothing but abuse me and my brother? A man who killed my mother?”
“I’m sorry,” she said as a tear plopped onto her cheek. “My head wasn’t in a good place.”
My gut twisted as I looked at the agony in her eyes.
It really didn’t fucking matter that her thought processes didn’t make sense to me.
