Even though he was gone, I’d gotten a lot of insights into his adult life and his personality.
I’d really only seen the guardian side of my brother, the parent figure he’d needed to be for me.
Raising me hadn’t been easy for him, but he’d taken on that responsibility with no regrets.
I’d always known that my brother had loved me, but I’d seen the depth of that brotherly love through his writing.
My heart had ached at times when I’d read about his struggles with his responsibilities at a young age, but he’d always made it clear that he wouldn’t have wanted things any other way.
I fingered the pages of the journal, knowing I was getting to the last few entries.
Part of me didn’t really want to know my brother’s last thoughts before the motorcycle accident that had taken his life, but I wasn’t going to stop now.
I took a deep breath and started to read…
It’s hard for me to believe that Lauren just graduated from high school and celebrated her eighteenth birthday.
She’s not a child anymore.
That’s both a good and bad thing for me.
I’m so damn proud of her. I’m proud of every scholarship she earned and that incredible valedictorian speech she made at her graduation.
She’s so smart that it’s kind of scary, but I can’t wait to see her tackle the world. My sister is going to do amazing things with her life.
But now that she is an adult, I’m going to have to face the consequences of what I did all those years ago.
She worships me as her older brother. How do I tell her that I screwed up worse than most men ever could ten years ago?
I’m a murderer.
I can’t run away from that or make excuses anymore.
I killed Asher’s father, and I let the suspicion fall on Asher and Cole for years.
I’d had an excuse for that back then.
I’d wanted to see Lauren grown and on her way to college before I turned myself in.
Now, here I am, finally at the time when I have to face the truth.
It sucks because I’d like to see my sister live the rest of her life.
I’d like to be there for her whenever she needs me, but I know that’s impossible.
I did exactly what I thought I needed to do all those years ago. At the time, I’d seen it as the only way out.
I hadn’t gone to the ranch intending to kill him.
My intentions had been to warn him away from my sister.
The bastard had tried to molest my eight-year-old sister, for fuck’s sake.
He shouldn’t have laughed in my face and told me that he’d find a way to get to her someday.
That comment had put me into a haze of fear and anger like I’d never experienced before.
He’d even admitted that he’d killed his wife. She hadn’t just disappeared with another man.
