I gasped as tears rimmed my eyes, my heart thrashing around in my battered chest. “You love me?”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to say here?”
“It’s different when you actually say the words out loud.”
“I love you,” he proclaimed, each word falling from his lips like a solemn vow.
Forever.
“I love you, too.”
His kisses turned softer. “I’m going to make you so fucking happy.”
“You already do.”
Reid kissed me again but pulled away when there was a knock at the door. He straightened, pulling me to sit upright.
The door slowly swung open, revealing my brother. My heart stopped at the sight of him and my mouth went slack. His dark eyes held mine as he shuffled nervously on his feet, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Hey.”
“Hi,” I whispered, barely able to get the word past the lump forming in my throat.
I swallowed hard, pain and elation both fighting for a place in my wounded heart as I stared back at the one man I’ve loved my whole life. The man who always took care of me, who practically raised me, only to leave me broken and alone.
“I think this needs to wait until she’s feeling better,” Reid said, taking a protective stance in front of me.
“No, Reid. It’s okay. I want to talk to him.”
Looking over his shoulder he asked, “You sure?”
I nodded.
His eyes held mine, unsure, but then he leaned in and kissed my head. “I’ll be right outside that door if you need me, all right?”
“Okay.”
Reid turned to leave but not before he addressed Bodie, “You make her cry and I’ll fuck you up, got it?” He didn’t wait for a reply before he walked out, leaving us alone.
“I can’t remember him ever being so intense,” he joked, but I was too hurt to even crack a smile.
Bodie’s playful grin vanished as he slowly walked toward me and took the seat next to my bed. Shoulders slumped forward as he took my hand between his. The same set of hands that used to hold me when I cried, that picked me up when I fell as a child. “I’m sorry, Cass, so fucking sorry. I know it means shit right now but—”
“Yeah, it does,” I choked out, anger overriding my pain. “How could you do this to me?”
He grimaced. “Please try to understand, I did it to protect you. It wasn’t to hurt you.”
“To protect me?” I asked. “Bodie, I thought you were dead! Do you have any idea the pain and heartache I’ve gone through? Both Reid and I!” I wouldn’t forget about him. Bodie’sdeathhurt him just as badly.
So many lies. So many people hurt.
My brother’s dark eyes filled with remorse. I saw how much it hurt him too, but I couldn’t think about his feelings right now. I’d been in agony for so long.
“I owed Dante a lot of money. He told me that if I didn’t come up with it, he was going to kill you both. I couldn’t let that happen. I didn’t know what to do. My back was against the wall and my addiction had gotten out of control so I reached out to Del Marco. It was a big risk but it paid off in the end. Dante got his supply from him but once intercepted, he would cut it, doubling his supply and income. In exchange for the information, Del Marco agreed to pay my debt and protect the two of you, which had been my only concern.”
My heart broke at the tortured sound of his voice. Regardless of his decisions, none of this could have been easy for him.
“I don’t understand. Why fake your own death? Why not just leave? We had a funeral for you and everything. Do you know how much pain you’ve put us both through? After losing mom—” A sob seeped through my lips, the pain still fresh in my mind.
“You’ll never know how sorry I am for putting you through that. But in order to pay back the debt Del Marco paid for me, I had to go work for him. It was the only way. And I knew I couldn’t walk away from either of you and still be alive.”
