Of course, those had been the musings of a little girl. She hadn’t been old enough to know what love really was when his mere presence made her heart flutter for the first time. Despite her crush and the events that had changed both their lives, Magnus had always been there for her. Always remained her friend, a strong shoulder to lean on when she had no one else.
Ava was so eternally thankful he’d been with her these past weeks as she started the long road to recovery that the doctors had laid out for her, but she knew that time was coming to an end.
“Nothing,” she lied easily, forcing a smile. “I’m just ready to get outta here.”
“I’m sure you are.” He stepped around to the side of the bed, his muscular body filling the space and making her feel safer than she had in longer than she could remember.
His expression sobered as he placed his hand over hers. Ava’s gaze snapped down, staring at his sun-kissed skin as it covered her much paler one. Oh how she’d wanted this man to touch her for so long. Back before she’d made the biggest mistake of her life and married a monster. Now it was too late. She’d made her bed, which meant she had to lie in it.
She let her gaze skim over him briefly as she exhaled. His beautiful hazel eyes churned with emotion, something she’d seen quite often over the years. Magnus wasn’t one of those men who shielded everyone from what he was thinking. He was the guy who told you how it was and didn’t feel bad about it. The longer she stared, the more she saw, and she knew he was going to break the bad news that she had to go back to Harrison. She was still so tired, something the doctors assured her would pass. The more she healed, the better she would feel, but she had to be patient.
“I don’t wanna go home,” she whispered, hating that tears were forming in her eyes. Not that she wanted to stay here either, but she didn’t know where else to go. She needed to figure out where her mom was. If she knew Harrison, he’d put her in a hospital somewhere, locked her away to rot. That was what he always threatened to do. When he wasn’t threatening to slit her throat, that was.
Magnus didn’t remove his hand from hers even as he reached for the chair he’d sat in for days on end, dragging it closer to the bed.
When he took a seat, she met his gaze again and saw something familiar in them. They held the same remorse and grief she’d seen once before. Back when his parents and sister had died in the fire.
Her heart pinched in her chest as realization dawned. Bits and pieces of those forgotten conversations came back to her. Tears formed on her lashes. She tried to hold them back because she’d cried far too many this past month. “He killed her, didn’t he?”
It was the only explanation for why her mother hadn’t come to see her. She’d figured Harrison hadn’t let her, but Ava knew that was wishful thinking.
Magnus’s fingers curled tightly around her hand. “No, little one.”
“But she’s dead.” She knew that like she knew her own name. She could see it in his eyes.
He nodded, his head barely tilting with the movement.
“When? How?”
She watched as his jaw clenched and his throat worked on a swallow.
“Tell me,” she insisted, her head too heavy to lift off the pillow.
“The night we found you,” he said, his voice rougher than usual. “Your mom … she killed Harrison and then…”
“Took her own life,” Ava whispered, her chest squeezing.
Magnus nodded.
Ava stared at him as the news sank in. She wouldn’t lie and say she wasn’t grateful Harrison was dead. She felt nothing for him anymore. After what he’d done to her, the bastard deserved to be rotting in the ground. She only hoped he’d suffered beforehand.
“Ava? Talk to me.”
She wanted to be angry that Magnus hadn’t told her, but she was too numb to do that. It wasn’t his fault anyway. Her mother had been trying to end her life for so long it was inevitable that it happened.
“How’d she kill him?” Ava rasped, tears clogging her throat.
“Ava,” he crooned, his thumb brushing over the top of her hand.
“Tell me, Magnus.”
His gaze briefly shifted toward the door. He looked like he was trying to compose himself. When he met her gaze again, she saw the same conviction she’d seen in the young boy who’d lost his mom, dad, and sister in one devastating night.
“She killed him with his own gun.”
“How?” She wanted to know the details. She wanted to know how that monster’s life had ended. It was only fair since he’d attempted to take hers.
Magnus took a deep breath. “She shot him in the back of the head while he was sleepin’.”
