Page 157 of In Love and Revenge

‘You know where she is, don’t you?’

Her jaw tightens. ‘I do. But she made me swear I wouldn’t tell you.’

I slam my fist on the table. ‘You’re my sister!’

‘She’s my best friend! And you hurt her. You hurt her more than I ever thought you were capable of doing. If she comes back, then it has to be on her terms. She needs time, Rafe. You can’t forceher. I know Aurora – if you try before she’s ready then you’ll just push her farther away.’

‘You don’t understand. She has nothing. She could be staying somewhere unsafe, somewhere—’

‘She’s not. I rented her a place so she could have some time away to think,’ Dove says.

Desperate hope blooms in my chest.

‘How long for? Is she coming back? Did she tell you if she was coming back?’

‘I don’t know,’ Dove confesses.

I choke out a strangled sound, screwing my face up. ‘If she’d just speak to me, I could tell her exactly what I said to the court. She can see I never said her father was guilty. I never told them he should be convicted. I never—’

‘She has seen it.’

I wrench my eyes up to Gabe’s.

‘What?’

He swallows, reaching up to tug on his collar with his free hand as Benedict remains curled up inside the other like a baby.

‘She called and asked if I could get it for her. She knows I can ...accessthings that are difficult through official channels.’

I stare at my brother. His IT skills have always been useful to us as a business. And even as teenagers he used to help us out of parking fines and small shit like that. But to know he’s used those skills to help the woman I love see something that she would have otherwise had to get from me has my blood boiling.

‘That’s the one thing she might have agreed to meet me for! So I could tell her myself. Show her myself. And now what? You’ve gone and fucked it all up and handed it to her without me being able to goddamn explain myself! You’re my brother!’ I rage, flying to my feet and trying to ignore the sudden swell of dizziness making my brain feel like it’s on a bloody merry-go-round.

‘Don’t take this out on him!’ Dove steps to my desk and points a finger down at it, her eyes on fire. ‘We all helped, okay? I took her to the station the morning after and set her up a place to stay. And Angelo got her a job.’

‘You what?’ I spit, leaning on the desk for support and still managing to deliver a glare at my youngest brother that would make most grown men wither on the spot.

‘If it’s meant to be, she’ll come back.’ Angelo looks at me, sadness brimming in his eyes.

Even my kid brother gets it. Only he’s not a kid. Not any more. He knows as well as I did that I fucked up and hurt the woman I love. That this is on me.

They all love Aurora.

They’re all protecting her. Under other circumstances I’d be so bloody proud to be their brother. But this is all wrong. They’re protecting her fromme. They helped her get away fromme.

I love her. She doesn’t need protecting from me. She needs to be with me. We need to talk about this. I need to make her see how sorry I am. Prove to her that I’ll do anything for her. That I can’t be on this godforsaken earth without her.

I look up into their solemn faces and suck in a breath, making my nostrils flare.

They all witnessed me ruin Aurora Thorne.

And now, she’s ruined me too.

I grab my jacket and force my legs to carry me out of my office with a modicum of grace as my shoulder bounces off the doorframe and the floor threatens to meet my face with one wrong step.

‘Where are you going?’ Dove shouts, rushing out behind me with Gabe and Angelo.

‘Home!’ I yell. ‘Like you told me to.’