11 Brighter Than the Sun - Maya Banks by Brighter Than the Sun

Author:Brighter Than the Sun
Language: eng
Format: epub

CHAPTER 16

ZOE sat huddled against the headboard of Rusty’s bed, knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs as she rested her chin atop them. She was so embarrassed, and she had only herself to blame after making such a spectacle when Joe had kissed her.

Okay, so it wasn’t just because he kissed her. It was the way he kissed her. It was the promise of love and forever in his kiss that had sliced her open and prompted her meltdown. Here was a guy putting it all on the table, not holding anything back. Everything she’d ever dreamed of in a man, only now she’d found it too damn late to make any difference. There’d been nothing but honesty and sincerity in his kiss, his words and even his actions. No deception or lies. No, that was all her doing. Those things were coming from her and it broke her heart.

Joe was one of the good guys. A rare breed she wasn’t even sure existed anymore outside of fairy tales and urban legends. He was too much of a good guy. Too good for the likes of her and her ilk. Too good to be tainted by her legacy of crime, murder and corruption. Although taking her father’s empire down might look good on KGI’s résumé.

The hysterical thought rose and died just as quickly as it welled. Tears burned her eyelids and she closed her eyes, refusing to cry any more for all she’d never had and never would. It was fine before when she didn’t know what she was missing. Didn’t know that what she fantasized about wasn’t a mere fantasy but an actual flesh and blood man. A man who seemed interested in her. In Zoe Kildare. And that was the problem. As much as Zoe liked to declare that Stella Huntington was a woman who no longer existed, had never existed, Zoe Kildare was the fictional character. Not Stella. Zoe had no birth certificate. No past beyond what Rusty had fabricated, no matter how expertly it had been done. Zoe was just Stella’s imaginary friend, a result of her pathetic, lonely childhood and her refusal to accept reality. Maybe if she’d gotten a good grip on what was real a hell of a lot earlier in life, she wouldn’t be such a naïve, clueless twit as an adult. Gullible. That about covered all the bases in a single word. She had to be the most gullible woman on earth.

“Sister, if you beat up on yourself any harder, you’re going to have bruises tomorrow,” Rusty said as she plopped onto the bed beside her.

“I’m an idiot, Rusty.”

To her horror, a fresh torrent of tears welled in her eyes as she spoke.

Rusty wrapped both arms around her and hugged her fiercely. Zoe held on to her as tears slid soundlessly down her cheeks.

“I’m so stupid,” she whispered. “I wanted—want—what I can’t have so badly it hurts.”

Rusty pushed away from her and stared hard, her features drawn into a fierce expression.

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