Ruined by Jess Michaels

Author:Jess Michaels [Michaels, Jess]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Passionate Pen
Published: 2016-03-08T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Claire’s mind spun as she digested what War had just confessed.

“I-I—what?” she asked, unable to form better words than that. She took a long breath, though it did little to calm her busy mind, and tried again. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

He ran a hand through his hair, and for a moment his expression was so pained and broken that her heart hurt in response. “I had never been anything but the muscle for a criminal, Claire. I didn’t know anything else. I left my brother and that life, yes, but I had no direction, no hope for a future. I roamed from town to town, stealing what I needed, evading the law. And then I heard that this noble fop was looking for someone to run his stables.”

“Edward.”

War looked like he wanted to turn away, but he didn’t. He just held her gaze to let her see the truth and his pain over it. “Word was he was rich, young and perhaps a bit too trusting. He was the perfect mark. I had stolen horses dozens of times over the years—it was actually one of my specialties. I’d always felt a connection to the animals, but I had never admitted that to myself. I knew just enough to sound credible and I thought if I could convince your brother to take me on, I’d get a few weeks’ free food and room.”

He shook his head and she swallowed hard. “And then?”

“Then I could steal whatever I liked and disappear into the night again. That was my plan, Claire.”

Her voice was weak as she whispered, “But—but you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why?” she asked.

He paced away at last, and his pain was palpable in the way his shoulders slumped forward. “I met you.”

Her lips parted in shock. He couldn’t mean that. She couldn’t have been the reason he turned fully away from his life on the street. It wasn’t possible.

“I looked at you,” he continued, facing her again. “And I saw something beautiful. Something right. I knew I’d never have you, but I couldn’t destroy you either. So I stayed. And I got to know your family. Edward knew, I think, that I had lied about the depth of my knowledge of horses, but he never said anything. He helped me learn about them, he helped me hone my natural abilities.”

“He gave you a chance,” she whispered with a smile. That was so like Edward.

War nodded. “He gave me a life. When you left, I saw, I still see, their pain. And I owe them. And honestly, Claire, so do you.”

She flinched. He was right, of course. But he had no idea the Pandora ’s Box she would open if she went home. If she faced them.

“They will hate me,” she whispered.

“They could never hate you, sweet,” he said, reaching out to trace her jaw with his fingertip. “Just see them. Show them that you’re all right. After that you can walk away again if you want to. You can tell them or not tell them anything you want.

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