Shattered Trust by Sara K. Parker

Author:Sara K. Parker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-12-03T15:19:41+00:00

EIGHT

Luke scooted his chair closer to Triss’s hospital bed, tenderly rubbing the top of her hand where it lay at her side. Natalie’s throat tightened at the gesture and their obviously close sibling bond. Triss had come through the surgery and would recover, but it would take several days before she felt 100 percent.

“It seems like it’s taking a long time for her to wake up,” Luke said, his face drawn with worry.

“I’m awake,” Triss muttered, “but opening my eyes makes me want to puke.” She opened them, anyway.

“Keep them closed then,” Luke said, squeezing her hand.

She stared up at him seriously. “I’m really sorry, Luke, I—”

“Don’t apologize. You should never have been on your own.”

“Not about that,” Triss said, and the barest hint of a smile tugged her mouth up. “I spy another gray hair.”

Luke laughed, the sound rich and contagious, and Natalie found herself grinning, too. Who knew that Triss had a sense of humor somewhere under all that bravado?

“You’re responsible for every single one,” Luke agreed.

“You made it out okay,” Triss said, her attention moving to Natalie.

She nodded. “I’m sorry, Triss,” she said, her voice gritty. “I never should have pressured you to let me leave the hospital. I don’t know what came over me.”

Triss waved a hand, dismissing the apology. “We both made mistakes—you shouldn’t have run off without waiting for backup. And I should have kept you from leaving, even if that meant tackling you to the ground. Which I will do next time.”

The image brought a grin to Natalie’s face. “There won’t be a next time. I plan to follow the rules from here on out.”

“Good.” Triss turned her attention back to Luke. “It happened so fast. I didn’t even know it was a knife. Felt like I’d been punched. Next thing I know, I’m falling into boxes. That’s all I remember.”

As Luke filled his sister in on the rest of the story, Natalie relived the moments in her apartment, images flashing in her memory—distorted features under a nylon mask, Triss on the floor, the gun. Blood, its tinny odor filling her nostrils as it seeped onto the wood floor, dripping into the seams.

Luke’s cell phone buzzed and he checked it. “Roman will be here in five minutes.” He stood. “I’ll walk Natalie down and get her in the car, then come back up.”

“Go home, Luke,” Triss said.

“I’m staying with you.”

“I’m a big girl,” his sister chided. “I can take care of myself.”

“I’m not leav—”

“The last thing I need is for you to sit here hovering over me while I sleep tonight.”

Luke hesitated and Triss looked back at him, her gaze unwavering. “Anyway, you need a good night’s sleep as much as I do, and you could use a shower, too. If you know what I mean.”

“That was kind of low,” Luke said with good humor.

“You’ve always insisted on total honesty,” Triss replied with a teasing shimmer in her eyes.

It was obviously a ploy to get Luke to leave. Natalie was standing right next to him, her face just inches from his shoulder.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.