Colton's Unusual Suspect by Marie Ferrarella

Author:Marie Ferrarella
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-11-01T15:08:40+00:00

Chapter 16

Orla let out a deep, satisfied breath as she looked down at her now empty plate. “That was very good,” she told Sean.

“Glad you liked it,” he said, putting away the rest of the leftovers. “There’s more if you’re interested.” He nodded at the container he was about to store in the refrigerator.

“Breakfast,” she replied. “I couldn’t eat any more right now. I’ll wind up exploding.”

Sean laughed softly. “Wouldn’t want that,” he told her. “For one thing, I’m in no shape to clean up anything right now.”

“I wouldn’t let you,” she said. “Not after everything you’ve put yourself through for me. That just wouldn’t be right.”

“What ‘everything’?” he asked, feigning innocence. “I just took you in to protect you.” His eyes met hers and held. “Not exactly a huge hardship.”

“Don’t act so innocent. I heard you arguing with your superior.”

“That wasn’t an argument. I just raised my voice because she’s hard of hearing,” Sean explained.

She gave him a look that said she didn’t believe a word of what he was saying. “Uh-huh. And if I asked her about her so-called hearing problem?”

“She’d break both of your legs, but that’s just because Captain Reeves wouldn’t want to emphasize her shortcomings.” He said it with such conviction, she could almost believe him.

Almost.

But she knew he was just making things up for her benefit. In hindsight, this man who was dealing with so many demands on his time, was treating her far better than anyone in her family ever had.

The whole situation made her feel exceedingly vulnerable. She was accustomed to not just doing things for herself but also not needing to rely on anyone else for emotional support.

She felt a stab of guilt as she upbraided herself. She should have been here to take care of her father. She knew what Aimee was capable of. The moment there had been even the slightest hint that her twin had escaped from prison, she should have immediately sent someone to protect her father until she could get to him herself.

She could feel tears beginning to clog her throat again. Ever since Aimee had managed to escape from prison, killing those two guards, Orla had felt this overwhelming regret washing over her, regret she couldn’t seem to be able to get a handle on.

When they were very young, one bitterly cold winter they had gone to play on the frozen lake. The ice made a terrible noise as it suddenly cracked beneath their feet.

Orla, always the fast one, had managed to make it to dry land but Aimee, frozen in fear, watched as the ice began to crack on all sides of her. Orla remembered hearing her sister’s bloodcurdling scream for help. Orla never even paused to think about the danger. Instead, she laid herself flat on the ice and managed to inch her way back just in time to wrap her hand around her sister’s wrist. Holding on as tightly as she could, she dragged Aimee back to safety.

If she hadn’t been as fast as she was in managing to pull Aimee to safety, none of this would have happened.

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