His Desire by Ava Claire

Author:Ava Claire [Claire, Ava]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-04-01T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

I stepped beneath the spray of water, letting it pound my chest. I ducked my head beneath the hot stream, closing my eyes to ward off dark images that sprang to mind. Cole's blood swirling down the drain. Leila's red eyes filled with cautious hope when I thanked him. My brother's sobs when I went outside to use the satellite phone to call for help. Because I wasn't the hero of this story, I gruffly reminded him that it was within everyone's best interest that he come up with some believable story to explain his injuries.

I braced my hands on the wall of the shower. Now that I had all the pieces to the story and realized that Cole had tried to make things right, to help Leila... I balled my fists and punched the tile, welcoming the bone crushing agony that ripped through me. I clenched my teeth, refusing to cry out. I didn't deserve the relief that would come from letting go; cradling my hand while letting out a string of expletives that distracted from the scream of misery.

I was a monster.

The most painful part was Leila had told me, multiple times, that it wasn't Cole's fault. Instead of hearing her, I had my story, and I stuck to it. The timeline of events began when I first saw my brother's face. Some hero that played a necessary role to minimize the damage his disturbed sister inflicted didn't fit my narrative. I needed someone to feel my wrath. I needed someone to blame.

I wiped the water from my eyes and looked down at my hands. I couldn't blame what I'd done to Cole on anyone but myself.

The ride back to Dublin should have been unbearable. Leila sobbing quietly, her eyes locked on the window, still back in that cottage despite the tires pulling us away from the carnage. I'd been prepared to take on her pain, her anger, her disappointment. Despite our moment outside when I let her see me breakdown and learned that Cole wasn't the ski masked villain I'd painted, it would take time for her to forgive my betrayal. It would take time for me to forgive myself. But she surprised me. She held my hand the whole ride back to our hotel, squeezing it like it was a beating heart that she was willing to pump. To live.

I turned from the nozzle, letting the water pound my back. It was the closest I'd get to some sort of flagellation. To atone for what I'd done. She told me that revenge would bring me no peace, and she was right. Before I knew what really happened, the rage just left a bitter hole in my chest. And now that I knew, the fact that I'd almost murdered someone, my brother-

“Can I join you?”

I tensed when I heard Leila's voice behind me. It was more than her question, her intoxicating presence, it was the lust that hung on every syllable. When I’d picked this property, I'd fantasized about exactly this.

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