“Why?”
“It wasn’t you so much as anybody but me. I always wondered, why me? Why hadn’t it been you or anyone else that day? Why did it have to be me?”
“Did you come up with any answers?”
“No. I was in the right place at the right time. Or rather, the wrong place at the wrong time.” He chuckled. “You know, I came pretty close to punching your lights out. You were pissing me off. If you hadn’t started laughing…”
“I wonder if I would’ve felt better if you had.”
“Maybe for a few minutes. But only a few minutes. The only one who can heal you is you, Joe. Your Dr. Carmichael taught me that.”
She wasn’t my Dr. Carmichael. She wasn’t mine at all.
“Look,” my brother said. “You’re the toughest guy I know. You always have been. You never took any shit from anyone. You’re a lot like Dad in that regard. More so than either Ryan or I are.”
I looked down at my feet. “Sometimes I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Yeah, Dad did a lot of things right, but he sure gave me a hell of a burden to bear. It was nothing compared to the burden you had to bear, though.”
“I won’t argue with you there, bro.” Talon swiped his forehead. “But maybe Wendy will have some answers. Maybe we can figure out why Dad put those burdens on both of us.”
“You want to get going?”
“Sure.” Talon adjusted his shirt. “You hungry? We missed dinner, you know.”
“Hell, I could sure use a drink. But we’re both driving.”
“One drink won’t hurt either of us,” Talon said. “Let’s get back on the highway, and the next place we see that has a bar and grill, we’ll stop.”
“Sounds good.” I drew in a breath. “Look, Tal—”
“It’s all right. I understand.”
His dark eyes were genuine. He did understand. My brother was an amazing person, and he would never have come so far without—
Melanie.
I should’ve picked up her call.
How could I have thought it possible, mere minutes ago, to let her go? I couldn’t allow her to disappear from my life. I needed her. Perhaps she needed me a little too.
Talon jiggled the keys at me. “You want to drive for a while?”
“No,” I said. “I have a call to make.”
Chapter Thirty–Two
Melanie
A black mask. Black everything. When the lights in the bedroom hit my eyes, I squinted.
“Get up, bitch,” the masked man said.
I trembled, my panic consuming me. Nine-one-one hadn’t responded. Jonah hadn’t responded. I was utterly alone. Alone and vulnerable, with nothing but a damp towel separating my naked body from the mercy of this man. This had to be a nightmare—a nightmare of jagged glass and broken promises. Exactly what I deserved.
“Who are you?”
“Just somebody who wants to see you punished.”
My cold blood turned to ice. “Punished for what?” But I already knew what I deserved to be punished for.