“Sorry?”
“I have painful news… O’Malley is dead.”
She simply stared. “Not O’Malley. That’s not possible. He cannot be dead.”
“I just returned from examining his body. It was left in the alleyway behind the club.”
She pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes stark with anguish as she seemed to absorb wha
t he’d said.
“Noooo.” Her cry of denial was a keening moan of pain. She took a step backward, her face twisted in torment.
Kell felt the same pain piercing him. Desperately wanting to comfort her, he tried to take her in his arms, but she wrenched herself away, refusing to be consoled. Instead she sank to the floor, her face buried in her hands. Her shoulders began to shake as muted sobs welled up in her and she gave vent to her grief.
She cried for a long while, while Kell watched helplessly until she began to quieten. Her body was still racked by convulsive shudders, but at least she didn’t protest when he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Immediately he picked her up and settled in a chair with Raven on his lap.
Even when he kissed her trembling mouth, though, she wouldn’t look at him. Her cheeks were stained with tears, the dark crescent of her lashes squeezed tight against the horror. “I can’t believe O’Malley is actually dead. He was like a father to me. He set me on my first horse and taught me to swim… Oh, God, I can’t bear it…”
Fresh tears ran hotly down her cheeks as she hid her face in the curve of Kell’s shoulder.
He encircled her with his arms, his voice soft against her hair. “I’m sorry,” he breathed.
“It is my fault. He died protecting me.”
Her grief made his eyes burn and his heart hurt. He held her more tightly, feeling an anguished tenderness for her-and a fierce, despairing anger at his brother.
It was a long moment before she drew a shuddering breath. “How…how was he killed?”
“A stab wound to the chest, I think.”
He felt her stiffen before she drew back. “Emma said that was how your uncle was killed.”
Kell flinched, hearing her put into words the dreaded conclusion he had already made. He’d assumed-prayed-all along that his uncle’s killing was an accident, for Sean had claimed self-defense all those years ago. Now he wasn’t so certain. The similarities between the two deaths were too close to be coincidence.
Raven was staring at him with dawning understanding, her tearstained cheeks pale. “You weren’t the one who killed your uncle, were you? It was Sean.”
Kell squeezed his eyes shut, unable to reply.
“You took the blame for him.”
“I didn’t want Sean to suffer further,” he finally answered. “I was strong enough to withstand the rumors, the accusations, but Sean would have been broken.”
“All this time…you have let people think you a murderer. But Sean is the real murderer.”
“Raven-”
“No!” She pushed against Kell’s chest, struggling to be free. When he released her, she leapt to her feet, looking heartbroken and outraged at the same time. “He will not get away with it! I swear I will hunt him down and see him punished!”
“I will see my brother punished,” Kell said past the raw ache in his throat.
“How, Kell? How can I trust you to deal with him? You mean to protect him, just as you’ve always done.”
Her chin rose as she fiercely dashed tears from her eyes. “Sean is a grown man, Kell! He is responsible for his own actions!”
Kell nodded, torn between love for his volatile younger brother and the necessity of facing the truth. It was hard to believe Sean could be so evil, that he had become a monster. Yet if he was indeed a killer, he was beyond saving.
And Raven was right. Sean couldn’t be allowed to get away with murder.