And I grasp the dude by the collar and growl, “Tell me about her. Tell me everything.”
Chapter 17
Liam
* * *
Present
* * *
I turn around and look at Jasmine, but all she can do is stare, and it’s making me feel exposed.
I’ve never told anyone about my first encounter with my family.
Nor of the impact it had on me to learn all of my own history from someone else.
“How did Luca even find you?” Jasmine asks.
“Private detective. They traced all my locations from the crash site and went from there.”
“Why would he go through all that trouble?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I say, drying off a glass. “Maybe he thought he could get his brother back.”
It’s quiet for some time. “Maybe he really did care about you after all.”
“Maybe.” I frown, gazing at my own reflection in the glass. “Or maybe he just wanted an easy way out of responsibility for the company by bringing me back.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Believe what you want. I know my brother. I know what he’s capable of,” I say, smacking down the glass as I look directly into her eyes. “Everything he told me kick-started my memories. Even the bad ones.”
She slowly puts her hand in front of her mouth. “He told you about Jill. The fight. The crash. That’s why you came for her.”
I frown and continue scrubbing the rest of the dishes again until everything is pristine.
“That’s why you waited three years,” Jasmine adds. “You couldn’t remember.”
“I wasn’t waiting,” I respond. “I was surviving.”
The look of pity in her eyes makes me want to lash out.
“Don’t,” I growl, marching toward her. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Do not fucking pity me,” I say, pointing at her. “I don’t need your pity.”
“I … I …” she stutters, repositioning herself in her seat to get farther away from me, and I realize I may have scared her.
Fuck.
I don’t want her to be afraid of me.
I close my eyes and blow out a breath. Then I walk off to the bed and put on more blankets and another pillow.
“What are you doing?” she asks.