Forbidden Love

“Do it. I’m a piece of shit, anyway. I don’t deserve your sister.”

My eyes fell to Lourde, and her fear gave way to confusion. Yes, dollface, I don’t deserve you or happiness for what I’ve done.

I exhaled as he gripped his hand with his other hand, almost holding himself back.

The door swung open. Ari and Magnus looked from him to me, then at the hole in the wall next to my head.

“Are you all right, Connor?” Ari asked.

“So you all knew too?” Connor asked, taking the cloth that Lourde passed him to quell the blood dripping from the cuts on his hand.

“I didn’t know for sure until I saw them tonight,” Magnus said.

“I knew, man, but it wasn’t up to me to tell you,” Ari said, stepping between Conner and me.

“Is everything all right in here?” Grace asked, taking in the hole in the wall and a shivering Lourde. Fuck, I was so caught up in Connor I hadn’t noticed her trembling.

Quickly, I walked over to Lourde, standing behind her and wrapping my arms around her.

Connor's jaw tightened with rage, but he didn’t make another move toward me.

“I’m fucking livid,” he exclaimed.

“I'm sorry, Connor, we were going to tell you tomorrow.”

“He’s no good for you, Lourde,” Connor said, and I gripped her tighter. The thought of losing Lourde was a stab in the chest, but deep down, I knew he was right. I wasn’t good for her. She deserves someone with a clean past, and that’s not me.

“Bit looser, Barrett,” Lourde whispered to me. “You're squeezing me too tight, Barrett,” she said, and immediately, I loosened my grip around her, not realizing I was holding onto her so tightly.

“I think we’ve had enough revelations for one night, don’t you think, Connor?” Ari glared at Connor. Had I missed something? What was that about?

Connor narrowed his eyes at Ari, then threw his sister a disappointed scowl. “Does Mom know?”

“No.”

“Interesting,” Connor said.

“Why is that interesting?” I questioned.

“Because Mom thinks you and Finigan are perfect for one another, so she’s invited him to the charity ball in two weeks.”

“Oh,” Lourde said. “I’ll tell her…”

The sound of Finigan’s name made my lungs expel air. At dinner, they had something. I could sense it too. That's why it was so damn painful to watch. But fuck, she was with me. She said she loved me. I inhaled, refilling my lungs, and shook away the dagger threatening to plunge into my chest.

“We will tell them. Although I think Dad may already know,” Lourde said. “He has a weird sixth sense for this stuff.”

“Does he?” I asked

“Fuck this,” Connor said. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing and seeing. You're eight years younger than him, Lourde.”

“I think we all should just go home, regroup with level heads and talk about it when we all calmed down,” Magnus said, and, for once, the fuckhead was right.

“First the shit storm with work, and now this? What the fuck, Lourde, seriously?”

“I told you, I’m sorry,” Lourde said, stepping out of my grasp and toward her brother.

“I’m out,” Connor said, throwing his hands up. “And you, Barrett…” he shook his head, his mouth tight, his jaw set. Then he turned and walked toward the door.

I stared after him, the silence surrounding us bordering on heavy. He was angry, I got that, but it was more than that. He was disappointed and that was the feeling that resonated. I’d let down my best buddy, and that wasn’t something I intended to do when he’d done so much for me.

“Lourde just happened, Connor,” I said.

He glanced over his shoulder and then walked out.