Page 110 of Drawn Blue Lines

“Look, Val, I need to tell you something.”

Val’s face tightened, and draining the glass, he slammed it on the table. “I’m not in the mood for any more confessions, Harcourt.”

“This one you need to hear. It has to do with Adriana, and why I agreed so quickly to bring her here.” Clearing my throat, I spoke slowly, making sure he heard every word. “When I took proof of Adriana’s identity to Eden, it wasn’t to drive her to you. It was to drive you apart.”

Snap.

Val’s glass shattered against the wall moments before he swung.

* * *

After tucking her sleeping daughter into her car seat, Leighton leaned against the car door, her lips flattening into a smug smirk.

I folded my arms across my chest. “What?”

“That’s a nice shiner you got there.”

“Yep.”

“I see you told Val.”

“Told Val what?”

“That you’re in love with his sister.”

My eyes snapped back to find Leighton grinning like she’d just won the lottery. “Jesus, what’s with everyone in this house?” I dragged my finger in a horizontal line above my eyebrows. “Do I have this shit stamped across my forehead?”

Leighton laughed, batting my hand away from my face. “A sister knows these things.”

“Great.”

“So, what are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know.”

I didn’t, and that was the thing that bothered me the most. I’d cleared the air with Val, my face taking the brunt of his wrath. Once we took Ignacio Vergara down, and whatever progeny he may or may not have, I was free to do anything I wanted to do.

The thing was, I had no idea what Adriana wanted.

I guess my silence spoke for me because Leighton wrapped an arm around my waist. “She acts tough, but she needs a hero,” she said, leaning her head against my arm. “I don’t know anyone who fills those shoes better than my big brother.”

I snorted. “Don’t let your husband hear you say that.”

She laughed, knocking her bony hip against me. “You’re a protector, Brody. You always have been. It’s what made you such a good prosecutor. You take on everyone else’s problems as your own, but when you can’t defeat them, they consume you.” She looked up at me, the corners of her mouth turning down as sadness filled her eyes. “It’s why you have so many demons.”

Out of nowhere Adriana’s words came rushing back.

“You don’t want me, Brody. What you want is redemption. You have a damaged hero complex, and you think saving me will absolve you of your sins.”

But she was wrong. I wanted it all, and I was starting to believe that despite everything, I could have it. Saving Adriana wouldn’t absolve me of my sins but repenting for them would.

I placed both hands on my sister’s shoulders, her doe eyes still looking up at me. “I never asked for your forgiveness.”

“You’re the only one blaming you for what happened,” she said, holding onto my wrists. “The only one you have to forgive is yourself.”

“I’m not sure how to do that.”

She gave me a bright smile and glanced up while nodding over my shoulder. “I think you already have.” It was instinct that had me turning around to see Adriana pressed against the second story window. Leighton moved her hand on top of mine and squeezed my fingers until I turned back around. “Six months ago, you wouldn’t have let her close enough to risk another demon. Salvation comes in many forms. Sometimes in the shape of your biggest regret.”

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