Page 162 of Master of My Heart

Chase shrugged. “Yeah.”

The door to the bathroom opened at that moment and Sabrina walked out wearing nothing but a towel. When she saw Chase, her cheeks turned pink. “Hi,” she said in that soft voice of hers.

Chase stood, using every ounce of discipline to keep his eyes on her face. “Hi.”

“I’ll just be a minute,” she said, giving him a dimpled smile and disappearing into her room. As she turned, Chase gave in and let his gaze travel down her body before she walked away.

He groaned and sat back down. “God, she’s sexy,” he muttered to Ethan.

He nodded. “Can’t disagree, man.”

*****

Sabrina quickly dressed in jeans and a pink sweater before walking out to the living room where Ethan and Chase were talking. Chase greeted her with a kiss on the lips, then pulled her down on the couch next to him.

“Sabrina, before we go, there’s something I need to tell you,” Chase said, looking serious.

She glanced at Ethan and back at Chase. “What happened?” Her mind went wild with all sorts of horrible thoughts, mostly those involving something happening to Chase or Richard deciding they couldn’t be together.

“Richard called me this morning,” Chase began. Sabrina’s stomach sank. “Apparently, Aiden was in a car accident last night.”

Sabrina blinked. “What? Is he okay?” Why did Chase look so serious?

He shook his head. “His car skidded off the road. He’s... dead.”

She stared into Chase’s gray eyes, trying to process his words. Aiden was dead? She didn’t know how that made her feel. On one hand, he had hurt her terribly and she was glad he wouldn’t hurt anyone else ever again. On the other hand, was it her fault that he was dead? If she hadn’t told Chase about what Aiden had done, he wouldn’t have made him leave, he wouldn’t have been on that road, and he wouldn’t have gotten into the accident.

She looked down at his hand holding hers and swallowed as tears burned her eyes. She blinked, not really understanding why she was crying. Was she sad he was dead? Not really. Did she feel guilty? Kind of. But it was more than that. It was just the idea of someone dying that saddened her. He hadn’t been cruel at first. Well, not very cruel. And she’d let him do everything he’d done... until the end. But even then, she’d let him.

“Are you okay?” Chase asked.

How did she answer that question? “I don’t know,” she whispered.

Chase pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. Hot tears escaped her eyes and she squeezed them shut. She didn’t want to cry. She hadn’t cried when Ramon died, but then again, she’d killed him. Had she killed Aiden? Even indirectly?

*****

Chase hugged Sabrina tightly. He saw the tears on her cheeks and she was stiff in his arms. He glanced at Ethan, who nodded and walked toward Jayson’s room.

“Sabrina, it’s not your fault.”

“Why not?”

Chase didn’t know if he should tell her about the suspiciousness around the accident. It might help alleviate some of her guilt, but would it frighten her, knowing someone likely killed Aiden because of his involvement with her? He didn’t know which would be worse.

“How could it possibly be your fault?”

“He wouldn’t have been in California if it weren’t for me.”

“People make their own choices. He made a bad choice to hurt you and there were consequences that went along with that.”

“He deserved to die because he hurt me?”

Yes, he deserved to die for hurting you! But Chase couldn’t say that aloud. “He got into the car and drove. It’s no one’s fault that he skidded off the road. Accidents happen.” But this might not have been an accident...

Sabrina pulled away slightly and looked up at him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“What do you mean?”

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