Page 45 of One Wild Ride

“It’s okay, Aria. You don’t have to tell me anymore,” Alex said as he eased closer.

He curled up behind me and hugged my body to his. I needed that. Every time I thought about that time in my life, about my sister, I was alone. Only able to cry into my pillow. I never realized how much it helped to have that touch, to have someone to talk to, until now.

“It was abandoned. The house. Things were torn up as if they were trying to get out in a hurry. Only they left one thing behind. My sister.”

“Was she safe?” Alex asked, his hot breath tickled my neck.

“No, she was dead. The coroner said they found heroin in her system. She never did drugs, never. I was the wild one. Ava was the straight-laced one. She did everything right. I called her a parent’s wet dream.” I laughed at the memory.

“She was the one who talked me into going with my parents to that supposed party. She said she wanted to help Mom and Dad. That she had heard them fighting about money problems. Ava believed that if we supported them, looked like the happy family, then these people would give my dad money. Instead, they destroyed her.”

I gritted my teeth and bit out, “I knew they filled her with those drugs. They killed her. My father basically sold us and caused my sister’s death. And all I could think about was the fact that I left her there. She was scared and alone, and I ran away. She had just turned eighteen. About to start a life as an adult, instead everyone she loved left her to die. I may have only been seventeen, but I was old enough to find a way out for her.”

A sob rattled my body. It was deep and long and still not enough. Despite how much time has passed, I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself for leaving my sister to die.

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