Page 94 of Vengeful Union

“Fine.” But there’s a strain in my voice and she seems to recognize it instantly, moving closer and caressing my cheek with one small hand.

“You’re not,” she murmurs. “And It's okay that you’re not. Rory, I can’t imagine?—”

“Don’t,” I say brokenly, the tears threatening to spill down my cheeks.

Lara makes a distressed noise in the back of her throat, climbing back into my lap, but there’s nothing sexual about it this time. She rests her head on my shoulder, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing.

I hug her back, burying my face in her neck and hitching in a sob. We sit like that for a long time, Lara whispering small comforts in my ear, and finally, I calm down.

“What did she say?”

I run a hand through my hair. “She’s convinced that he killed our mother. Said he threatened to kill her and if he’d do that toBree...” I trail off. “And now I’m thinking if that report might not be his trophy for killing your mother, too.”

She bites her lip, nodding, looking me right in the face. “Da has always said it was your father.”

I put her down next to me on the bed, spooning her, and she wiggles back against me.

“We’ll figure it out, Rory,” she says softly, looking back at me over her shoulder.

I love you.

The words want to come out, but they stick in my throat.

This is temporary. This is just comfort for her. She doesn’t love me, and she never will.

How could she. I’m a permanent reminder of what my father did to her. Killing her mother, kidnapping her, shooting her father…

And it’s going to kill me to let her go when it’s over.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

27

LARA

Rory falls asleep fairly quicklyafter Bree’s call, but I lie awake in his arms, my mind racing. I’d only heard one side of his conversation with Bree, but it was enough to know that he’s struggling with what might have happened to their mother.

I’ve always known that Niall had something to do with my mother’s death, always hated him for it, but for Rory, it’s a different story.

Rory may have cut his father off for years, stayed away from him, but some part of him still loves him.

And I can’t help but sympathize with that.

My father is a good man, truly good, in his heart, but he’s done some awful things. Some things that I’m sure I wouldn’t quite understand. It’s not like what Rory’s dealing with, though. My father isn’t a monster.

I can’t imagine what he’s going through, but I can love him through it.

I watch him sleeping, watch the line of his jaw, how his broad chest rises and falls. I wish I could tell him how much I care about him, how much I want to protect him from his father’s evil.

I wish I could tell him how I feel, but I know that would just be more stress.

Rory’s a good man, and he’ll feel bad that he doesn’t want me the way I want him. After this is over, he’ll go back to his life as an accountant, and I'll go back to my Da’s mansion.

Maybe Rory will come when his nephew is born. Maybe we’ll meet eyes and remember the hot nights we spent together, but it won’t mean anything. Not to him.

My heart aches, and I wiggle out of his arms, being careful not to wake him.

He grunts and rolls over onto his stomach, and I put on his robe, grabbing his phone from the nightstand before padding out into the hallway.

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