Page 159 of Never Fall for an Angel

“They were never close,” she grumbles. “Dad was always too hard on both of them. Sebastian, too. And I mean hard in the sense that left bruises and busted lips.”

My skin bristles at the mention of his name.

Should have been harder on Sebastian, from the sounds of things.

“He was abusive?”

“He was.” She looks down at her hands. “I suppose that’s why Sebastian did what he did.”

My blood runs cold, but I remain silent. I’m not sure how much she knows, and it’s not my place to tell her.

“What did he do?”

She furrows her brow, looking over at me.

“He set the fire that killed my mother.” She winces, swiping at the tear slipping from her blue eyes. Blue eyes so much like Christian’s; it hurts to look at them. “At least, that’s what they think. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were true. He liked to play with matches, and he set the drapes on fire in one of the rooms at the lodge once. Dad almost beat him half to death.”

“That’s horrible,” I breathe.

“I remember that night in my nightmares. Watching the house burning when we arrived. Mom and Seb had gone down early to get everything set up at the lake house for the weekend. It was supposed to be a family vacation. I was supposed to be with them, but I begged Dad to let me ride with him and Christian instead. When they found the bodies, Christian tookSeb’s death harder than anyone, I think. He told you they were twins?”

“No.”In fact, he didn’t mention it at all.“He didn’t.”

“Well, I guess probably because it’s still hard on him. Sebastian was always the weird one. He was a loner. Never really had any friends besides Christian. They were nearly inseparable for a long time. They were about as close as Seb would allow. Christian always tried to get him to open up, but he never did.” She shrugs. “When he died, it almost didn’t change anything,” she whispers as if speaking it aloud is a sin. “He was already a ghost . . . is it bad to say such a thing?”

Listening to her, I tighten my hands to fists in my lap to conceal the anger vibrating through me. He killed their mother. Hisownmother.

I hate him. I’ve never hated someone so much in my entire life, but I know if he were in front of me right now, I’d do everything in my power to kill him. For what he did to me, but also . . . for what he stole from the Cross siblings.

From Christian.

“No,” I shake my head. “My father died when I was four. I never knew him the way my siblings did. It’s almost like he never existed at all in my world.”

“Wow,” she breathes, chuckling. She wipes a hand across her eyes, brushing back tears. “Well, we can agree on one thing, then.”

“Two.” I hold up my fingers. “Talia’s a dick.”

She laughs, drying her face.

“And that.” She glances at the clock above the mantel. “I need to get to bed. I’m going to be hungover if I keep drinking this wine.”

She stands, and I follow when she faces me.

“I’d like to formally introduce myself.”

“Okay.”

“Hi, I’m Bella Cross. I’m twenty-five, graduated from Columbia with a degree in business that I hate, and I’m currently the acting general manager of the Oak Ridge Lodge, which is going to give me premature gray hair. What’s your name?”

I chuckle, shaking her hand.

“I’m Mila . . . Cross. I’m twenty-four. Married to your brother, and I would love to help out in any way I can. There’s only so many walks you can take along the same path.”

She smiles. “We’re going to get along just fine, Mila.”

After Bella went up to bed, I made my way back to Christian’s bedroom, my eyes heavy, but my mind too wound up to sleep. I step inside and close the door behind me, shrugging my sweater over my head and heading towards the bed. Phantom lays in the center, stretched out on his back and looking completely at ease.

“Listen, you can’t sleep in the middle,” I tell him, gently pushing him to Christian’s side. “This is where I sleep, too.”

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