Page 11 of Serenity

She nodded jerkily. “Ido.”

If you had asked me an hour ago if there was anything Faith could tell me that would make me look at her differently or love her any less, I would have said fuck no. But knowing she was standing before me—alive because Declan had died—wasn’t something I could have conceived in my wildest imagination. He’d been the other half of me. His death had been more shattering to me than the injuries I’d suffered in the crash that tookhislife.

Faith had been the one to drag me out of that darkness. She quickly became the most important thing in my life, and I loved her with all myheart.

But right now I wasangry.

Andconfused.

And more than a little freaked out at the idea of a part of my brother living inside her. She’d filled the emptiness inside me as corny as that sounded. I’d thought it was because she was perfect for me; like my mom was for my dad. That fate had finally taken pity on me and decided to put me out of my misery and gave me someone to love. That it was allhappenstance.

Only I didn’t know what the fuck to think anymore. A piece of my twin lived inside her. Maybe the instant pull I’d felt when I first saw her wasn't Faith at all. Maybe it was my connection to mybrother.

“Fuck,” I groanedagain.

If I tried to talk it out with Faith feeling the way I did at the moment, things were going to get ugly. I was too pissed and confused to watch my words, and I was likely to take my anger out on her. Even with my mind reeling, I didn’t want to say things to her I could never take back. I couldn’t stand the idea that I might hurt her in a way she could neverforgive.

“I need to go.” I stood up and strode into the house, grabbing my keys from the hook bythedoor.

“Dillon, no!” she cried. “Don’t go. I get that you probably don’t know what to think. Neither do I. But we love each other, and we’re supposed to face the hard stuff together.Right?”

I paused at the door, knowing in my head that she was right. It was hypocritical of me to force her to open up to me in the past only to walk away right now. But I knew I needed time. Time that maybe she’d already had considering how distant she’d been with melately.

“When did you find the letter?” I continued on before giving her a chance to answer. “How long have you knownaboutthis?”

Her silence wasdamning.

“How fucking long, Faith?” I yelled. “If I had to guess, I’d say it was about a week ago. The day you went shopping with my mom, right? That’s when you stopped sleeping well. When you started to pull away from me. But it couldn’t have been that long because that would mean you’ve kept this from me allthistime.”

“Dillon,” she sighed. “I didn’t know whattosay.”

“So all those times I asked you what was bothering you, and you said you were fine? You were just lyingtome?”

“I needed time to figure it all out in my head,” she tried toexplain.

“Yeah, time to figure things out sounds pretty damn good to me,” I growled. “And you’re going to give to me what you took foryourself.”

“Okay,” she agreed, starting to cry openly. “I guess Ideservethat.”

“Don’t push me right now, Faith. Don’t try to make me feel guilty for being angry. This wasn’t something small you chose not to share with me. It’s reallyfuckinghuge.”

“It’s not my fault!” she argued. “I didn’t know what to do. How to tell you. I wasscared.”

“Declan was important to me. You knew that and you chose to keep this a secret for an entire week,” Icountered.

“I’m sorry.” She looked so fucking sad. But as much as it killed me to see her like that, I couldn’t let it sway me from what I needed to do. Before I could work through things with us, I needed to figure out my owndamnself.

“So am I,” I replied before walking out the door with no idea when I wouldreturn.

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