Page 129 of Forbidden Hearts
We sit on the couch and Brynn’s face is ashen. It’s clear this is not a good story. “We moved to Sugarloaf when I was in elementary school, and I remember how much I hated it because I missed Michigan and my dad, even though he was a horrible father.” She laughs to herself. “I missed my friends too, it was lonely here, being the new girl in a town where everyone was basically born here. My grandparents did their best to help, but I was alone. My brothers were all in school, and I was here with my mom. Asher was always good about coming here on breaks to visit. The summer before my mom died, Asher brought his friend home from college, his name was Jonathan Loa.”
I suck in a breath because this has to be the world’s worst joke. “He knows him.”
“More than that, Jonathan was his best friend.”
“Was. Past tense?”
She nods. “Jonathan was . . . well, he was incredibly handsome, even to my almost fifteen-year-old self, I just thought he was beyond dreamy, and he was so nice to me. I remember he was always willing to do whatever I asked. If I wanted to go to the store, he would convince Asher we should. He started coming home with Asher every break and every summer since his parents were never around. It was just . . . normal. He’d help with the farm, go fishing, camping, and we’d all hang out. Rowan thought he was great, and even Grady loved him.”
“I feel like this story takes a very bad turn.”
Her eyes fill with unshed tears as she forces a smile. “It does. It was the summer my mom died. I was . . . you understand. My mom was my rock. She was the only thing that ever was consistent.”
I know that all too well. “I understand what you mean.”
“It’s a sad club we belong to. Grady had just joined the Navy. Rowan was in college, and . . . well, I wasn’t about to be his responsibility.” Brynn laughs and then sighs. “So, Asher quit the academy in Michigan where he was going to school, came home, and became my guardian. That was Asher. See a problem and fix it. My brother is my hero, and I love him with my whole heart. There’s not much I won’t do for those stupid boys.”
I reach my hand out, squeezing hers because while I may not know exactly what’s coming, I have a pretty strong feeling I know.
Brynn pats my hand with her other one and continues on. “I never told anyone about what happened until six years ago.”
“Jonathan?”
She nods. “He was here visiting Asher. I was sixteen and thought I knew everything. I thought I was a grown woman and that I loved him. I know that’s stupid, but . . . I was so young and naïve. I begged him to just let it be him who I gave myself to.” Brynn wipes a tear. “Looking back, I can see how he manipulated me into feeling that way, but back then, all I saw was him. It started so innocent. Just a hand hold, and I was all for it. Then it was riding on the quad with him behind me, holding my stomach and just brushing his thumb under my breast. I wanted it, Phoebe. I was desperate for it. When I literally begged for it to happen, I was so ashamed and so . . . mad at myself.”
“Brynn . . . none of that was your fault.”
Her jaw shakes, and she soldiers on. “I got pregnant, and when I told him, he said it wasn’t his because we’d never been together. He just . . . pretended it didn’t happen.” She scoffs. “It happened, Phoebe. It may have only been the one time, but it happened. He didn’t use a condom, and I was too stupid to make him. He was twenty-seven and I was sixteen. It was so wrong in so many ways, but I was so desperate to be loved by a man who wasn’t my brothers.”
Tears stream down my face as I listen to her. “And what about the baby?”
She shakes her head and then wipes her cheek. “I ended up losing the baby a week later. I went to a clinic three towns over, bleeding and alone. I used a fake ID that said I was eighteen. It was years before I told anyone, and really, it was my therapist who recommended we bring each of my brothers in for a session.”
I can only imagine how that went. “I’m going to assume this is when Asher didn’t handle things well.”
“No. He didn’t. He was the one I thought would be the calmest, but he went insane. He was . . . I’d never seen him that way. He was . . . beside himself. He kept saying it was his fault. He should’ve known. He should’ve stopped it. He left me with Jonathan, thinking I was safe. Asher carries the weight of the world for those he loves. There’s nothing he won’t do to protect the people he cares about, and to find out someone had hurt me? Someone he trusted? I’d never seen him so devastated.
“Asher urged me to press charges, but I refused. It had happened years prior, and I didn’t want people to know. I told Asher that if he filed the charges anyway, I would refuse to testify on anything. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t bear that. I wasn’t strong enough, and I didn’t want to face it. I think that upset Asher even more because he couldn’t find another way to fix it either.”
And, now, another who Asher loves has been hurt by this man. “Brynn, we have to stop him from whatever he’s going to do.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible. He threatened Jonathan that if he ever came near me or anyone he loved, he’d kill him.”
Asher has his gun. Asher is clearly not thinking. I can’t let him ruin his life or Olivia’s life because of me. This is insane. I’m on my feet before I can draw another breath. “I have to go after him. I have to stop him.”
“I’ll stay with Olivia. If there’s anyone who can stop him, it’s you.”
I grab my purse and my keys, running to the door, hoping I can get to him before he does something stupid.
thirty-four
ASHER
The memory I’ve long buried flashes through me as I continue the drive to Iowa.
“You touched my sister?” I screamed in Jonathan’s face, anger unlike I’d ever known pumped through my veins. “She was a fucking child! You son of a bitch!” I reared my arm back, but someone grabbed me from behind.
“I don’t know what she told you, Asher. I never was with your sister.”
