Page 82 of Reclaim (Deadly Hearts 3)

“But it’s for you to?”

Touché.

“No, obviously, but if she was hurting this much over losing you…”

“It isn’t just about this. What would you have done? Gone to her and rubbed it in her face?” His back is stiff as he turns the taps off and leans heavily on the edge of the countertop.

I think about that.

For a long time.

He eventually takes my hands and washes them thoroughly before draining the bloody water out and bleaching the sink.

“What are we going to do with her?” I ask quietly.

“You aren’t going to do anything. You have been in enough trouble. Pack a bag and go to my apartment. There is a woman there, my sister, that you can actually help.”

I frown. “What?”

He sighs. “She was assaulted and hurt, just like you were. She is fragile and she needs someone who can help her rebuild her life. I was hoping you could do that.”

“Your sister?”

He nods.

“Why has it taken you this long to tell me this?” I ask, Maribel forgotten for the moment under the potential to help someone who isn’t already dead.

“You’ve been busy,” he says.

Ouch. I’m not sure if that’s an insult or not. His tone is flat and impossible to read.

“Take one of the cars and go.”

I blink at his retreating back, dumbfounded over this entire situation.

Slipping off the counter, as if on autopilot, I go back to my room, where the curtains have been drawn and I pack a small bag. Then I pick up my shoes and slip them on. Not even saying good-bye to anyone, seeing as they are all outside doing damage control with the woman who killed herself in my garden, I grab my bag and pull out my phone. I snatch up a set of keys and head out to the driveway.

Unlocking Declan’s Aston Martin, I pop the trunk and throw my bag inside, seeing the small box from under my bed. Grimacing at it, I slam the trunk closed and call Beth, telling her I’m swinging by to pick up her and Tiff.

If I’m going to visit with Layton’s sister, then we might as well make this a girl’s night.

Plus, not really sure I want to be alone with Layton’s sister, whose name I don’t even know. If I bring back up, my nerves might not shred one by one with the weight of responsibility Layton has just thrust upon me. If his sister ends up like poor Maribel…

Don’t go there, Rubes. He wouldn’t do that to you twice in one night.

I have to trust my gut on this. He must know his sister is well enough to receive guests or he wouldn’t be sending me there in the first place.

Pushing aside the fact that it has been a really long time since I drove anywhere, I fumble my way out of the driveway, my brain hoping and praying I don’t scrape Declan’s car and add that to my list of crimes. Something tells me, he won’t be impressed when he finds out I swiped it to take on my mission. I force the image of Maribel out of my mind and focus on what the fuck I’m going to say to Layton’s sister when I turn up at his apartment. One assumes he told her about me already so with a bit of luck, she’ll be expecting me.

All I know for sure is, he owes me big time. I mean big. Huge. If he was in the doghouse before this, he is now in a worse place. He isn’t getting his dick wet for the rest of this year. That’s how bad this is.

“Fucker,” I mumble under my breath and just drive. There’s nothing else for it.

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