Page 58 of Heart of a Killer

Pressing my lips in a hard line, I whisper my confession: “I wasn’t going to kill you. I only needed space.”

My chest caves as I wait for his response. He pours the amber liquid into the glasses before glancing back at me.

“I know that now,” he murmurs.

“Anyone gonna fill me in here?” Brie pipes in. She’s sitting on the edge of her seat and squeezing her thighs, waiting for the bombs to drop.

“He’s the one I was telling you about,” I say, cutting to the quick. “The one whose attention Nicole tried to get off of me.”

He probably watched me for a while, since he knew we were going to that concert when he kidnapped me. My stomach rolls. I know that eventually I’ll have to admit that he is also my half-brother—and I willingly slept with him. It’s not as ifmymemories were gone. I did the deed knowing full well what I was doing.

Brie’s eyes are wide as she looks at me, and I know I have to continue.

“He kidnapped me, and I ran away, but he found me,” I state, and pick at my nails. “Nikki stabbed him, and I thought he was dead. So, when I tried to kill myself...”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Brie holds her hands up and turns toward Alex, who is standing off to the side with his glass of whiskey. “Did you really lose your memories, or were you faking this whole time?”

“I really lost my memories. The doctor helped me get most of them back.”

“And when did you start getting them back?”

“When I found the both of you in the showers.”

Brie swings back to me, her eyes darting back and forth. “Is that why you looked so freaked out after? What did he say to you?”

“I called herlittle butterfly,” Alex admits softly.

My chest tightens at the mention of the name. The fact that he was gone and, to my knowledge, dead. The burn in my eyes is overwhelming, and I blink away the tears beginning to form.

“I killed the baby I thought we had,” I confess. “I was so mad at you for taking away my choices, kidnapping me, raping me. I couldn’t confront the shame I would see in others’ faces if I went to abort it or if they found out it was my half-brother’s.”

My nails are raw from picking at them, but it’s the only thing I can focus on while the tornado inside me wreaks havoc on my sense of reasoning.

“Yourbrother?” Brie exclaims. “Wow, I knew you were freaky, but damn, dude.”

The back door slams, and Alex is gone.

“Your brother?” Brie repeats and looks at me with brows furrowed.

“Yeah. After everything we’ve been through, and getting to know him more, I-I...” I hesitate, biting my lower lip. “I think I love him.”

“You don’t have to explain it to me, Sky. I would never judge you,” she consoles, pulling my hands out of my lap and holding them in hers. “I think you should go talk to him, though, because you just threw the whole kitchen sink at his head.” She chuckles.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I admit with a huff.

After learning from my missteps, I’m taking destiny into my own hands. To live is to fight, and this time I’m taking the bull by the horns. Standing up, I sway a bit. My head is pounding with a headache from all the oversharing. Weightlessness comes over me as I glide through the house and stop at the back door.

Alex is standing in the yard, looking at the forest of trees surrounding his place. His body is rigid, arms wrapped across his chest.

Taking a deep breath, I step out into the yard.

The sun beams down on my skin, warming me a bit against the cold air. As I walk toward him, my footfalls crunch on the dried brown grass. The closer I get, the slower my steps become. A heaviness weighs on my chest, and my breaths come more gradually. I have to admit to him what I’ve done, and it will be difficult.

I lift my hand to touch his shoulder, and he speaks.

“You know I did all of this for you, right?”

“I don’t understand,” I mumble, pulling my hand back as he continues to face away from me.

---