Page 102 of Seduced By You

“Don’t tell me, you’re Clarence.” I gifted him another smile. I’d never tell him this, but by being here, he’d lifted my mood.

“We both know I’m going straight to hell.” He returned my grin. “No angel wings in my future.”

“Nor mine.”

“That movie reminds me of you. Without you, all our lives would be so much poorer, yet it doesn’t matter how often we tell you that; you remain trapped in Switzerland.”

“Lee pulled me out. For a few short weeks, I escaped.”

“Then what changed?”

Incredulous, I glared at him. “I almost fucking killed her. That’s what changed.”

“You told Dad the brakes failed.”

“Yeah.”

“How’s that your fault?”

“I should have been able to control the car.”

Blaize snorted. “A car traveling downhill, heading toward a sharp bend with no brakes? And you think you should’ve somehow been able to stop it? By what means?”

I thumped the countertop. “I don’t fucking know. But it haunts me, Blaize. It fucking haunts me. Like that night.” I poked myself in the temple. “It’s so full in here I can’t breathe.”

“Have they recovered the car yet?”

“No idea. Why?”

“Because if those failed brakes are down to a mechanic somewhere not doing his fucking job, I’m out for blood.”

Until that second, it hadn’t occurred to me that it might be human error. A servicing fuckup or similar. Jesus. Then again, I hadn’t exactly been thinking straight since it’d happened.

He drained his cup and set it in the sink. Yawning, he stretched. “I need to get some shut-eye. We’ll talk more in the morning. I’ll make some calls and see if I can locate the car and whoever is in charge of the investigation.” He clapped me on the back. “Take some headache pills and drink a gallon of water.”

His footsteps echoed up the stairs. The house fell silent. For once in my life, I obeyed my brother. I took the pills, drank the water, and fell into bed.

* * *

The next morning, the smell of fatty bacon and strong coffee filled my nose as I made my way into the kitchen. Blaize arriving unannounced had pissed me off, yet with a clear head and a full night’s sleep, I was glad he’d come. I didn’t feel so alone with my brother in my corner.

“Don’t burn mine to a crisp.”

Blaize turned around, brandishing a spatula in the air. “For that, I’ll make yours extra crispy.”

“Jerk.” I poured a cup of coffee, adding cream this time. “How long are you planning to stay?”

“As long as it takes me to pull your head out of your ass and stop with the crazy talk you greeted me with last night.” He cracked eggs into a bowl and whisked them up. “And for you to call Mom and Dad. They don’t deserve the silent treatment. You’re their youngest son. They love you, and they’re worried.”

“As soon as it’s morning in Seattle, I’ll call.”

“Good.”

He poured the egg mixture into a pan. I pulled out a chair, using the time to check my emails. I hadn’t looked at them since we’d left Val d’Isère. I replied to a few work-related messages, moving the actioned ones to the relevant folders. As I scrolled down myFor Actionfolder, scanning for anything that needed immediate attention, a message caught my eye. One I’d completely forgotten about in the midst of everything else going on.

“Shit.”

“What’s wrong?”

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