Page 200 of Sinful Lies

“Let’s get you home,” I murmured.

She followed without a sound, her eyes fixed somewhere far ahead, avoiding the blood pooling behind us. I opened the car door, and waited as she climbed in.

The drive was quiet, the low growl of the engine filling the silence between us.

Her head rested against the window, eyes shut, but I could see it—the tight set of her jaw, the faint tremor in her hands.

She wasn’t okay. And I sure as hell wasn’t either.

So I did the only thing that might offer us some kind of relief.

I reached over, my hand closing around hers in the space between us, despite the fucking chaos inside me.

Her fingers were cold, unsteady, but she didn’t pull away.

Instead, she let me hold on, her grip tightening just enough to remind me she was still here, still fighting not to fall apart.

I didn’t say anything—there was nothing to say.

The world outside could keep fucking burning; right now, all that mattered was her hand in mine.

Chapter

Forty-Five

“One day you will kiss a man you can’t breathe without, and find that breath is of little consequence.”

?Karen Marie Moning

Jade

I sank deeper into the bath, the foam teasing my eyes, the warmth of the water easing the tension in my muscles. My head tipped back against the tub, but no amount of heat could relax the chaos in my chest.

I had justkilledsomeone.

I had just killed the man who had not only taken my sister from me, but had also hurt the only man I had ever truly loved.

The emotions swirling in me were so tangled, so high, it felt like I might drown in them.

What was I supposed to feel? What was I even supposed to do with all this?

It wasn’t regret.

I sure as hell didn’t feel bad.

The bastard was dead, and the world would be a little lighter without him in it.

It wasn’t guilt, either. That wasn’t the problem.

But it wasn’t pride. Not even close.

I closed my eyes and let my head dip beneath the water, staying there just long enough to let the silence swallow me, letting it drown out the noise in my head.

One, two, three.

I rubbed the water off my face and slumped back down, wrapping my arms around my legs and pulling them tight.

Well, I’d done it.

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