Page 30 of Endgame

Amelia nodded. “When I was born, Mom came back here, to Ocean Bay, and looked my father up. By then, Camille’s fight was coming to an end. She’d fought the cancer as best as she could but she was weak and hooked up on a morphine pump right here in this house.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “My mother wasn’t in the position to care for me, the life of a dancer no place for a baby, so she gave me to my father.”

WTF?“She justhandedyou off to him?”

“Uh-huh.” Amelia half sniffled, half laughed. “At first, Rourke hated me. He struggled a lot after his mom passed and took it out on me. He even tried to blind me with a flashlight once, and another day he took me out of my basinet and put me on the neighbor’s doorstep.” She grinned. “Of course, they brought me home – much to his dismay.”

“What changed?” I whispered. Something had to. They were close now. Rourke loved his sister. He adored her. It was as obvious as the nose on his face.

“He was seven and I was five. I came home from a birthday party crying. One of the kids had pushed me down in the dirt and I cut my knee,” she explained, smiling fondly. “I don’t think the kid did it on purpose, but Rourke flipped out all the same. I’d never seen him so angry before. He put me on the back of his bicycle and took me back to the party; told me to point out who had made me cry. I did, and it just so happened to be one of his best friends, Daryl King.”

“What did he do?”

“Rourke? He kicked his butt,” Amelia giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “He beat Daryl up real bad and then made him kneel in front of me and beg my forgiveness.”

“Oh my god!”

“I know,” she chuckled. “After that day, we were as thick as thieves. He’s had my back ever since.”

“Amelia? Grub’s up.”

Rourke’s voice filled the room and Amelia sprang up from the couch she’d been sitting on. “Rourke is the only sibling I have,” Amelia explained softly as she hurried to the door. “He means a lot to me. I know he’s a jerk to you, and all you can see is his bad sides, but there’s more to him than meets the eye. He truly is a great brother.” With that she slipped out of the room and closed the door.

I was reeling.

No, I wasn’t reeling.

I was floored.

My heart, hard as it was, broke when I thought of the three-year-old version of Rourke having to say goodbye to his mother. My own mother was a pain in my ass, but I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life. This bothered me. It bothered me so much that I moved on flight mode when I climbed off the couch and headed for the kitchen.

“Six, if you’re here for a fight then you need to walk away now,” Rourke warned when he looked up from the stove and noticed me walking towards him. “I’ve had a really long ass day…whoa –”

His words broke off the moment I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him.

He remained still as a statue, all his muscles bunched and tense, but he didn’t shrug me off, so I considered that a victory.

“What was that for?” he asked, tone a little huskier than normal, when I stepped away.

“I thought you could use a hug,” I replied.

“From you?” He cocked a brow. “Why would I wantyouto touch me?”

“I told her about Camille,” Amelia offered from her perch at the counter.

“Why would you do that?” Rourke growled, stiffening, his heated gaze still on my face.

“Because, like it or not, Rourke, this one is here to stay,” his little sister replied. “And I wanted her to know the facts before you try and chase her away.”

“It’s not your business,” he snapped then, glaring down at me. “My mother has nothing to do with any of this.”

“I know,” I agreed as I retreated from the kitchen. “But I’m still sorry.”

IT WAS AFTER MIDNIGHT when Rourke walked into my bedroom and threw himself down on my bed next to me. I had been sitting up playing a crummy game of Snake on my phone, but the moment he laid down beside me, I completely forgot about the game.

“Rourke?”

Folding his arms behind his head, Rourke settled on his back, our bodies aligned. “She was beautiful.”

Dropping my phone on the floor, I laid down beside him. “Your mom?”

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