Page 38 of After Our Kiss

- Chapter Thirteen -

Conway

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Iwas a traitor.

I saw it on my face whenever I stared in the mirror. I could see it dancing in the deepest grooves of my irises. In the lines of my teeth and in the way I frowned.

I just wasn't sure whom I was betraying anymore.

October wind yanked at me as I stood by the cliff's edge. Unseen fingers begged me to fall forward, giving myself up to the hungry ocean. It would be soeasy-the action... not the consequences of the decision.

My suffering would end.

What about everyone else?

Reaching back, I felt my phone in my pocket. The messages from my father were sitting inside, though I'd longed to delete all of them. The last one had been a reply to the one I'd sent weeks ago.

Me: I've taken her.

Unknown: Then it's time to begin.

Clutching the device, I debated throwing it into the ocean.

“You looking for sunken ships down there?”

Lonnie.My eyes stayed fixed on the white foam that crashed below us.

He moved beside me, glancing in my direction, then down at the water. “If this is getting to be too hard for you, say the word. I'll take over.”

My eyes snapped to him. “What?” I asked.

“Taming Georgia. It's plain on your face that it's already taking its toll.”

“You and I both know that Dad demanded I be the one to do this.”

“He just wants her to be ready for him.” Lonnie was reading me, trying to get into my head and see my secrets. We both knew I had them. “If breaking the little peach down is too rough on yourgentle heart,let me take over. Say the word.”

“Gentle heart,” I laughed. Holding my hands up, I showed him my palms. The skin was hardened by calluses that spoke of years of rough, physical work, some innocent, most of it not. “Lonnie, these hands are about as gentle as any other part of me.”

He smiled in a way that didn't touch his eyes. “You really expect me to believe you don't have a soft spot for her?”

I screwed up my face and let my hands bind into fists. “And if I did, would it matter? You know I have to do it. Stop trying to micromanage this like you're in charge.” My brother's baby-blue eyes hardened. “Dad is the one running this shit show. You're kidding yourself if you think he'd want anyone preparing her but me. He chose her to make a point... and everything he's telling me to do is no different.”

I'd freed Georgia years ago.

Now we were both suffering thanks to my so-called “gentle heart.”

Everyone talks about wanting to go back in time, thinking they can fix the one thing that led to their tragic present. But if I was given such an opportunity, where would I even begin?

My brother was watching me in that ruthlessly patient way of his. He reminded me of our father when he did that. “You always did have such a huge ego.”

I balked. “Excuse me?”

“You think this is all about you.” Tucking his hands into his khaki-colored pants, he stared out over the ocean. “Where do I fit into your worldview, hmm? Dad didn't just get in touch with you, Conway, he reached out to me as well.”

“Fuck,” I spit. “Lonnie, this situation is messed up for everyone involved. No one wants to be here.”

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