Page 43 of After Our Kiss

My mouth fell open. Over his head, I saw Lonnie staring at us with a quiet thoughtfulness. “I'm not running from you,” I said, the truth erupting. “I'm running from your father. From your brother, who came into my room to hurt me!Again!” It was a sickening nostalgia.

Conway's face went deathly flat. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder. Lonnie didn't smile or frown or even shrug. He kept watching like he didn't want to interrupt. Scanning me again, he said, “I saw what you did to his face. Where did you get the knife?”

“It was a piece of mirror. From the rest stop bathroom.”

“Of course,” he said, laughing like a man who hadn't slept in ages. His smile was weary. “I underestimated you.”

“Stop talking to me like we're rivals! Conway, look at us. We can leave right now, go to the cops... we can besafefrom your father! What's stopping us from rowing away from that island?”

Utter despair flooded his expression. Gently, firmly, he put his hands over mine on the oars. “What's stopping us is me.”

The energy went out of my body. “You don't care if I hate you, do you?”

Water dripped steadily into the boat from his clothes. In silence he began to row, taking us smoothly to the dock. I'd barely gotten twelve feet out. Lonnie came close, helping tie the vessel back up with what was left of the rope.

Conway hooked me by the elbow, forcing me out ahead of him. His brother started to reach for me but I dodged, yanking out of Conway's grip, glaring at them both. Lonnie's gash was still dripping; he didn't stifle it with his palm. I think he wanted me to see what I'd done. “Like I said. If you can't break her, I'll do it instead.”

Conway thrust himself between his brother and me. His chest puffed out; I'd seen him pissed off before, but now, he looked ready to kill. “What the fuck did you do to her, Lonnie?”

“Sorry, what did I do toher?”He ran a fingertip in the air over his cut. “She sliced me open with a piece of glass. How did you let her get access to a weapon, huh?”

“I'm asking,” he said, so cold and quiet, “What you did to her.”

I shivered with a mix of fear and pride. Amazingly, Lonnie didn't back down. “Brother, all I did was test how your work was coming along. If it isn't clear as day, you've fucked this process up. Or have you forgotten what Dad expects?”

None of the rage went out of Conway's stance. The veins in his neck throbbed. “Don't you ever,evertouch her again.Understand?”

They stood across from each other; men who shared the same genes, but acted so different. Neither blinked... and neither twitched a muscle. The night wind tossed my hair, and when I brushed it away from my eyes, it was as if my movement ended the standoff.

Lonnie turned on a heel, speaking as he went. “At this rate, she really will end up just like Anna.”

Conway looked after his brother. He didn't uncurl his fists until the other man was gone, and when he did, I caught a glimpse of the exhaustion in his bones. His attention slid to me; I jumped under that fiercely cold stare. “Keys. Now.”

Offering him Lonnie's ring, his fingers grazed mine. Both of us lingered; we were the only warm things on this island, and we recognized it. “You're bleeding,” he said, holding me still.

“It's nothing,” I whispered.

His arm moved away. “Let's go inside and clean you up.”

I saw the water dripping from his clothes—how his teeth chattered ever so slightly. He had to be freezing, and he was acting like I wasn't the one who'd pushed him into the ocean. Conway behaved the way he always did.

Like he felt nothing.

Except I kept seeing the glow of his heart... the corner of his soul, no matter how he hid it. Not moving from the dock, I asked, “Who's Anna?”

“Nobody.” His whole frame shook; I didn't know if it was from my question or from the cold.

“She's important, or Lonnie wouldn't keep bringing her up.”

He spread his fingers over his face. “What will it take for you to stop challenging me?” His scorn disintegrated my confidence. “Can't you recognize danger when it's right under your nose?”

I swallowed. “Are you talking about Lonnie... or about yourself?”

Grimacing, he reached for me—then he stopped. “Georgia, just go inside. That's all I'm asking.”

“You're asking me for much more than that.” Lifting my chin, I passed around him, walking on sore, naked feet over splintered wood and hard rocks.

After a few seconds, I heard him following me. I didn't turn, my mind working on this mystery that felt like the core of Conway's villainous actions.

Whatever had happened to Anna was bad.

I needed to know who she was.

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