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“You’re not listening, Dax, it’s—”
“How long?!” he roars, making me flinch.
She doesn’t falter, but her shoulders sag as she stares back at her brother.
“A little over three years,” she whispers, a tear running down her cheek.
Dax’s face crumples, and he drags his hands down his face. “Three fucking years!The entire time I was inside?”
Jasmin nods mutely.
“What’s going on?” I move closer to Dax’s side. Something is very wrong. The hairs on the back of my arms all stick up like tiny soldiers standing to attention. The need to be closer to him, to know that he’s okay is overwhelming.
“Why him?” Dax drops his hands and stares back at Jasmin.
Her mouth opens as if searching for the right words.
“Why fucking him?” he yells.
Tears run down her cheeks and make her dark hair stick to her cheeks.
“He’s not like him… he’s…” she chokes. “I’m sorry, Dax.”
“Out of anyone. Out of fucking anyone, you had to pick him?”
“I love him.” Jasmin doesn’t attempt to wipe her tears away. She just lets them run down her face, ruining her makeup.
“You love him,” Dax repeats, his voice empty, like he’s in a daze.
His chest shakes as he sucks in a deep breath, and instinctively, I allow the back of my hand to brush against his. He turns his head, his eyes locking with mine like he’s only noticing I’m there for the first time. Then he grabs my hand in his and raises it to his lips, kissing my fingers and screwing his eyes shut.
“She loves him, Rose. Are you hearing this? My own fucking sister, in love with the son of the man who took me away from her for years.”
My eyes fly to Jasmin, and she looks back at me, her shoulders shaking as she cries.
“Alistair?” I question.
“Alistair Young.” Jasmin blinks and black mascara smears beneath her eyes, joining the rest that’s smudged over her cheeks. “Julian Young’s son.”
I turn back to Dax. He’s staring at Jasmin, his eyes wild.
“I’m sorry,” Jasmin says to Dax again. “I never asked for this to happen. I never chose it to be him. But it is.”
Dax’s hand tightens around my own where he’s kept it wrapped inside his palm. I move into his side. His body is stiff, like every muscle in it is primed.
Fight or flight.
I nod gently at Jasmin as I slide my hand up onto his chest, resting it over his hammering heart. She takes a step backward, giving me enough space to slide in front of him and look up into his eyes.
“Dax?”
His eyes are round, more white showing than looks right. He’s sucking in deep breaths through his nose like he’s barely holding it together.
“Alistair Young,”he spits the name like it’s poison in his mouth as Jasmin’s muffled cries move further away from us.
I take a deep breath to center myself. I can’t let him see how shaken it makes me seeing him like this.
He needs me now.
