“I was talking about Aileen.”
“She was a pain in my ass and I had a soft spot for the lass, but I didn’t love her,” Shayne said, repeating the lie that he’d been telling himself for years.
“I was there, lad,” Quinn said, making everything in him go still as he slowly looked at his brother.
“Say that one more time,” Shayne bit out even as he told himself that Quinn was lying.
“We took turns watching over ye, but we made sure ye didn’t find out,” Quinn said, only to shrug as he added, “We didn’t want ta get in the way. But I saw the way that ye watched her.”
“She needed someone ta watch over her,” Shanye snapped.
“That doesn’t explain why ye told her that ye loved her or why ye told her that ye wanted ta spend the rest of yer life with her when she lay dying in yer arms,” Quinn said quietly as he watched him with something close to pity.
“Fuck ye,” Shayne snapped as he moved to head back inside and-
“Or why you cried when she took her last breath,” Quinn said, making him swallow hard as he stood there, thinking about the moment that he knew she was gone.
“I let her go,” Shayne said hollowly. “She told me that she loved me and I let her go.”
“It’s my fault for not getting there in time to protect ye, lad,” Quinn said as Shayne stood there, glaring at the wall as he found himself wondering about something.
“What was the real reason ye tricked me into giving into the pull?” Shayne found himself asking as he turned around to find his brother watching him.
“Because she was being punished every time ye failed ta go ta her,” Quinn said, making his stomach drop.
“Why didn’t ye tell me?” Shayne demanded as he thought about all those times that he ignored the pull to go to her, telling himself that he needed to watch over Tadgh instead.
“Because it nearly fucking destroyed ye when ye lost Lasarín,” Quinn said as Shayne slowly nodded as he turned around to head inside.
“And what do ye think this is going ta do?” Shayne asked as he opened the sliding glass door and-
“She would have wanted ye ta be happy,” Quinn said as he suddenly appeared in front of him.
“She made me happy,” Shayne said, walking past his brother and-
“So did Aileen.”
Two Days Later...
She wasn’tsure how much more of this she could take.
She just...
Needing a moment, Ashlyn slowly exhaled as she stood there, staring down at the sick bastard that was screwing with her head as her grip tightened around the pillow and-
Murder was wrong, so very wrong, Ashlyn reminded herself even as she found herself moving closer, more than willing to give in to the urge to smother the sick bastard that had spent thepast two days going out of his way to piss her off and find out once and for all if she had what it took to survive prison.
It started off harmless enough, they’d spent the first night going over the files for the six women that had been murdered, ordered room service while they worked, and pretended the night before never happened. When it was time to call it a night, he let her have the bed and even drew her a bath, giving her hope that she could get through this without losing her goddamn mind.
But everything changed the next morning...
That’s when she learned the true definition of hell.
He barely said two words to her while they were getting ready, but the moment they stepped foot outside their hotel room, that all changed. He went from ignoring her to destroying her will to live. As soon as the door closed behind them, he’d turned into the most charming, attentive, and besotted man alive.
He looked at her adoringly, made sure to call her that endearment that she couldn’t quite pronounce but loved hearing whispered in her ear, and found any and every excuse to touch her. In fact, he couldn’t seem to be within five feet of her and not touch her. He held her hand while they walked, making sure to absently caress the back of her hand with his thumb just the way she liked. If they were standing in line, he was standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her, and he made sure to pull her down on his lap every chance he got.
But the moment they stepped back into their room, that all stopped. He became quiet, barely said two words to her, and slept on the couch, leaving her to spend the rest of the night staring at the television, telling herself that she didn’t want any more of his stupid kisses. But every time she heard movement coming from the other room, she perked up, sending hopeful glances at the doorway until she realized what she was doing andwent back to staring at the television, grumbling and once again telling herself that this was for the best.
