Page 219 of Heartless Sinner

The moment I reached my room, I slammed the heavy door shut, slid down the wood until my knees hit my chest, and sobbed until I couldn’t breathe.

I cried for the loss.

For the betrayal I’d caused.

For the hurt all of us carried.

For the pain I’d felt when I found my mom and how badly I’d wanted to right what’d been done to her.

And for how history had repeated itself.

She’d loved a Byron, and now, I’d followed in her footsteps.

Neither of us got a happy ending. Maybe loving Byron men was a curse in our bloodline.

Like her, I had to swallow down the bitter truth and accept there was no future for Brooks and me.

I lost track of time as I sobbed until a soft knock startled me.

I scrubbed both palms over my wet cheeks and pushed myself off the floor, expecting Elodie or Blair.

Wrong.

A soaking-wet, shattered Brooks stood in the doorway.

“Can I come in?” he asked softly.

For the very first time, he wasn’t taking what he wanted.

He was asking.

He was just as broken by this love as I was.

I stepped aside without saying a word.

He walked in, doing the same, leaving wet footprints on my bedroom floor.

We stood there, both of us soaked, neither of us knowing where to even begin.

I finally shut the door behind him. “How’d you get in here?”

“Snuck in,” he explained.

“My grandfather increased security.”

“Because he’s afraid we’ll come for you?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

He came toward me. Every instinct screamed at me to move. I didn’t.

He settled his cold hands on my cheeks. I sucked in a breath at the familiar feel of him holding me.

“Promise me you had no idea,” he pleaded, his voice breaking with the last word.

“I told you I didn’t,” I whispered.

“Promise me.”