AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Or the other side, posing as revolutionaries—”
“I don’t want to hear this,” she whispered, holding up her palms and shaking her head. “This is too bizarre.” She reached for her suitcase. Denver kicked it across the room. It slammed against the wall, springing open.
“Just hear me out, Tessa,” he said, blue eyes flaming again.
She set her jaw, eyeing her suitcase dolefully. “Get on with it.” She couldn’t let herself believe him—not again. Not ever. But inside she was wavering. She had to get out fast—before he worked his treacherous magic on her all over again. She noticed the muscles flexing in his face and had to tear her eyes from his strong profile. Unnerved, her breath already whispering through her lungs, she clenched one fist around the molded brass of her bed and with her back to him, stared out the window. “I don’t have all night,” she reminded him.
“Right. You’re on your way out.”
She swallowed back a hot retort.
He stepped closer to her. The floorboards creaked. Tessa’s every nerve ending fluttered as he spoke so quietly she had to strain to hear.
“The upshot is that one side—God only knows which?
?decided to use him for target practice. Probably as an example.”
“While you were there?”
He didn’t answer, but she understood from his silence that he had witnessed his brother being gunned down.
“If you don’t believe me, you could call St. Mary’s Hospital in Belfast.”
“Oh, God—” She felt as if she might be sick. Denver wouldn’t lie about this. He couldn’t. She could find out the truth too easily. Images swam before her eyes—Colton McLean, a handsome if bitter man, stretched out in a pool of blood. Denver crouching over him—in danger himself. Her hands shook, her insides roiled, and she forced herself to gaze up at Denver. “Is—is he all right?” she asked.
“He’ll live.”
Nauseated, she sank onto the edge of the bed. Her entire body was trembling. She could tell from his harsh expression, the tension radiating from his rigid muscles, that he was reliving that awful moment. Remorse tore at her soul. She felt like an utter idiot for a whole new set of reasons. “How badly was he hurt?”
“His shoulder will give him some trouble for a while.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice trembling with genuine regret. If only she could call back the ugly words—if only she had trusted him more! How could she have stood there so damned self-righteously accusing him?
“We all are.”
“Will he come back here?”
“As soon as he’s released from the hospital and able to travel. My guess is that he’ll show up in the next week or two.”
“I owe you an apology,” she said, her chin wobbling. “But you should have called.”
“I couldn’t. The authorities were highly suspicious of me. They grilled me for days.”
“Why?”
“Because someone tried to kill my brother, as well as anyone else who happened to get in the way, only a few hours after I showed up. It looked a little too coincidental.”
“I see.”
“You believe me?”
Her throat so tight it ached, she whispered, “Yes—well, almost.”
“Thank God for small favors.” He dropped onto her bed, then sagged against the pillows. “I haven’t slept in days.” Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. Black lashes swept the hollow circles over his cheeks.
Realizing that he might drift off, she had to ask a question that still nagged at her. “You managed to get through to Ross Anderson, but you didn’t call me.”
“I called Ross before I left for Belfast.”
