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I smiled at his confession and squeezed his knee. “She sounds like an incredible woman.”
“I miss her,” he said under his breath. “Her laugh. Her smile. She was the only good thing in my life…” He blew out a deep breath as he refocused on me. “And then, I met you.”
“Damian,” I whispered, covering his hand with mine. “It’s okay to be yourself with me. I hope you know that.”
He shook his head, and a long, dark strand of hair fell in front of his eyes. “No, it’s not.”
I swiped the hair off his forehead and forced him to look at me. “I’m not afraid of you anymore. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”
“No, I didn’t. It was an accident.” He sighed, his eyes downcast as he looked at my hand on top of his. “Sometimes, I lose control. I can’t help it.”
“Did your mother know about your urges?”
Damian bobbed his head, unable to look at me. “She thought it was a phase. That I would grow out of it. Back then, I would hurt small animals.” His hand clenched into a fist on the mattress. “The first time it was a means to an end. To stop the suffering of a bird with a broken wing. I thought I was doing it a favor. But I liked it. I liked the power over another living thing. The doctors agreed I would eventually get over it. But they were all wrong. That obsession turned into something much worse.”
I forced a smile. “Thank you for telling me.”
“I figured Bash told you everything after I almost killed you.”
“He filled me in on the basics, but it’s not the same as hearing it from you.” We sat in silence for a while, the air thick with tension. I looked at him, desperate to keep him talking about himself. “How did your parents end up starting an airline?”
An easy question to end the awkwardness in the room.
“My dad thought he could build a militarized aircraft to sell to the government. But all the major contractors had already beaten him to the punch. So they started Atlantic Airlines instead.”
“How did Bash’s parents get involved?”
“Our dads were best friends.” I slipped my fingers between his, resting my hand on his knee, and he actually let me hold his hand. “Bash’s mom was an Adams. The daughter of Fitzgerald Archibald Adams IV.”
“The Grand Master of The Founders Society?”
He nodded. “My parents had money but nothing like Bash’s mom. She offered to float some of the operating costs until they turned a profit. Bash’s grandfather wasn’t thrilled about it. Fitzy wouldn’t let Bash’s mom invest in Atlantic Airlines without his dad agreeing to make Bash the chairman of the company on his twenty-first birthday.”
“That’s so young. Why would he want that?”
“He hated Marcus. Bash’s dad,” he said for clarification. “No one was good enough for his daughter. It didn’t matter that Marcus Kincaid was a legacy. He never liked his family.”
“So why did he agree to let his daughter marry him?”
He rolled his shoulders. “I’ve always wondered if Fitzy had something to do with the accident. Our moms shouldn’t have been on the plane that night.”
“Bash said you two were at his piano recital.”
“Yeah.” A smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “I went to all of Bash’s recitals. Carolina, Bash’s mom, she’s the one who taught him to play. She never missed a recital… until that night.”
“You really think Bash’s grandfather had something to do with your parents’ deaths?”
He nodded. “That old bastard would do anything to get what he wants. Even sacrifice his own daughter.”
“But why would he involve your parents?”
“My dad opposed his vote at the last F Society meeting before his death.”
“Bash said his grandfather is the reason Arlo adopted both of you.”
“They made a deal to keep us together.”
He bit his bottom lip, staring at my mouth with a darkness that had suddenly washed over his face like a storm cloud. In an instant, his mood shifted. The dead look in his green eyes reminded me of the night he hooked his belt around my neck. The night I thought he was going to kill me.
