[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
leave. Watching your mother deny day after day the problem so obviously staring her in the face had torn
Chris apart.
What do you know, Chris? Who was on the phone?
My aunt. She shook her head, dispelling the image of her mother laying motionless at the bottom of the
staircase leading to the second floor of the home she d grown up in. They found her at the& the
foot& of the stairs. She sobbed and turned into TJ s chest. His arms wrapped her in a warmth she d
never felt before. At her back, Jon added his extra strength. Who d have thought she d ever find herself
seeking comfort from one man, let alone two? Still, even sandwiched between the two men who d shown
her so much pleasure throughout the night, her skin was cold and clammy.
I know he did it. Her mother may have been many things Chris never wished to be, but clumsy or
suicidal weren t two of them.
What do the police say? Jon tried to warm her by rubbing her arms, TJ started in on her legs. The
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
shaking began almost immediately, racking her body with enough force to make her teeth ache.
I don t know. What could they say? What had they ever said when she d called them?There s
nothing we can do until your mother files charges. Stupid!
She sniffed and felt the claustrophobia setting in. She couldn t move, couldn t breathe. I& I have to go.
I have to be with her. She s all alone. Chris fought her way out of their embrace, irrational thoughts
clouding her mind.
No fucking way. You can fight us til you re blue in the face, but no goddamn way are you going there
alone, Jon snarled.
She gasped and spun to face the vehement face he presented.
Don t even think about it. We ll get up, take a shower, get dressed and then we ll get underway.
Listen to him, baby. No matter what you thought would happen tonight with us, we aren t ready to let
you go. TJ s lips caressed the back of her neck. We re here for you. Don t shut us out.
She couldn t handle this right now. A fling. A fling was what she d been semi-prepared for, not shoving
her sordid life down their throats and having them accept her, flaws and all. Her heart pounded against
her ribs. Her brain screamed not to put her faith in them, but her body demanded she do the opposite. It
all boiled down to trust, because trusting them not only affected her mind, but her heart.
The last thing she wanted was for them to stomp all over her when they were ready to move on, leaving
her in tatters the way her father had done too many times to count.
Chapter Five
What exactly was it with the clichéd funeral in the rain? Chris stared at her mother s casket. The flowers
covering the silver box were beautiful, so unlike the life she d led, one fraught with turmoil with a man she
refused to stop loving no matter how many times he belittled her or beat her.
Chris shivered. The rain had put a chill in the air. Then again, it could be the two men still standing at her
back, their mere presence lending strength. The small gathering who d come to Lana Marshall s final
resting place had long since disbanded but Chris could not find the strength to move. Yet not once had
TJ or Jon tried to get her to. Each had a hand on her shoulders where their fingers gave her a continual
massage.
She should be crying. She should be bawling uncontrollably and asking God why he d allowed this.
Would it help? No. God hadn t killed her mother. Maybe he d saved her instead since she hadn t
seemed able to save herself.
Chris had cut all ties to her father a few years ago, but in doing so she d been severed from her mother
as well. Not so her younger brother. Somehow she must have done all her crying in the past and over the
last couple of days because now she was dry.
She sucked in a breath and held it, inhaling the smells of the rain and the fresh flowers and the damp
earth her mother would be lowered into as soon as she moved away. Off to her left, trying to be discreet,
were two men dressed in grey jumpsuits waiting for her to leave so they could do their job.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Jon s hand sifted through her hair and she dropped her shoulders.
You okay, baby? TJ s lips caught on her ear.
She nodded. Yes.
He came to the front and kneeled before her, taking her hands in his. Is there anything we can do for
you?
No. She gave a short laugh. You ve already done way too much.
Jon sat in the chair next to her. We haven t done anything.
Are you kidding me? You brought me all the way out here, in your personal airplane no less, listened to
me cry for hours on end and came to a funeral for a woman you ve never met. You call that doing
nothing?
Jon s lips quirked into a smile. It made her tummy flip and sent an arrow of hunger to her clit. She jerked
her gaze away only to have it fall on TJ, whose face mirrored Jon s. She should not be feeling like this
right now. Not in the midst of burying her mother. Yet the hardening of her nipples told her that her body
didn t care where the hell she was.
What s next, baby? TJ put a hand on her bare knee. His thumb caressed her skin and she had to
swallow and lick her lips to keep herself from tackling him to the ground.
This is wrong.It took a Herculean effort but Chris managed to push his hand off.
One of his eyebrows rose. Too much help in taking your mind off things?
I m supposed to be in mourning, she murmured.
Jon s lips brushed her ear. I don t think you have any tears left in you, sugar. No one can say you
haven t done any mourning.
It just doesn t seem right to be sitting here thinking about anything other than the fact that my mother is
dead.
TJ sighed. No one is judging you, sweetheart. Everyone grieves in their own way at their own pace.
She sniffed and nodded. He was right but it still felt wrong. Like she was betraying her own mother.
She always chose my father over my brother and me. I never understood why she liked getting the shit
kicked out of her. Still, she is& was my mother. She gave birth to me and at least had some input in
raising me. So why couldn t she drum up more sympathy?
You want to go home? Jon settled his hand on the back of her neck and massaged.
Yes. No. She couldn t just leave. Not without going to the house to be there for her brother one last
time before she left for good. The only reason she would ever come home was gone now.
Carter would be there and she d have to deal with his pathetic attempts at demanding she loan him
money to support his habit. He was as big as their dad and just as ugly with his alcohol.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]