Page 128

Genevieve

Death.

It surrounded me. It overwhelmed me. It brought back memories.

And images.

I was overwhelmed by them, each vision more vivid than the one before.

Jago had told me I’d grow immune to the sick feeling, the twisted thoughts and the anger. But I hoped I wouldn’t. What would that make me if I did?

In my mind, less than human.

Still, in thinking that way, my thoughts led me to the understanding if I truly believed that, then my husband was less than human.

And my own father.

I wasn’t certain what I believed any longer, except that the kind of pain I was experiencing wasn’t going away. Yet the act allowed me to feel very much alive.

The kitchen was the most serene place in the castle. There were fewer reminders we were housed in a fortress. Everything was bright and airy, the beautiful setting sun illuminating a field of wildflowers. At least in this room, I felt some sense of peace.

To a point.

Still, I was playing over the nightmarish life I’d become involved in, almost getting lost in my thoughts.

“Are you alright?” Jago’s voice was comforting even after almost losing my brother. To find out he’d killed his best friend had torn me up inside.

Even if the son of a bitch had used Marco.

My brother hadn’t said more than two words in almost eighteen hours. He’d shut down, refusing to eat. His eyes held a tremendous vacancy. Meanwhile, I was fully immersed in suffering all over again.

“I’m fine.”

He placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing to try to provide some comfort. Was that even possible?

“You’re not a very good liar, my wife.”

Wife.

I did like to hear him say that, even if it wasn’t supposed to be real. “What am I supposed to say, Jago? That I’m crushed my brother had to learn the hard way not to trust anyone? That one of my men is lying in a hospital bed hopefully recovering froma bullet wound. Or that we have no more clues so that maybe, just maybe we can resume our lives. Notice I don’t use the word normal at this point.”

“Then say it.” He walked around to face me.

“I just did.” I took a deep breath, trying not to look at him because when I did, all I wanted to do was to feel his arms around me. Maybe for protection. Maybe for the closeness. Maybe. Maybe.

Hell, what did I know any longer?

“Does it make you feel any better?” How could he grin and look so damn good with everything that had happened?

“Not in the least. I blame you.”

He chuckled. “You’re allowed to.”

“You’re right. I can do anything I damn well please. If you can, I can. What about Adan’s death? The enemies who crashed?”

“We found nothing worthwhile except they had to be Turks. If I had to guess, I’d say we weren’t the anticipated targets.”

“They had no intention of allowing Adan to live.”