Page 64 of Ghost

Mila pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.She wanted to know more about his mom and Evie.God, she wanted to know about fifteen-year-old Ghost.But she didn’t have a right to ask.“That must have been hard for you.Learning to be a big brother at that age.”

“Nah.Evie was a sweetheart.I loved her.She was the only sibling I had.”His voice cracked.He cleared his throat.“For a while, she was the only real family I had.”

She tilted her head to study him.The moonlight illuminated his face.A muscle in his jaw jumped.He was holding back.Anger or memories?Probably both.

“What happened?”she asked, before she was able to stop herself.

She kept her focus on his face.His gaze became distant, and he tightened his arm around her.

Seconds stretched.

A chill puckered the skin on her shoulder.Whatever had happened to Evie was part of what had made Ghost the ruthless man he was today.She hugged him closer, wishing she could wipe away his past.“I’m sorry,” she blurted.

Sorry she’d asked.Sorry he held all this in.Sorry they were both so emotionally fucked.

His fingers gently stroked her shoulder.“Don’t be sorry.You didn’t hurt her.”

Tears hit her eyes.She didn’t want to hear about a hurt little girl.Couldn’t tolerate how close it hit to home...

Her throat tightened.“Who did?”The question wobbled from her lips.

Ghost’s breath rasped through his nose.“Honey, I don’t think we should talk about this.It’s too fucking heavy.”

She propped herself up and rested her arm across his abdomen, placing her face inches from his.Her hair fell onto his shoulder.She stared into the depths of his gray eyes.Whatever secret he had locked away was enough to torture this strong, dangerous man.

If she were smart, she’d take his cue and let the conversation rest.

But she couldn’t.

“We can drop the subject if you want.But don’t do it because you’re worried about me.I want to know what made you so angry in your sleep.”

He blinked, stunned.“Did I say something?”

She nodded.“You said, ‘Don’t touch her’ and ‘I’ll fucking kill you.’”

His lip curled.“I wish I could go back twenty-plus years and do that.”

“To who?”she whispered.

His fingers lifted distractedly and combed through her strands.“Richie Burrows.”

A knot formed at the base of her throat.She swallowed but it didn’t move.“Who—?”

“My mom’s boyfriend.”His jaw rocked.“She started dating him a year or so after Evie’s dad left.He was a fucking bastard.”

He spat the words with so much force she winced.Tears rushed to her eyes.She didn’t know what had happened.Ghost might never tell her.But the pain he carried said it all.

Evie had suffered.

“He sexually assaulted her.”His words dropped with the force of a missile.

Mila’s brain struggled to process the statement.Her tongue grew thick and heavy, unable to form a single syllable.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.“I don’t know how long it went on.Months.Years.Worst part is I had a feeling.The way he touched her, the way she always hid when he was around.Signs that are more obvious to me now than when I was younger.”

“Oh my gosh.”She hugged him close.“That poor little girl.”

Ghost’s hand balled into a fist on his chest.“I exploded when I found out.Caught him sneaking out of her room one night.”Pain ravaged his words.“I blacked out.My mom called the cops on me.On me.”