moments of Matty's life were forever burned in his memory, moments that cut him to the core, altering him as a person. Finding out his best friend was gone. Seeing his mother take her last breath. Watching his brother bleed out in the street. They were moments that stole a piece of his soul, pieces he could never get back.
And standing on the battered porch, as Genna turned to face him, seeing the turmoil in her blue eyes, he felt it. Her expression branded itself into his subconscious. There would be no coming back from it. She was stealing his soul, like they always warned him she would.
"Genna," he whispered, reaching for her, his fingertips grazing her arm when she pulled back just enough for his hand to fall from her skin.
"Did something happen with my brother?" she asked. "Did they find something? Did they find him?"
The door to the house opened, Gavin stepping out onto the porch. Matty's eyes flickered to him, hoping his cousin had some way to smother the igniting fire, but it was too late to stop the flames.
"No, don't do that," Genna said, panic in her voice as she grabbed his chin, forcing him to face her. "Don't look at him. Look at me. Me, Matty. Not Gavin!"
His eyes shifted to meet her gaze. "Genna…"
"I asked you a question!" Tears welled in her eyes. "Why aren't you answering it? Why won't you answer me?"
"Look, just calm down, okay? You're getting yourself worked up. It's not good for the baby."
"Don't! Don't dare try to guilt me. Don't belittle me."
"I'm not."
"You are!" she yelled, the sound of her raised voice pebbling Matty's skin. "You're treating me like I'm just some irrational, emotional woman. You're not answering my question. I deserve the truth! And I'm asking you… I'm begging you… tell me!"
Reaching up, Matty pressed his palms to her flushed cheeks, cradling her face in his hands, his thumbs stroking her skin. He knew he had to tell her.
God, he didn't want to...
Not now. Not yet.
She was nearing the end of her pregnancy, already in the third trimester, and things back in New York were dangerous. She didn't need that kind of stress. The timing couldn't be worse.
"I love you, Genevieve. You know I love you. I'd do anything for you. I'd do anything you ask of me."
"I'm asking you to tell me."
Matty sighed. "They found Dante right after we left New York."
"Alive?"
Matty hesitated before nodding.
She cracked, those tears breaking through, streaming down her cheeks. Her knees damn near buckled, but he grabbed ahold of her before she collapsed, helping her sit down on the porch as he knelt in front of her.
"He's alive," she whispered, her face contorting as she tried to hold back a sob. "You knew the whole time?"
"I found out a few months ago," he said. "The first time Gavin visited."
"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep this from me? Why did you let me keep thinking my brother was dead? We had a funeral!"
She shoved against him, almost pushing him over, but he grabbed her arms to steady himself and to keep her from lashing out. "Because it wasn't safe in the city. It isn't safe. And I knew when I told you that you'd want to go back, that you'd want to see him."
"Wouldn't you?" she cried. "If it was your brother, wouldn't you want to see him?"
"Not if it were dangerous."
"Bullshit! You risked your life to visit your mother!"
"That's different."
"How?"
"Because it was just my life I risked. Jesus Christ, Genna... you're pregnant! We're about to be parents! It's not just about us anymore. We have to think about the baby."
"I am thinking about the baby. I'm always thinking about the baby. Maybe it's dangerous in the city, but at least they're living. We're just hiding!"
Matty scrubbed his hands down his face. "I can't let you go back there, Genna."
"But you can't stop me, either."
"Please," he begged. "Just please listen to me."
"I am listening, Matty. I hear what you're saying. And maybe if you said it months ago, it would've been different. But I just... I don't even know what to say to you right now. I don't know what to think. You let me mourn for months when you knew he was alive, and why? For what? Because you didn't trust me?"
"I do trust you."
"You don't," she said. "You didn't trust me enough to let me decide for myself. You made this decision on your own. You chose for