Broken Vow (Brutal Birthright #5) - Sophie Lark Page 0,94

his car in airport long-term parking,” Riona says. “He was in the front seat, dead. It looks like he shot himself in the head.”

“It looks like it?” I ask.

Riona shrugs. “So they say.”

I frown. “They think he was trying to get a flight out of town . . . and what? He lost his nerve? Figured your family would catch up with him one way or another, so he might as well just end it?”

“I guess,” Riona says.

I let out a long breath, thinking.

“So what now?” I say, at last.

“I guess . . . I go home,” Riona replies.

It’s what I was expecting. But her words hit me hard anyway.

I don’t want Riona to leave. And I don’t think that’s what she wants, either. Not really.

“You could stay,” I say to her.

Riona makes an impatient, dismissive sound. “And do what?” she says. “Become a rancher? I love my job.”

“Do you?” I say.

She looks defensive. “Of course I do.”

“I don’t know if that’s true.”

She tosses her hair back, narrowing her eyes at me. “What are you talking about?”

“I think you’re good at your job. And I think it keeps you busy. But I don’t think that you’re actually that attached to building up the Griffin empire.”

I see that green fire flaring up in her eyes again. I know I’m pissing her off, but I don’t care.

“You spend a few weeks with me, and you think you know what’s best for my life?” Riona demands. “You think you know better than I do?”

“I do know you, Riona,” I say, calmly. “You think you’re independent and invulnerable. You think you want power in your family. I think you need something much more personal than that.”

“What?” Riona demands.

“You need to be loved,” I tell her. “You’re not above it, any more than I am. You’ve been happy here with me. Happier than you are at home.”

Riona stares at me, lips pressed together. I can tell she’s angry, but she didn’t throw back an answer as quickly as I expected.

She swallows hard, and then replies, “I do like it here. But I’m not going to abandon everything I’ve worked for in Chicago. I want that partnership. I earned it. I’m grateful for everything you did for me . . . everything your family did. But I don’t belong here. This is your home, not mine.”

Disappointment washes over me, heavy and dark.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d been hoping that Riona would stay. After everything we’ve been through together. Everything we’ve learned about each other . . . I thought she had bonded to me, like I bonded to her.

But I was wrong.

She’s anxious to get back home. The Djinn is gone, and Josh Hale as well. Nobody is out to get her anymore. So she doesn’t need me. I did my job a little too well.

“I’m sorry,” Riona says, softly.

She doesn’t ask me to come back to Chicago with her again. She understands what I owe my family, after leaving all that time.

Still, neither of us seems very happy in this moment. We’re determined, but not content in our choice.

We ride back the rest of the way to the house in silence.

23

Riona

Bo comes back to the house at about ten in the morning, looking exhausted, but happy.

“Shelby and the baby are fine,” she says. “They’re naming her Frances.”

“Frances?” Raylan says, like it’s a foreign word.

“I know,” Bo says, shrugging. “But they seem really excited about it, so don’t say anything.”

All of a sudden I feel like an intruder here. I’m sure Raylan wants to go to the hospital to see his new niece. I don’t think I should be a part of that. The Boones should be able to enjoy all this together, without me in the mix.

Speaking quietly to Raylan, I say, “I’m gonna drive back home today.”

“By yourself?” he says. “I’ll drive you.”

“No,” I shake my head, “It’s too far. And you’ll have to fly back again. Stay here with your family. Go see your niece.”

Raylan doesn’t look happy, but he doesn’t argue with me.

I don’t have much to pack. I brought nothing with me, and I’ve mostly been wearing Bo’s clothes.

I do plan to take back the cowboy boots Raylan bought me at the outlet store. I know I won’t have anywhere to wear them in Chicago, but I feel irrationally attached to them. They’re damned comfortable, if nothing else.

I offer to reimburse Bo for the dress Raylan and I ruined, but she just snorts and shakes her head. “You were doing