Catastrophic Attraction - Eve Langlais Page 0,75
wasn’t useless, just like Cam and everyone else knew they could count on her. And yet, in both cases, someone cared enough to go that extra mile.
“Meow.”
She glanced down at Sachi. “What?” The feline twined between her legs, her fur sticking and leaving Casey looking like a walking carpet. She grimaced.
Roark finally lost his scowl and even chuckled. “She’s asking for some breakfast.”
“Isn’t it more like lunch?”
“It involves bacon, so you can call it whatever you like.”
“Come on, your annoyingness.” She jerked her thumb at the cat. “I’ll give you a piece if you stop making it look like I’m in dire need of a shave.”
Sachi accepted the offer and trotted off to eat her bacon in hiding. The towel Casey wore loosened the moment she sat down. She pretended not to notice and leaned for more food. She didn’t look at him as she ate.
He sighed. “Get it over with.”
She eyed him.
He shrugged. “Yell at me. Call me names. I know you’re peeved about what I did.”
“I am.”
“Well?” he said through gritted teeth.
“Well, I guess we’ll be getting a late start since you slept most of the day away.”
“It’s barely noon. Besides, we’ll be doing most of our work tonight.”
“I am not sitting around twiddling my knives all afternoon.”
“Who said you wouldn’t be busy? We need to get you outfitted.”
“Excuse me?”
He gestured. “You can’t go to a ball in those clothes. You’ll need a dress.”
“A dress?” she repeated dumbly. “I don’t wear anything with skirts.”
“You will tonight if you want to come with me.”
“Are you seriously threatening me after what you did?” she said in a low, menacing tone.
“I am sorry for that.” He hung his head, one of the few times she’d seem him contrite.
Sorry wouldn’t cut it. “You left me vulnerable.”
“I had people stationed all over for your protection. Cost me a fair bit, I should add.”
“It wouldn’t have cost you a thing if you’d trusted me.”
“I trust you, but—” His jaw stiffened. “It’s a delicate situation.”
“It’s your sister.”
He grimaced. “Jorah told you?”
“He didn’t have a choice. I threatened to split him open.”
Roark leaned back from the table and rubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw. “My sister isn’t well.”
It was the best opening she’d get to ask. “What happened to her?”
“I should rewind a bit first and explain that Anissa is my half-sister. She’s the other child my father had with Darius’s mother. I only met her after I first encountered my brother. We didn’t exactly hit it off.”
“Why?”
“A multitude of reasons.” He shrugged. “Mostly because, like me, she didn’t appreciate the fact our father lied.”
“How are your father’s actions your fault?”
“They’re not. But Anissa didn’t care. She saw me as the reason she only had him part of the time. She claimed I stole him from her. Which, in turn, led to her hating me. She hated me enough she helped someone set a trap.”
“Theona.” Casey breathed the name as she made the connection.
“I didn’t know until later. After Theona’s death, I went to pay a visit to Anissa. I tried every time I went to the city.”
“Why?”
“Out of some misbegotten sense of obligation. Not just to her, but my brother. When she saw me, she was surprised.”
“You read her mind and knew what she’d done.”
“Not quite. I didn’t have to because she bragged in detail how she’d betrayed me. It was she who told Theona how to weasel her way into my affection.”
“You’re the one who fell for it.”
“I did,” he admitted. “Because I couldn’t read her intentions. I believed the lies.”
“So your sister admitted her perfidy, and you tried to kill her.”
“No. I stood there in shock. Disbelief really. First Theona, then my own sister. I didn’t react in time when she came after me with a knife.” He put a hand to his chest, and she knew the scar the shirt covered. “Even as I lay there bleeding, I didn’t fight back. I would have let her kill me.”
“Why? Why would you not defend yourself?” Then answered her own query. “You were feeling guilty about Theona, too, weren’t you?”
“I killed the mother of my child. My own sister hated me.”
“But if you’d died, what of Charlie?”
“I wasn’t thinking that clearly,” he said ruefully.
“Obviously, something happened?”
“Darius arrived. He saw her about to stab me for the fourth time and tried to stop her. I was bleeding pretty bad by then and could barely move. So I did the only thing I could to save his life.”
“You jumped inside her head.”
He nodded. “But I