Covet - Eve Vaughn Page 0,6
got him out of trouble all of his life. Not this time. No, this time I wanted answers. I deserved them after what he’d done.
I close the distance between us and poke his chest with my index finger. “You asshole! I could strangle you right now!” I’m pretty sure my voice is loud enough that any of the neighbors could probably hear, but I didn’t care. “You’ve done some pretty horrible things and hurt a lot of people, but I never thought I’d be one of them. All I wanted to do was help, but then you steal from me and disappear from my life. I thought you were dead. I put in a missing person’s report for you. I cried every night for weeks, worried sick that I would get a visit from the police in the middle of the night.”
“And you know what? I received a call, asking me to come down to the morgue to identify a body they believed was yours. You have no idea how I felt when I drove to downtown, blinded by tears and nearly getting into an accident. And the relief I felt when it wasn’t you. The fucked up thing about it was that I was also disappointed that it wasn’t you because then at least I would have had some kind of closure. But no, I went right back to square one, agonizing if you were okay, if you were eating properly…if you were alive. So, you don’t get to ask me what gives when you basically screwed me over.” I shove him with more force than before, releasing my pent-up frustration from not only earlier but from what he had put me through.
Once again tears cascade down my face, angry ones. I wanted to keep yelling at him and even a part of me wished I could tell him to go to hell, but I couldn’t. I loved him. I loved who he used to and who I know he had the potential to be again. He doesn’t deserve my unwavering loyalty after what he did to me, but I won’t give up on him. I can’t.
Before I realize what’s happening, I’m having a full-blown breakdown, body shaking sobs and all. I don’t remember Adam reaching out to me, but I find myself engulfed in his embrace again. My legs are too weak to support myself any longer, so I cling to him and release. I don’t think I’ve cried like this in years, or given myself the luxury to. I didn’t even cry at my husband’s funeral because I didn’t believe it was a luxury I deserved. Now that the floodgate was open, I couldn’t stop.
“I’m so sorry, Sis,” Adam whispered against my hair as he strokes my back. I wanted.
I allow him to hold me for several more moments before finally drawing back with a sniff. My head is throbbing, and I’m sure my eyes are swollen from crying so much. I probably look a hot mess, but in many ways, I feel better than I have in a while, all things considered.
“Let me get these groceries inside before my ice cream melts,” I mumble more to myself than him.
“I got it, Sis.” He gentle scoots me out of the way and picks up the discarded groceries.
“You hungry?” It’s my go to question whenever I see him. Adam has always been on the thin side, but in the past several years he’s lost so much weight I can see his ribs through his shirts. The sharp edges of his handsome face are so much more pronounced than they used to be, and his bones seemed like they’d protrude from this body. He’s practically a walking skeleton. It hurts me to see what he has become.
Seeing him like this, I know he’s still using.
Like a fool, I’m going to help him again. It’s what I’ve been conditioned to do since he was born. Besides, he’s all I have left.
“If you’re cooking I am. Haven’t had a good home cooked meal in ages.” He grinned, taking the grocery bags out of my arms.
“Certainly looks like it.”
“Aww, come on Sis. I came to see you, and you’re already busting my chops?”
Unlocking the door with a heavy sigh, I lead him inside. “I should bust more than your chops, and you know it. Besides, I’m sure you didn’t just come for a friendly visit. You want something. You usually do. Unfortunately for you, I’m all tapped out.”
Adam didn’t respond as